Daniel's Early Days

Today was thee day. The tenth birthday for a child of magic was a rite of passage. It was the day they would begin the ascension of their own unique powers.

As long as Daniel could remember magic was a part of his life. His whole family had power, and he saw things that would bewilder other children. To Daniel it was just a part of life, and life was amazing.

Daniel lived in a big southern style house that had been part of his father’s family for generations, with his mother, father, and paternal grandmother. They lived in relative seclusion, as many families of their kind do, on the edge of a forest that spread for miles and miles before its gradual ascent up the mountains.

To Daniel’s great dismay, he wasn’t allowed to step foot in that forest, not until his powers had fully formed. Occasionally members of his family would venture into the woods for unknown reasons, but Daniel was forbidden under any circumstance to enter into those woods.

This hadn’t stopped him from trying. He had tried sneaking into the trees at every point he could manage. He tried army crawling under bushes, and climbing through high up in the trees. He had even tried entering the forest riding a goat that had spent a summer with their family. Once, he had spent an entire day trying to enter the forest from neighboring yards and fields. It didn’t matter what or where he tried, he always ran into an invisible barrier like a rubber glass wall. As soon as he ran into it, he bounced back out.

But, today was his birthday; he would finally turn ten, and then his powers would emerge. He knew a lot of what his powers would entail. In many ways, he would be similar to all the others with the gift. He would be able to will objects to move without touching them, and work various spells written in the family tomes. But, everyone had their own specialties, and Daniel couldn’t help but wonder what his powers would be.

Daniel practically leapt out of bed that morning. Although, he knew it wasn’t going to happen right away, he couldn’t resist testing his powers. He held his hand out like he’d seen his Father do a thousand times before. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on the smallest thing in his vicinity, a penny on his nightstand, fervently willing it to come to him. Nothing happened. Discouraged, he swiftly turned away from his disappointment.

Dressing hastily, he rushed down the hall, and bounded down the steps two at a time. Before he reached the bottom of the stairs, he could smell the pancakes. Grinning, he lithely jumped the last three steps, swung around the corner, and ran right into his father.

“Happy Birthday, Little Man!” his father exclaimed. He wrapped Daniel up in a big bear hug, nearly crushing the air out of him.

“Thanks, Dad,” he mumbled into his father’s shirt.

“Blueberry pancakes,” his mother called from deeper in the kitchen. Daniel’s father released him, and they followed the intoxicating smell of sweet cakes, and sugary syrup to the kitchen table. His mother was waiting with a stack of steaming pancakes. “Happy Birthday, sweetie,” she said softly, as she hugged him fiercely.

“Thanks, Mom.” Daniel accepted the pancakes from her, and slid into the antique wooden chair. Slathering warm syrup on his pancakes, he greedily dug into the stack with his fork.

Silently, his grandmother glided into the kitchen, her feet hanging a couple inches above the floor. The heavy skirt she wore dangling just low enough that it brushed the wooden planks as she moved to the table. “Happy Birthday Daniel,” she said with a twinkle in her soft brown eyes.

“Thanks, Grams,” Daniel mumbled with a full mouth.

“A big day for you; gonna get yourself in trouble, I expect,” she added knowingly.

“Of course Grams,” he laughed. She smiled at him causing the wrinkles around her eyes to smile as well. His Grandma was an extremely patient and understanding woman, but she could also be brutally blunt. She didn’t have much of a filter, and she never held back. “What did you see?” he asked leaning forward, wanting to know what was in store for him.

“Nothing yet,” she replied dismissively. “But, I don’t need the Sight to know that you are a magnet for trouble.” She chuckled softly at that, but his parents exchanged a strange look. Like his mother, his grandmother had the Sight; she had visions and dreams where she learned things no one else could possibly know. She had lived with them as long as Daniel could remember. He had never met his grandfather, and no one talked about him.

His grandmother liked to meddle with the weather, and had an affinity for creating new spells. Constantly experimenting, and always scribbling in her old leather bound book. Nevertheless, she still hadn’t found a spell to cure her arthritis, and Daniel’s mother’s healing only eased her pain temporarily. As an alternate solution, she had recently taken to levitating instead of walking, which Daniel envied immensely.

“The big one o,” his Dad began, shaking out the white linen napkin that his mother insisted on using at every meal. “Anything yet?” he asked, leaning toward Daniel conspiratorially.

“No,” Daniel answered sullenly through a mouth full of fluffy pancakes.

“Well, they will come,” his father said kindly. “Not all at once mind you, and usually when you least expect it. We can go outside after breakfast, and practice if you want”.

Daniel nodded eagerly. He could hardly wait to begin, but he knew his mother would never let him go without breakfast. So, he eagerly attacked his pancakes, but his mind was swarming with possibilities. He was dying to know what kind of powers he would have. His parents’ powers were openly displayed, and highly coveted by Daniel.

His mother had a supernatural green thumb, and her gardens were like no other. She employed her plants in spells and creating healing concoctions, but Daniel preferred the healing power of her touch over her strange potions. When Daniel injured himself, she would place her warm hands over the injury, and a sparkling blue light would percolate through his injury and be no more.

Daniel learned at a young age that lying to his mother was not a good idea because she had the Sight, and she periodically had premonitions of the future. She had telepathic abilities, and although she could read minds, she did her best to not invade on her family’s privacy.

His father was constantly amusing Daniel with animals from the forest. He had the natural ability to communicate with animals, without making a sound. Animals, along with the occasional magical creature from the forest, would always find their way to him, and seemed to delight in complying with his wishes. His mother and father were both accomplished telepaths, and were constantly holding entire conversations with each other in their minds.

Daniel knew his father also had powerful defensive magic, but the only time Daniel had ever witnessed any part of it was when he begged for a display of the blue lightning; he had never seen it in any real kind of action. He had, however, seen his father manipulate the weather on numerous occasions, and could see how this could come in handy if they ever needed protection.

As Daniel polished off his pancakes, he ruminated on the many possibilities he had before him. He had a good chance of developing powers like his parents, but most children had at least one power that was unique to them. Daniel couldn’t wait another minute to find out.

Before his father had even finished the pancakes on his plate, Daniel was dragging him out of his chair.

As soon as they got outside, Daniel made a bee line for the forest. He assumed that now that he was of age the ward would be down. A sharp whistle brought him to an abrupt stop. When he looked back, his father just shook his head. Daniel muttered under his breath, but he returned to his father obediently.

“When?” he asked when he was back at his father’s side.

“Not yet,” his father admonished. “The ward isn’t down yet. Just because you’re of age does not mean that you are ready yet. You have yet to even obtain your powers, let alone master them,” he said ruffling Daniel’s dark curls. “Besides, I want to show you something that may one day be the difference between life and death,” he added seriously.

Intrigued, Daniel immediately stopped sulking. “Really?” he whispered breathlessly.