Daniel's Early Days

Ch. 4 A Magical Gift- Before Daniel became a powerful Mage, he was just a boy. Follow Daniel from the beginning as he receives his powers, has many adventures, and learns what true power really is.

With his back towards the hobgoblin, Daniel felt utterly exposed. A gripping fear that the hobgoblin might suddenly come after him seized him. He could almost feel the gnarled hands scratching across his back, but in a few uninterrupted leaps Daniel landed in a crouch back in his own yard. Because of his unmitigated panic, his heart was racing. He had allowed his imagination to run wild, and let it get the better of him for no good reason.

Scolding himself for being so childish, he turned back to face his fear. He couldn’t see Kobo, but then again, he didn’t really expect to. The hobgoblin was almost completely camouflaged when he was standing directly in front of him. Still, he got an eerie feeling that he was still out there, watching him. What he didn’t know was that he was right.

Still trying to shake his uneasiness, Daniel took a few deep breaths before he forced himself to turn his back on the forest again. As he walked back towards the house, the little hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he had the sudden urge to run. In attempt to steel his nerves, he made himself walk slowly.

He was halfway up the porch steps, when he realized his father had told him to stay where he was and keep practicing. Frozen in indecision, Daniel stood with his right foot raised on one step and the left on the step below. Weariness won out, and he plopped down on the steps. Already tired from the use of magic, his encounter in the forest had left him feeling completely drained.

            Kobo was right; no sooner did Daniel sit down then his father came out the side door on this end of the wrap around porch. Settling on the steps next to Daniel, he groaned and gave Daniel a weary look. “Sorry about that,” he sighed. “Your grandmother is incorrigible!”

            “What was she trying to do this time?” Daniel wanted to know.

            “Can’t tell,” his father said with a twinkle in his green eyes. “It’s a surprise, for you.” He winked at Daniel.

            “Can I go see?”

            “Uh, not yet; I don’t think your grandmother is quite finished yet.”

            “Give me a hint,” Daniel probed. His father gave him the look; the look that said he knew better. With one raised eyebrow, he tilted his head to the side and one corner of his mouth turned up. Daniel just smiled, he knew his father would never ruin the surprise, but he had to try. Plus, he loved giving his dad a hard time. Good natured ribbing was kind of their thing.

            Hoping to completely shock his father, Daniel held out a hand and an apple flew across the yard into his raised palm. His father’s jaw dropped, and then he laughed. “So you were practicing,” he said happily.

            “A little,” Daniel admitted, feeling more than a little guilty.

            “You’re amazing,” his father said wrapping an arm around his shoulder. That sharp pang of guilt resurfaced, but Daniel pushed it down wanting to enjoy this moment. His father raised his free hand, and retrieved his own apple. Both laughing, they crunched into their apples. When his father finished, he floated his apple core across the yard and into the compost bin by the garden. Daniel did the same, and his father treated him with another proud smile.

            Contentedly, his father leaned back on his elbows, and was silent for minute. Mirroring him, Daniel leaned back too, but watched his father out of the corner of his eyes. Daniel knew he looked a lot like his father; he had his dark green eyes, and angular nose. However, his father had straight, brown hair, and Daniel had his mother’s curly black hair. Although he was lightly wrinkled around his eyes, especially when he smiled, his father still looked like a young man. Maybe it was because of his youthful nature. Or maybe, it was because he spent a lot of time outdoors, and with the mild winters of the south his skin was tan year round. Either way, Daniel had a hard time believing that his father was almost fifty. Although his mother had a more serious nature, she was quite a few years younger than her husband. She had spent her twenties travelling the world. It wasn’t until she met Daniel’s father that she finally settled down. By then, she was already in her thirties.

            As if she knew he was thinking about her, and she may have, he heard his mother behind him. “Daniel,” she called softly, breaking his reverie. Daniel twisted around on the stairs to look up at his willowy mother. “Your grandmother would like you to join her in the attic,” she informed him with a broad grin.

