Hey, it’s Shanon. Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I don’t think anyone’s seeing them but an apology is due. Recently I have been spending more time than ever to just finish off the second draft (Which is two chapters away from completion).

Well, If there is anyone left after the one month hiatus from posting, I might think about posting the edited first chapter on the blog just for sanity’s sake.

If anyone’s still reading, Thank you.

Shanon.C

Hey, Shanon here.

Recently i just posted the last chunk of the first chapter. Having procrastinated and being swamped by school work to complete, I forgot to post last week. I’ll probably start posting the edited version of the first chapter and also post the prologue i recently wrote.

So, look forward to next week’s short and quick prologue to add to the story.

Thanks, Shanon.C

“Right, well do you want me to lead you to Mr Defargo’s office?”

“Yes please, this place looks massive.” She said, upscaling the building beyond its genuine size.

“I don’t know if you can fight him though…” I said hoping to make her avoid him.

“That’s fine; I just wanted to see if he had any tips or tricks.” I led the path, walking through the straight hall and making a beeline toward his office. I knock lightly twice, I hear him tap twice on his table. The door creaks open to reveal Mr Defargo’s elderly figure sitting at his desk leisurely.

“Mr Defargo, I came to introduce my fiancé to you.” I said as I took a step to the side and making a flourish with my arms, Rachel slapped my arms downward, she didn’t like that. “Rachel Indallias, Daughter of Stephanie Indallias.”

“You didn’t have to introduce her mother…” He said surprised.

“I’ll be back later,” I say to Mr Defargo as I turn to Rachel, “When and where do I meet you?”

“I’ll wait in the court yard if I’ve finished talking…” she said trailing off as she welcomed herself into his office.

“Don’t worry Theo, she’ll be fine.” He said as I started to move across the hall.

“I wasn’t worried!” I shouted back to him as I turned the corner, the solid stone door which marked the emporium greeted me as I rung the small bronze bell mounted shoddily next to the door.

“Theo!” Piper shouted as she waved for me to come in. Her dirty alchemy lay on the table revealing her blue blouse. The room’s stench had been cleaned, the grate shined a dull silver. “I didn’t want you to remember me only as the stinky potion lass.”

“Wouldn’t have, I was half expecting the room to be in cinders.”

“Ah, that accident well I had to clean up after that anyway…” she said taking a pause to think of her next sentence. “So, I’ve got a parting gift for you.” She mentioned awkwardly as she placed a miniscule vial on the table.

“What is it?”

“A poison which will kill you instantly when you drink it.” She said maintaining a consistent tone.

“What is it really?”

“A love potion… This one’s effects are permanent.” She moved to stop me from replying, “Trust me, you’ll want this one.”

“Ok…” I replied, struggling for an adequate response.

“I’ve got some other ones, but that was the one that I wanted to tell you about.”

“Do I need the other ones?” I ask as she shoves a wooden carrying case into my arms. I unclasp the latch and open the aged wooden exterior; I look inside to see the vials, all neatly labelled. The velvet cushioning kept the lines of vials safe from damage.

“Why do I need this many?”

“Well… espionage, theft and recon really. The academy will give you missions where you’ll need to source your own potions and poisons.”

“Thanks for the warning…” I say worried.

“Have a safe trip and don’t accept a job as a teacher.” She said as if reliving past trauma.

“Is the academy really that bad?”

“N-No… maybe I’m exaggerating it.”

“Hope you are…” I said as I went to take my leave. “I’ll come back and visit if I need a restock.”

“I’ll miss you.” She said, “Not in the weird way.” She said attempting to clarify any miss interpretations.

“I’m already engaged.” I replied as I made my way around the brick hoof of a school. The door the Mr Defargo’s office hadn’t been opened once since I’d left to visit Piper. I heard ominous whispers seep through the door, curious I went to go see if I could hear anything.

“To conclude, the Mage of the Eternum seal is looking for a strong mage to help fight the resurrection of the old god.” Rachel said in a firm voice, I also felt a tinge of hope from her voice. Who’s this old god which they have to fight?

“I’m afraid I’ll have to decline, If it’s returning I’d rather not have anything to do with it…” he continued ominously.

“That’s a shame; I’ll go now Theo is probably waiting.”

“You should trust Theo more; he’ll be your biggest ally against the old god.”

“He needs more time.” She said desperately as she open the door to stare me in the eyes.

“Hi!” I said as she looked at me with a firm stare.

“What did you hear?”

