Magic Wild and Untamed

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. That was definitely important. Staring at the map and the markings that had evidently been so painstakingly etched upon it, Asta felt her pulse quicken in her veins. Who else knew this?

She shuffled the parchment to the other she had been given, her eyes running over the familiar handwriting. There was so much of it, and she didn’t have the time to take it in. This looked like it had been compiled over many years and, with a hasty shuddering breath, Asta rolled both pieces together and tucked them into her bag.

Barely a minute later she was practically running up the dimly lit corridor to her mentor’s room and scrambling inside. Mirae had given her direct instructions. Pack lightly. Take no more than five minutes. Asta had followed them exactly.

“Do you know where you are going?”

“I…” Asta looked back to the bed, her eyes moving over the woman laying there. “South…” she breathed, moving forward. “Mirae…” she began, but stopped as a hand was lifted mere inches from the covers, silencing her.

“You need to take that, and go.” Mirae said, and Asta wanted to shake her head, but listened instead. “They’ll try to stop you. It won’t take them long to understand I’ve sent you.”

Asta was looking at Mirae silently. Over the last couple of weeks the older woman’s hair had turned from brown to white, giving her an even older appearance. Quickly, her health had begun to fail, and dread had begun to grow in the pit of Asta’s stomach. “When you’re better, we can both go…” She knew that the words were stupid, just as she knew Mirae would not be getting better. They both knew it.

“I’m afraid that time has come and gone.” Mirae said, her voice now barely more than a whisper. “They know, Asta.” Asta moved toward the bed, trying to listen more closely.

“What do they know?” Fear spiked through her when Mirae’s pale eyes flicked to the bag in Asta’s hands. “You found information?” She knew Mirae had spent countless hours in the archives, she had even helped her for much of it through her own training. Everybody knew that her mentor spent long hours in the archives; this was nothing new or surprising.

“You have it.” Mirae said, “And you need to get it to my sister.” Pale eyes closed for a moment, “I am sorry that this has fallen to you. I had intended to take it myself.”

“Mirae,” Asta began again, “is this the reason that…” she gestured to the bed. Was whatever Mirae had written on the parchment in Asta’s bag important enough for someone to have done this to her? Mirae just looked at her, eyes regretful, and Asta knew she had her answer. Swallowing thickly, she willed herself not to cry. “I… don’t…”

“Sweet girl,” Mirae breathed, sounding tired, “you will have time for sentimentality later.” Asta shook her head, but Mirae pressed on, “I know this is not fair, and that I should have found another way to do this. This is, unfortunately, the situation with which we are faced. Can I face this knowing you will do as I ask?”

“Of course.”

Mirae nodded just a little. “I sent a letter to my sister. She will be expecting you.” Asta tightened her hold on her bag. Mirae had known Asta would have to be the one to go? She should not have been surprised. Mirae had always seemed to know everything.

“Did you tell her whatever it is that you?” Asta lifted the bag a little.

“No. I had not finished.”

Standing there, holding her bag tightly, Asta tried to gather her thoughts. She knew that in her bag she had something important. Apparently it was important enough for somebody to do this to Mirae, and now she was going to have to leave the only place she had ever really known as a home and travel south on her own to find a woman she had never met. “I will do it.” She said softly, and Mirae gave her a weak smile.

“I know. Go now.” Mirae lifted her hand again, moving beneath her blanket for a moment before coming back out holding something. “Take this.”

Asta did not know what to say when the other woman dropped a heavy ring into the palm of her hand. Staring at the large sapphire stone, Asta bit her lip. This was the stone through which Mirae accessed her magic, and giving it up meant that Mirae would be cut off from that magic. Understanding and sadness washed though Asta as she closed her hand around the ring and she met Mirae’s eyes again.

“You will have until dinner before your absence will be noticed.”

Asta pocketed the ring, too large for her own fingers, and she nodded silently. She knew that she would not see Mirae again, and she wanted badly to hug her. Doing so seemed somehow unthinkable though, so she reached out and touched the blanket over the other woman for a moment. “Thank you.” She said, knowing that those simple words did little to convey all that she wanted to say, for all that the older woman had done for her in the years since they had met.

They held one another’s eyes for a long moment, and then Asta stepped back. She could feel the urgency creeping up on her again. Dinner was less than three hours away, and she only had that time to try and get out of the city without anyone taking notice.

“Go.” Mirae’s voice was gentle, and Asta turned and hurried back to the door. She did not allow herself to look back to the woman she knew would never rise from that bed again. Silently, and with her heart thundering in her chest, Asta slipped back into the hallway and ran.

