The Wind Apprentice

What falls under the category of Physical Education apparently is: education of the body, dueling (magic and mundane ways), running, gymnastics, swimming, survival skills, and much more.

On the first day of class, Master Hayes had his students run laps until they practically passed out. His excuse for his behavior was that he wanted to gauge how much they could take. His student’s thought the man was a sadist.

Diz collapsed on the grass trying to catch his breath. He tried to glare at his teacher but didn’t have the energy. A few feet away, Ace was passed out a few feet away. Ash wasn’t far from Ace but she was actually awake.

Diz fell onto his back and stared at the blue sky. He was alerted to the sound of someone collapsing beside him and turned to look. She had dark brown hair and honey colored eyes. Her gym clothes showed that she was an earth elemental. If she had been standing she would have been at least three inches taller then Diz.

“That man’s insane. There should be some law against working kids to exhaustion.” Her voice was soft but hard as she glared at their teacher.

“I think normal laws went out the window when we were recruited.” The girl looked mildly surprised at Diz‘s statement.

“Recruited? You make it sound like we didn’t have a choice.”

“I don’t know about you but I sure as hell didn’t.” She tilted her head to the side.

“They kidnapped you?”

“Might as well have.”

“So you don’t want to be here?” Diz didn’t answer as he moved his gaze to the tree line. He caught a sight of Ray nibbling on a cherry; he must have found a cherry tree. Ray looked up from his snack. The Oother dropped the red fruit and jumped off the branch he was perched on to glide over to Diz.

Ray landed on Diz’s stomach and proceeded to curl up and take a nap. The white haired boy just sighed and scratched behind Ray’s ears.

“Is this your familiar? He’s so cute. Oothers are incredibly rare, not to mention powerful.”

“You’re the only one who thinks so.” She looked at Diz for a moment before looking back to Ray.

“Well, Oothers are powerful but in ways most people don’t understand. Their powers fall mostly in the category of divination. They always seem to know what’s going to happen.” She looked closely at Diz for a long moment.

“They also find ways to get themselves a part in stories or adventures. Usually by becoming an important person’s familiar.” She looked back at the sleeping Ray, “I’m Art by the way, it’s nice to meet you.”

-

It was after dinner and Diz was sitting through a very informative history lesson about the beginning of magic. It was to Wizard Wilkes credit that he didn’t have a voice that would bore the students to sleep.

“How many of you believe in demons?” The teacher began as he sat some books on the desk in the front of the room. Diz raised his hand to the question, as did Art and one other person he didn’t recognize. The rest of the class giggled.

“Mr. Zephyrus, Ms. Ravens, and Mr. Pearson are correct in their beliefs. Demons do exist.” Most of the class looked shocked. Diz was only mildly surprised.

“And it is because of a certain demon that we have the ability to access and control magic. Demons live in a completely different realm then the one we live in. A very long time ago, a demon named Prometheus came to the human realm, our realm, and taught a man named Merlin how to wield the element of fire. This was done against the direct orders of the demon king Uranus, otherwise known as Zeus, Jupiter, and Cronus.

“After Prometheus did this unspeakable act against demon kind, Uranus came to our realm himself and killed Prometheus. That would be the only time in history the demon king came to our world.” The class listened in rapt fascination to Wizard Wilkes tale of how human’s first learned to wield magic.

“After Prometheus’s death, Merlin traveled all over all over looking for those with the gift of magic. He eventually found a woman named Lillith who was to be sentenced to death for wanting to divorce her husband. During those times it was against the law for woman to want a divorce, arranged marriages were also common then as well.

“Anyway, Merlin saved her and taught her how to use her element. She would be the first wind elemental, famous for her eagle totem and her campaigns for woman rights. It was rumored that Lillith and Merlin had an affair but those claims cannot be proven.

“Years later they came across a man named Izander who would be the first earth elemental. Famous for his negotiations with magical creatures. Izander was said to be half gray elf who was a farmer who sold his vegetables at a market where Merlin and Lillith found him.

