Chapter 1

Rainy Days of Winter

Novembre 19, 5599

Rain fell from the sky in droves, saturating the land in a never-ending downpour. Winter was here, and the world seemed like it would never be dry again.

Two days after Maidawn and her group of fellow travelers arrived at Theleisium’s cottage, they realized that the rain wasn’t about to let up any time soon. Puddles gathered around the cottage, as the ground became saturated with water. Rain pounded the cottage and barn while winds whipped through the branches of the nearby piney trees.  Lightning flashed across the sky, natural lightning, not Maidawn’s magical lightning, and thunder rolled over the treetops, causing the animals of the forest to cower in fear.

Everyone in Theleisium’s cottage or barn stayed inside, unless they decided that they needed to run to the other building for some reason. Most of the animals that lived in the Latibule Forest agreed with them and didn’t venture out into the tempest. No one wanted to be outside in this weather.

Theleisium stood in front of the window in the main room. He shook his head and frowned. He turned around to find Alizabet watching him from across the room.

“It looks pretty miserable out there,” she commented.

“It’s like the weather decided that we must stay here instead of heading to Kexy Island. To be prevented from finding the rest of the Amber Armor by this blasted rain is frustrating.” Theleisium punched his left hand with his right fist.

“I know, and I agree.” Alizabet crossed the room, placed a hand on his fist, and took his hand into hers. “But since we’re stuck here, maybe you should think about training Maidawn and Shorn. Everyone has had time to recover from the trek here, and they’re starting to bounce off the walls with too much energy. These two know so little about how Amber magic works and have been using it almost blindly. I’ve taught them what I can, but you have more knowledge of it than me, by a great deal. They need your guidance in this matter.”

“Yes, yes, I was going to train them while we travelled, but maybe we should start the process here while we wait for this storm to pass.”

“Did you just mention some training?” Maidawn asked, coming in through the front door. She stomped her wet feet on the doormat, unbuttoned her coat, removed it, and then shook the rain off. Shorn quickly followed, closing the door behind him. There was a loud crash as the door shook. It was wrenched open, and Stench came in holding his nose.

“Gee, thanks,” the green goblin said stuffily.

“Oops! Sorry, little buddy.” Shorn patted his friend on the head, who promptly swiped the big blorc’s hand away.

Alizabet walked to the table, picked up a cup, and took a sip of tea. “Yes, Maidawn, we were just talking about that. Since we’re stuck here, for the time being, Theleisium is going to start training both of you in the ways of Amber magic. It’s different than any other magic in that it relies on your emotions, rather than memorizing spells.”

Maidawn and Shorn nodded, as they both had kind of figured that out on their own. They had already discovered that they could communicate with the Hourm, otherwise known as horaft trees, an intelligent species of tree that lived on the planet Kepler. Maidawn also found that she was able to control lightning somewhat, but doing so always left her feeling drained of energy. Shorn, on the other hand, was able to communicate with kricketts, specifically a krickett named Jumper. He had also befriended a tiny flairie named Spck. She didn’t talk to him in any language he could understand, but that certainly didn’t stop her from trying. However, Spck seemed to comprehend what Shorn said when he talked to her in his native language.

“I think we can do that.” Theleisium turned around and made his way down the hallway between the two rooms. Alizabet followed close behind. He stopped in front of the red door at the end of the hallway and turned back to Maidawn and Shorn. “Well, are you coming?”

“Oh, you mean now?” Maidawn ran to her room and hung her wet coat on a bedpost. She quickly turned and made her way to stand behind Alizabet.

“The red door,” Stench whispered, as he followed Shorn down the hallway, walking sneakily on his tip-toes. When they had arrived two days earlier, he had tried to open this door, but discovered that it was magically locked and wouldn’t open for him, no matter how hard he tried. It looked like he was finally going to have a chance to see what was behind the mysterious door and maybe find something for his collection of knick-knacks. Nervously, he twisted the ring on his finger, the ring that would let him magically transport to another location, as long as the destination was visible.

Theleisium took his wand out of his sleeve and pointed it at the door handle. “Öpîstrùs flå dû nìsdöf’ggt.”

With an audible click, the red door slowly swung inward, its hinges creaking from lack of use.

“After you, Alizabet.” Theleisium waved her in.

“Thank you.” She nodded and walked into the massive training room. Theleisium followed with Maidawn and Shorn hot on his heels. They were both very excited and stopped to looked around in amazement.