“From when you started your conclusion.” I replied honestly, Rachel was too good at figuring me out for me to even risk lying. “I’ll tell you on the coach ride…” She said as she grabbed my hand, dragging me toward the rendezvous point.

Shanon.C

I took two steps outside my house and pathed myself toward the small brick abode of the kind lady who lived next door. “Ms Melan, I’ve got a present!” I shouted as I knocked on the cosy oak wood door.

“Oh, if it isn’t Theodore. How can I help you?” her aged eyes reflected my young figure which stood towering above her.

“I was leaving for external schooling; I was going to give you my food as a parting gift.”

“I remember when Andreas left the town for the very same academy.” Her frail voice echoed inside her small house.

“My father?”

“Why of course, he went to go and further his magic.”

“How old was he?”

“Your age, how old could he be?” she joked as she took the food case off my weary hands.

“I was just wondering, you wouldn’t happen to know where he is now?” I inquired.

“No, not a clue as to where Andreas would be.” She began, “Well, you’ve got to meet someone at the hill right?”

“Indeed, I’ll be off now.” I said, realising the time. “Thank you for the information on my father!”

“Thank you for the food!” she shouted back as I ran toward the hill, suddenly realising something I swivel my head to peek at the old lady’s house. The door shut tightly made me question if I even visited her.

“How did she know I was meeting Rachel?” I muttered to myself as I returned to the path to the mountain, bewildered.

Eventually, I concluded that she overheard Rachel as she left the house with the luggage. However, that opened several other problems. Why would she bother reminding me? How did it affect her? Did she just genuinely think I’d be late for a meeting? I felt my mind releasing smoke as I contemplated the ‘why’. I promptly gave up, there was no ill-intention… so why did I feel uneasy?

“Theo!” I felt Rachel’s obnoxious shout shake my eardrums, “Five minutes late!”

“Does that really matter?”

“Not really,” she said with a grin, “Lets go, I want to meet this Mr Defargo which you told me about last year.”

“You remember that?” I said dumbfounded, why bother with the useless stuff?

“Of course! You said he was strong, I was interested.” She said, emphasising strong. Did she think I was daft, I remembered that conversation too.

“You can meet with him while I go say bye to Piper.” I said as I began to see the castle like structure appear on the horizon.

“Piper, you mean Piper Merases? The alchemist?”

“She’s famous?” I said, unknowing to her fame in the capital.

“Well… if you know a staff member of the academy you get plenty of stories… She’s a unique topic which comes up at dinner time at home.”

“Your mum?”

“Of course, well dad tells some stories… but usually economics doesn’t interest me.”

Shanon.C

“Theo!” A painfully familiar voice shouts from the stairs.

“I’ll be done soon Rachel!” I squealed in surprise.

“I’ll wait for you down here!” she screamed up the stairs, her hands on the stairs. I look at her from the stairs nodding. Her pink eyes stared me down before she lost interest and sat back down, she quietly reorganised her brown hair. She never told me why she bothered organising her hair; she always somehow made it messy. The last time I suggested a hair band, she slapped me so I never asked again.

Rachel was like this; a walking dichotomy. One moment loud, disrespectful and completely incompetent, in the next moment: cold and precise, bordering on calculating. She was adept at snap decisions under fire, whilst completely evading the eyes of scouting parties and sentries. Her mother was no different, just more experienced and consistent.

I wasn’t halfway through sorting my closet which I’d bring to the academy when Rachel shouted impatiently, “Ready yet?”

“No, if you want me to finish quicker, come help!” I retorted loudly.

“Forget it!” she paused, “I don’t want to see your room before we go to the academy!”

I grimaced, I cleaned the room in case she offered help… well I could abandon some of my dear home. There wasn’t much left which I could bring with me to the academy, I would empty the food storage and hand out whatever we couldn’t finish or bring with me.

I looked at the two suitcases; alone I would struggle to bring a part of home with me. The suitcases were weathered red. Metal bands gave its hard wood exterior stability. Both of the bags signed neatly with my father’s name, Andreas T. Arcanas. I reached for the quill pen, dipping the blackened tip into the small jar of ink. The ink rippled outwards and I tapped the tip on the rim of the jar, removing excess ink and quickly signed above his name, Theodore Chrono. My father left me three things including the blade, which Mr Defargo gave me in my father’s place, I was given the quill pen as a parting gift and he left me my mother’s surname. He casually remarked his name would give me trouble if I assumed it.

