Chapter 4: The World of Magic
Donogol Village
At the wooden gates of the village, Nathan saw children laughing and chasing each others' backs. There were no The watchmen stood by guarding the entrance for any suspicious men while the women stayed at their tiny huts, waiting for their husbands to come back.
Two figures emerged from the entrance. One was smaller and was holding a rope that was connected to the one tied around the other person. The other person was a little taller and was tied up tightly. The two of them passed by the village youngsters who stopped playing and directly gazed at them. Murmurs of the villagers clustering together overlapped.
"What's that girl doing?"
"The guy looks strange."
"Isn't that from girl a mage?"
"Yeah. They were supposed to get the one who stole the Donogol relic."
"Where's the big guy?"
The whispers of the people crowded Cosette's aching mind. She had been crying all the way and suddenly stopped when they reached the village gates. Nathan was quiet but he there were times in when he would try to break the strong cord. Nathan was still unable to adapt to the surroundings. Everything was bizarre to him. The plants, the animals, the people, all of it yet he didn't panicked and continued to stay calm and think of where he was now.
Nathan and Cosette proceeded inside a medium sized straw hut. Inside were two beds made of dried plant fibers. The place was dark and the only light came from the open entrance. At the corner were two loaded bags. Cosette approached Nathan and untied him slowly without saying a word.
"Thank you for that." Nathan said as he stretched his hand up in the air.
Cosette moved toward the bags. She bent down and opened one of them and after that she pulled out fresh clothes. She threw them to Nathan with force and the teenage boy easily caught it.
"There's your change of clothes." Cosette said grouchily.
Nathan turned against Cosette and took off his shirt. Cosette's blue eyes just stared at him until a mark on Nathan's back caught her attention. At the top right side of Nathan's back was a familiar sign. It was an eight-pointed sun and around it were vines with thorns. The drawing was painted black and after seeing it, Cosette remembered a specific person that was close to her.
"Now I feel refreshed, even though I feel strange with this clothing" Nathan thought as he finished dressing up.
He wore a plain white shirt on the top with an orange jacket. On the bottom were khaki slacks and a pair of rubber shoes.
Just then, a small old man carrying a wooden staff entered. He had a wrinkled face and his brows were about to meet. He looked serious and Cosette new why.
"Where is the village's relic?!" The village chief's voice sounded angry.
"Uhhmmm" Cosette was shaking, her head bowing. She was scared to face the village chief.
"Tell me little girl! Aren't you suppose to catch whoever stole it?!!" The old man became loud.
Cosette winced. She was speechless and ashamed for not being able to complete the request. For the last 3 days they had a mission to fulfill- it was to retrieve the Donogol Wand from whoever stole it and bring back to the village. There were some speculations that the person who stole it was hiding at the huge forest near the village and so Cosette and Elli went to investigate. But then, Cosette returned to the village empty handed and also, without his partner.
"You puny wizard," The village chief moved closer to Cosette, his eyes full of range and his staff glowing.
"I'm asking you where is it?!" The old man raised his staff and planned on striking Cosette.
Luckily, Nathan was there and he quickly blocked the staff using his arm. He instantly felt the pain of blocking it, like their was electricity flowing inside his body. Both Cosette and the village chief were shocked and motionless. Just then, the staff loosed it's glow and it finally went back to normal. The cruel old man pulled out his staff away from Nathan and stood speechless because of what he did.
"The sight of people striking harmless little children disgust me! She has done nothing to deserve something like that. If you want the relic so much then how about you go and seek it!" Nathan was mad at the village chief.
"H-h-how dare you say that! Depart away from my village you two! I'll just call mages from other lodges to look for the wand!" The chef commanded as he pointed to the village exit.
Montale Valley
"Are you sure you're okay?!"Cosette was concerned.
After the heated fight between the Village Chief, Nathan and Cosette quickly left the village.
"Hey, you've already ask me that question 117 times. I told you, it's just a little blister on the arm." Nathan answered for the 117th time.
"But, it was all because of me, I'm really sorry." Cosette was still apologizing.
