Chapter 3
It had been over a month since my birthday and I awoke to the sounds of light rainfall and the smell of thunder clouds in the distance, I sat myself up and looked outside noticing a bird with its chicks in the nest finding shelter and respite from the downpour. I sighed and picked myself up off the bed and made my way to the kitchen, seeing a note on the table I picked it up already having a good idea of what it said without having to read it. Dear Syndra, I have been given a mission to patrol the woods surrounding the Amani held territories and will be absent for at least a week potentially more, I'll be home sooner than you know it, love you kiddo. "Papa's gone again." I said aloud to myself, going over to a large door that led downstairs into the root cellar intent on feeding myself.
Walking down the stairs the light from the kitchen became dimmer and dimmer, holding my hand out I focused intently on the essence of my being and channeled it into my hand. Imagining a ball of sunlight, I willed my thoughts into being and a tiny ball of light began to appear from my hand until it floated above me. Grabbing a small bowl, I placed a variety of fruits and a small piece of smoked fish. As much as the human merchants coming from Lordaeron and other far off lands joke about us being vegetarians, we do enjoy a stable diet of meats and fishes.
Having finished my meal, I went into the commons room and opened my book up to where I had last left off at. It was several hours later when I noticed that it was about midday and my mind was racing. 'I want to go outside and play with the other kids for once.' I thought to myself looking outside in the direction of Tranquillen.
The words dad always drilled into me rang through my head. 'Syndra whenever I'm sent on a mission long term you are not to leave the house.' I groaned momentarily in frustration.
"Whatever, dad doesn't know won't hurt him." I said to myself, jumping off the rocking chair and made a direct line to the door.
Grabbing my coat, I went outside to see the light pouring of rain from the sky. Taking a deep breath in I steadied my resolve to not die from boredom while papa was having adventures and made my way to Tranquillen. My first destination was the market square situated in the center of the town where most if not all the foot traffic from foreign merchants and traveling bands of rangers usually passed by. Hoping I would get to see merchants from Lordaeron, but more importantly their adventurer bodyguards willing to tell me of their travels and adventures. Or if I was lucky, I'd see a dwarf live in the flesh. Upon arrival though my hopes were dashed when all I saw was the local merchants and a few foreigners with no retinue trying to peddle various goods ranging from silks all the way to lousy turnips.
Feeling disappointed in the lack of exotic faces and goods I turned and left as I rounded the corner; I ran face first into Jen'sel who was walking with some of the older kids knocking him back and falling onto my butt. "Hey, watch it short stack." He jokingly said, extending his hand out to pick me up. Slightly embarrassed I grabbed him by the hand and pulled myself back onto my feet.
"Where, are you going in such a hurry?" he questioned, being the only older kid who seemed to tolerate me, as his friends seemingly ignored my existence as they sidestepped me and continued walking, turning round momentarily to tell him where he could find them. Waving them off, he looked down at me with a scrutinizing look. "What's it to you?" I replied, not wanting him to tell his dad who would tell my dad. "Well, I happen to know both our fathers are out on a mission together and I wouldn't want you getting spanked because you left your house unattended." He replied with a smirk, I averted my gaze and started looking at the ground embarrassed.
"Calm down, I'm not going to rat you out." He said, I beamed up at him looking at him hopefully.
"Does this mean I get to hang out with you and the older kids?!" I exclaimed in excitement eliciting a sigh out of him.
"No, I can't say my group would be thrilled to have a spineless baby hanging out with us." He said flatly, I looked at him in anger as I punched his thigh. "I'm not a baby, I can do magic spells and the sort!" I all but shouted puffing out my chest in pride and jabbing my thumb to my chest in confidence.
"Can you do any telekinetic spells?" He questioned, I thought about it for a moment, the theory on it was complicated, but I can do it if I practice a little bit. "Mhm probably, but more importantly I can do pyrokinesis!" I chirped out, Jen'sel let out a laugh, my face scrunching up in annoyance at being mocked.
"Hey guys come back!" Jen'sel yelled out to his friends, they all turned to face us, and he motioned for them to come closer. He looked down at me his face taking on a weird smirk as he did so. "I think I may have found a way for you to prove your cool enough to hang with us." He said and I happily jumped in the air at the prospect.
