The Conflict of Magics

The Farthern House, the Newlands

The house that Maia and her family were living in was the result of a long-time passion belonging to her mother. Placed on top of a hill and accompanied by four other houses but relatively far from each other, it was a modest home with a family room, a dining room, a bathroom and two bedrooms with a small backyard for the whole family to enjoy each other’s company in the cooling weather of the Newlands and to enjoy the far away mountains in the distance. Maia’s mother was a fervent admirer of Efversian crystals which when synthesised correctly, would allow a being other than a sorcerer to manipulate the natural energies. Not only that, Efversian crystals were pure in absolute energy and potentials, sometimes they can be used to construct buildings to either be near indestructible or for visually striking purposes and Villia Farthern was an admirer of the latter purpose. When her husband Stylar Farthern decided to move his family to the strange and unknown province, Villia’s only condition was that when they would be building their new home, a byproduct of Efversia known as Cherisian crystals would be embedded into the walls of their home, to which Stylar agreed to. A few weeks before they left on the carriages to the new province, Villia spent her time in the marketplace in the Rhylandien capital of Bilange searching for Cherisian crystals and on the first few days in the Newlands she helped her husband build the house by carefully placed bits of them into the mortars between the bricks before he places another brick on top. The process was long and difficult but after it was done, it was clear to all that their home would be the most beautiful. The Cherisian crystals had the ability to absorb the sunlight during the day and showcases its true beauty after sundown. The contained sunlight would then reflect out the light captured giving off a blue shine to those in the distant but the crystal’s magical potential allowed it to adjust its intensity to the individual. The closer one goes to the house, the dimmer the light will be until it becomes a soft glow, warm to the touch.

Both Maia and Niles walked out through the door and across the family room to the dining room. Just as Maia predicted, there sitting on the chair sipping his usual cup of moondrop was his father with his greying hair and trimmed beard. “Right on time again, good. Had a good sleep I hope?” Stylar said, his voice authoritative even in the morning.

“We did, father.” Maia answered without hesitation. Both Stylar and Villia were devout followers belonging to Calliath, the messenger to their nameless god of luck and in their faith, dreams are omens that indicate the future of their souls. From both Maia’s and Niles’ dreams, both end in death. The siblings generally kept well to the faith of their parents but both also agreed that sometimes dreams were just dreams and did not see the point of telling their parents especially when the most likely outcome would be their parents to force them to spend the morning reciting the Oath of Calliath.

Stylar nodded and continued drinking his cup of moondrop. At that moment, the backdoor opened and in came their mother whose brown hair had also begun to show signs of grey but she was still nevertheless beautiful. She wore a brown dress that covered down to the ankles to combat the cool weather as opposed to her usual short length and often revealing dress that showed off her bosom that sometimes embarrass Maia whenever they went out together since she was slightly insecure about her own bosom size. “Good morning children. Sit down, breakfast will be ready soon.” She said with a cheerful demeaner and Maia had to admit she always felt better when her mother was around. They moved and sat at the table. It was a rectangular oak table. Stylar sat at the end near the back while Maia and Niles sat opposite each other. On this morning Villia served boiled chickens raised by the Sumners living two houses from their own along with poached eggs and sweet potatoes. Maia’s mouth began to drool upon smelling the aroma of chickens and eggs and was ready to eat when her mother said, “Stylar. Do you remember what day is it today?” Maia moaned to himself, she knew what she meant but she also knew her father wouldn’t.

As Stylar thought for a moment, Maia could see Villia’s expression changed by the passing seconds. “Nothing comes to mind, why?” Villia sighed and gave an apologetic glance to her daughter and Maia replied with a shrug. “It’s your daughter’s birthday today.” For a moment, Stylar seemed unsure of what to say. In the end, he said, “Well, congratulations girl. Twenty is it?” With a smile he extended his arm towards Maia to shake hers.

At least he got that right. “

Yes father.” She replied, grasping her father’s hand and it felt loose. The air in the room remained quiet saved for the sound of the wind rattling the windows. After a while longer, Stylar then said, “So what do you want for your birthday, girl?” The smile he used looked forced. Maia took a quiet deep breath, this was the question he waited for her entire life, ever since she was girl of nine. She looked to her brother across the table who was smiling encouragingly. “I want to join the Warrs.”

His smile slowly dissipated and Maia braced herself. “Maia.” Her father started, voice contained with emotions. “I thought we’ve already talked about this.”

“I remember what you said, father and I’ve thought about it….” “

Then why do you still demand to join?”

“I’m not demanding anything. I’m still asking for your blessing to join.”

“Maia, you cannot join. I will not allow it.”

“But why? You won’t tell me wh…”

“Please just listen to me.”

“No. Father, why are you so against the Warrs?”

“I will explain to you one day, I promise.”

“Why not now? Just tell us all why are you so”

“Maia, please… Just sit down.”

“Just let me join!”

“You’re a girl!” Stylar shouted the last word as he slammed his hand on the table, knocking down the tableware. Both Villia and Niles screamed with shock the moment he brought his fist down. Even Maia was stunned, this was the first time her father had ever shown this much frustration and anger, and for a moment she felt ashamed that she placed her father in this position but she then reminded himself that she was almost an adult and she deserved to decide her own future. She looked over to her mother who was close to crying and Niles who could only watch with a wide-eye expression. Maia stood up and left the table, and went out the house, Stylar did not even tried to stop her.

The breeze was liberatingly refreshing. As soon as she walked out, the sunray welcomed her into the open field. Beyond the house and approaching the lake was a downwards slope towards a lake that separated them from the forest. At the bottom of the slope near the bank was a small boat that Stylar uses to fish for dinner, Maia thought to herself the frustrations she had been feeling since she was a girl.

So that’s why. Because a girl cannot serve her country.

Her mind became angrier the more she thought about it, then she felt someone holding her hand. Niles was beside her, his hair blown all over his head by the gusts of wind. Then, the promise came back to her. “Ready to go to the forest?”

Niles nodded and soon the two of them were running down the hill towards the boat. “Niles! Slow down!” Maia cried, stunned at the change of situation but Niles kept pulling her hand. “We can’t or else the old man would catch us.” He replied hastily. Maia looked back and the increasingly distant figure of her father trying to catch up to them. She was yelling but she could not make out what she was saying. She was happy for that moment, and if the two of them were going to be thrown out of the house after they’ve explored the forest, then at least she would be with her brother. With that, she picked up her pace and soon she was leading Niles towards the boat.

The boat resting on the bank was made of soft wood carved from the trees discovered near the borders of the Newlands. Its’ bark was gleaming with silver and felt like wool to the touch but when put on water, the material hardened, turning it into armour. Niles jumped into the boat while Maia pushed the boat with her might into the water, she could hear her father’s shouts becoming louder and that strengthened her resolve. When the entirety of the boat made in contact with the water, Maia jumped onto the boat. Niles had already held out the paddle to her brother and with a quick movement, Maia paddled the boat towards the forest and neither of them looked back. The closer they got to the forest, the warmer the air felt. It felt as if the they were stepping over right back to their homeland. No, even in the Rhylands it was never this warm. Even Niles who was so enthusiastic before felt the change in the air, “Maia, are you sure you want to go in there now?” He sounded scared, just as he did when he woke up from the nightmare. Maia considered rowing back, but the thought of walking right into her father’s scolding again strengthened her resolve. They were already here, there was no going back without exploring for a bit. She rowed the boat close over the bank and stood up. “Let’s go Niles.” She said, extending her hand to Niles who after a while, took it timidly and stood up too.