Asta was more than a little impressed with herself when she got all the way through the city to the walls without anyone stopping her or getting in her way. She had been lucky enough to have avoided anyone on her way out of the tower and the rest of the Blue Halls, and she had known that wearing her blue cloak, nobody would think to question her in the rest of the city. Getting through the gates, though. That was a different matter. The cloak marked her as one of the novices of the Halls, and she would be memorable heading out of the city on her own. She had status within the city, but she was certainly not invisible.

Surreptitiously, she watched the gate for several minutes, trying to come up with an excuse as to why she needed to leave, or a way to sneak past the guards. Before Mirae had found her, before Asta had gone to the Blue Halls, she would have found this task less challenging than finding her dinner for the evening. It had been years, however, since she had had to scrounge for food, and this kind of thing was no longer her talent. She had other talents now.

Creeping closer to the gates, still careful to avoid drawing attention, Asta concentrated on the two guards on duty. Sapphire magic was adept at illusion, and Asta had been a good student. She was still a novice, however, and she had never managed to completely enchant the minds of two grown men before. She didn’t know if she had that kind of power. Stopping for a moment, she found her hand going to her pocket, and then she held Mirae’s sapphire ring carefully in her grip.

The ring was heavy and ornate, and in the centre of the setting was the largest Sapphire Asta had seen anyone use to channel their magic. If she were to use this ring, she was sure her magic would be boosted. Perhaps enough to help her get through the gates without being seen.

“Alright…” Asta breathed, trying to talk herself up to the challenge. She had not attempted anything like this before and she did not yet possess a ring of her own through which to focus her magic, so she was trusting this entirely to theory she had studied. “Alright…” Perhaps this was why Mirae had given her the ring in the first place. Asta rather thought the reason was probably much more important than sneaking past the city guards, but this was the problem at hand, and it was a start.

Around her the noise of the city rattled and chattered, the sound of street children fighting somewhere nearby, and Asta cut it all out. She focused entirely upon the Sapphire in her hand, willing the wild magic she could feel beneath her skin to also focus upon it. Mirae had sometimes talked about the Sapphire Asta would one day wear as a gateway, and that was what Asta tried to imagine now. It was not as difficult as she had expected, and somehow she felt she knew when it was time. Taking a breath, she turned her attention to the guards, trying to turn that magic out, to push it toward them. She was unprepared when it seemed to wrap around her instead.

One quick gasp, almost panicked, was all Asta managed before her brain caught up with her and she realised what had happened. The magic she knew she had next to no control over had changed its design. Instead of settling on the guards to ensure they would not notice her, it had enveloped her so that she may pass unnoticed by anyone. Not knowing how long the magic would last, Asta did not waste any time. She gripped the ring tightly in one hand, securing her bag on her back with the other, and ran for the gates.

She didn’t stop. Even beyond the gates and far enough down the road that there was next to no threat of being spotted, Asta ran on. She ran until her lungs burned and she was forced to stop, drawing ragged breath after breath, pressing a hand to her chest and wishing that she hadn’t entirely given up on exercise during her time in the Blue Halls. There had been a time when she could have gone twice the distance which now threatened to just about kill her.

Glancing back up the road, Asta tried to force herself to take slow breaths as she decided if she had actually gone far enough to risk walking. There was a coach station about an hour’s walk away, and she figured she would try and get a coach south as far as she could. The afternoon was pleasant enough, the sun warm and the breeze cool, and she figured it would even be a pleasant walk if she tried to forget about what had happened to Mirae.

Forcing herself to push thoughts of her mentor to the back of her mind, Asta began walking with purpose. She felt the magic around herself fall, dissipating into the day around her, and she tucked Mirae’s ring securely back into her pocket. She was unprepared for the pain which struck her an instant later. Both of her hands went to her head and she shrieked as what felt like a nail was driven straight into her forehead.

“Oh, my…” Asta couldn’t see, even if she hadn’t been squeezing her eyes tightly shut. Her skull felt as if it was splintering apart, and she barely had the sense to stagger off of the road and to the left before she fell.

*

Time had evidently passed when Asta opened her eyes. She blinked at the stars twinkling brightly in the night sky, and she remained still for several moments as she tried to work out what had happened to her. It had been day, and now it was not. That was clear. Around her the breeze shifted gently, coolness against her skin, and yet she was not cold. Orange light flickered from somewhere out of her periphery, and Asta sat up when she realised that there was a fire.

“There you are.”

