Chronicles of Kaely and Fentin

        Kaely and I were almost always together.  We learned the same things from her mother every day that we traveled, ate the same meals that everyone in the caravan shared, and even slept in the same wagon during storms.  Kaely had always been afraid of storms and said “I can’t sleep without Fen around!” quite often during these storms.  Our parents had given up trying to keep us apart long ago, and just took it with a grain of salt.

         Kaely’s parents didn’t really care for my father, because he was just a sentinel for the caravan.  He was just the person that kept everyone safe and alive when we got attacked by bandits, or a screeching beast found its way into our camp at night.  Her mother was a crafter, and made some of the most sought after jewelry in the region.  Her father was a trader, and sold them at high prices where ever they went.  To them we were just hired muscle, despite the fact that they kept traveling with us because the other caravans were nowhere near as safe as ours.

         Our caravan was often changing.  Sometimes between cities, we would have a caravan as long as twenty, and once we had thirty wagons.  The size was always changing, but we tried to keep it around twelve.  It was a large enough number that most beasts would steer clear of us, but it was also small enough to manage with just setting up schedules for night watches, instead of having to hire guards who might turn their backs on us and let us die when things got rough.

         When we pulled into cities for the market days my father and I would go off on our own, and he would train me to be strong, smart, and as fast as him.  He was the greatest warrior I had ever seen, but I had a very different physique than him.  My father was a large man by most meanings.  He was taller than most men by almost a full head length, and had more muscles than anyone I had ever seen.  His hair was a dark red color, and his eyes were brown like mud.

         Then there was me.  I was just above average height for being fifteen years old, but I was scrawny.  I didn’t have a huge mass of muscles, but I was fairly strong and it caught most people off guard.  Though, where my father was strong I was quick and smart.  I could see the attacks coming at me before the swing had even started.  It seemed to most people that I had a sixth sense when it came to fighting and, because of my father’s training, I rarely lost a fight but never started them.

         “Your built like your mother…”  He would tell me, and then laugh at the face I made.  “Not like that, you are no girly boy.  That is for certain.  But you are very quick, and can dodge just about anything like a professional arena fighter.”

         The thing about him was that he hated talking about my mother.  He loved her with all his heart, but would never tell me where she was or if she was even alive.  All he ever said was “She’s gone… just gone.”  Then he would get a distant look in his eyes, like he could see across the world to where she was.

         Almost every night though, Kaely would wake me up and ask me to take a walk with her.  Once we turned fifteen I started carrying weapons when we went out on walks.  It just felt right to be carrying them, and knowing they were there just in case.

         One night when she came to wake me up she seemed panicked.  She had a wild look in her dark brown eyes, and was frantic as she said “Can you meet me at the fire pit?  I can’t sleep, and feel better when you’re around…”  She trailed of when my father moved in his sleep.  Then she turned quickly on here heels and walked away.

         That was the thing about my father.  He could sleep through anything, but always woke up when he was needed, or when the sun came up.  He said I would learn how to do it when I was older, but I didn’t see how it was possible for me to sleep like he did.

         “Kaely, it’s late.  What’s wrong?”  I asked her when I came up to sit next to her.

         The air was cold that night.  Far colder than it should have been for the dry season, so we sat close to the fire, and close enough to each other so that we were knee to knee.

         That night it seemed that the forest around us was silent.  There were no night bugs singing in the trees, and the only time we heard anything other than the fire was when one of the overnight watch came close to see who was at the fire pit.  Tonight it was a man named Morten, and his son Albrigin.  They didn’t talk to us much, but they were both very kind when they did.

         When she looked up at me I could see the pain in her eyes, but underneath that was raw fear.  “My parents want to send me away Fen.  They said when we make it farther west, towards the island city, they want me to stay there for schooling.”

         The firelight danced across her face, but I didn’t need the light to know how she looked.  She had large brown eyes that turned from small diamond shapes to perfect circles when she was surprised.  Her hair was a dark tan from being in the sun most days.  All of her features were wrapped in a pleasant oval face, and framed with dark blonde hair.  Every time I saw her by the fire I couldn’t help but thinking how easy and pleasing it was to look at her.

         I looked deep into her eyes, and saw how she really felt.  She didn’t want to go because it wasn’t her home.  We had both grown up in the caravan.  Since we were born our families had traveled together, and now they wanted to break us apart.  Then I realized where they wanted to send her…

         “But all they have in Talonsreach are the magic schools…  You can’t go there, that’s not fair!”  I said indignantly.

         Tears began to streak down her cheeks as she looked me in the eyes.  “I showed the first sign three days ago, and my parents have been arguing ever since.  All they can agree on is sending me there, and they keep talking about what I did.  They don’t want me to learn, they just want me gone…”  That’s when she started to sob, and leaned into my arms for comfort.

         For a time, all I could do was try to comfort her.  I wanted her to stop crying, but not just because she was sad.  I wanted her to calm down enough to tell me what had happened, and after a while she finally started to get control of herself and sat up again.

         “Do you remember a few days ago…  when I wasn’t feeling well?”  She asked.

         I looked at her like she had gone crazy, and a ghost of a smile crossed her face.  “It was a miserable day as I recall it.”  I replied.

         “Fentin, you are amazing at making people feel better.”  She said quietly.

         We sat in silence for a few moments, and just stared into each other’s eyes like we couldn’t get enough of the other.  “You’re trying to change the subject, like usual.”  I chided.

         Kaely shook her head, and looked at me like she had never seen me in her life before she continued her story.  “Sorry…  Well, I wasn’t feeling well.  Mother says I had a high fever, and to be honest, I don’t remember much.  Just little things through the day that don’t make any sense, but one thing I do remember was waking up and sitting bolt upright.  I felt like someone had strapped me to a pole in a lightning storm.  It felt like a charge struck me, and I started to release energy…”  She trailed off with her eyes going unfocused.

         “What do you mean?  You released energy?”  I asked, a little afraid of what she would say next.

         “I pulsed pure electricity Fen.  It just rolled off of me like water over stone.”  She said almost to herself, and then hugged me even closer.

         Pale streaks of light began to roll over the sky as dawn approached, and I realized that it was almost time to pack camp and head out for the day.  I made to stand up when I saw that Kaely was asleep in my arms.  She was curled up under her cloak and was breathing softly with her head buried into my shoulder.

         “Kaely.”  I whispered to her.  “Come on.  Let’s get to my wagon and get some rest.  We can travel in my wagon for the day.  You don’t need to tell me everything right now, if you don’t want to.”

         She mumbled ascent, and stood groggily.  We walked to my wagon, where my father had already started to pack.  He didn’t seem very thrilled when we came up to the back of the wagon, and I practically had to lift Kaely into the back.

         “What’s wrong with girly?”  My father asked.  He always referred to her as my girly, even though I protested that we weren’t seeing each other that way.

         “She’s just tired.  I thought she could sleep for a while in our wagon.  If it’s okay with you father.”  I replied.

         He looked down at us, and thought for a moment.  His eyes got really distant, and then he refocused.  He never thought about it before.  It was always a yes thing for Kaely to ride with us, but this time he seemed to be struggling for an answer.  “Alright…  but you need to do some of the reigning today.  There are some things you and I need to talk about.  So get rest while you can, and I’ll wake you up for mid-day meal.”

         I nodded, and loaded Kaely into the sleeping space and curled up next to her.  It had been a long night, and we were both exhausted.  Sleep came fast for once.

         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, and it was hot out.  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 gave me 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.

         “Heat lightning… just heat lightning.”  I told myself.

         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.

         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.