- Cranbrow

"This is boring! Why do we do this? I wanna do magic!"

"Because, young Tarno, you are too young to do magic. And learning the history of our world is important."

"It's still boring though."

The woman turned back to the blackboard and began writing something.

"it's not me, right? Why do we learn this stuff?" He whispered to the boy next to him.

"It's like she said, it's important to know. And it'll help when we start using magic." Marcus responded.

"How?"

"We can see where magic came from, and we can learn the errors of the ones before."

"I guess," he said with a sigh.

"Just think like this Bran, this will help you when you can use magic once you turn five."

"Yeah, I guess," he repeated, this time adding a smile rather than a sigh.

"The first mages were discovered around six-hundred years ago. With the change that underwent our bodies with the emergence of the Magia organ, us as humans had the means to utilise the magical energy that resides both in the air around us and throughout our bodies," the woman began, turning back to face the children.

"At first it seemed to be a change that was exclusive to the people of Laythol, a small island that used to exist off the northern coast of Rovinia. Those people attempted to leverage their newfound power, and suddenly became very isolationist, and became hostile to all other nations. As the air that was pushed out of the volcano Layth began to spread around the world, more and more living things became exposed to it and underwent physical changes themselves. The Laythians, losing their advantage, were utterly crushed by the alliance of the Seven Kingdoms."

"Where is that place now?" A child asked her.

"Gone. It was utterly destroyed in the war, fractured into what we now know as the twelve isles."

"Of course, there were multiple wars that were caused by the emergence of magic, and you'll hear about them in time. It's important that you learn the lessons that are taught by such tragedy that had occurred," a woman spoke, appearing at the door. "How are they, Madam Williams?" she asked the woman at the blackboard.

"They're fine, Senior Shah" she responded, "although there are some who are finding this learning to be boring," she added, looking at Bran as she spoke.

"How long have you been doing it for?"

"Most of the morning."

"And you're already talking about Laythol?" The woman slapped her hands together before speaking again. "Alright, that's it for today. Remember, stay inside the boundaries of the Cranbrow."

She moved to the side, allowing the children to pass through the door.

"How were they?" she asked, moving closer to the other woman.

"Pretty normal," Williams responded. "There's usually at least one who doesn't want to learn the theory stuff, or just wants to do the practical work. There was one outlier though."

"Who?"

"Marcus Grant."

"Marcus? How so?" Rasha asked with a tone of concern.

"I'm not sure exactly, but he seemed not his age, somehow."

"Not his age? Behind or advanced?"

"Advanced. Normally they get engaged once we start talking about magic, but he was interested throughout. Plus when he spoke he didn't really speak like someone his age."

"Are you able to expand on that?"

"He... understood things that he shouldn't have. I tend to introduce concepts advanced for their age to get their minds running, but he remained unfazed. It was also his vocabulary. He understood words he shouldn't have."

"I see. It shouldn't be anything to worry about, but we should keep an eye on him in particular."

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"I still don't know why we have to learn all this stuff. Why can't they just teach us, like, spells and stuff?"

"Because, we need to understand it all before we can be trusted with magic."

"Ah, whatever."

"Where are we going anyway?"

"Don't back out on me here Marcus, but there's a gap somewhere in the fence. Let's take a look."

"I'm not sure..."

"Come on, nothing will happen."

Bran led him down the lane that led to the gate, before crashing through a line of bushes and entering the forest that formed most of the area surrounding the orphanage, with Marcus trailing closely behind him.

Branches and nettles hid amongst the ground of the forest, cutting the two boys' bare legs as they walked.

The sounds of nature sung a harmonious melody around them as they walked. The wind whistled a pleasant tune around them, and also aided them with a gentle breeze, it's cooling touch bringing relief from the scorching heat caused by the sun.

Small creatures scurried underfoot, chirping to each other in their search for food.

Wherever the two boys walked, crisp crunches emerged from snapped branches and crushed leaves.

Eventually the two boys reached the perimeter. The perimeter consisted of a gate at the bottom of the lane and a brick wall spread around on either side of the gate.

At the location Marcus had been led to there was a physical breach in the bottom of the wall.

The wall consisted of two barriers: A physical one that had been erected to act as a perimeter to the property when the building was still a hospital; and a magical one that had been established when the number of magical creatures, creatures that have mutated as a result of the Layth eruption, began increasing in the area. With the physical barrier removed, they could pass through despite the second barrier.

Outside the wall the forest abruptly disappeared. It was as though the inside and outside had vastly different climates that caused a large difference in the two biomes.

The area surrounding the orphanage was like a wooded paradise. Conversely, the area outside was barren. The land was covered in a dull colour accentuated by dust and rocks, spared from monotony by a handful of patches of dying grass, growing in defiance of the surrounding climate.

"Bran, I don't know about this," Marcus voiced his concern. "This change looks like the work of beasts."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of plant-eating creatures?" Bran asked in a mocking tone, teasing Marcus.