Stench peered into the large room in front of him. He started forward and ran into an invisible force field that stopped him at the doorway. “Hey!” he yelled, banging his fists on the clear blockade, and then gave it a good kick or two just for good measure.

Theleisium turned at the noise and saw the green goblin pounding on the imperceptible barrier. “I’m sorry, my diminutive friend, but only magic users may enter.”

“What? Wait! Hey, that’s not right. I am Griffin Killer. I should be allowed to enter. Plus, I have a magic ring!” Stench waved his hand in the air over his head, pointing at Poof.

Theleisium aimed his wand at the door, which swung shut in Stench’s face. Stench just stood there for a moment and said “Poof,” hoping to transport into the room. Nothing happened. In frustration, he punched the barrier once more, turned around, and stomped out of the cabin. The wind almost knocked him off his feet, so he ran as fast as he could, wiping the rain from his eyes as he splashed hurriedly through the puddles. He headed straight to the barn so he could tell his dwarf friend, Thorfrn Throkreaver, what had just happened.

Inside the training room, both Maidawn and Shorn looked around in amazement. The room was much bigger than either thought possible. In fact, it appeared to be at least four times larger than the entire cabin.

Maidawn swung her arm and asked, “How is this possible? The cabin is small, yet this room is huge.”

Shorn nodded in agreement, rubbing his chin as he pondered this mystery.

“Ah, yes, well, that’s quite easy to explain,” Theleisium stated. “Magic.” The mage winked at them. “There’s still much you don’t know about the mysterious forces of magical arts. You have much to learn and little time to do so, as we will start out for Kexy Island as soon as we can. Let’s focus on why you’re here. Both of you came to see me — well, at least Maidawn did — to study and learn about Amber magic.”

Shorn smiled. He had been chasing down Maidawn, not Theleisium. He hadn’t known anything about the mage in the woods until he learned about him after meeting Maidawn’s party at Winsome Chasm.

Theleisium continued, “You two are the only ones who can wield this specific type of magic, as it’s literally woven into your very essence. I have studied it for almost 70 years and know as much about it as anyone, but not nearly everything. Some things you will just have to discover on your own. But for now, time is precious and it’s running out. We need to get started.”

Alizabet spoke up, “As you can see, this training room is specially designed for the casting of magic. You cannot cause any damage to the room itself, as it’s protected by magical wards. Also, this room is sealed from the outside world, so no mage will be able to detect your use of Amber magic in here. You will be able to practice as much as you’d like.”

“But how will I be able to call down lightning?” Maidawn asked, looking up at the ceiling. “There’s a roof over our heads.”

“Ahh, that’s easy, my child,” Theleisium jumped in. “In reality, your lightning doesn’t come from the clouds. The lightning is within you, in a way. You don’t need to call it down from the sky above. Your body is a vessel that is always drawing in the electrical energy from the air and storing it within you. That’s what Amber magic does for you. Now, we just need to teach you how to access and control that magic. That’s what is going to take the most time to learn. It’ll be difficult to master, but with practice, you will succeed.”

Maidawn nodded at all of this, not quite sure what to think. “The lightning is within me. Hmm, I’ve never thought of it that way. That kind of makes sense, in a way. Well, I’m all ears, ready to learn more about it.” She reached a hand out toward Shorn and poked him in the arm. “Zap,” she said, smiling.

Shorn jumped a bit, and then realized that Maidawn was kidding. “Ha!”

Alizabet wished she had known this information so she could have relayed it to Maidawn on their journey across Chelt. But, she wasn’t an expert on Amber magic. She had done the best that she could.

“What about me?” Shorn asked. “I don’t control lightning. And I don’t think the kricketts are within me, as least, I hope not.” Shorn felt his stomach, hoping he didn’t find anything moving around underneath his skin.

“No, they certainly are not! You’re a different matter.” Theleisium tugged on his short beard as he thought about Shorn’s ability to summon kricketts. “Hmm, we’ll have to work with you to figure out what your magic can do. You’ve mentioned that you can communicate with kricketts. But I’m sure that there has to be more to it than that. I wonder if you can talk to other creatures? Hmm. We’ll have to work together to discover your abilities.”

“I can help with that,” Alizabet added.

“Sounds good to me,” Shorn said, smiling, as he really liked the enchantress.

“All right, then. Let’s get started.”