home

search

TWO: Power

  Ephini has always visited Gilly while she was still recovering. She had a very doting personality, so Gilly quickly became fond of her. Now She was floating among the topmost shelves looking for something when she called out to Gilly. At first she looked around, seeing no one. Following Valmor's gaze, she looked up to see Ephini flying toward them. She descended before gracefully landing and bowing in front of her father, who nodded in approval. Zin's twin paid her no mind as he walked toward the front desk, seeming uninterested in their conversation. Gilly had only one question in mind after seeing Ephini descend.

  "What was that?"

  Ephini smiled in confusion, not understanding the question. After a few glances exchanged, she realized the question that she had brought. Smiling as she approached Gilly, she said one word.

  "Magic"

  Surprised, she had no idea when she repeated the word. Ephini chuckled as if she were looking at a child who had learned something new. This concept was foreign to her, so she looked at Ephini for more explanation. She nodded.

  "Magic is the effect of mana on the environment; it is what we use to bring our thoughts to the real world..."

  Valmor sighed as he listened to his daughter. Sometimes she was just an airhead. She was so into her explanation that she failed to notice Gilly's confused expression. Ephini seeing her father's expression made her smile nervously. At once she regained her composure, looking to her father to continue the explanation. He brought forth his hand, taking Gilly by the palm.

  "Pay attention to this feeling."

  She suddenly felt a strange flow from the old man's hand to hers. It was warm, like the summer sun on a rainy day, with a hint of an electrical feel to it. This feeling made her ecstatic as it was a first for her. She muttered.

  "So this is magic."

  He shook his head. Releasing his aura, a faint green wisp-like steam rose from his body. Gilly could see a green tint had enveloped Valmor like steam rising from a pot. And also felt a hint of pressure coming from it on her body. She was very happy to get this new experience; for some reason, she could not explain her joy. He finally clarified;

  "This is mana. This is magic."

  She understood the explanation from earlier that Ephini had given her. Valmor suppressed his aura, leaving her hand alone, and continued towards the large center ball. Gilly followed closely, smiling while holding her right arm. Ephini followed them closely, observing Gilly even more, wondering if the feeling of mana could make someone happy. She thought.

  "[What a strange girl.]"

  She stood in front of the giant sphere. It was transparent, slightly reflecting her image. Touching the silver ring as Valmor gave her the final tip. The sphere glowed as he touched it, lighting up three rings that revolved around the sphere as the sphere lit up ever so slightly. He stood back and gave her an instruction.

  "When you touch the silver ring, try replicating the feeling from before when you touched my hand."

  With her hand on the ring, she closed her eyes, trying to recreate the feeling in her head. She finally remembered another thing. A woman who looked like the reflection she had seen in the mirror. She looked up to the women, for she was held in her arms. The woman patted her head and smiled at her, a smile similar to what Ephini had on her face all the time.

  When she touched it at first, there was no response from the orb. A few moments later, a faint white glow came from the orb center. Ephini was nervous, for this meant she had little mana. Valmor shook his head in displeasure. Even Zin could not help but sigh. Just as a conclusion was about to be made, they all felt a sense of unprecedented danger coming from Gilly.

  A gust of wind began to swirl as Gilly began to float midair. The six rings lit up, which was followed by a shock wave after shock wave pushing everybody back. The tree trunk, which was the supporting pillar, began to glow as it made a humming sound. Valmor and Ephini were the closest and were pushed back against their own will. They used their strength, even putting up a barrier that shattered on impact.

  Books were blown from shelves as people hung onto objects for their dear lives. The wind increased, even pushing back Zin. Zin felt the cold sweat drip down his back. He only knew two people with such a frightening aura: one was his master, and the other was his master's friend. She had floated slightly in the air as the aura increased in volume, like a pressure pot being opened for the first time.

  Her aura raged for seconds before finally calming when she opened her eyes. All she could see were books lying around, and the people standing by her were now a few meters away from her, sweat on their faces and breath heavy. She was aloof to what had happened, for her eyes were closed the entire process. Seeing the nervous look on her face, she could not help but, while twirling her finger,

  "How… did I do?"

  She smiled at Valmor. He could not help but chuckle with a nervous expression. Ephini, on the other hand, knew one person who had such a beautiful and elegant aura: her mom, who had defended the elves she had rescued forty years ago. She summoned a staff of wood and golden rings at the bottom and a purple orb at the top. Slightly tapping the tip of the staff on the floor made all the fallen books arrange themselves on their respective shelves leaving no evidence of what had happened.