"Please, I'm fine now. By the way, do you now how I can return back to Ireland?" Nathan spoke as they walk down the grassy trail.
"Hmmmm.... let's see.... there's Inklet, Imoph, Iyoulle, Itlas.......mmmmm.....No! I've never heard of a place called Ireland." Cosette responded.
"Well, I haven't heard of those places either." Nathan looked ahead. "I guess you'll never have an answer to that question."
"Huh? What are you talking about?" Cosette looked up at Nathan with confusion.
"Well, I don't know why I'm concluding this directly but I think I'm lost in your world." Nathan said calmly.
"I don't quite understand it but, does that mean that you're from another dimension?!" Cosette suddenly got excited.
As they were walking, Nathan observed around the place. The healthy growing plants, the cool wind passing by, the herd of deers drinking at the clear stream, the peaceful surroundings made Nathan calm and relaxed.
" Maybe I am. But this world might be interesting after all. How about telling me more about you're world? " He replied, feeling the breeze that was passing.
"Even though you're an egoistic straightforward person, I think it won't hurt if I'll tell you everything about this place." Cosette made a big smile.
Nathan was just quiet.
"First of all, in this world of ours, the most precious thing a person can ever posses is magic!" the little mage started her lecture.
"Magic eh?" Nathan had difficulty swallowing it. "It must be lucky for you here to have magic. Back at my planet, doesn't exist. It only appears in tales that parents read to their young ones in order for them to fall asleep."
"But magic is real!" Cosette protested.
"Yeah, yeah.... move on." Nathan said.
"More importantly, others said that magic is inherited, but that's wrong. The truth is, magic is a skill, if you have strong emotions towards magic then you have a huge possibility to acquire it." Cosette explained.
"So that means, emotions trigger magic powers." Nathan assumed.
"You could say that. Oh! People who can use magic are called mages. Some call us wizards, it's an honor to be called something like that. Then, each mage should be a member of a lodge so that the jobs can be organized and legal. Lodges are those where different wizards gather and look for requests." Cosette said as she and Nathan jumped over a small brook.
"So you're a mage? But you're still a little child." Nathan looked at Cosette with an astonished look.
"What's so surprising about it?" Cosotte was curious.
"Nothing." Nathan then turned away. "It's just that little girls like you should be educated at schools."
"Oh! You don't need schools as long as you have magic and management. I have friends in the lodge who can teach me useful things. The master also takes care of me since my parents abandoned since I was just a baby." Cosette remembered of her childhood.
When she was just a newborn baby, her parents left her inside a dump at the ally. It was raining hard that time and Cosette was having a high fever, she was going to die in a matter of hours. But then, in the midst of her crying a middle aged man found her and carried her in his arms. It turns out that he was a mage, and more importantly he was the head of a lodge. As Cosette grew up, she had a dream of protecting her new family and thus began her ambitions to learn magic.
"So, I assume you're a member of a lodge?" Nathan asked
"Yeah! It's called the Diamond Candle Lodge of Magic. The current head is chief Ivanox. You don't have to worry about the people at the lodge, they maybe always fighting but, trust me, they're all good hearted men and women." Cosette was excited to go home but a little worried about Elli.
Elli, I hope you are safe.
"How unusual." Nathan blurted out.
"What's unusual?" Cosette asked.
"Well, we've been talking to each other as we pass this valley yet we haven't introduced ourselves yet." Nathan realized.
"Oh no! you're right! I've been so caught up by the topic that I forgot to state my name! Oh! By the way, I'm Cosette Parsle." Cosette held out her hand.
"I'm Nathan. Nathaniel Knight. It's nice to have a handshake but I think I'll pass." Nathan refused to accept Cosette's hand.
"Why do you have to be so egoistic huh?!" Cosette got irritated.
"Wait a minute, I see people." Nathan looked far ahead and saw tiny moving people from their distance.
"We're getting closer Beatrix Town! Finally!" Cosette was glad to finally return home.
The sun was already sinking, the town's lights were switched on. It was quite a huge town with a lot of people living in it. Alas, Cosette was going back to a place where she can assure her safety.
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