Faerie World

Chapter 1 The Mysterious Staff

In the world of faerie, the magic in the world is still young and plentiful. The air is crisp and the water is always fresh. Races of which have been long extinct are still yet alive. Indeed, one could have a story merely about the numerous races that populate this world, but alas, the story being told is much more minuscule in comparison. In fact, it begins with a boy named Kenshin; an innocent, naïve youth by nature, but very much respectable. His mind is on the much more simple things in life such as pleasing his father.

Lately, he had been told from his father to fetch himself a weapon with which to train with. Today he had come of age to begin his training as a knight and his first assignment had already been initiated. His father had sent him out with a small amount of money; hardly enough to buy a worthy weapon, but this was the challenge. Kenshin's thoughts were not along these lines, of course, instead his thoughts were to protect his money from thieving hands. His father had spoken to him on this subject so thoroughly that Kenshin supposed that this was the thing that he was being tested on.

The streets were crowded with peasants, thieves, and mages. It was a place not familiar to youths such as Kenshin. His father served the King and he reaped from the benefits. Kenshin's status was that of a rich man and he was in no way used to walking about without his father's supervision or one of his bodyguards. This luxury would be too obvious and it would guarantee some form of thievery so Kenshin went without it.

The sun shined down pleasantly upon the streets and Kenshin looked around eagerly for his first weapon. A large cart filled with swords, daggers, staffs, knives, and the likes caught his eye. The cart stood in front of a dark alleyway obscuring its view, but still visible if one looked hard enough. Of course, this was not the case for our youth. Instead, the first thing he noticed was the seller and his elfish appearance. The seller's ears were pointed and his nose was sharp; an obvious clue to his race. Kenshin was immediately on guard; elves were the sole race that his father had warned him of. Kenshin tried in a futile attempt to keep his expression neutral as he addressed the seller. Already, Kenshin had sighted a weapon that very well suited his attributes.

"I'm looking for a particular weapon; a staff. Might you have one to sell?" asked Kenshin modestly.

Kenshin now stood in front of the cart and was also keeping his eye on the elf. The elf pointed easily to a row of magnificent staffs leaning against the wall beside the cart. There were strange marks on the staffs, unrecognizable symbols in the eyes of Kenshin.

"I have a variety of staffs. Of course, you are looking for something special, aren't you?" asked the mysterious elf with a twinkle in his eye.

Kenshin was mystified by the staffs. There was obviously something special about them and he suspected the price to be equally so, but it was worth a try to ask. The longer he looked at them the more he wondered what the symbols meant.

"These particular staffs are marked with eleven symbols; they represent the element that each staff supports. Looking at your eyes, I would suspect water as your chosen element," stated the seller.

As has been said before in the introduction, magic is alive and thriving in the world. No matter what race you were, there was an element that you possessed. Every child is born with one main element and is trained accordingly. There was a type of school that every child went to. This school is designed to teach the basics of one's element and it lasted five years. Assumingly, a child would attend it starting at the age of five and then at the age of ten it was finished; anything past this level of training required money. The average child would then become an apprentice to their chosen trade and during those days this gave the child extra training in their magic, but it would be specifically towards their trade and nothing more. Kenshin, however, was not the average child. Throughout his entire life, he is taught not only the basics, but the advanced. There were some properties of magic that most peasants would never even know or use.

"Yes, it is," answered Kenshin unable to keep the surprise from his voice.

"Ah, yes the water staff, then." He picked it up and ran a hand down it. "Very special one, usually would sale high, but…" He looked at the young man very close. "What kind of things are you interested in?"

The youth grew very suspicious at such a question, but his eyes ran along the beautiful staff; he could almost feel the elemental water coursing through it. "I'm only interested in my training and finishing my first assignment. What must I do to convince you to sell it at a cheaper price?"

The elf seller smiled strangely at the youth, "I am a thief, you know. We hang out with other thieves; not the best of company." He motioned for the youth to follow, carrying the cart and the staff with him into the alley toward a hole in the wall, "I wonder if I might find a friend and a business partner; one who is opted to strike an honest deal you—" His voice began to fade out as he entered the building.

The staff itself was enticing in Kenshin's eyes, it was perfect for him and the weapon was not too heavy to wield as a sword would be. Besides this, the staff was endowed with elven magic and their magic was said to be the strongest. He decided to follow the seller.

