Diverse Magic [Chase]

[Lettice Bellemis]

A few young druid children splashed about the lake. It was a pretty location; a deep gorge lake in the middle of the forest. Lettice reclined atop a thick branch of an overhanging tree, one bare leg lazily dangling off of the side, her toes just grazing the surface of the water. She was more interested in scratching the rough bark with her fingernail than watching over her charges.

It had been many years since Lettice could be counted as a child, and she found that she was bored with their playing. A couple of the young girls had given up trying to rouse her from her perch and join in their childish games. The children's natural magic was worked into their playing. The young boys flicked water at the girls telepathically from high on the dry bank. That was the druid way. The children grew up surrounded by magic.

Lettice lifted her head when she heard a scream. Nope, no-one was drowning. One of the boys, a troublemaker, had gripped one of the girls by her long plaited hair and was dragging her towards the lake with a mischeivious grin plastered across his face.

"Argus." came Lettice's warning tone. He glanced up at her but carried on regardless. She rolled her eyes. "Argus!" This time, her voice was accompanied by the palm of her hand stretched out in his direction. She narrowed her eyes, directing her telekinetic magic toward the boy. Argus let go of the girl's hair, surprised that his hand was no long behaving how he wanted. Then he keeled back into the lake as if pushed off balance. A chorus of laughter could be heard over the splash. Lettice allowed herself a small smile as the other children splashed into the water to join the bedraggled Argus, peace restored.

[Chase Caldera]

Chase was once more in the woods training and exploring wondering whether he would find any of the secrets the forest contained. At the moment he was merely flying along trying to think of a new way to use his magic. He was wondering whether there was some way to combine light and water when he heard a scream coming from his left. He considered ignoring it but decided to at least go check it out. He was bored and there might be something interesting going on.

Chase swooped over to a clearing where a group of children were playing. The screaming was coming from a girl who was being teased by one of the boys. It looked like he had managed to find the elusive druids. He was slightly disappointed and about to leave when he sense the boys grip on the girl be broken by magic.

Chase instantly was alert searching for the source. He found the castor, it was a teen girl older than the others who had probably been set to watch them. He decided to go and meet her. He had always wanted to see for himself just how druid magic worked.

Swooping towards the tree she was reclining in Chase said "Hello. Hope I'm not disturbing you. Just was in the area and heard some screaming. Is everything all right?" He spoke in his most concerned tone pretending he actually cared about the children.

[Lettice Bellemis]

Lettice had barely switched her gaze from the lake and settled back against the tree when a male voice spoke close by.

"Hello. Hope I'm not disturbing you. Just was in the area and heard some screaming. Is everything all right?"

She only just reined in her small gasp of surprise so that it was inaudible. Her long fingers dug into the bark as she turned to face the speaker. It was a boy, she would guess about her age or a little younger. Lettice eyed him cautiously before replying. He looked friendly enough, and he genuinely seemed concerned about their safety, but he was still a stranger to these parts of the woods, and she was supposed to be in charge of the children's safety.

Lettice glanced across to where they were playing, seemingly oblivious to the conversation she was having. It couldn't hurt to talk... She decided, besides, hadn't she just been longing for more mature company?

"Everything's fine thanks." she replied, swivelling round on the branch so both legs dangled over the side. "Just childish games... " she flicked her eyes toward the children, "They get a bit over excited sometimes." At this, another chorus of screams and splashes came from the lake. Lettice rolled her eyes as if to say- see what I mean?

"You're not from around here." It wasn't so much an accusation as a question. Lettice would have known the stranger if he was from the druid camp, and she was curious as to why he had ventured so far into the forest. She cocked her head to one side, waiting for his reply.

[Chase Caldera]

Chase couldn't help enjoying the girls gasp of surprise when she noticed him. He always enjoyed scaring people. He pretended to be interested as she talked about the trivial goings on of the children. He did find it interesting just how much they used magic in their games. When he was a child he hadn't even known he had possessed magic. If they all used magic this often they would probably become quite strong someday.

Chase returned his focus to answer the girl's question, "Nope I am from Camelot. Actually I am in the mage guild there. My passion is magic. What about you? I assume you also have some sort of magic" Chase's tone remained friendly and warm the entire time. However he also made sure his interest in magic showed through. Hopefully the girl wouldn't think he was a creeper. He wanted to see for himself just how good druids were at magic.

[Lettice Bellemis]

The boy answered quickly and casually. Lettice was interested to hear he was from the city. She had heard of the Mage Guild but wasn't sure exactly how it worked. He looked too young to be part of such an organisation, but then looks could be deceptive. After all, the heir to the throne was young himself. For an instant, Lettice wondered just what she was doing with her life... people younger than her were already set up in the city.

"Magic? Yeah I do." Lettice replied offhandly. "Psychic mainly." Magic was a way of life for the druids, and she never really thought of it as something special. Chase's intereste, although friendly, was initially lost on her.
"So you're at the Guild huh?" she replied, "You're training to become a mage? Is that why you're in the forest, to train?"

[Chase Caldera]

Chase could tell the girl wasn't all that interested in magic. How foolish. She had the huge advantage of growing up surrounded by it meaning she could have been able to train since the day she was born and instead it seemed she simply didn't care about it. Didn't she realize just how rare and powerful magic was? Still he didn't feel like arguing with her. He wanted more knowledge of the druids first.

He answered her questions by saying , "Well actually I already am a mage in two types. I am starting to learn a little bit of light magic now. I don't know much yet. You probably know more then me. Got any tips for a young mage?" Chase spoke the first part as if he was slightly embarrassed at how fast he had risen through the ranks. Hopefully she would know enough about magic to give him something useful to work on.