A Clash of Power (Chapter 1)

                                                 Chapter One    Jobs

         Kay almost walked straight into Master Haywood after he stepped through the gateway. Taking a step back from the visibly annoyed graying man, Kay waited for instructions. They had appeared in the communal plaza designated for gateways. People could make gateways anywhere this made it easier for the officials to keep track of people exiting and entering the town.
         “The rest of the day is yours, aside from the botched summoning you didn't do too awful today. That is all.” The last was a dismissal which Kay was happy to oblige. Saying goodbye to his master, Kay left the plaza and walked around the town where he lived with his Master. Every non-magical person was advised not to enter this town, it cold turn very dangerous for people who don’t have their wits about them, among many other things. The warnings were well heeded, as very few people ever visited the village. Just looking around Kay could see several streams of fire and someone who he went to the academy with on sitting cross legged in a sphere of water.
         Turning down a side street, Kay headed towards his favorite shop named “The Curious Tinker”. As Kay started towards the door a rather large woman came barging out, almost crashing into Kay and the window of another shop..
         “That man will be the death of me one day I swear.” The woman started before even glancing at Kay. “Oh, Kay dear good your here you need to talk to that man before he cracks his head open.” The woman herded Kay towards the doors of the shop, not even giving him time to protest before starting down the street Kay had just come from.
Stepping through the doorway Kay was greeted by the familiar sight of the back of a old man on the top step of a step ladder stretching to reach the top shelf of a bookcase fifteen shelves high against the painted dark red wall. The man had not yet noticed that Kay had entered the shop yet. Kay snickered.
         “Oi!” Kay shouted, hands cupped to his mouth.
         The outburst startled the aging man and he toppled over the ladder stopping only an inch before colliding with the wooden floor.
         “One of these days” the man began, nose pointed to the floor, “I am going to forget to cast the levitation charm and am going to break my head open. What would you do if that happened you ruffian?” The man spoke .
         “ If that were to happen then I would simply heal you before I scold you for climbing on top of that ladder again.” Kay constantly reminded the man that at his age, he should not be climbing on rickety old ladders when magic would suffice for any menial task.
         “One should not rely on magic for everything. What if one day we woke up and magic was gone? Far too many people these days forget how to do the simple things in life, they rely to much on their natural powers.” This was not the first time that the man had lectured Kay on the importance of knowing how to live without magic. Kay saw his point but the concept of living without magic was too strange an idea for him to grasp. He knew there were many people who did it every day but he was not one of them, and he never would be.
         “What do you have for me to do today Mr. Shaw?” Kay asked. He tried to work for the old shop keeper whenever he could. It was the only way he earned money, as his studies with Master Haywood did not allow time for a formal job.
         “Some Gargoyles were accidentally animated. I locked them in the basement but haven't gotten around to dealing with them. Take care of it will you.” Seeing Mr. Shaw already starting to climb the ladder again, Kay walked towards the door behind the checkout counter that led to the basement shaking his head in defeat.
         Before turning the brass handle of the door Kay took out a long strand of wire and wrapped it around the palm of his right hand.
         “You still need that do you?” He heard Mr. Shaw teased. Turning to answer the man Kay saw that he had not even turned his head. Shaking his Kay answered.
         “Yeah. I think I will for a while too.”
          When a person is discovered to have magic powers they are assigned to choose a medium. Something that they know as well as their own body. It's purpose is to limit the amount of magical energy that can be released at a young age. It also serves to help direct the energy, some of the most common mediums were wands or staffs. Kay had chosen the wire from a homemade doll his mother spent time making to amuse herself before both of his parents passed away. He had run his fingers along that wire for hours at a time and he could remember every bump along its entirety. As a person grew more skilled with their powers they could direct their energy without the help of a medium though some people never gave them up, they insisted that it was always easier to cast with the medium.
         Turning back towards the basement door Kay fed some power into the wire. A faint blue glow surrounded it. Kay had opened the door and walked down a few steps when he heard the rustling of the creatures. Reaching the bottom of the staircase Kay laid his eyes on the gargoyles. There were five of them, each had their unique features, one had eyes as round as marbles but as big as Kay’s fists, another had a long arm growing out of its back in addition to it’s two differently sized arms. Each of them was about as big as a medium sized dog with almost insect like green stone bodies.