Spinning around in the dirt, Asta scrambled backwards for a moment until she saw the man sitting by the fire a few feet away from her. Her heart raced as she stared at him.

“Hello, Blue Eyes.” Asta knew that voice.

“Tal?”

“Been a while, hasn’t it?” He picked up a stick and poked at the fire for a few moments before those familiar brown eyes shifted to her, and Asta nodded. She hadn’t seen him since she had been fifteen and Mirae had found her on the streets and taken her to the Blue Halls for training.

“Five years…” she said softly, eyes moving over him. “You look different.”

Tal let out a small bark of a laugh, putting his stick down beside the fire. “Not as different as you look, I’d wager.”

“Having regular access to a bath will do that.” Asta replied, but she knew what he meant. When they had known one another they had both been straddling the border between childhood and becoming adults. Tal was only two years older than Asta herself, and had been seventeen when she had last seen him. In the years since he had grown broader, and his face more angular. Any softness he may have had at seventeen had been lost to him, and she knew that she must look much the same way to him. Those dark eyes were the same, however, and they shone with amusement as he looked at her now. “What?” she asked, unsure why she was feeling more at ease with every passing moment. She may have known Tal years ago, but she didn’t know him now. She shouldn’t trust him. She knew that, and yet she found herself shuffling closer to his fire.

“It’s just…” Tal smiled, “… interesting.”

“What is?”

“Finding you out here like this.”

Asta glanced around herself, remembering the pain she had felt on the road.

“You’re lucky I saw you stumble off the road and collapse.” Tal told her, “Anyone could have come across you.” He frowned then, tilting his head as he looked at her. “What happened to you?” he asked, “Why did you collapse like that?”

“I used too much magic.” She said simply. She should have expected something of the sort to happen. “I used the Sapphire. It’s completely above my level.”

“Oh?” Tal tilted his head even further, eyes locked on her. “And why did you do that?”

“Why were you here?” Asta asked, trying to divert the conversation. “I thought you left the city years ago.”

“I didn’t think you were aware of anything I did after we last saw one another…”

Asta knew why he would be of that impression. Mirae had quite literally plucked her from her life on the streets where food and shelter were not guaranteed from day to day. Asta had suddenly found herself with somewhere warm to sleep and several meals provided morning and night. The price had been to cut ties with her previous life and, considering she had had no real family, that had been a price she had chosen to pay. Tal had been her friend, though. More than a few times in the years since, Asta had thought of him and felt guilt at leaving him with little more than a brief farewell. “I may have asked around.” She said after several moments in which there had been no sound other than the gentle crackle of the fire between them. “A few months after I last saw you when I had been given time out of the Halls. I asked about you. I was told that you’d left the city.”

“I did.”

“Where did you go?” Asta asked.

“Everywhere,”

Asta looked at him again. His boots were well worn from travel, and he seemed to carry no more than a small bag which also looked worn. A blade sat beside him and, though he would not have known how to properly use it five years ago, Asta was instantly certain that now he knew how to use it well. “I see.”

Another laugh from Tal brought Asta’s gaze back to his face, and he seemed to have been aware of her appraisal of him. “Much has changed in the years you’ve been cloistered away in those Halls, Blue Eyes.”

Unsure if he were referring to just himself, or if he meant the wider world as a whole, Asta nodded slowly. Novices in the Halls were kept muchly away from the world, only allowed out even into the city sparingly on rare occasions and only for short periods of time. Having been an active part of that world previously, she was more than aware of what she had been missing and that she was strikingly naïve. Tal was the least of it although, as her eyes moved over him again, another flush of guilt washed over Asta and she found herself disappointed that she knew literally nothing about what he had been doing and what had happened in the last five years of his life. Not knowing what to say to him, Asta remained quiet, now watching the flames licking the wood within the fire.

“You say you used the Sapphire.” Tal began. “You said it was above your level.”

“It is.”

“You don’t have your own Sapphire?”

“No.” The Sapphire was the highest level of that brand of magic, and it would take her decades to get there. “You don’t just finish training and get handed a Sapphire.”

“Apparently you do.” He lifted his left hand, Mirae’s ring on his little finger. “You left the Halls with this…”

“Hey…” Asta’s hand slapped down on her pocket. She hadn’t noticed that the ring was no longer there. “Give it back.”

“You can not use it…” He grinned at her, not moving to return the ring at all. “Or can you? Isn’t this what you used for your little vanishing act?”