I stared down the oak wood stairs where Rachel conveniently turned to face me, she smiled and stood herself up, “Done?”

“Yeah, I’m done.” I said as I firmly grasped the small leather handle of the suitcases as I shimmied down the stairs not wanting to break something before I left. “When do you want to go? I’ve got a few people to visit.”

“The latest coach leaves about five, I’d rather be there early though.”

“Fair enough.” I take a deep breath as I place the cases on the floor, “Want to come see the school?”

“Want to get rid of the food?” she said, “I don’t want you to waste it.” She grimaced as she saw the sheer volume of the food.

“I’ll give it to the lady next door.”

“I’m sure she’ll love it.” Rachel remarked sarcastically as she grabbed my luggage, “I’ll place this with my suitcases, want to meet at the base of the hill before we visit the school?”

“Sure, easy enough.” I reply as I carefully lift the wooden food storage case, “See you at three?” she flipped out a small pocket watch, its gold plated case was subject of awe whenever she showed me. “It’s two thirty,” she mumbled, quietly planning her trip and making a rough estimate of the time, “Sure, three at the base of the hill.” She continued, lifting the two cases and making a quick exit utilising the wide door to her advantage. I looked over at the living room, a solitary metallic key stood on the coffee table. I make a quick movement grabbing it and shoving it in my small coat pocket. The wooden food crate’s easy access handles revealed themselves after I slid it out of its small cool room situated in the centre of the house.

Shanon.C

“Great, are we going to spar here?”

“I’ll let you make the first move,” he said, a sly look covered his face. I watched his pupils twitch slightly. I dashed toward him at top speed, the grass parted around me as I formed air into blades.

“Zephyr, I beseech the wind to crown me the victor!” I shouted as the blades of air congregated and collectively attacked Mr Defargo. I stared intently hoping to learn something from his technique.

“Too slow, Aqua, I beseech thee to restrict my enemy’s movement!” he shouted the incantation as he disappeared into thin air, reappearing slightly closer to me. His legs start moving as he sprints toward me, “Game over.” He declares as he stops moving.

“Lumi! I implore you to bend to my will!” I bellow as I attempt to avoid the cage of water which continued to follow my movements closely as I sprinted toward him. He raises his finger, he slowly draws a circle and draws runes rapidly as he targets me. I lift my arm and draw s series of runes in a circular pattern, I finish the seal by drawing a circle inside the runes.

“Smart boy!” Mr Defargo roars as he stops drawing and leaves the unfinished seal in the air, “Shade I command you to obey my will!” I realise what he had planned, I summon a shield of light as I watch him jump upward and a beam of darkness attacked me as I struggled to cope under the pressure of the magic.

He released his magic as I flop to the ground roughly, “You didn’t have to say the incantations did you?”

“No, not particularly.” He mentioned as he stretched his body, “The student’s wouldn’t have learned as much.” He replied in a teacher-like fashion.

“I have to go now!” I exclaimed as I remembered my trip toward the capital, I made my way out of the courtyard. “I’ve still got bags to pack!”

“Have fun at the Academy!” he cheered as I left the establishment. Turning away from the school I make my way down the hill, the gravel-paved road toward the school was uneven and lumpy as I continued to make my way to the main village.

My house approaches me slowly as I break into a sprint to get home. Rachel was coming at two o’clock, she was expecting me to be fully packed by the time she was here… I only had my first bag packed; I wanted to bring a small part of my home with me to the Academy. However, I knew that was irrational.

I settled for the sword that Mr Defargo gave me saying it was from my father. He hadn’t come back for ten years, I was five when he left me the house and everything that belonged to our family. My mother died before my father left. However, he still sent me letters giving me unpleasant reminders of memories that we made in the past. Then the old guy mentions I’m betrothed to the daughter of his former military superior. I met Rachel a while back, neither of us knew the fact we’d be married to each other eventually… She wasn’t exactly the nicest girl. However, we didn’t really hate each other so we went along with our parents’ wishes..

Shanon.C

The classrooms approached as I maintained a consistent pace, the paper-thin walls did nothing to prevent the glares from reaching me. I instinctively stepped to the door of Dragon class, I reminisced on the fun times I had in the classroom named after a mythical creature. Later I would be surprised to know they could hear me at the door, but at the time I leapt back three paces as the door opened.

“Theodore, you coming to mock your teacher?” Mr Defargo exclaimed as he gave me a sullen stare from the door.

