Saphira

Elysia sniffed into her sleeve, her arms around her knees as Kraelin stood next to her. He wished he knew how to help her. She cried like this so often. The other kids teased her so much over her not even having a hint of a Talent. He hated those magic snobs. But hate wasn’t what Elysia needed right then.

“Get up,” Kraelin said, his little five year old hand sticking out for her. She nodded slowly, standing up, brushing dirt off her dress.

“Sorry for being a crybaby…” she said, looking down. Kraelin pushed her head up so she was looking at him.

“You’re not a crybaby. They’re jerks,” Kraelin said.

She smiled, if a bit reluctantly. Kraelin led her back to the street, walking through the village. Lugara was lively, with one of their annual festivals coming up. All of the magic using kids were getting ready for the Talent show, a place to display how their individual powers were progressing. Elysia looked at the stage where the show would take place, her heart heavy with longing.

“It’s okay,” Kraelin said. “You’ll get there.”

“It wouldn’t suck so much if they weren’t so mean about it,” Elysia said. “Throwing rocks at me, tangling my legs with vines, causing buzzers to chase me. Why are they so mean?”

“Maybe because they’re jealous of you being Augarium’s kid. You get special stuff, even if you’re behind.” Kraelin shrugged. “Or maybe they’re…”

“Jerks?” Elysia said with a tiny smile. “Yeah. I know. I…”

Elysia and Kraelin were suddenly pushed aside as a chubby little boy fled down the street. “Was Kegrom running in terror?” Kraelin asked. He looked as the boy stopped, holding his hands out. Several small stones began to raise from the ground as he used his Talent. Kraelin got ready to protect Elysia again, stepping in front of her, but another person pushed past them. An eight year old girl with a trash can lid as a shield stood before them, facing down Kegrom.

“Throw rocks at me with your stupid glowy hands?! Huh?! Think I’m not good enough because I can’t use magic?! Wanna know how magical a trash can lid up your butt feels?!” The girl ranted at Kegrom, who let the stones fall to the ground and ran away again. “What I thought! Freaking loser!”

“Who the heck…” Elysia started.

“…is she?” Kraelin finished.

The girl turned around and smiled at the two. “Hey. Sorry about the yelling. Unless you two are dorks like him. You ain’t dorks, right?”

They shook their heads. “No! I’m not a dork! I…my name’s Elysia!”

“Kraelin!” he said, sticking his hand out. The girl shook it heartily.

“Saphira. Saphira Malphi. My dad is Varden Malphi, the new head of the Hall of Learning,” she said proudly.

“Oh…” Kraelin said, suddenly looking incredibly sad. Saphira looked confused, her eyes drifting to Elysia.

“What’d I say?” Saphira asked.

“His…his dad was the old head.” Elysia said. “Both his parents worked there. But…”

“Oh. Oh man,” Saphira said, looking at Kraelin with sympathy. “Yeah, I heard something bad happened to the last guy. I…I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…”

“I know,” Kraelin said. “Not your fault. I’m sure my mom and dad would have liked your dad. They always wanted to make sure their discoveries were taken care of.”

“Yeah, my dad is obsessed with First tech! He’s always ‘Saphira, stop touching the ancient machinery’ and ‘Saphira, the sparks do not mean it is working!’” she said, putting on the stern scolding voice of her father. The other two laughed. “Hey, by the way, what about the chubby obnoxious kid? Did you two know him? What’s his deal?” Saphira asked.

“Oh. Kegrom. Yeah,” Elysia said with a shrug. “His mom is on the council with Master Augarium. He’s a jerk. He and his friends hate people who can’t use magic. Thinks they’re better than them.”

“And you two can’t use magic?” Saphira asked. This time it was Elysia’s turn to look sad.

“I can, but…I have no Talent. Not even a bit. I can only…” She made a brief glow around her hands.

“Oof. I keep saying stupid stuff, huh?” Saphira said.

