Thunder and lightning has never frightened me before, but being on a ship, well that's totally different. There's no feeling of solidity, the rocking, the tossing and the motion all add to the feeling of weightlessness and it isn't a pleasant feeling. Not. At. All. From laughter and light heartedness, I went quite. I had heard my Momma and Papa ask my brother about the amulet and listened to his replies, but I knew also that something was wrong. There was something missing from all this. My new abilities, my brother's all this meant something, but what. I looked at my brother and he looked straight back at me as if knowing what I was thinking. He shook his head slightly and I looked away. We would have to talk to Momma and Papa eventually, and I think he knew it. but with the weather turning for the worse I suppose now was not the time. Papa held out his arms and I went to him. Although ten years old I still needed the hugs from Momma and Papa. My brother's fourteen and taller than me by six inches or more. We share the same colouring in hair, eyes and skin and we have similar temperaments, unless he's teasing me and then I lose it and my temper is something that reminds Papa of Momma (they laugh at that and I don't really understand why as I usually end up being grounded). Momma and Papa didn't have magic though, they were skilled with weapons and I know Papa has had my brother training for the past 4 years with the knights stationed at the Castle. I was due to start training with a sword this year and was already pretty proficient with a bow. Now we had magic and I needed to know what this meant, where it came from and who would help us develop and learn to use it properly. I saw Toller sitting by the window of the lounge watching the waves tossing this way and that. Toller was one of the Battlemages kept by our parents to assist in the protection of the family. Not only did they know how to use the usual type of weapons, they were also skilled in various forms of magic ranging from elemental to healing. He may be the one to talk to first. He saw me looking at him and raised an eyebrow. I smiled and produced a coughing fit in the hope that he would realise something was amiss.... Mom looked down from her chair and raised her hand beckoning me to come nearer. As I got up I felt stiff and sore, "Ow!" Father open his eyes, "Ah! Your first true battle reward's." "Rewards?" I turned my bowed head toward him to look him in the eyes. "Training day for those who have twelve summers would have given you your first experience. One more year..." Fathers look changed, "You're not the little boy I knew anymore." His eyes well up with water. I'm proud of you. And what you did yesterday just made me even prouder." He paused and looked about the room as he brushed the water from under his eyes. "Well it looks like your first experience has given you more than then the Battle master at arms could have at that. You'll probably be tougher than most." Mom looked over to Dad and gave him a nod, "Hold up the amulet for me." I pulled it out of the collar left of my heart. Started to take it off my neck. "No, now just hold it up by the string." She brought up a tiny pouch with a bit of yarn around a leather case. Her hands guided the pouch down below the Eye of Newt, lifted the pouch to snare it, and then pulled to laces of tough waxed leather. "There! Now you can let it dangle out or inside your shirt and it won't accidentally touch you again." "Thanks Mom! I was going to give..." she cut me off. "No! You found it. That is a sign the magic is to help protect you. Give it to no one. The power it bears bring sight in more ways than one and you must learn the 5 keys. They trigger what you will see and who will see. That is why Coander wants it back. If he gets it there is no telling what he will do. And poor Ella!" My eyelids widened, "Who's Ella?" Mother frowned, "She was my brother's wife and the best cook the castle ever knew." Sis suddenly let out a whiff of excitement, "Who's your brother?!" Mom face grew sad, "I am afraid that it is time for you two to learn the family line. Come on! Come over here little ones!" As sis reached Mom I examined the new pouch holding the amulet. I touched it in several places with fingers to see if the magic could get through the sack. Mom lifted my sister to her lap, "It is time you knew. Coander is my brother." The clouds storming a good distance from the ship sent booms and increased the winds strain on the ships sails. The ships captain hollered, "Raise the boom sail!" He peer back of the ship. Muttered through his waxed mustache, "We'll be leaving that storm behind." The boom sail took and the ships nose rose a little higher out of the water and seemed to glide like a graceful swan skimming along with the wings spred. The cabin voices ooed and awwed for awhile and than... I looked at Mom, "But Mom! What could of happened to her." Dad reached out and took Mom's hand and gave her a look. She looked concerned at him, "No I think it is. Coander and Ella were practicing nature magic a lot. If I'm not mistaken she was that frog you encountered." Fathers eyes bulged a little, Moms face blushed, Sis perked up, "A FROG?!" I looked at all of them with my mouth surely gaping open, "Ah? That little thing? How could it be." Tollor moved into view, "It could be and it can be, believe me. When you were seeing did you notice anything strange about and around Coandor?" He looked me straight in the eyes. I studied his stare carefully and wondered how wise he was. I felt the hair on the back of my neck tingle. Dad moved forward in his chair, "He uncomfortable Tollor." "It is important. Your highness." his glare softened. "I recall seeing a strange cloud. It was strange because a pair of arms poked out of it and grabbed and pushed soldiers." I left off a heavy sigh of relief. Tollor looked at Mom. "He found her!" SHORT!!! :psyduck: i don't like short stories. :psyduck: :psyduck: It must be 700 pages atleast!!!