“The next and last founder of magic is a woman named Morgan, who obviously was the first water elemental. Morgan was special because she also had an affinity for fire. Now, an affinity for an element doesn’t necessarily mean they can wield it. It just means that on occasion they will have their affinities abilities. In this case Morgan had certain fire traits, like not being burned by fire or talking to fire. Again it is suspected that Morgan and Izander had an affair but there is no evidence. ” The teacher paused for a moment, “Any questions?” A girl towards the back of the room raised her hand. The teacher nodded at her.

“Well, sir, it’s just that you don’t really expect us to believe that whole demon story thing. It’s obviously fake. My parents told me demons and monsters don’t exist.” Several students nodded. The teacher sighed.

“I’d hate to call your parents liars but demons do exist. It’s just most don’t come through into our realm. Uranus has strictly forbidden it, but some do still come through.” The man paused again almost as if considering whether to go on.

“There’s something you have to understand. The demon realm doesn’t have elements; if a human were to go into the demon world they would be powerless. There’s absolutely nothing to draw magic from. However there is a way to use demonic spirits to create magic. And there are those in our realm who can wield demon spirits that come through onto our plane of existence. This type of magic is strictly illegal and is the darkest form of magic you can think of.

“Not only do most people who use demonic spirits go insane but they also die after persistent usage. That’s not even the icing on the cake, when you use demonic magic you are basically selling your soul to the demons you control. Because to use demonic magic you have to offer a demon spirit a piece of your soul each and every time.

“You might be wondering why people would even think about using something so evil? Well, the answer is that people are attracted to power and demon magic certainly has that. Another reason is that sometimes, just sometimes, people can actually become demons if they are powerful enough.”
-

A fire crackled in the library as Diz wandered the shelves aimlessly, not sure where to start his search. The library was quiet as a tomb and flickering light added to the effect. Just about everyone was in their dorms looking over their notes for the day.

The white haired boy’s green eyes surveyed the books on the shelf in front of him. They were books on magical creatures but Diz had a feeling he wouldn’t find what he was looking for in those books.

“Looking for the obscure?” The soft voice nearly made Diz jump out of his skin. He hadn’t heard her approach.

“What do you mean?” She tilted her head to the side and looked at him closely, the flickering light from the fire shined in her eyes, it made them glow.

“You’re not looking for a creature that can be found in every day books.”

“Sounds like you already know what I’m looking for.”

“How could I know what you’re looking for? I’m not psychic. Anyway, you won’t find what you’re looking for there. Follow me.” She turned and walked further into the maze of tall shelves with Diz following closely.

The brown haired girl came to a stop in front of a row of book that looks as if they haven’t been touched in decades. She picked up a thick book and blew the dust off of it.

“This book has creatures in it that are extinct today. If this doesn’t have what you’re looking for, you won’t find it.”

“Does it have pictures, because I only know what it looks like?” She nodded as Diz took the book from her. Art left without a word.

The white haired boy quickly went to find a seat in the lounge area. The chairs were nice and soft, the kind that you just sank into.

The fourteen year old curled up on the armchair and opened the book carefully as if afraid to damage it. He quickly skipped pass land and sea animals and only looked at birds. Diz didn’t even know half of these existed. There’s a crab with wings?! Diz didn’t even want to know what evolutionary path that thing took.

A noise made the boy look up in time to see a blur of brown and black fur. Ray landed on his shoulder and proceeded to pick through Diz’s white hair. The teen just sighed and turned back to the book, he had given up on trying getting Ray to stop doing that. It’s better to just except it and move on.

Diz sat there for at least and hour and he had only flipped through about half the book. Ray was sleeping on the back of the chair. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore and slammed the book down on the coffee table in front of him. The loud thump startled Ray awake but Diz couldn’t bring himself to care.

The teen rubbed his aching eyes and yawned. It was late and he had to get up early tomorrow, Master Wright’s orders. Ray was glaring holes into Diz’s head, not that he noticed.

Ray finally got tired of glaring at Diz and jumped onto the coffee table. The Oother grabbed the book and opened it to practically the back. Ray then flew back to where he was sleeping earlier and fell back asleep.

Bewildered, Diz looked at the page Ray had opened up to and saw the bird he had been looking for starring directly at him in its colored portrait. The fourteen year old quickly read the chapter oven and became in an even greater state of shock.

Diz looked up at his sleeping familiar and picked him up. It was time to go to bed. He’d interrogate his Master tomorrow.