A.N. No one guessed the number (aww…) It was twenty-three. Two reviews before we reach that number, and that person gets the next chapter dedicated to them!

By the way, I am not at all offended if you just skip this. School starts next week for me and I have sold myself into slavery to it this year (six AP classes) so updates may be sporadic. But so you know, I am a major procrastinator and what that means for you is that I will probably still be updating pretty often, even when I shouldn't be.

HERE IT IS! A nice long chapter, hopefully worth the wait.

Vanir! My first thought when I woke was of him. After all, it was indirectly my fault that he was injured. I ran to the door, only stopping to quickly dress and tame my mess of dark curly hair. I asked a few elves only to find that he was at his house, being carefully monitored by several healers. After knocking lightly on the door, it was opened by his mother after a few seconds. She looked as if she was going to shut me out but then sighed. "Meira, Vanir has been asking for you since he woke."

"He's awake?" She nodded and led me through their house. The best word to describe the interior of the house was quaint. The house was by no means large or ornate, but I could tell it looked exactly how it was supposed to. I was allowed into Vanir's room by a healer with the caution of not exiting him. "Vanir?" I said quietly. His eyes were closed and his face extremely pale. I cried standing there. Vanir was wrapped in clean white bandages, a testament to the severity of his injury if the healers could not fully heal his wound with magic.

A light smile touched his face and his eyes opened to see me. "Thank you."

I walked over and sat on the edge of his bed. With his frailty his face had lost the magical light that usually surrounded the elf child. "You shouldn't thank me, Vanir. It is my fault you got hurt."

"A branch broke. That is not your fault." He shifted on the mattress and grimaced. "King Evander showed me what you did."

I looked down, embarrassed but pleased he knew about my magic. A foreign presence intruded in my mind. This is Gredal. I am one of his healers. See if you can get him to eat. He wouldn't for us.

I glanced up to see him watching me. "Vanir." I said, picking up the cup from the table. I smelled it and wrinkled my nose. "They said you have to drink this."

He turned away his face. "I'm not hungry."

I stared at him, at a loss for how to convince him to drink whatever foul beverage the healers wanted him to. In the end, I settled for the most logical way to find out. I asked him. "What do I have to do to get you to drink this?"

He stared at me and then, despite his pain, he grinned. "You have to drink the same."

I grimaced, but walked to the door. Gredal looked questioningly at me and I frowned. "He says he will only eat if I have the same." She looked at my expression, which was probably one of chagrin, and laughed, fetching me a cup with the same. I smelled it and made a face. "What even is this?" I asked.

She smiled at me. "Just drink it. It is good for you. His medicine is what gives it the bad flavor, but it will not hurt you."

I reentered the room with the cup and sat back down on his bed. He stared at the cup and then at me. "I didn't think you were serious."

"A deal is a deal, Vanir."I said with a portentous grin. I raised the cup to my lips and took a tentative sip, causing me to gag. Glaring at him, I downed the cup quickly and set it on the table. "Your turn." I handed him his cup and smiled as he raised it to his lips and held it there. I raised my eyebrows and he took a sip, closing his eyes. Without pausing, he continued to empty the cup. Finally, he handed it back to me. "Do you want some water?" Truthfully, I just wanted an excuse to wash the bad taste from my mouth. Without waiting for an answer, I poured some for both of us from the pitcher on the table.

I stayed until Vanir went to sleep. Then, I quietly crept from his room and closed the door behind me. Gredal smiled at me. "How did it taste?" she asked me too sweetly.

I stuck out my tongue and handed her the two cups before running from the house. I stumbled into a large sea green foreleg and fell back. My mother's dragon snorted her amusement. Do you never move anywhere slowly?

My apologies, Reina. I did not expect to see you here.

Eliza asked me to bring you to your new teacher once you had seen Vanir. Are you ready?

My stomach turned in anticipation and I nodded, scrambling up her side to the hollow at the base of her neck. She wasn't wearing a saddle, but that didn't bother me anymore. Anyway, even if I were to fall, I knew she would catch me. She landed a ways outside of Ellesméra at a small cottage with a plume of smoke spiraling up from a wooden chimney. I slid to the ground and Reina lowered her head to look me in the eyes. Behave yourself and do not look for trouble. Do not offend your teacher and try your best.

I laughed at how similar her words were to what my mother would have said. After so many years of being together, they were alike in many ways. I patted her nose and walked to the door, sudden apprehension causing my knees to tremble. I knocked lightly and waited. Behind me, I heard Reina's wings beat as she flew away.