         Almost in tandem their triangular shaped heads jerked in Kay's direction. They leaped towards him, Kay barely had time to put up his glowing right hand. A blinding flash of blue light shone and when it faded the gargoyles were lying face down on the ground squealing, clutching their eyes. It was a simple spell, one of the first things a new student learned was to create light from their medium. The wire wrapped around Kay's hand felt warmer than it had just a moment ago. Mediums always grew heated when the energy in them was used to perform any magical feat.
         Walking to each of the squealing gargoyles Kay touched each of them with the wire wrapped around his hand. Whenever it came in contact with one of them it pulsed slightly while Kay returned the animated gargoyles to their original states, as harmless stone statues. It took a while for Kay to line the statues against the basement wall as he had elected to do so without the aid of magic. he felt that would please Mr. Shaw.
         As Kay struggled to place the last statue in the line, he heard the door open at the top of the basement stairs. Looking up he saw Mr. Shaw standing in the doorway the sun at his back.
         “Almost done are you.” The man observed. “Well, I think that's all I have for you today. When you come up I'll give you your usual payment.”
          With that the man turned and walked out of sight, leaving the doorway wide open. Kay gave one last massive effort slipping the statue into place. He hurried up the stairs and stepped into the sunlight shining through the windows. Kay could tell that dark would be upon the soon, as the sun was already partially obstructed by the buildings across the street. Stepping in front of the counter Kay waited patiently for the Mr. Shaw to count out the gold coins and slide them across the glass to Kay. Not bothering to count them Kay thanked Mr. Shaw and turned to leave.
         “Oh I almost forgot.” Mr. Shaw suddenly exclaimed, causing Kay to turn back to face him. “Two young people came looking for you earlier in the day, a young lad and lady if I am remembering correctly.”
         A smile crept across Kay's face, he knew where the “lad and lady” would be. Thanking Mr. Shaw for the information and the payment he left the store. At the center of the village was a tall tower known as “The Watchtower”. It was was built hundreds of years ago to watch for some unknown threat in darker times. It now stood among rows of storefronts and homes. It was there Kay was headed.
         The town seemed to come alive this evening, people were crowding the streets making it impossible to see over the taller ones heads. To a bird, Kay would stick out like a sore thumb, his disheveled short red hair made him look like rooster in a hen house. As Kay continued to make his way slowly through the throng of people he was forced to take notice of the buildings surrounding him. There was a shop devoted to selling pure metals and other materials for the alchemists who loved to shape them into all sorts of fantastical objects. There was a puppet shop for those who like to animate creatures. A weapons shop for the ones who like to train their body as well as their powers. Everywhere he looked there was someone handing a merchant some coins for some wondrous item.
         It took Kay much longer than usual to make his way to the base of the watchtower, but after navigating his way through the sea of people he stood in front of the towers huge stone doors. It was still the tallest building in the town despite it also being one of the oldest. The watchtower was carved out of one massive stone by some of the most talented magicians in their time. Since then it has always been  tradition for the powerful magicians to take up residence in the tower. Currently there were fifty-two in residence including, at the top of the tower, one of Kay's oldest friends father.
         Finally reaching the doors to the tower, Kay took a long breath before swinging open one of the two stone doors. The inside of the tower always unnerved him, because the tower was a single stone there were no distinguishing marks. One could easily spend hours wandering the identical corridors just to end up where they started. The square entrance foyer was very sparse, there was only one wooden bench against the white stone wall. A empty picture frame hung over a table a table and a vase holding long dead flowers. Kay stared at the flowers in wonderment, this building was filled with some of the most powerful magicians of the day and not one of them had remembered to fill the vase with water. Shaking his head in confusion Kay walked through the foyer to the staircase.
