1st 5 Pages March Workshop- Edwards

Name: Sophie Edwards

Genre: Young Adult: Fantasy

Title: Mage: The Guardian's Oath

I had never seen the wall surrounding my village, although I had wandered the length of it countless times, running my fingers along its clear surface. It was smooth and cool under my fingertips, but without a reflection, only touch proved its existence.

It wasn’t glass. In the village, when I pressed my nose against my cottage window, my eyes stared back at me, but when trying it against the wall not even a flicker showed.

Someone could walk right into it, but all the villagers avoided it, and I’d never seen a glimpse of anyone outside no matter how sorely my curiosity pressed.

The musky forest scent strengthened by the wall, perhaps warning of dangers that supposedly prowled beyond its safety. I’d never seen any of those either, and with no way out, the rumours couldn’t be disproved.

Familiar frustration stabbed within me.

The wall protected us. It cloaked us. We were hidden, just as the wall was hidden.

Yet after eighteen years, the village felt more like a prison and the dangers nothing more than a myth. We were trapped, denied any chance of adventure or exciting prospects. My obsession with the outside and the mysterious wall had landed me in trouble on more than one occasion. Matriarch wouldn’t be pleased if she discovered me out here again, but more pressing concerns weighed on my mind.

I tore my eyes from the wall and focused on the muddy path. Rain soaked me, but finding Lallana spurred me on. I pressed on over the slippery ground, protected in my boots, and allowed the light of the two moons to guide my way. Both full and bright, they lit up the path with ease.

A shimmer of light hair confirmed my suspicions, and I frowned at the sight of Lallana perched on a branch, sheltering under the thick canopy. Her tear streaked face shone in the moonlight, and it struck me that she was fourteen now. She appeared much younger, though had grown so much from the young child that followed me everywhere. Being four years older than her, I hadn’t expected to become so close, but as the only two children in the village, her persistence at clinging to my side, and our shared training, our relationship had blossomed, and we had become sisters.

I sidled toward her and touched her shoulder. “Lallana.”

She twisted to me, startled, and sniffed. “How did you know I was here?”

I hopped on to the branch, glad to be out of the rain. “Don’t I always know how to find you?”

She gave me a little smile and wiped her cheeks with her sleeve.

“Matriarch won’t be pleased you’re out so late,” I said.

Her eyes widened. “You won’t tell her, Clara?”

I raised my eyebrows, and she giggled.

“No one has seen you since the training session,” I said.

Her gaze dropped to her knees. “I was humiliated.”

“It’s easily done.”

“When was the last time you stepped on Ruben’s robes?”

Ruben, easily the kindest of the three village Elders, made Lallana’s embarrassment all the worse. “They’re long,” I said. “Anyone could have tripped on them.”

“I tore them off him! Everyone saw … everything.” She shuddered.

I held back a rising giggle. “I suppose it didn’t help that he’s rather old.”

Laughter sounded behind me. Lallana turned to the noise, blushing when she saw my tagalong.

I smiled. Of course, he followed me. Even at his young age of fifteen, he cared too much about Lallana to stay in bed. Charlie arrived at the village through the night eight years previously, scratched, bleeding, and bruised. No explanation was offered about his mysterious appearance, and his obvious pain with his life outside prevented any chance of satisfying my curiosity. Matriarch had asked me to keep an eye on him, and the three of us quickly became family. “Get under here, Charlie. You’re soaked.”

Charlie joined us, rain dripping from a mess of brown hair. His eyes shone in the moons’ light and dimples chased his grin. He nudged Lallana. “Look on the bright side. They wanted you to defend yourself. Pull off anyone’s robe and you’re bound to have the upper hand.”

Her expression softened then. “It’s a silly class.”

Charlie shook his head. “It’s important.”

“Is it?” I wondered. “We’re completely safe in the village, and with no way out …” Not for the first time, my desire to question him about how he got in danced on my tongue.

“There’s the dangers, though,” he said.

On the other side of the wall, trees rustled under the rainfall, untouchable past the barrier. “You believe that, do you?” I thought, at first, that his injuries had been due to the dangers, but he had assured me it was simply the journey through the forest. Sharp terrain, he said.

“Of course.”

“We don’t even know what the dangers are. Our training might not be any good against them.”

Charlie flapped a stray hair from his eyes. “Well, when you’re in charge, you can decide what to teach.”

“I don’t want to be in charge.”

“But you will be one day.”

“So they say.” I shook my head. “I can’t be responsible for the village.”

“Why not?” Lallana asked.

Because I didn’t have that kind of strength. Or the will to be responsible for so many people. Why would anyone look up to me? I spent more time at the wall, watching the outside or curled up with a book on world history than I did in the village. Taking place as an Elder would remove that freedom on longing for good. “There are others far more capable of that.”

“They chose you,” Charlie said.

“With no apparent reason.” I had nothing to offer, more likely to mess up than make the village better. My strength lay in working in the fields. Even combat and leadership held nothing in my interest or skills.

Shadows shifted below the trees, unreachable by the moons’ rays.

A papilion flew beneath the canopy. Lallana reached out with gentle speed, tenderly grasping the palm-sized creature. Its glowing wings and feathered antennae gleamed through the shadows with the same silvery light as the moons.

She placed it on her knee, using her neck-tie to wipe the heavy raindrops from its wings. Its low purr flitted through the night.

I watched her silently, wondering if it, too, felt trapped within the border.

“Clara?” Charlie frowned. “You okay?”

I sighed and dropped from the branch. Another night staring at a desired future. Another night where nothing changed. “Come on. Time to get back.”

Charlie and Lallana exchanged a glance.

“What?” I asked.

Lallana swung her legs, her embarrassment of the afternoon forgotten, and the papilion took off into the upper branches. “It’s your eighteenth birthday.”

Charlie clambered down beside me. “We got you something.” He reached out a balled fist and placed their gift in my palm: a single, clear crystal, carefully attached to a piece of frayed string.

“Is this the string you keep in the box under your bed?” I didn’t know its significance. He treasured it. Something from his past, before he came to the village, but I’d given up questioning him years ago when I witnessed his tear-filled eyes.