“Mr Defargo, no nothing like that.” I said as I stepped forward realising I was safe within the fortress of a school.

“Reminiscing on the great times you had in my class as you leave for the Imperial Academy of Magic?” He mentioned, hitting the nail on the head as I gave a light cough uncomfortably, “I knew it!” He exclaimed with joy as if he were my age.

“So Mr Defargo, what do you want?” I say bluntly, without a path for escape, I embraced the conversation in full. His old eyes stared me down, as his bright blue irises searched my soul. He straightened his back; he tapped my shoulder lightly as he turned to announce something to the class.

“Come on class, we’re going to have him demonstrate his magic.”

“A spar?” I inquired; the school’s grassy courtyard beckoned us forward as I Mr Defargo guided me toward humiliating defeat. My footsteps quickened as I was coerced into fighting a battle I didn’t want to attempt, Mr Defargo never attended a prestigious academy like the imperial academy of magic. However, all of the teachers fed us tales of his absolute prowess in battle. Mr Defargo, didn’t tell us any stories to induce fear, he merely mentioned them like a fleeting memory. That was what made me fear him, he didn’t need us to know his past to get our collective respect. I feared Mr Defargo but I also respected him. I couldn’t pin the feeling which he gave me, this only served me as a defence from offending the strongest teacher in the villages magic school.

“Here we are Theodore!” He exclaimed, as if he would enjoy tearing me apart in front of the new students of the dragon class. “Before I forget, here’s something my father told me to give you if you left the village!” he shouted, disregarding the entire school as he casually tossed me a blade resembling the crescent moon. Thin engravings lined the edge of the blade, the leather wrapped handle melded comfortable into my hands.

“Old Arcanan?” I ask I attempted to read the writing on the blade.

“Indeed! Even I’m not old enough to understand it!” He shouted across the field, I heard the shuffling of seats and students rushing to the windows to observe the happenings in the courtyard.

Shanon.C

The sky turned purple when I entered the emporium, its thick brick walls contained the musk that flowed in from the ventilation grate positioned in the unfortunate position next to the door. A deranged figure gave me a wave as she went back to work on her newest potion… well vial of horror.

“So Theodore, how’s packing going?” Her young face turned to regard me, no matter how many time people thought of her as an old witch, I kept to myself that she was only twenty. Her blue eyes continued to question me as I struggled for a response.

“Swimmingly,” I replied attempting to keep my dignity in the stinking room, “My bags can’t fit the extra luggage which you offered.”

“Shame, there was a love potion in that package.” She said, fiddling with the dial to turn the fire off on the distillery.

“You know I don’t need that Piper.” I remarked as I set a small box on her table, “Cake, I thought you’d want to make something fiendish with the baked goods of our village.”

“How nice…” her voice lost some of its spry young hop as she grabbed the pitch black boiling vial of what appeared to be death. “Clear the path lover boy.” She continued, making a beeline toward the cake.

“Don’t ruin the cake.” I say sarcastically as I take a step backward receiving a face full of the green mist. I noticed that the liquid death trickled slowly down the bench that she poured the liquid onto the cake, “Want me to come later? I depart after noon.” I say noticing her now bewildered expression.

“Yes, I’d appreciate that.” She replied her voice drifted away as her focus returned to the cake, which was bubbling like magma on the thick stone table. She reached for the wooden potion rack as I began to leave the room; I heard a crash as mist floated out the door, “I’m okay!” she shouted, preventing me from checking on her.

I stumbled through the mostly brick establishment, I came with intentions of bidding my teachers farewell. However, they all glared at me as if I was a traitor, I was only going to the ‘Academy’. Piper Merases was the only person who I managed to bid farewell, she taught the alchemy class in our village’s own school of magic’s and arcane arts. Piper had graduated from the Academy; she was an honours student too. Apparently, the Academy offered her a position as a teaching associate at the northern branch of the academy, Academy North Soul. She declined politely, she mentioned in a class when one of the several students brought it up. However, this contradicted our anonymous source that claimed she made a huge fuss on her leaving day, begging for the Academy not to send her to North Soul.

Shanon.C

I’ll make this quick. My name is Shanon.C and I want to share the world within my head to everyone in the material world.

I’ll post short parts for the first chapter of my story every week (Starting next week Monday), Short comments of advice or feedback are appreciated.

Thanks for visiting my blog, I’ll also post when the book is published

Hopefully we get to know each other though my new world!

Sincerely- Shanon.C