"An honest man, that's what I need around me," said the seller as he stopped the cart beside a large sagging couch that had probably seen better days. "I wonder if you might swing by, spend time once in a while; maybe be a runner, delivering things here and there for me?"

"Delivering things?" asked Kenshin in a suspicious tone, his father's warning was clear in his mind: Stay away from elves. "Listen, is this getting me any closer to buying that staff? If it is yes, then I will agree to your proposal."

The seller stood smiling and tossed the staff at him, "Honest, I am guessing," said he with a laugh. "Enjoy; that's the finest staff around; handcrafted by me and enchanted by my sister."

The youth caught the staff before it could touch the ground. It wasn't as heavy as he thought it would be. It felt more like a feather. The wood was so smooth and polished that Kenshin wondered what kind of wood it was made of. There was the magic also, which made it truly attractive. The symbol of water engraved intricately into the wood began to glow.

"Wow," whispered he to himself. "I must keep my promise…what did you want me to deliver?"

The seller looked back at him, "There is a lot of delivering in my business, but today I think you need to deliver that staff and yourself back to your home. I believe there is someone wanting to teach you something."

"How did you--" Kenshin stopped himself; the seller was an elf after all. "Then I will be back tomorrow."

Just as Kenshin walked out of the dark alley and into the busy streets once again, he ran into a rather large man in height as well as in weight. Kenshin looked up to him timidly, "S-sorry."

"What kid? You dare run into me!" shouted the man in a furious tone.

"Leave that kid alone, man. Don't start trouble on my block!" yelled a familiar voice.

It was the seller from before to Kenshin's amazement. The elven seller held a battered staff in comparison to Kenshin and the symbols etched upon it glowed as bright as a star. The moment that the elven seller had given him allowed enough time for Kenshin to dodge a fury of punches that the man unleashed on him. This, and the fact that the man was relatively slow, gave Kenshin an edge. He heard the elf behind him yell for him to get out the way. This the youth did obediently all the while his hand remained firmly on the staff; he hadn't the slightest clue how to use it.

"Auzurel!" yelled the elf as he slung the staff over his head and watched it flew towards the man as a boomerang would.

The staff struck the man's face and then came twirling through the air back to the elf. The man snarled at the elf and then at Kenshin who stood behind him.

"Looks like you have a guardian angel, kid, but you should have told your friend to butt out," said the man as four more men came into view, "You'll be sorry you were ever born, boy!"

The men looked formidable. All of them were equipped with knives and swords. They had an air of nonchalant as if this kind of thing was their normal routine.

"Kill the leader and the others will scatter like ants," whispered the voice of his father in his mind.

There was sudden determination in Kenshin's eyes, he placed the staff on the ground and decided to use his best line of offense. His hand rose and a torrent of water flowed through his hand and slammed into the big man's face allowing no chance to breath. Somehow, however, the man was able to disengage from the suffocating attack. There was a glitter of malice in the man's eyes.

"Hey, kid, the staff," said the elf in low tones to Kenshin, "You use it by simply mentally picturing what it is you want to do and saying the initiating word: Hydruno. I want to see you try it, kid."

The youth nodded at the elf and he again took the staff into his hand. He immediately felt his magic increase tenfold as he held it. He closed his eyes in concentration imagining how the man would die. His eyes were still closed as he pointed the staff at the leader.

"Hydruno!"

Suddenly, water came gushing from the staff rapidly. It struck the man at an unbelievable velocity and threw the man and all the unlucky people behind him into the building across the street. The blast had continued only for a moment longer, but it was enough to demolish the man's bones and melt his skin until he was nothing more than flesh. That was not the only thing that was thrown back, Kenshin could not handle the backlash of the attack and he too was thrown back into a wall. He was knocked momentarily unconscious.

The elf grinned to himself and strolled over to the youth laying a hand on his shoulders, "You truly can unlock the power of water…very good." He looked over to the man's thugs. "You shall be great one day," said the elf to him.

After a moment, when the other men made no advances in their paralyzing fear, the elf lifted the kid and leaned him onto his shoulders. He took the youth back into his shabby home in the wall of the rotting building.

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AN: By the way, plz review...Next chapter coming very soon. (Man, it would suck if no one reviewed...)