Wiz

1036 Words3 Pages

The old wizard pulled his hood back and turned to close the mighty hardwood door behind him. The wood was smooth where he placed his hand for more than one hundred winters. When the door closed, its locking bolt slid into place with an audible click. D'Mari took the stairs two at a time as she bounded for her teacher and locked him in a great hug.

"It is good to have you back," she said.

"It is good to be back, my child" the wizard replied.

"I have not been a child for three winters, old man," D'Mari said, rising up on her toes, a smile on her lightly tanned face. Nearing her fourteenth winter, D'Mari was determined to reach First Pillar before her fifteenth and be the youngest in the kingdom to do so.

"Unless you have found some magic I am not aware of," Bob was saying as he was startled by a loud rap on the door. It was loud enough to echo up the stairwell and beyond. Immediately, the doors wards and spells sprung to life, magically sealing the portal and preparing itself to withstand the greatest of assaults.

"Bob , I have need of your wisdom and advice on an urgent matter," a voice called from beyond the door. "A messenger's horse has returned without its rider and there's an arrow protruding from its left hindquarter. It was followed thereafter by a carriage, two horses, no riders or passengers. Please, " the caller begged, "we need audience."

D'Mari glanced at her teacher, caught his slight nod, then placed her palm on the dark, wooden door, still rough in her chosen spot. She wiggled her toes inside her soft leather boots, taking comfort in the presence of a smooth, copper ring on her second toe. "Vren," she intoned softly and the wards dissipated and the locking bolt slid back into...

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... runes came to life. It was the last thing D'Mari saw as darkness settled in.

Garlen cleared the dishes from his small dinner table as he did each night around sundown. His wife, Laneigh, placed a a kettle of water on the kitchen wood stove for happil tea. The four room cottage had a small kitchen, comfortable living room with a small fireplace, a sleeping room and a locked storage space. Garlen built the home while they stayed with the innkeeper some twenty winters ago. After this, Garlen renovated the old mill and, after two years of effort, returned it to its former glory. Local growers of wheat, barley, and stirgegrass celebrated its return with a feast for the small hamlet, no longer did they have to grind by hand or travel twenty leagues to reach the nearest mill.

"Have some tea, my dear," Laneigh said to her husband, handing him a small cup.

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