Chronicles of Kaely and Fentin Chap. 2

For the first time I had a dream I could remember. I normally don’t have dream at all, and to actually remember one that I had was something new to me.
It was a sunny day in the dry season. It was hot out, and the insects in the trees were singing their songs. Sweat was pouring down my head as I practiced my fighting styles. There was one that my father had shown me that used a weighted staff, and all of your body weight as leverage. I favored this style because it gave me extra reach with my weapon, and the advantage of defending if my enemy got to close.
Everything seemed normal, until an ear piercing noise split through the forest around me. It was like a thunder clap, but it was way too close for comfort. I looked around wildly to see where it had come from, but couldn’t pin-point the location. Everything in the forest went silent as I looked around wildly to find the source of the monstrous boom.
“Heat lightning… just, heat lightning.” I told myself. Who was I kidding? I had always been afraid of lightning storm, just like Kaely.
I picked my weapon up again, and continued practicing until I heard it again. This time it seemed to be coming from where I stood though. It happened at the highest point of my attack patterns, and only seemed to happen when I used the strongest attacks.
I did a few more repetitions purposefully using my greatest strengths, and the thunder rolled every time I wanted it to. It was me that had caused it, and it was exhilarating. Then I tried to use not just the thunder, but the electricity that normally came with it.
Just as I had hoped, lightning cascaded from the end of my staff. It struck a tree and burnt it to ashes right in front of my eyes. Then I felt as if the lightning rebounded somehow, and it sent a violent shiver down my spine. The pain was so excruciating that I woke from my dream with my father shaking my shoulders.
“Wake up boy!” He was shouting. “Come back to me!”
As I opened my eyes, two figures were directly above me. When my vision cleared of sleep I saw Kaely with a wild panic in her eyes, and my father with a frantic look on his face. That was the first time I had ever seen my father afraid of anything.
“What’s going on?” I asked with slurred speech.
Relief overtook my father as he pulled me into his arms and hugged me close. “You just showed us a sign son. You just let loose electricity and thunder like I have never heard or seen in my life. Tell me what your dream was.”
I pulled myself into a sitting position and took a look around. The caravan had stopped for the mid-day meal, and everyone was standing around our wagon staring in awe at what I had just, unknowingly, done. At this point in time there were probably thirty faces all peering into our wagon with mixed expressions on their faces. Some wore expressions of fear, other wore interest, and others seemed like they didn’t know how to feel.
They all listened as I told the story of my dream, and startled gasps came from a few people as I got to the part where I could control it. Everyone looked at me with a mixture of fear and contempt. It was like I had turned into some sort of beast, and they were trying to figure out whether they should try to break me in or kill me.
Kaely was sitting next to me with a wild excitement in her eyes. “Does this mean he gets to go to Talonsreach with me? That would be so amazing!” She beamed as she started to bounce with excitement.
My father looked at me for a long moment before he said, “That will be up to him… but understand, that he just showed a different kind of magic than you girly. He just showed us some combat magic that, as I am aware of it, hasn’t been seen in a long time.”
“Please say you’ll come with me! It would make everything worthwhile, and we could still be together…” She started to say before her mother cut her off.
“Kaely, come down now.” Her mother said sternly. “You showed use of storm magic, and should not be consulting with someone like… like him.”
Kaely’s eyes went suddenly dark as she stared at her mother. “But he’s my best friend. This doesn’t change who he is, it just changes where we are going.” She said.
“Melmarta, perhaps we should speak about this elsewhere.” My father chimed in as he took in all the faces around us.
Kaely’s mother, Melmarta, looked around and sighed. “Fine. Come to our wagon for the meal, and we will talk. The rest of you, shove off! We don’t need our children being ogled like a piece of finery.” She said as she stalked off.
“That woman sure does have a temper…” My father said as he turned back to the wagon. “Alright, we’ll take an early meal today everyone, so eat up and be ready to leave.” He shouted over the crowd.
Despite what anyone said, my father was the leader of the caravan and everyone knew it. If he told you to stay close to the wagons, or hide when bandits were nearby… you did it, without question.