Chapter 5 - A Year of Studies.

I looked at Brach. He didn’t seem exited. I went and gave Sensa a hug.
“So, who’s going to teach me magic?”
“I am.” Sensa grinned like she had a secret. “Anything special you want to learn?”
“Yeah. As you knew, healing magic. Aaaand… a little bit of battle magic.” I shot a look at Brach. His mouth had fallen open in disbelief.
“Ok. We’ll start in the morning. Brach, Chief Cifilo said that he would teach you whatever fighting skills you want to learn. You’re to go to him in the morning.”
“Of course.” Brach nodded.
“Do you want some lunch? You didn’t get breakfast.”
“Sure.” I helped Sensa get lunch, and the three of us sat down. It was silent except for the sounds of someone taking a bite. Brach and I were tense, and I could tell that Sensa didn’t want to get in the middle of it. I wolfed my lunch down quickly, just so I could get out of there.
“I’m going to look around.” I left Sensa’s hut and started exploring the forest. I made it through all of the forest around the village, listening to the sound of the wind through the trees. I was about to re emerge into the village when I heard Brach’s voice. I slipped behind the nearest tree, in case Brach was meeting someone privately, and didn’t want me stumbling in. a couple of minutes past and the talking had stopped. I stepped out and went back to Sensa’s hut.
“Find anything interesting?”
“No. The wind was nice though.”
I went and got into my bed. I had stayed out longer than I had meant to. Several thoughts started to race through my head at once.
Brach loves you. But you don’t love him, do you?
“No! Of course not.” I said out loud in answer to my thoughts.
And now he HATES you for it!
“I know. But there’s nothing I can do!”
You have to live together for the whole of the next year!
My thoughts were taunting me. I tried to think of my magic lessons tomorrow but my thoughts always went back to the one concept: But you don’t love him, do you? I rolled over. Going to sleep seemed impossible at that moment, but before I could even register the thought, it was morning. I was exited at the thought of being able to learn magic, but I was beginning to have some doubts. What if I couldn’t do magic at all? I went into the main room of the hut, nervously biting my fingernail. Sensa was already there, waiting for me. She promptly grabbed my wrist and dragged me outside.
“Sensa!” I cried indignantly “What are you doing?”
“We have to test your magic.”
“Test my magic!” I shrieked.
By now, Sensa had dragged me to the biggest structure in the village. Inside was a stand with an orb sitting delicately on top.
“What, do I have to lift it?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
“You just put your hand on it.”
I stopped. “That’s it?”
“Yes. It will show you what colour your Glow will be, and whether you have magic in your blood.”
“Oh. What do you mean by ‘magic in my blood’?”
“Whether your ancestors used magic or not.”
“Does it matter?”
“Not really. If you have magic in your blood it makes learning magic a little easier.”
A little more confident, I put my hand atop the orb. My Glow started as a soft greenish colour that you couldn’t really see. It started to get brighter, and as it did it changed to a deep, intense blue. My eyes widened.
Sensa was nodding. “Yep, there’s definitely some magic in you somewhere.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Look at how clear and strong your Glow is. Come on. We should get started.” Sensa stepped away from the orb. I followed suit, then Sensa magic'd it away.
“Right. The first step to healing is plants. Plants are vital to healing in that they can make anecdotes for poison, which magic cannot cure. They also make various lotions.” Sensa indicated to a dead plant on her left that I hadn’t noticed before. “See if you can make this plant bloom.”
I put my hand out and screwed my eyes shut tight. Nothing happened.
“How do I do this?” I asked desperately.
“Okay. Here, you just put your hand over the plant, or whatever it is you’re magic'ing. Then, you visualize what you want to magic – happening!” Sensa grinned. “But remember, that’s only for healing or domestic magic. Battle magic is different but we’ll get to that some other time. Now try again.”
This time, instead of just putting my hand out, I put my hand on the plant. In my mind I watched as the plant grew from the shriveled brown stick it was to the green, leafy wonder I knew it could be.
“Very good.” Sensa gave me a small clap. “You’re a natural.”
For the next year I learn my magic, working and working, making progress, and making mistakes. Sensa had only let me start battle magic once she was fully sure that I had grasped healing. Battle magic was a lot harder than I anticipated it to be. It was a simple concept, but the execution was hard. Unlike healing magic, battle magic used a channel to pinpoint what you wanted your magic to do. Point your channel, then say or whisper the medium. Sensa made it look easy. She carried a small dagger to use as her channel. Brach’s skills were improving too. He was becoming more agile, and was fluent in the use of the sword after only having used a crossbow prior to this. Brach has also not spoken about his love for me all year. This made it only slightly easier to live with him. My eighteenth Akinday had come only two days ago. Brach and I both knew that soon we would have to leave the village in pursuit of Amyras.
“Amile!” Sensa came in, interrupting my thoughts. I had discovered a short time after our arrival that Sensa was the same age as me. I also discovered that she was a magical genius. The Abeora. She could do magic most adult Anthro couldn’t. She was also destined for greatness above all others. Sensa hadn’t found this out until her eighteenth Akinday.
“Amile?” this time Sensa waved a paw in front of my face. I snapped back to reality.
“Sorry.”
“Where were you? Certainly not on this planet.”
“I was thinking.”
“Well disregard those thoughts. I have some news for you.”
“Really? What?”
“There’s good and bad.”
“Oh goody.” I deflated a little “Bad then.”
“Chief Cifilo says you have to leave in two days.”
“And the good?”
“I’m coming with you.”
I looked at Sensa. Her eyes were full of determination. I saw that it was pointless for me to argue.
“You know it’ll get messy with Amyras?”
“I know”
“So there’s nothing I can say to change your mind?”
“No.”
“Then welcome aboard.” I extended my arms to give Sensa a hug. I drew back a little. “How are we going to tell Brach?”
“Let me do it. I’ll tell him tomorrow.”
Brach stayed at Chief Cifilo’s that night and that morning. He came back as I slipped out to say goodbye to the forest.

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