“I shouldn’t have.” She said, wondering if he had been there in the city when she had cast that spell, “The Sapphire channels more magic than I can control. I’m not there yet.” She said, “I’m not due to have my ceremony for another month yet.” It wouldn’t be until then that she would receive her first channelling stone. “If I’m lucky, I’ll get a Topaz.”

“If it’s not your level, how did you use it at all?” Tal sounded curious, peering at the jewel closely in the firelight.

“Mirae told me once that she believed I will one day wear the Sapphire.” It was hard to believe that she might one day be even somewhat comparable to Mirae. “Perhaps that is why…”

“Talent there but untrained?” Tal asked, “You could be that good a Caster?” he pressed, “Like she was? Mirae?”

“If I finish my training, I suppose so.” Asta frowned, not sure she would ever return to the Blue Halls. “They poisoned her, Tal. She’s dead.” The weight of those words seemed to just collapse down on her then and Asta’s hands balled into fists which she clenched together. Tal hadn’t said anything for a long moment and, when she glanced at him, she saw how tight his own expression was.

“I’m sorry.” He said after a while. “I heard the bells… knew someone in the Halls had died. I hadn’t thought it would be her.” He frowned, narrowing his eyes. “What you do mean they poisoned her?”

“She knew something.” Asta breathed, “Found something in her studies. She knew they would look to stop her from telling others.”

“Is that what you have in your bag?” He nodded his head at Asta’s bag which sat open beside him.

“Did you go through everything I have on me?” Asta asked, reaching for the bag and slipping her hand inside. The parchment was there, and she relaxed.

“Yes.” He paused for just a moment. “I obviously read it.” Asta was unsurprised.

“And?” She asked. She hadn’t read it all herself more than the quick glance she had given it before leaving the Halls.

Tal frowned again, and his eyes flicked from Asta to the fire where they remained for a long moment. Not breaking the silence, Asta just sat watching him. She knew that he was considering what it was that he wanted to say, and she had almost reached for the bag to read what was there herself when Tal sat up a little straighter. “I’d be interested to know what was in the Valley before the Dragons came down from the mountains.”

“Yes.” Asta agreed. That had been something she had seen when she had glanced at the parchment.”

“What does it mean?” He asked her, “All the things that are happening all over the continent?”

Shaking her head, Asta pulled her bag closer to herself. “I don’t know.” She said, and it was the truth. “I haven’t read it. I didn’t have time.” Looking around herself, Asta grew uncomfortable. “Where are we?” She asked. Around them were small trees and shrubs, but that was all she could see, aside from the bright night sky.

“Ah.” Tal looked as if her question had pulled him from his thoughts. “Not far from where you collapsed.” He told her, “I carried you about ten or so minutes.”

Knowing that she was still so close to the city gates, Asta surged to her feet. “I need to go.” She said, “I need to get to Mirae’s sister.”

“The Green House?” Tal asked, and Asta nodded.

“She’s a healer there.” She slipped her bag onto her back, before looking at the man still sitting by the fire. “How did you now she was at the Green House?”

“I’ve been there.” He said, a grin flickering across his face. “It’s not green…”

“Is it not?” She blinked, having always pictured the Green House as a deep green. That was stupid, she figured, as the Blue Halls certainly weren’t actually blue. “It’s… their brand of magic.” She said, more to herself than to Tal.

“Yes, I’m aware.” He replied, now also getting to his feet.

“Did you meet Mirae’s sister?” Asta had barely asked the question when a crunch sounded nearby. She had turned her head in the direction of the sound, not even with time to react more than that when Tal had crossed the small space to her, one of his hands closing around her elbow as he pulled her out of the firelight and into the shadows. She went with him, her eyes still scanning the area she figured the sound had come from. “Someone is…”

“Shh. I know.” Tal hushed her, pressing her back behind himself as he backed them further into the dark.

Asta remained silent then, watching over Tal’s shoulder when she felt herself pressed up against the trunk of a large tree. Two city guards came out of the dark, their navy uniforms distinctive even in the firelight, and Asta was pretty sure she stopped breathing. Tal pressed back against her, and it was only then that she noticed he’d picked up his blade and now held it in his right hand. She was thankful for him then, as she was certain that the city guards were looking for her. Mirae had said that they would try to stop her getting to the Green House, and Asta supposed that it would have been all too easy to send the city Guard after her. She was unsure, however, if they intended to return her to the Blue Halls or if they would just kill her and be done with it. Considering what had been done to Mirae, Asta did not think that being murdered was unlikely.

“Nobody here…” One of the Guards was saying and Asta lay a hand carefully on Tal’s shoulder.