            Instantly, Daniel jumped up. With a brief smile at his mother, he ran inside and practically flew up the two flights of stairs to reach the attic.

            A small furry creature standing on two feet was waiting for him at the top of the stairs. “Happy Birthday Daniel,” he said in his deep, somewhat musical voice.

            “Thanks, Quip,” Daniel replied. He cast a quick glance over at his grandma, trying to discern what the surprise was before he knelt down to talk with Quip. Rushing past him would be rude, and Quip would not take kindly to that. He was extremely temperamental.

            Quip had been their House Brownie since before Daniel was born; he wasn’t sure how long exactly because the usual answer was simply, “a very long time”. He wasn’t sure anyone in the house knew for sure except for maybe Quip, and he wasn’t telling.

            Quip vaguely reminded Daniel of a mouse, albeit a very articulate mouse on two legs that was definitely more human than animal. He had short, soft, silver fur that he took pride in grooming until it shone. On his head he had shaggy black hair that he never could seem to get a handle on. His long pointed ears were tipped with tufts of soft fur, and usually poked through his mop of hair. His dark brown eyes were decidedly more human quality, but his nose was pointy, which reminded Daniel of a mouse, and the whiskers didn’t help.

            Quip dressed like a human, and today he was wearing black trousers and a gray pin striped vest that practically blended in with his short fur. Although he completed his outfit today with a black fedora hat, his feet remained bare, and his tiny clawed feet were peeking out from under the cuffs of his pants. It may seem that he was dressed up for Daniel’s birthday, but this was his normal attire.

            After Daniel knelt down by Quip to get as close to eye level as possible without actually laying on the floor, Quip bowed low, his usual greeting. “Big day,” he said when he straightened back up.

            “Yeah,” Daniel admitted, trying not to rush the fickle Brownie. He kept stealing quick glances over at his grandmother. She was sitting on the ancient trunk under the window in Quip’s living quarters. She had a secretive smile playing on the corner of her lips, but he couldn’t see anything that would give away his surprise. 

            “Been practicing outside with your father, I see,” Quip stated, always in the know of what happened around here. “You did exceptionally well. I see real promise in you,” he added. “More gifted than most,” he whispered leaning in close.

            “Thanks, Quip,” Daniel answered slowly, perplexed as to why Quip was whispering. Quip was always saying things in a roundabout way; confusing riddles seemed to be his favorite pastime.

            “Well off with you,” Quip said, abruptly dismissing him. “Your grandmother is waiting,” he shooed Daniel.

            Quickly scrambling up, Daniel practically fell back to the floor in his haste. Quip giggled, which was completely out of character for his usual stoic behavior, and at a much higher pitch than his speaking voice. Imparting Quip with a withering glance, Daniel set off across the room.

            “I have something for you,” his grandmother announced as soon as he reached her. Out of the folds of her skirt she procured a small metallic dragon.

            Daniel was confused, but not entirely disappointed. He had seen this dragon many times; played with it for countless hours. It had been his grandfather’s his grandmother had told him when he first found it in her room. This was the first and only time she had ever mentioned her husband.

            This small dragon was a bit of an anomaly; it was made of hundreds of tiny metal pieces, and each piece could be slid in any direction. When his grandmother had shown him how to manipulate it into a tiny ball, she explained the reason it was so flexible was because each piece had its own ball joint that allowed for infinite movement. At the time, Daniel wasn’t sure he understood what a ball joint was, but he didn’t care. The dragon was amazing, and Daniel could change it into any position allowing his imagination to run wild.

            His grandmother was holding the dragon out in the palm of her hand like an offering. The sunlight from the window behind her was glancing off the dark metal causing a mixture of green and blue hues to shine off the metallic shell.

            “Thanks Grams,” Daniel said genuinely. He reached out to pick it up, but as soon as he touched it the dragon came to life.