Tranquillen several hours later.
After saying he had a test for me to prove my worth, Jen'sel and some of the older kids led me into a nearby alley, after having setup a various assortment of junk ranging from a half-eaten apple all the way to Jen'sels personal coin pouch. And for the past several hours I had been practicing the very unflashy technique of telekinesis, after a while the other kids got bored with my lack of progress failing to lift and drag even the half-eaten apple to my hand. "Alright, this is lame and a waste of time, I'm going home." One of the boys of the group said, shortly before turning around and leaving the alleyway.
"Come on get back here Soren, I'm sure she's almost got it figured out!" Jen'sel shouted aloud, the sole female of the group turned to face Jen'sel. "I'm out to, I can't really blame Soren, it's been 3 hours and she can barely even lift the coin pouch." She sighed turning to follow the boy whose name I know knew to be Soren. And with those two gone the other 3 left following closely behind them. Leaving me and Jen'sel in the alleyway alone.
"Ugh this was stupid to begin with, can you even use magic?" He muttered; I nodded my head embarrassed at my inability to grasp telekinesis despite it being on the earlier pages of the book.
I produced a small little candlelight on my finger and beamed at him, earning a sigh of frustration.
"Alright Syndra you have one last chance to do this otherwise I'm leaving and you're not getting another chance until your this tall." He said, placing his hand shoulder level. And looking at me skeptically.
Placing my hand out in front of me I stilled my emotions as I entered a state of concentration reaching out with my mind, I felt a weird sensation as though my mind was stretching itself into a long string. Grabbing a hold of the bag I struggled with the weight of the bag feeling as though I was lifting a giant rock. Struggling to get it to move I felt my head get dizzy, as I kept concentrating, there was an audible silence as I could feel the pull on the bag get stronger and the weight get lighter. Eventually I felt the bag touch the palm of my hand and I opened my eyes seeing that the bag was indeed there. Happiness got the best of me as my eyes widened and the concentration holding the bag was lost, causing it to promptly fall and hit the ground.
"Yes, I did it I did it! Did you see that Jen'sel?" I exclaimed looking at him with the excitement of a puppy.
"I guess this wasn't all a waste of time." He said, trying to sound cool, but the big old smile on his face was denying his attempt at being cool.
"What's this task you wanted me to do?!" I questioned, a hopeful glimmer of excitement in my eyes. He looked away from me, "Well it's a little late for that since everyone else left, but I think I have an idea." He replied, leading me out of the alleyway and towards the town center. On our way over we passed by the Dragon hawks stable, and I noticed in the corner of my the stable hands working at unpacking a beautiful blue and silver Dragon hawk that had just flown in.
Oddly enough this Dragon Hawk was outfitted with a dark grey saddle adorned with fanciful jewels, connected to each side of the saddle were two small tabards, bearing a house sigil of which I was unfamiliar with. "Someone from the capital." I whispered to myself, pausing in my step and staring at the beautiful Dragon Hawk as it just laid on it's perch letting the two stable hands do their work.
"What was that?" Jen'sel asked looking back to see me frozen in place by awe at the Dragon hawk. "Oh yeah I suppose that's cool." He said, turning his attention forward and continuing forward with a skip in my step I ran up to him.
"What do you think about that Dragon Hawk, do you think we could play with it if we found the owner?" I asked, looking up at him hopeful for a good answer.
"What I think is you should leave it alone, with a ride that luxurious it's probably some magister from the capital with a big chip on their shoulder." He replied his voice taking on a hint of annoyance. However, at the word that it might be a new Magister from the capital my heart was racing with excitement.
"Well, that's all the more reason to find them maybe they would teach me a spell!" I said in all but a shout, not noticing that we had finally arrived in the town center where all the
Merchants had set themselves up at.
Jen'sel and I had walked through the packed streets, Jen'sel was looking amongst the different stalls seemingly not satisfied with what he was seeing, until eventually we came across a human's cart converted into a stall. It had gadgets and all manner of weird metallic devices.