Light footsteps slowly grew nearer and then the door opened to one of the most bizarre looking elves I had ever seen. I knew immediately I had never met her before I was sure I would have remembered. Her skin glowed, similar to the way an elf child's skin would. Her eyes were violet and her hair silvery lavender. I suddenly realized I was staring and raised two fingers to my lips. "Atra esterni ono thelduin."

"Mor'ranr lifa unin hjarta onr, Meira. My name is Gwendolyn and I am going to teach you how to control magic."

I stood in the entryway without speaking and waited for the strange elf to let me in. Finally, –Probably about two minutes later, patience has never been my strong suit.– I could not help myself. "Are you going to invite me in?"

Her eyes glinted. "Yes."

I waited, but she did not make any move to let me in or say anything else. She simply watched me. "Will you let me in?" I questioned.

"Yes." She answered, openly smiling now. I was getting frustrated. What was her problem? I stared right back at her, wondering what she was waiting for. I decided to try again.

"Can we go in now?"

She considered me for a minute and then she nodded. "Not elegantly phrased, but I guess it is a start." She stood aside and let me in. "You should have asked 'May I come in?' or even 'Shall we go in?' Either would have been acceptable. Now, tell me, what have you learned?"

What had I learned? Mainly that my new teacher was eccentric to use a polite term, but I could not tell her that. "I should ask the right questions?" I ventured.

"It that an answer or a question?"

"I should ask the right questions." I answered, smiling.

"Good. When Evander asked who wished to teach you magic, I volunteered. I volunteered not because I am the strongest or the most capable, but because, in my not so humble opinion, I understand magic the best of the elves. While one cannot be taught strength, knowledge can shared. And, though I cannot teach understanding, I can help bring you to that point."

She fell silent again, but this time I knew what she was waiting for. I thought for a minute. "What will you be teaching me?"

"Magic." She smiled.

I tried not to look too exasperated and thought carefully. "What is the first thing I will learn?"

"Much better. You must learn to ask the right questions. Once you learn that skill, problems will unfold themselves before you. It is difficult to see the finish from the start, but if instead of searching for the close you search for the path, you will find the end in time." She suddenly looked up and seemed surprised to find me staring at her. "You asked what you will learn first. That is for you to find out on your own, but we will begin your lesson. Come."

I followed her curiously. Usually elves bored me, but she held my attention completely. It was twenty minutes before they stopped before a small pool at the base of a tall but thin waterfall. It was quiet. The trees reached high into the sky. I was content to follow. I had seen only a miniscule portion of the forest, and in it I had already stumbled upon amazing things. Exploring, looking for new sights, was one of my favorite things to do.

"I often find that magic is easier reached when one is apart from the distractions of civilization. This is where I practice magic and train my students."

"Who else besides me have you taught, ebrithil?"

"No need for that, Meira. I find the master-student relationship uncomfortable. You may call me Gwendolyn." She sat cross legged on the ground and I copied her. "To answer your question, I have taught many at some point in their life. Often, it is I who is chosen to awaken the human riders to their potential for magic. I also taught Evander himself."

I sat quietly, cataloging the information into my mind and waited for the lesson to begin. "Now, tell me, Meira, do you like puzzles?"

What did that have to do with magic? "Yes." I was seriously beginning to doubt the sanity of my new teacher, but if she had taught Evander and the riders… And she was my teacher. She knew what she was going to teach me and while I didn't, I knew it was not my place to judge her lesson.

She smiled and picked up a stick and drew nine dots in the form of a square on the ground and handed me the stick. "Now connect the dots with four straight, connected lines."

I stared at the dots for a second and then held the stick an inch above the dirt, tracing patterns in the air, trying to find the solution. I glared at the dots for a while and then a suspicion grew in my mind. I handed her the stick. "It isn't possible. Is it?"

She placed the stick back in my hand. "It is quite possible. Look again."

I stared at the dots for almost ten minutes, my mind going over the same wrong solutions many times. Finally, I saw it. I placed the stick on the ground and drew a line diagonally through three dots and then followed one of the sides of the box, allowing the stick to go out of the boundaries. I turned again, cutting through the middle and then made my last line, making a sort of arrow. "There." I said, proud of myself.

"Good job. It took you less time than most to think of that." She erased it with her hand and drew the dots again. "It was difficult for you to solve and yet the problem is simple. That is because our minds create rules that do not exist. You probably saw the nine dots as a box and assumed that you had to stay inside the lines, but in this case, if you'll excuse my pun, you had to think outside the box." She handed me back the stick and smiled. "Now draw one straight line connecting all nine dots."

