There Is No Destiny

~Chapter One~
Of Mages and Tamers


Not that being different is a crime, only that when your family is dead set on what they want for you and you have promptly decided that you have chosen a different path, they can make it sound like first degree murder. So, when a young human girl, daring to be different, decided to differ from her family's wishes, it was, as you can guess, no exception.
Born into a family of greatly renouned mages, Elylia Mardenus, never wanted to learn the ways of the magi. From the day she was put into this world animals have always been drawn to her, naturally trusting her with their life and she, in return, would trust them with hers. So there inlies the secret, to be trusted one must first trust, a secret that her mother still has not learned, nor does it seem that she will be learning it in the near future. However close minded and hard headed they would be to the fact that their little girl was interested in the arts of creature taming, rather then the magic of being a mage, Elylia would not let them force feed her any longer. It had gone on for far too long. Ever since she could walk they were constantly teaching her the magic in the elements and how to control them and manipulate them to aide her. Now, she's not exactaly complaining, since she is very interested in the elements, she just doesn't have that "gift" that, so it would seem, her entire family has. Elylia, however, does have a gift, the gift of taming. Taming is one of the most mysterious and ancient abilities that humans can learn to control. Along with magery, which is the ability to control the elements, the act of taming is not something that one can simply learn over night. The gift chooses you, so to speak. The act of creature taming comes naturally, though there are a few magnificent tamers that have studied the skill all of their life and, with years and years of practice and no doubt nights of reading on the skill, can tame just as well. Though for those few that try to teach themselves how to tame, there is one fall back. Strong willed and magical creatures can turn on them at any given moment, so it is a very dangerous thing to teach one self. The self tought tamers, however, only need to worry about this when it comes to intelligent and very strong willed creatures, such as: dragons, gryffons, celinox, unicrons, nightmares, ki-rin and most expecially the legendary fire steed. Elylia, however, is without a doubt one of those once in a century tamers that are actually born with the gift.