"Come one come all, devices and gadgets from the gnomes of Gnomeregan for all your daily needs, a device that not only works as a sunless sun dial, but also as an indoor heater. Or maybe a doll that can walk and talk so long as the gear on it's back is turned!" He shouted, taking a moment to turn the gear on the dolls back I couldn't help, but to squeal in excitement as the doll came alive and started walking back and forth along the ground. The merchant looked down at me and gave me a small smile before turning his attention to Jen'sel
"Come now young master, it seems your sister is in love with this creation, it's a popular design in places from Lordaeron, and all the way to stormwind before the kingdoms capture, what better of a gift for the pretty little lady." He said, I blushed in embarrassment looking up at Jen'sel hopeful, but Jen'sel's eyes were wide open in shock.
"Well regrettably sir, I don't have the kind of money that this here 'doll' your selling costs." I followed the direction of his gaze and balked at the price of the dolls price as well. A whopping 20 silver for one doll. Grabbing a hold of my hand he dragged me the other way leaving the stall dejected I gave one last look back at the mechanical wonders the man sold and saw the disappointed look of the merchant who lost some customers.
Eventually Jen'sel had led me in a great big circle going through the marketplace until we ended up in an alleyway behind the stall. Of the very same merchant selling mechanical wonders, Jen'sel looked around the stall for the briefest of moments before smirking.
"Alright Syndra, if you grab me that palm sized circular device with the gemstone in the middle you can hang with us." He said, pointing in the direction of said device, I frowned slightly at his request.
"But that's stealing, and dad wouldn't be happy about it." I said, shaking my head at the idea of using magic to steal that object. "it's not stealing because we'll give it back right after." He said quickly giving me two thumbs up and a grin more akin to a fox.
"Alright I suppose so." I replied, unsure of how morale this was, pressing onwards I closed my eyes and reaching out with my mind. Repeating the steps from before I could see a clear vision of what it was, I was after. I felt the weight of the bauble, but for some reason the mental strain was even more of a burden than Jen'sels coin pouch despite being lighter. It was as though my mana was being weighed on or more accurately as though there was an opposite mind pulling on the bauble in question. I strained my mind pulling against the counter force, my head ached, and my body trembled from overusing what little mana I already had. I could hear Jen'sel telling me to give it up and tried shaking me to disrupt my concentration, but I felt like this opposite pull was a good challenge to overcome and pressed on. As I drew the object closer my mind was screaming at me slightly and could feel a warm fluid drip down my face, until eventually the bauble was in my hand. Opening my eyes, I looked at Jen'sel with a sense of accomplishment as I nearly collapsed, falling to my knees dropping the bauble, but Jen'sel grabbed my by the shoulders and stopped my fall.
"You're crazy Syndra, you didn't have to hurt yourself just to get whatever this is." He said, picking the item in question which on closer inspection was the sun dial the merchant was advertising earlier. I smiled weakly at him already feeling the mental strain starting to subside "I had t-" I said, being interrupted by the yelling and screaming of that merchant who noticed us, but more importantly the stolen dial. I was half expecting Jen'sel to take the dial and run, but instead he tossed the object at the merchant's head who narrowly caught it, before scooping me up in one move and booking it out of there. The merchant seemed like he was giving chase, but ended up chasing us out of the alleyway before returning to his stall muttering something about stupid kids everywhere he went.
We had ended up at the spire overlooking the whole town where the residential town Magister Kaenas Silentfeather works out of alongside the chief of the town.
Sitting on the steps of the spire, Jen'sel was huffing in and out deep breaths with my head resting on his lap as he set me down to catch his breath.
"Sorry I messed up and gave our position away." I said tears starting to well up in my eyes, "now we look like a pair of thieves." I continued taking in deep gulps of breath.
"No, it's alright Syndra, I shouldn't have put you up to that task, it wasn't right and if our dads found out we. No if they found out I put you up to it I'd be skinned alive by both." He replied patting my head as he sat me up.
"Also, I'm sorry I didn't really intend to return the gadget." He said, I smiled at him "I realized that…" I said giving him a weak smile trying to be strong, around this time a robed figure was walking down the spire and away from us. They were wearing a shabby light brown cloak which that was in tatters and from a distance concealed most of what seemed to be an intricately woven robe.