Marcus shook his head. "I'm afraid of man-eating creatures," he corrected him. "The lack of vegetation is just a coincidence."

"Veigitatition?" Bran asked, butchering the pronounciation.

"Like grass and trees," Marcus simplified it for him.

"Ah. Never mind that, we won't find anything out here. There's no danger."

As though summoned by those words in a cruel trick by fate, a creature scurried up a rock formation near them, dislodging smaller rocks and causing them to tumble down.

The creature was a horrid amalgamation of multiple others. It had the body and rear legs of a dog, but its forward legs were like the limbs of a monkey, topped off with rough hands that belonged to a primate, with sharp claws pointing out at the end of each finger. Its head was round and hairy as though it belonged to a gorilla, but the fangs that protruded from its mouth looked out of place.

The most unsettling thing about it was its eyes. They looked intelligent, as though they had been ripped out of a living person and installed in the creature. The thought sent a shiver down Marcus's spine.

The creature smashed a hand down onto the rocks as it let out a deep roar from the back of its throat. It clasped its hand comfortably around a rock before leaping at the boys.

In the middle of the air it brought its arm back, preparing to smash the rock into one of its targets.

Marcus's gut dropped as the creature flew towards them. Thoughts raced through his head as he stared death in the face.

At the last moment a voice spoke into his head, rapidly repeating the same word over and over again in desperation.

'Snap. Snap. Snap. Snap.'

Marcus obliged and snapped his fingers. In response the ground trembled in front of the two boys, before a wall sprung out in front of them, barely large enough to cover them from the creature.

With their view impeded, the boys could only listen to what happened beyond the wall.

A voice spoke and seconds later the creature yelped in pain, followed by the sounds of a thick liquid splashing onto the floor.

The voice spoke again and again, drawing more pained sounds from the creature until they ceased.

The boys tentatively began crawled out from behind the wall, hoping to discover what happened.

A hand grabbed Marcus by the wrist and yanked him out.

"Marcus, what the hell are you doing out here!" a girl shouted at him. "Don't you know it's dangerous?"

She was young, maybe in her early teens. Her body was draped in black clothing, the depth of which was met by her hair that reflected the midday sun.

"We were just exploring," Marcus explained. "We didn't-"

"I don't care. You're lucky I was here." She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked in a more composed tone.

"I'm fine. Who are you? How do you know me?" he asked her, worrying thoughts entering his mind. As he spoke, a feeling washed over him that he somehow knew her from somewhere.

"What happened here? Who cast this wall?" she asked, purposely ignoring his question.

"I-I did. It was me," Marcus responded.

"Huh? You? How? You're only four, you shouldn't know your elements yet, never mind be able to cast. How did you do it?"

"I just snapped my fingers and it happened. Wait, how do you know how old I am?"

An expression of shock flashed upon her face. "Okay, you can't tell anyone about this, understand?" she asked, ignoring his question once again. "Oi, brat," she began, addressing Bran "tell anyone what you saw him do and I'll kill you."

A look of fear flashed over his face.

"Come on, I'll take you back to the building," she said ignoring the expression.

She picked Marcus up as she turned to face the orphanage, and put him on her back before putting her hood up, covering her face.

They travelled along the lane up to the building in silence, Tess not willing to speak and the two boys too afraid to make a sound.

As they approached the house they saw two of the carers who lived there outside, looking around with worried expressions. As they approached, Tess recognised Rasha as one of the two women.

"Where have you two been!" she demanded as they approached.

"We wanted to look outside," Bran said, his gaze fixed on the floor.

"Don't be too harsh on them," Tess said, taking Marcus off her back. "I've already done that."

The woman who waited outside with Rasha took the two boys inside.

"Theresa, what happened?" Rasha asked her in a hushed tone, approaching her so that their conversation couldn't be overheard.

"They went outside and there was a creature out there. Luckily I was there. I've already told him off for it, so don't worry about that."

"I'll talk to him about it. It'll be better for him coming from someone he knows. Unless you want to explain things to him?"

"No. I'll do it when he's older, when he can understand." Tess took Rasha away from the building. "He has magic."

"Marcus does?"

Tess nodded in response. "Make sure no one finds out," she told her.

"You want me to wait before beginning his training? Are you sure?"

Tess nodded once again. "There are things that are being set in motion. The Gods play a game of chess with Kings and Priests, who in turn play theirs with mere men. Days of darkness are approaching. The best thing we can do to protect him is to make him seem normal, to make him less of a threat."

"What sort of darkness?" Rasha asked.

"The acolytes of dark Gods begin to move. The descendants of the martyrs are becoming hostile. War is on the verge of breaking out between minor kingdoms, a desperate gambit to gain power to prepare for the oncoming storm. Kerrun edges closer to implosion with every passing moment. There may also be something happening on the Northern isles It seems conflict is inevitable in all lands."

"I understand," Rasha said with a grim expression. "I shall do my duty and protect Cranbrow."

"And I shall protect us all."