         Kay started up the tight spiral staircase, it took several minutes for him to reach the the upper levels. Passing the last door that lead to the last living space Kay opened a hatch that lead to the roof of the tower. Kay was forced to shield his eyes from the evening sun. The roof of the tower gave a beautiful view of the village and the land beyond. Outside the perimeter village was a thick forest as far as the eye could see, Kay had never been beyond what he could see from the tower,  he could even spot the lake where he had received his lesson earlier in the day. Leaning on the barrier on the edge of the tower Kay gazed at the landscape daydreaming. He was so lost in his silent peace that he jerked his head to the right when he felt someone poke him on the shoulder. Seeing no one on his right Kay's head turned to his left, a smile already forming.
         “Stop trying to look so serious Kay.”
         Lucia Almon stood there, arms on her hips with a bright smile on her face. Her long golden hair, almost reaching her waist, almost matched the hue of the setting sun. Kay had long since given up denying to himself that he thought she was pretty, but he never told her that. If Lucia knew then she would probably box his ears and send him home feeling foolish.
         Behind Lucia stood another person with the same golden hair, broader shoulders and a straight back. Lucia's twin brother Damon had been friends with Kay as long as Lucia. One of them was always trying to on-up the other with Lucia shaking her head calling them both thick.
         “Late again Kay. We missed dinner because we were up here waiting for you.” Damon said coldly, he disliked missing any sort a meal.
         “Enough Damon” Lucia began, rescuing him “you can plainly see that he's exhausted. You had a lesson today didn’t you? Tell us about it.”
         Kay recounted the events of the day from the failed summoning to the job at The Curious Tinker. Lucia and Damon listened intently, only interrupting to ask the occasional question. Neither of the twins had been born with any magical ability, they enjoyed hearing about anything magic. Kay though that they were a little bit envious. Their father was possibly the most powerful sorcerer in the world, Kay could not imagine what it must be like not to be able to use any sort of magic when the pinnacle of power slept in the next room.
         “Sounds like a full day.” Lucia muttered after Kay was done with his report, Damon murmured in agreement.
         “What did you two do today?” Kay asked, not wanting to talk about himself the entire night.
         Lucia gave Damon a look that could have wilted a plant as she recounted her day. “He, over there decided to spend the entire day down in the training grounds with the guard.”
         “And she wouldn't take her nose out of her books.” Damon interrupted.
         While Lucia and Damon were remarkably similar in appearance, the similarities went no further. Damon was captivated with stories of heroes long gone and stories of monsters lurking in the dark. He was always on the lookout for Drowes even though everyone knew they only existed in stories mothers told their children to scare them into behaving. He was constantly training with the non-magical guard that watched over the borders of the village. His body rippled with muscle, something Kay was a bit envious of, and his eyes carried a deadly quality about them. Aside from a intimidating appearance however there was not much to fear from Damon, unless you put someone in danger he was a as passive as an old dog.
         While Damon was outgoing and adventurous, preferring to act before thinking of the consequences, Lucia was almost reclusive, almost never seen without a large book tucked under her arm. Lucia was by no means a hermit, she just preferred the company of books to the company of most people. The people who sometimes called her cold would never dream of doing so had they ever seen her luminous smile or heard her melodic laugh. Lucia loved all things ancient, she was constantly wandering around the old tower, searching for some long lost room or a door she would insist no one had opened in hundreds of years.
         The sun was threatening to set behind the distant tree line while the twins were still bickering, Kay did his best to hide a smile and was given a thump on the head by Lucia for failing to do so. They had always been like this, no real obligations in their life other than studies. Kay knew it would someday end, possibly soon they were almost considered adults now. He would leave the village for a time to broaden his view of the world aside from what he could see from atop this tower as was tradition of a young sorcerer when he left his master. When he finally returned he would be a different person, and so would Lucia and Damon.
         “It’s getting dark.” Kay said, wanting to interrupt his own solemn thoughts. “I should get back to the house, otherwise Master Haywood will have a fit.”
         “We should probably go too.” Lucia added, silencing the beginning of Damon’s protests.
         The three friends walked down the spiral staircase, talking of their plans for the coming days. When they reached the door that lead to the twins residence they stood in front of it for a time, not wanting to part just yet. When they finally did separate Kay was forced to run down the stairs, hopping over the last several. If he didn’t make it back to the house in time Master Haywood really would have a fit.