  The people were already recovering from the intense moment as murmuring and chattering filled the library. Valmor took Gilly by the hand, leading her towards the staircase that led to the upper room of the library away from the public eye.

  ---

  Seated on the floor was a woman who had golden-colored hair similar to Echini's at the center of the room. The room was big and had a different floral scent compared to the library, whose scent was mixed with that of old books. There were arrays of sitting pillows with sunlight coming in from right where the window was. Nothing significant was in the room, and the woman sat alone. Gilly felt a sense of nostalgia seeing this woman; there was a sense of familiarity as Valmor made them sit on the set of pillows directly in front of her.

  She was middle-aged, but she behaved way older than a middle-aged person. By her gesture and looks, she had on her face. Her eyes were hard to describe, but stars could be seen in them. When she looked at Gilly, it made her presence all too familiar. Her curiosity made her ask which was normal of her character;

  "Have we met before?"

  The woman smiled as she reached out and held on to Gilly's hand, rubbing gently.

  "Ah, I see."

  Gilly wore a worried look on her face as the woman answered her question with only an odd comment. They had all been behaving weird since she had touched the ball as requested. She was short of words on how to ask them if she had done something wrong. Now she was in front of this woman whose stare made her feel unsafe.

  "What's your name, Child?"

  She was sure but spoke up as Valmor sat beside her, looking excitedly at the pair,

  "Gilly."

  "Seras is my name."

  She nodded, raising her hand to touch Gilly on the head and patting her. She began a short story.

  A pack of wolves sought a new leader even though the old one was the best to bring all together in equality. One day she was cast out by another taking her position; she was left alone, fleeing because she had a child to protect in this cold winter blizzard. The others could not hunt for days, and the leader, anxious, made the pack chase after their former leader, who was now weakened, with the aim of eating her to gain strength.

  She ran for her life each second, the pack drawing closer. The weather was in her favor as it had not snowed for days, making her tracks less visible, but they soon caught up, for she too was weak. The scouts of the pack had come back fighting against the new leader, leading the chase for their friend who was going to be killed. The battle ended in the pack's favor, but now the old leader had already disappeared, never to be seen again.

  Gilly understood the moral of the story, for it was one of injustice and sacrifice, Valmor nodding beside her.

  "Child, make sure to learn all you can and keep your friends close. You must learn to look at things not as the world sees them."

  Gilly was left more confused. As to the purpose of the story or the advice she just gave. She knew nothing would come forth from asking, as the woman turned to lie down on a pillow, falling fast asleep. With Valmor leading the way, she followed him closely, leaving the room. She was still puzzled when they left the library, not even noticing when Ephini and Zin joined them on their way back.

  It was night, but the sun was still up and had even changed color to blue. She looked up, then shook her head. Ephini could not help but chuckle, and Gilly's expression looked at the orange sun. The world had a day cycle and a night cycle, seven days of total sunlight and eight days of total night with moons as its sources of light. Each day had a sun and a moon, and a day has passed if the sun or moon has changed.

  This was the fifth day in the day cycle and the twentieth day of the month. Seeing Gilly's puzzled expression, Ephini promised to get her books from the library that would help her get to know the world better, and they both chatted on. Valmor posed a question to Gilly,

  "Would you like to learn magic?"

  The group went silent, the two knowing how important this decision was and the last being oblivious. But Ephini could not hide her smile hearing this question. She was one of the few people who taught magic here in Elnor. Although the monstrous strength she showed back at the library still had them a bit shaken, they looked forward to her answer as all gaze was now on her.

  She paused and then pointed at Zin's sword that was strapped around his waist. This made Ephini frozen in the spot. She was about to give up when Gilly spoke.

  "Can I learn both?"

  They looked wide-eyed at this young girl who was just recovering from misfortune a while back.

  "You want to learn swordsmanship and magic?"

  She looked nervous as she twirled her hair with her finger averting their gaze. Valmor laughed, shaking his head; it was evident from the smile on his face that he was happy with her response. Ephini hugged her and then ran off into the distance to meet a male elf who she went off with. Valmor walked with them while he gave her a breakdown of what she was to do.

  Zin will teach swordsmanship while Ephini would do the magic. But he was not really confident that she could handle both, but he gave her the go-ahead to start the next day. Zin patted Gilly on the head before walking to his quarters since they had arrived at their tree house.

  She could not help but smile. She knew nothing of this world and had to learn about it because knowing people would not last forever. She had no clue what to do. The only thing she knows is trying to fit in until her memories come back. But first she would need to fill this emptiness inside her by making new memories.

Recommended Popular Novels