Chapter 1: It all starts when steam is comming off of you...
And so my story begins........
If you are reading this, please be warned that most of my life's content isn't what anyone would call a "Happy ending". It is much more like a tragedy, an explosion of pain, and a couple more things I would not like to put into word at the moment. You may catch a glimpse of something enjoyable in some areas of my story, but almost everything else will involve action-packed, quick paced moments that will leave you on the edge of your seat (that is if you are sitting), and not the good kind.Anyways, let me tell you where it all started, the beginning of the end...
The sun was set high in the sky, casting its warmth over the desert in which I lived in. My shop, again, was quite literally dead. I haven't had a single soul waltz in since a couple years back. Ever since Kalya had shown up in Meridell with her bitty little pass of a store, no one had chosen to come to my shop over hers. She was closer to the customers, and had a slight advantage since I was out in the middle of the blazing desert. Some even say that she has better discounts and items than I have.
*pfft* As if.
Of course, since I myself practice magic, I should have the upper hand over sales, but I guess not.
I walked over to the front door of my shop, my mouth quirking up to a smile and the thick tan spiked hair on my head softly swaying in the desert breeze. The "Open & Closed" sign that clung to the glass that was hung by a rusted nail, blew over to the Open side slowly, emanating a small clank sound as it met the surface of the door. Before me stood the great Lost Desert, though it was never lost to my knowledge.
My store was precisely placed far far away from Sahkmet and Qasala, attracting no business, nothing of the sort. I usually never did, but one could always hope for a brighter tomorrow. Well, I already have that, so how about a better tomorrow?
I shuffled back to the beautifully finished mahogany front desk and sat down in a comfortable suede chair. Potions of every kind were dispersed among dusted and splintered shelves that lined most of the walls. A shimmering display case was filled with old wands, staffs and some papyrus. Other scrolls and books that contained spells or something of the sort were in tubes listed from A-Z, left to right inside of tall looming book cases. Across from the room sitting on a golden and gleaming table and was sheltered by thick glass walls, was a book, a book like no other. This was my pride and joy, the thing that kept me running my little store. It was absolutely amazing, the same book that got me to start practicing magic. It was the only copy of "Heiromagica: Desert magic for experts." It's what I learned from, and what gave me my knowledge of the magic around us each and every day.
Did you know that some sand can be evil? The red kind especially, it could curse a whole village or worse. I always try to stay away from it. And there is also those sneaky prying little spirits who like to douse themselves in vats of some sort of sleeping liquid, walk over to you to make you fall asleep, then draw mustaches on your face. How rude.
No one showed for the first couple minutes of store time, then hours passed, one by one. The day had quickly zoomed by whilst I only remember myself sitting down and staring out the doorway. At closing time, I groaned and stretched out my limbs, flapping my wings and being wary of not hitting anything. I walked over to the door, and as I was about to close it, a hand gripped over mine on the knob. It was burning, curls of smoke and steam rolling off my fingers as I yanked them away, holding them in pain. A quick and chilled breeze swept through the doorway and seemed to linger over me with a whispering noise, like it was trying to tell me something.
Ever since I had taught myself magic, ever since I learned what to watch out for, what just happened was always counted as bad. I never got customers this late, nor did I ever seem to get customers. The likeliness of some random person whom I had never seen before walking into my shop around midnight, was on a scale from 1 to 1,000,000 considering Kayla stole all of my regulars.
The being that had just waltzed in, was slightly taller than me, wearing only a long black patched cloak that hid it's face. Two shining silver eyes dove out from underneath the hood, accompanied by lustrous long eyelashes that would make anyone stare. A shadowed tail swooped around from behind it, and the second the person entered, the door swung shut behind it with a loud slam.
The room was silent, and those eyes stared coldly at me as they wandered from my face to my wares. A shiver raced down my spine and I stared back at the possible customer, my long nimble finger reaching over to clasp onto my elbows. A loosley sleeved arm was held out in front of the being while it's other hand rose up to the hood on it's head, slowly pulling it down. From underneath it, was a female chocolate draik head. In the crudely lit store, her features stood out like a flame in the dark. She had rosy cheeks and bubblegum hair that once free from the hood, tumbled down from her shoulder in long flowing curls and straight strands. There was no feeling present on her face, like the shop was a long lost memory that had just been found. She twisted her head in the direction of the oak bookshelfs that ran against the wall and spoke. "Do you have any scrolls or books, something of the sort, that explains how someone could reverse time?" Her voice was soft, but it seemed as if she was holding back some stronger feeling like anger or pain. I simply nodded, absentmindedly walking over to one of the shelfs, my back turned to her.
Why would she need to reverse time? Why is she here? What could possibly be running about in that girls head as to why she would need magic help? Those and many other thoughts stirred around in my mind as I hid my face with the shadows, reaching out into the shelf and snatching up a single dusty scroll. I looked back, the girls eyes on me. A slight smile crept up onto her face as I averted my eyes back around to the papyrus. Why? Thats all I could think of. No one comes, no one ever does, then she does? All to mysterious, but interesting. I turned back to her and shuffled back over in front of her. "Here, I think this may help you." I said, my voice muffled and slightly scratchy. The draik looked over it then picked it up from my palm and walked over to an old table, pulling out a matching chair and sitting down in it.
Quickly flipping a switch on the rusted table lamp next to her, she began to read it, her eyes flying over the old text.I raised my fingertips to my forehead, slowly and softly rubbing it as I pondered all the questions that came to mind and choosing a fitting one. It rose to my lips, and I said it softly. "If you don't mind me asking...why are you here?" She froze, cleared her throat, then turned to me. "For magic help, of course. Is there a problem with that?" Her reply made sense, but she didn't sound truthful. "No, not at all ma'am, there is nothing wrong with that. It's just that, that no one comes to my shop. Wouldn't you rather be over at Kayla's...so many people say she has better things than I..." I trailed off, sadness breaking my concentrated mind.
She had always beaten me, being all snickety about it too. Never once had I proved myself smarter, more talented or more wanted that she had, even though I tried my hardest... "Oh no, don't think of it like that. Just competition 'tis all. Do not fret over such a preposterous thing..." She smiled then looked back to the scroll in her hands. Maybe the girl was right, or it was all just a lie. "What's your name?" I asked kindly. Without looking up from the text, she said, "Toast, the name is Toast."