“No, it’s fine,” Elysia said, laughing a bit. “Are…are you gonna go to the festival?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to, but if you two are going…could be fun.” Saphira said with a wink. “Come, me buccaneers! Let’s shove off! A pact be formed this day! We sail together, or we burn together, says I!”

“She’s crazy, but the fun kind of crazy,” Kraelin said with a laugh.

“I’m in if Kraelin’s in!” Elysia said.

It was then the trio was formed, inseparable in their bond. The years passed, and each left their marks on the others. Saphira saw the resolve in Elysia, knowing her spirit could one day create something from nothing. She worked with her tirelessly to help develop Elysia’s Talent.

“Focus!” Saphira said as an eight year old Elysia held her hands out. They were in Saphira’s backyard, the breeze blowing the grass around them as Elysia concentrated, putting all her will into her magic. The green energy floated and crackled before her, eventually solidifying into a tiny ball.

“I…I did it! I made something!” Elysia cried out.

“You made something!” Saphira squealed with her.

“I MADE SOMETHING WITH MAGIC!” Elysia shouted as loud as she could, accidentally shooting the green energy orb through the window, colliding into something with a loud, metallic thump.

“Elysia!” Augarium shouted from where he had been talking to Professor Malphi.

“I know you’re proud, but you might want to pretend the green energy ball wasn’t you,” Saphira told the white face Elysia.

“Oh, calm down, Saphira,” Professor Malphi said, laughing a bit as he and Augarium came through the back door. He had always been one of the few adults to be supportive of Elysia’s magic training. “It was only a window and a book.”

“And nearly my head,” Augarium said grumpily.

Malphi knelt down so he could be face to face with the girls. “You two are going to change the world one day, aren’t you? Saphira, how powerful is this little firecracker going to get?”

“She’s gonna be the most powerful sorceress in the world!” Saphira shouted, and with Saphira and her father encouraging her, Elysia nearly believed it.

Saphira also trained with Kraelin near daily, each of them pushing the other physically as well as mentally. One day, as they stopped running by a nearby lake to rest, Saphira looked over at the little boy she had grown to know over the past few years of her life.

“Why?”  she asked him. “Why does your little butt care so much about being a warrior? I’ve never asked before, but…”

“My parents,” Kraelin said. “They always told me…the future is made by doing. They could have had an easy life, sitting in their offices at the Hall of Learning, studying First tech and teaching young magic users. But…they wanted to grab the past by the head and shake it until it’s secrets came out.”

“And so they…” Saphira started. Kraelin nodded.

“It’s what happens when you shake history by the head. Sometimes it blows up,” Kraelin said.

They stood there for a long time, staring out into the lake, the sun beginning to set over the distant hills.

“They’d be…”

“I know,” Kraelin said. “But I’m not trying to be a warrior for them. I’m doing it for me. It’s what I choose to do. Something my mom always used to say was, be your own piece of silver in the sky.”

“My dad says something similar. It’s why he’s obsessed with First tech. ‘How did one man help create machines which revolutionized the world?! And how did we let it all rot after the First Magic War?!’ I think sometimes he’s personally going to rebuild the world of four thousand years ago piece by piece to make the world a better place,” Saphira said.

“Being obsessed with helping the world isn’t so bad,” Kraelin said.

“Okay, can we keep running now? The sugary sweetness is gonna make me barf,” Saphira said. Kraelin smiled at her and began to run, hoping this was the time he would beat her home.

They spent all their time together, and the world seemed a little less lonely for them. Each year they went to the festival, a reminder of the day they met, ending it by sitting under the stars on the roof of Elysia’s house, watching the fireworks light up the sky. The year Elysia and Kraelin turned eleven and Saphira was fourteen, she looked at the both of them, noticing how much they had grown. She made a silent wish as she gazed at those fireworks. She would never show the kind of vulnerability it took to say it out loud, but she couldn’t imagine a life without her friends. She wished to the universe and whatever gods might be listening for those days to last forever.

It was to be the last year they would watch the fireworks together.