The year is of the second age and the rule over the lands of Truviem belongs to king Venriff. Such as his fathers before him his views on the way things should be run is no different, so life for the passed 54 years has been steady, boring almost. The last war was almost two hundred years ago and many were begining to believe that the orcs and imps were dying out. Though some, the elders mostly, were not so arrogant in thinking. For far to the east an evil was resurfacing, one that perhaps cannot be stopped. Though like most humans are, they will never listen to truth, but would much rather go on living the lie that they are so accustomed to. The elders are a dying breed, so to speak, and those who are willing to listen and truely believe their words of warning and wisdom are even harder to come acrossed. Though the troubles of this world is the last thing on the mind of a sixteen year old girl.
Elylia took a deep breath, wondering if she should really do this. She was about to confront her parents about her place in the world. Though to some this might not seem such a tragedy, but if you were to spend a mere five minuets with her mother, you would see where her views rest, unwavering and hard as stone. Elylia deffinately knows how hard headed and opinionated her mother is, there for adding stress upon more stress. She took another breath before entering the stables where her parents were working on building the new stall where the newly purchased cow would be housed.
"Hello Elylia" said her father wipping sweat off of his forehead and looking at his daughter with a smile
"Hello, father" she smiled back.
"Something wrong?" he asked looking quizically at her. That was one thing about her father that she both loved and hated, you could never lie to him. Not necassarily that you wouldn't try to, just that he knows when someone is telling the truth or yanking his chain.
"No, but uhm--" she began nervously. This is what caught her mother's attention. It seemed, to Elylia, that her mother was drawn to panic and could almost smell fear.
"What is the problem El?" she asked raising an eyebrow. Elylia hated that look, it made her feel vulnerable, as if even her thoughts were no longer a haven.
"Well, we all know I'm almost of age and I will be leaving home soon to start my own life, my own legacy." she began, "and I know that our family is known for it's powerful and anceit magery skills." her mother seemed to beam at this and that made Elylia even more nervous.
"Yes?" said her father crouching down on the ground and stroking the family cat as she pranced arrogently passed them.
"And," Elylia began again, now begining to sweat a little. "I just don't see myself going anywhere in this life as a mage, and you both know that I was born with the ability to tame and I would love nothing more then to persue that." There was a long uneasy silence before it was broken suddenly by her mother's furious voice. She spoke so loudly and suddenly that even Crys, the family cat, jumped at her voice, it almost sounded like a bull whip cracking in the air.
"I will not have my only daughter being some dirty, poor and traveling stable girl!" she yelled, her eyes filling rapidly with anger and to Elylia's surpirse, some hurt aswell.
"Mother! You know aswell as I do that I am no good at magery! I hear the others talk about me, I am not deaf!" Elylia retored with a new found confidence in her voice. She was not going to let them beat her down again, not this time.
"Don't you take that tone with me Elylia!" her mother boomed. Elylia simply looked down at her feet and shuffled them nervously, that sudden feeling of courage was now gone.
"Asel, she has the right to--" began Elylia's father but he was soon cut short as her mother glared at him and spat,
"Krayven! This is unacceptable! How dare you take sides with her! We have had this talk a hundred times and a hundred times over! She is a Mardenus! There for it is her birth place to become a mage! Have these years of trainging been a waste?!" Elylia felt herself sinking lower, her heart felt like it weighed a hundred pounds and was sinking to her feet. Hot salty tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes. She could never see herself staying in this village all the rest of her life, living in the same house she had been raised in. She wanted to see the world, see all of the beautiful and magnificent creatures it has to offer. She then felt sweaty and sick to her stomache. She knew that if she died here, she would die a sad and deffeated women.
"It is my birthday in three days! I'm going to be seventeen and then you have no say in what I do or where I go!" she felt angry now, angry that her own mother wouldn't let her spread her wings and live her dream.
"Is that what you think will happen?" asked her mother haughtily, a dangerous sneer creeping onto her face, which was still livid with anger. "If you think you can just leave and start a life of your own, we have certainly raised you wrongly! Though that is apparent if you think you can become a dirty rouge tamer!" she hissed sharply, making her daughter feel even lower. It was very hot and uncomfortable in the stables and on top of that the air was now thick with tension. Elylia clenched her hands into small balls of rage. She was about to say something, but could only choke on the knot in her throat. Then one at a time, the tears began to fall. Elylia knew the cold hard facts. She could not leave this place unless given money by her parents, since the inns are no longer free and the stables even cost money to board up your horse, or various creatures. She couldn't get a job, since no one with common sense would hire a young women. She was deffeated and it showed on her pained face.
"She is a wonderful tamer Asel, you know that. I know that it hurts you to see it when your daughter cannot even finish a simple spell." began her father. He had stayed quiet and nuetral ever since her mother had screamed at him aswell, and that was how it usually stayed when they all talked about Elylia and her taming gift. Though this time it was obvious that he had seen enough of his daughter's tears and pain. "but let that be even more a reason to let her go on and become a tamer. There is no use in leading a horse to water if it refuses to drink." he finished with a sigh and it was obvious that he wasn't exctally thrilled either at the thought of Elylia becoming a wandering tamer.
"Krayven..." began her mother, this time she had turned the volume on her voice down to a near whisper. Never before had she been ganged up on by her husband and daughter, and it was obvious that she was the beaten one now.
"I just don't want you to get hurt El, but it would be a lie if I told you that I am not disappointed in the fact that you do not want to become a mage. Do you know how many tamers there are left in Truviem? or the whole world for that matter?" asked her mother. Elylia simply shook her head, still in shock that her father had actually stood up against her mother.
"Very, very few! Do you know why?" Her mother didn't even let Elylia answer this time, "because they are either killed on their adventures or slaughted by their own pets!" she finished with concern in her voice and Krayven, Elylia's father, put a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"That is true, but not for the ones born with taming in them, like me, mother!" Elylia was not going to lose not after her father had mustered up so much courage to stick up for her. "I was born with it, everyone in this family knows it. When Dopper went mad that night in the thunder storm, it was me who calmed him! Me! A young girl made a panicking draft horse stop dead in his tracks because I looked him in the eyes! Does that mean nothing to you? Can't you see it? This is what I was meant to be!" she then wipped the tears from her cheeks, regaining her compsuer. "You also know I have never touched a book or scroll on the skill of taming, that alone should say something to you." Elylia fnished with a sigh of relief, mainly just happy to have that off of her chest.

NOTE: I am not finished.