"One?" I asked doubtfully.

"Yes."

I gave up after half an hour and asked her to show me the solution if one exited. She only smiled. "I will not tell you the answer. One of the easiest ways to smother imagination is to give answers out freely. I have never understood this." She paused. "Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand."

I thought about that for a while. "Why are you teaching me this?"

"Good question." She smiled. "Magic cannot be seen, heard, or touched. Because of this, many cannot understand it. Think of it like this. Magic is a forest. To gain any benefit from it, you need to know what it is like, how it can help you. To discover this, you explore the forest. But you are afraid of venturing into the forest or you do not even think of it because you follow the path you have walked before. When you do that, you only get to know a tiny portion of what exists. In the same way, your mind tries to follow well known channels when you study magic and even the most powerful spellcasters sometimes only scratch the surface. This is why I tell you this." She stood. "That will be your first lesson. Can you find your own way back?"

"Yes. I believe so." I walked away through the woods toward Ellesméra and my house, contemplating the puzzle of the nine dots until I became frustrated enough that I shoved it to the back of my mind.

–I still miss Gwendolyn. She probably believes me dead. I, being human, becoming lost in the fall. Yes, no doubt she does. And she taught me everything in that time. Oddly enough, I even miss those puzzles. No matter how much I hated them at the time.–

Vanir was better within the week, and Gwendolyn had told me she would contact me when the next lesson was. I was lying on the ground outside our tree house with my chin in my hand, staring at the nine dots I had drawn on the ground. My father walked over and looked at me for a minute before chuckling softly to himself. My head snapped up. "What?" I demanded.

"Nothing." He smiled. "I just can't believe anyone could manage to silence you. I don't think you have spoken a word in the last hour, but that is not why I came. Dinner is ready."

Sighing, I stood. I followed my father and took one glance back at the dots to find I had stepped on them, erasing them from the earth. I spun back suddenly and laughed as I stared at the boot print. No doubt my father in that moment believed I was a few bees short of a hive to use a euphemism. Alright. I was sure, in that moment, he thought I had lost it.

"Meira… what?"

"Look!" I exclaimed, pointing at the boot print. "I stepped on the dots!"

My father truly looked concerned then. "Why don't we go inside? We can eat and then you can…" His words broke off as there was a loud pop and a piece of paper floated to the ground.

I picked it up and read it to myself. Congratulations. I set a spell to alert me when you had solved the puzzle. I have to admit I am a bit surprised you figured it out. I will expect you tomorrow afternoon when the sun is highest at my house. Do not be late. Gwendolyn.

I smiled and saw my father watching me. "I figured out my teacher's assignment." I explained calmly. "See, I had to draw nine dots and then cover them using only one straight line. When I stepped on them." I brushed away the dots I had made. "There was no specification for the width of the line."

He laughed and held out his hand. "Let's go eat."

I smiled and followed. Our table had been sung from a pine outside the house so that the dragons could be by us while we ate. My parents had made it and it was simple but elegant. I sat as my mother carried out the last of the food. We all put some onto our plates. It was one of my favorite meals. My mother had made my favorite. A dish made of seasoned eggs and dark bread. The queen had often insisted we have meals our meals brought to us, but every time my mother politely declined. It was not a burden, but a pleasure she claimed to feed the family.

"Meira, Vanir's mother stopped by and she said that she would prefer if you avoided her son. He knew you for two days. The first day, he came back shivering and drenched, and the second he almost died."

I sighed. "No. I will not stay away from him. He is the only person in Ellesméra within twenty years of my age. The next closest is Faolin and he is thirty one years older than me. If he was a human, he would already be a middle aged man."

"Oromis has two young pupils. Human."

"It has been made very clear by Oromis and Islanzadí that I am not to interfere in any way with the training of the new riders."

"Vanir's mother has reasonable concerns."

"Both of those were accidents."

"Exactly. But that doesn't change what happened. Do you see? What if he dies on account of an accident? He almost has already."

I swallowed a piece of my bread. "It won't happen." I argued. "Why don't you let him decide? He is old enough to decide for himself."

My mother opened her mouth again. Eliza. The sea green dragon's voice was amused. When have you ever managed to change her mind on anything? And what would make this time different? Just keep the peace. She sighed and continued her meal, her brown hair obscuring her face, but I thought she looked annoyed.