“Can’t have gone far.” The other Guard responded. “Fresh wood on the fire…” Asta glanced at the fire. It was burning merrily and did indeed suggest that whoever owned it was nearby.

“Wouldn’t be her anyway.” The first guard said. “She’ll be long gone by now. Probably hopped a Coach at the station hours ago.” Asta tightened her hand on Tal’s shoulder. That had been her plan. If Tal hadn’t found her and brought her here, if she had have gotten on a Coach, there might have been Guards waiting for her at her destination. The thought frightened her. She had no idea what she was doing. Why had Mirae chosen her for this?

As the Guards made their way around the small clearing, closer to where Asta and Tal hid in the trees, Asta bit her lip. She held her breath again, watching the two large men looking this way and that. Tal pressed more firmly back against Asta, and she tightened her hand on him again. The hard muscle of him felt reassuring, and she felt her breath ease. Even more reassuring was the relaxed way in which he held the blade in his hand. It was clear he knew how to use that blade, and Asta knew that he would protect her. He had when they had been younger, living on the streets and, even though they had not seen one another in five years, she knew that he would protect her still now.

The two guards left the light back they way they had come, and Asta and Tal remained still, listening to the sounds of the two men fading into the distance and the darkness. Eventually, Tal relaxed a little and stepped away from Asta. She just looked at him when he turned to face her, expression almost unreadable in the darkness. “You’re right.” He said softly, “We need to go.”

“We?” she asked.

“I’m guessing this is why Mirae sent for me.”

“What?” Asta blinked and Tal nodded.

“I received a request from her not a week ago. She asked me to return to the city, and said that my old friend would have need of me.” He smiled at her, teeth flashing in the faint firelight. “You can imagine my confusion when I arrived to find you trying to sneak out of the city under some enchantment.”

“You have always had interesting timing.” She murmured, mind racing. If Mirae had known enough of what was to come to send for Tal, why had she not taken the time to tell Asta about it? Why had she been kept in the dark? Perhaps her mentor had hoped to keep Asta from being poisoned as she had been. Perhaps Mirae had kept Asta safe for as long as she had been able.

“Here.” Tal brought a hand up, passing Asta the Sapphire ring and she took it wordlessly. It felt warm after being held by Tal, and Asta blinked, trying to will the burning tears away. She wouldn’t cry. Not yet. “We can travel south off the roads.” Tal was saying, “We will do what we can to avoid you having to use magic if it’s going to have the same effect on you as before.”

“It shouldn’t…” Asta murmured, “As long as I don’t use too much.”

“Let’s avoid it at all if we can.” He said, “I’m assuming you have some of your own without having to use that ring.”

“Yes.”

“That’s what it was before, wasn’t it?” He asked, and Asta raised an eyebrow at him. “When we were younger. Doors were suddenly unlocked for you when they hadn’t been moments before when I’d tried? That strange… luck… which seemed to follow you?”

“Yes.” Asta told him. “That’s the Wild magic. Untamed. Untrained. I’ve been learning to channel it properly.”

Tal nodded, sheathing his blade. He seemed to have brushed the memory off as quickly as it had come and he wiped his hands on his pants before looking up to meet her eyes. “Alright.” He said, “I’ll feel better when we’re a distance from here.”

“Me too.” Asta agreed, her eyes going back to the spot the Guards had appeared from.

“Those two might still be close enough to see or hear,” he gestured at the fire, “I think we’re going to leave that…”

“You think they’re waiting to see who returns to it?”

“Possible.”

Asta nodded and adjusted her bag on her back. “Alright.” She agreed. Tal turned away from the fire, glancing at her over his shoulder as he headed into the trees and Asta just followed him. She wished that she could thank Mirae for sending for Tal, as she knew now that she wouldn’t have been able to do this without help. “Thank you,” She said softly to him a moment later and he looked at her over his shoulder again.

“For what?”

“For coming when Mirae asked.” Asta slipped the Sapphire ring into her pocket again. “If you hadn’t…” She broke off, and just listened to the soft sounds of the tress around them for several moments. The leaves crunched beneath their boots and rustled in the wind overhead. It was somehow quiet and yet loud at the same time, and it unnerved her.

“She knew just how to tug me in a way I wouldn’t be able to refuse.” His voice was flat, and Asta wondered just what Mirae had said in that letter she had sent. “We’ll travel an hour or two and then stop for the night.”

Asta just nodded, hoping that what she carried in her bag, what Mirae had died for, was worth all of this. First thing in the morning, she would be pulling that parchment from her bag and reading exactly what it was that Mirae had found.