Daniel's Early Days: A Young Wizard's Story

Ch32 Elemental Magic-Before Daniel became a powerful Mage, he was just a boy. Follow him from the beginning as he receives his powers, embarks on many adventures, and learns what true power really is.

“Are you ok?” his mother called, concern clearly etched on her beautiful face as she quickly closed the gap between her and her son. Without waiting for an answer, she grabbed Daniel by the shoulders and looked him over anxiously. She had flat out sprinted across the yard and had reached the garden first, but her husband was close on her heels. Daniel’s grandmother glided along gracefully behind them, her elevated feet just barely skimming the tips of the grass.

            “Juniper, I told you: everything’s fine,” Daniel’s father said breathlessly in thinly veiled exasperation.

            “Really,” she stated rather than asked, giving her husband a cool look. Her tension was palpable. The damp summer air ceased its gentle blowing and turned dry and chilly like a crisp autumn morning. Daniel felt a brittle crackling on his skin like static causing the tiny hairs on his arms to rise and stand at attention.

“Our ten year old son is performing powerful magic without supervision or proper training, and you say everything is fine?!” She turned her piercing gaze to Daniel, but her eyes quickly softened. “Are you alright Daniel?”

            “I’m perfectly fine,” Daniel asserted giving his mother a sheepish grin. He always thought that his parents were overprotective, but he had never seen his mother lose her cool like this before. Juniper closed her eyes, and took a deep breath slowly releasing the tension in the air. The humidity returned in a warm wave melting the frosty feeling of her fear in the air.

            “I can say one hundred percent that Daniel had everything under control. Besides, he wasn’t completely unsupervised; Pearl was here. I am positive that he was quite safe. Wouldn’t you agree Pearl?”

            “I would,” her metallic head catching the light as she nodded her affirmation. She paused briefly before continuing, “Although it is my understanding that Daniel should be too young and inexperienced to handle this kind of power, he appears to be quite capable.”

            “I told you it was only a simple wind spell,” Daniel’s grandmother interjected. “Dez and I could tell everything was under control.”

            “Really, how could you tell?” Daniel wanted to know.

            “Air is our Element. We have a special…knack for magic drawn from the Air. Just like your mother is a very powerful Earth Witch and has a great deal of power over magic from the Earth,” his father explained, gently rubbing his wife’s shoulder.

            “I felt the release of powerful magic and…” she trailed off. She reached over to Daniel and gave him a quick hug. “I worry is all. You were only supposed to read the spell book. I didn’t imagine that you would be performing spells on your own so soon.”

            “Clearly Daniel is...” Dez turned to smile at his son, “gifted. All he needs is guidance”. He slid his arm around his wife and gave her a reassuring squeeze. “No time like the present. Daniel, why don’t you show me what you can do, and then maybe I can teach you a few tricks of the trade.”

Dez showed Daniel how to use the wind spell to refine his self-control; not only releasing the magic, but also reigning it back in and directing it. While his grandmother and mother watched, for a time, they didn’t interrupt. Pearl was more than happy to be the guinea pig that tested the air currents.

After an hour of practice, Daniel was exhausted, and ravenous. Although his father took it upon himself to instruct, his mother kept close. Daniel wasn’t sure when, but his grandmother had disappeared sometime during the lesson.

When the three of them returned to the house, Loma had lunch ready and waiting on the kitchen table. Daniel devoured his lunch, and his grandmother quickly supplied seconds without a word. Once he had finally satiated himself, Daniel felt weariness creep over him like a warm blanket, and he struggled to keep his heavy eyelids from shutting out the exciting world of his newfound magic.

“I think you need a break,” his mother said taking his plate away. “Why don’t you go upstairs and lay down for a while.”

Daniel didn’t argue even though what he really wanted was to continue practicing magic, he was in no state to deny that he was practically asleep in his chair. He trudged upstairs and did a belly flop onto his bed. Daniel was asleep before Pearl even took up her perch on his bookshelf.

Daniel dreamed he was soaring through the air, and breathing fire like a dragon. It was the most vivid dream he had ever had. It was so much more than what Pearl had shared with him of her own experience. It wasn’t a shared experience, Daniel was the dragon. His five senses were sharp and attuned to his every need. He could feel and identify every part of his sinewy body like they were old friends: the strength of every muscle that exerted themselves for flight, the fiery warmth from somewhere within his scaly body that just begged to break free in a stream of red hot fire, even his spiked tail lazily whipping back and forth as it followed him through the air like a ribbon, all felt like they were his own.

The immense pleasure he felt from soaring freely through the air was only surpassed by the adrenaline rush he experienced by creating fire on demand. He sliced through the air gleefully issuing out bursts of flames that left him feeling giddy. However elated he felt by this experience, something nagged at him, destroying the delight of his dreams.

Daniel felt like he was being watched; pursued even. Agitated, he circled around and flew low looking for someone or something. Bit by bit, he began to slow down like he was moving underwater instead of free air. So, he flapped harder; struggling to keep afloat. But, no matter what he did, he could feel gravity sucking at him, pulling him down to the confines of solid ground. Swiftly picking up speed as he fell, Daniel braced himself for the inevitable crash back to earth.

He woke up abruptly before he hit dirt. Sitting up sharply and panting hard, he looked around the room. Somehow, he knew instinctively and immediately that he was not alone.

His first thought was Pearl. Of course he was not alone. Having a personal talisman always nearby was taken some getting used to. He looked up to locate her, but she wasn’t on the bookshelf anymore.

Panic crept up his stomach, to his chest, and lodged itself uncomfortably in his throat. Frantically, Daniel scanned the room. His anxiety was short lived because he found her rather quickly. She was beside him on his nightstand. However, she was not alone.