"Now stop crying like a baby and let's get you home before your dad comes home early." He said about ready to pick me up again, but I was able to stand on my own, my legs feeling weak and wobbly. The figure drew closer, and I shifted to the side making way for what was clearly a woman who walked past us, I heard the faintest sound of coins clinking in a pouch and noticed the pouch that was loosely tied to her waistline.
I smiled cheering up from getting caught earlier and had an idea as to how I could earn my place with the older kids and show my greatness. Reaching out with my mind I concentrated on the pouch that was getting further and further away, concentrating on the contents I could see or rather feel a collection of coins and gems.
Jen'sel at this point forced my arm down and was telling me to knock it off. I pressed onwards concentrating on one of the coins I began to tug at its weight with my mind, the pull from earlier, however, was even stronger than before. Before long I could feel the weakness from before getting ever stronger, but I forced myself forward and it wasn't long before I felt the shifting of the coin and it finally began moving towards the top of the pouch and forced its way through the top of the bag creating an opening.
I opened my eyes hoping to not have alerted the person, but she seemed to be oblivious to the action and the coin that I now noticed was a golden coin gently fell into my hand. Smiling weakly I handed it over to him, though despite the amount of money that I had just stolen Jen'sel was busy eying the stranger who continued her way a look of mortified fear on his face. If my nose was dripping blood before, it was flowing freely now and couldn't hold myself up any longer collapsing completely my head almost hitting the paved road only to be caught at the last moment by Jen'sel padded the fall and carried me away towards the outskirts of Tranquillen towards my home. We had made it to the edge of town and the sun was setting before I finally felt the strength of my body returning and there was an audible silence as he carried me there finding the silence uncomfortable, I looked at him with a toothy grin squinting as the sun still shone brightly into my face.
"Thanks Jen'sel I think I'm good enough to stand." I said, he set me down gently, but refused to respond continuing his way to my house. I looked at his retreating form and eventually fell into step behind him as he led the way, he didn't exactly make eye contact or say much of anything after I nabbed the coin.
"That was horribly reckless." He said, looking back at me as he glared daggers into me, "All's well that ends well!" I said confidently, before Jen'sel stopped suddenly in his tracks taking a knee, grabbing me by the shoulders and looking at me in the eyes.
"That was a Magister, Syndra, an agent of the convocation and you… No we bloody stole from them, do you know what the punishment for that is?" He said, a look of anger on his face, Feeling the anger through his tone I lost all my confidence and happiness I shook my head at him. "Well, I don't either it's up to the whims of whomever the offended Magister was, if they catch us." He said, his eyes softening as he stood up and started walking again, I could feel the tears start to well up in my eyes as we walked on.
Suddenly, however, Jen'sel stopped again, I half expected him to lay into me again, but he just stood there frozen.
I looked past him and saw the Magister in question whom I stole from, looking at us both, her face in a smirk.
"I believe you two have something of mine." She said, resting her hands on her hips, before she slowly walked towards us, Jen'sel putting himself inbetween us he shifted his gaze to me, "Syndra you need to run, I put you up to this, I'll try and buy you some time to get away." He said quietly, focusing his attention back on her.
"No, I can't leave you, it was me who took the coin Jen'sel!" I shouted, meanwhile Jen'sel was moving us along the road until the forests were positioned to our rear.
"Syndra do as I say, I got you into this mess and get out of here!" he said pushing me into the shrub line, "Run Syndra!" he yelled, charging forward with a battle cry. It wasn't even a second when a peculiar sound resounded through the clearing and Jen'sel groaning in pain before the thud of the ground being hit.
I turned and looked to see the crumpled form of Jen'sel on the ground, but the woman was nowhere to be seen,
"Jen'sel!" I shouted, before feeling a hand being placed on my shoulder.
My body freezing in place as my blood ran cold at the touch, I turned to face her, a victorious smirk on her face. "I think you should worry more about yourself little one."
AN: This story is going to be a slow burn I'll try to update my chapters more often, since I finally got some stability with my current job and have a set amount of hours, but other than that please leave a comment and review.