My father only seemed amused. "What did that note that appeared say, Meira?" He asked, wishing to change the subject.

I jumped on it. "My next lesson is tomorrow."

"Gwendolyn is quite a remarkable elf. She has contributed more to what is known about magic than any other person. You are lucky to be taught by her."

She is incredible. Vanilor agreed. But a bit peculiar at times. But most elves are it seems.

I nodded my agreement and took one last bite of my dinner, excusing myself to go and study the language of humans. My parents had taught me some, but not as much as I would need to know to communicate. It was strange that I would not know my race's language, but sometimes the world was like that. Strange.

Someday I was going to leave Du Weldenvarden. I wanted to know what life was like outside the calm steady flow of life that passed in the trees. I felt like I was missing something.

The next morning, I met Vanir at his door and we walked into the city as his mother scowled at my back. "Don't mind her." Vanir mumbled. "She is just afraid I will get hurt again."

I looked at the elf out of the corner of my eye, trying to assess his condition. It had been four days now and his chest was still wrapped tightly in white bandages. He walked with a slight limp as well, but the glow had returned to his skin and even with the limp, he exuded grace and the limp became not a flaw, but a peculiarity.

I fought down a bit of jealousy. I was possibly the only human that had been born in Ellesméra and of course it was I. I did not have the luck to be an elf. They were obviously the superior race. I was not graceful. I was not yet powerful. And I was not immortal. Sometimes it was a struggle not to be bitter. After fourteen years, I had yet to meet a mortal being such as myself.

I walked beside my friend, but he was strangely quiet. Every so often he spoke. He offered to help me learn the sword. It was his gift, he had explained. And he knew that swordplay would be the thing he would devote his life to. To learn and improve. And later to teach. I agreed and we continued our walk.

A bit before noon, I walked him back to his house and jogged to my teacher's home. She was outside in a small garden with lots of tomatoes at various stages of ripening. She shielded her eyes and glanced up at the sky. "Perfectly on time." She drew nine dots. "What was your solution?"

I obliterated them with my boot and grinned. "Widen the line."

"Good. There are quite a few ways to solve that one. Yours is one of the better ones."

"What are the others?"

"You may search for them if you truly wish to know." I nodded. I had not hoped she would answer my question.

She led me to a table with an assortment of everyday items. "Use magic."

I looked at her. "What do you wish me to do?"

"Whatever pleases you. Use your imagination."

I stared at the table, observing the items. There were several pens and an inkwell. A glass of water. A piece of paper. A rock. A stick. A gathering basket. Food. I tried to decide what I would do. It was then I realized I didn't even know how to use magic, only that I could. I made up my mind. I concentrated and felt something that seemed alien to me. I grasped at it and found magic. Turning to the table, I forced open the inkwell and dipped the pen, writing my name on the piece of paper. Then I walked over to examine my work.

The handwriting was sloppy, but not bad. I looked to Gwendolyn. "How did I do?"

She was gazing at me with an uncomfortable intensity. "Meira, You did not use words to guide the magic."

I looked at her. "Isn't that okay? I was thinking as I realized that using words was like thinking in a box so I did something different."

"It's just… Most spellcasters are not taught that method until they have had years of practice. It is extremely dangerous."

"How is it different?"

"Without words to guide it, magic can be twisted by the smallest whim. You could kill someone by looking at them. You should use words."

I was pretty sure my mouth was open. "I will use words next time." I assured her.

"Still, I will expect great things from you if this is only the beginning." For the next hour, Gwendolyn set me to doing menial tasks with magic while she observed, occasionally asking a question. After an hour, she went inside and came back out with a complicated piece of intertwined metal. "This is a tavern puzzle. They were invented by humans, but elves enjoy them too. The ones we make are more difficult. I made this one here. Your goal is to remove that ring from the chains. Take care to remember how you remove it for the second part is putting it back together. Good luck."

Dismissed, I walked into the woods and sat against the tree, fumbling with the puzzle as I memorized what it looked like and wondered how to take off the ring. I didn't have a care in the world.

–Eventually my peace would end. I would be thrown into a foreign world where everything was strange and confusing, but at that time, nothing could bother me.–

Well, I enjoyed writing this. What did you think? Good? Bad? Did anyone catch the Einstein quote in the chapter? There will be a bit of a time jump to next chapter and more action adventure stuff will be coming. Any suggestions on writing more like Angela are appreciated. I do not feel I have captured her essence yet. Please review this. Even if you only say one word. Please?