A Foundation

"In almost all villages of our Kingdom, the slaves have either fled or revolted together with commoners. Some nobles in the south have even joined these animals." Jives leaned back in his chair, "The only thing we can do is hole up in the cities and hope they attack. Up north they might be able to reclaim the lands, but down here? We are fucked." He paused for a second.

"Either we give up, flee and let the country get cleaved in half, or we strike the rebels down with all we got, right now. But, all we can do is wait for the king to move his tiny ass and give orders!"

Olaf stood in front of Jives' desk, "If we can convince the commoners of helping us, we might be able to reclaim some of the land around us. Truthfully speaking, we will lose based on numbers otherwise. The number of commoners should still be higher than the slaves. We also have the advantage of weapons, armor and magic."

Javes, looked at Olaf out of the corner of his eyes, "Most of the magicians are in the capital or at least close to it. I'm telling you, the south is lost for now, we don't win."

"Then, what do you plan on doing?" Olaf asked.

"Our only option, we flee. We can try to convince as many as possible to follow us. Together with a thousand men and woman, there should be no problem aside from food. It would be even worse if we stay, though." Jives stood up and slowly walked around the table.

"We could raid the villages that have been taken over." Olaf stood still.

Jives put his hands on Olaf's shoulder, "Go do what's necessary."

The evening sun was falling on the Hopkins Commune, where Alya had just found someone to relieve her boredom: The young boy who could sense magic, Joy. He was sitting on a stone in the field away from the small village and read a book.

"What are you doing there?" Alya pushed the wheels in his direction.

Joy jumped at her voice. Panicked, he turned his head to her direction. He sighed when he saw her appearance, "How do you even know I am here?"

She smiled at him, "A spell."

Joy nodded, "Makes sense, can you teach me?"

Alya laughed, "I don't think you need a spell to see."

His face turned red and he looked to the ground, "Yeah, you're right." For a moment, he silently listened to Alya's giggling.

He looked back at his book, "Then, can you explain to me how to read this? I don't get it." He waved it around.

"What is it?" Alya rolled closer to his side so she could read. Joy's face reddened even more.

The book had a bright green cover and three parallel, white lines were embossed on the it. The page was filled with sequences of images, short sentences closer described what was depicted.

"It's supposed to be a magic tome for air magic, but theres no explanation how to use it. I never went to an academy since I am too young, so I have no clue what this means."

"Where did you get it? Tomes are pretty hard to get." Alya said.

"Han gave it to me, he thinks I have talent in magic because I know that one spell. I don't even know how air would hurt anybody."

"Magic is more than just hurting people, also the applications of magic might surprise you. Think about your own spell. You can feel what magic people use. That's crazy if you think about it, right?"

Joy could only nod before Alya continued, "So, you see these five pictures? Look at what it portrays and try to think what it wants you to do." She pointed towards the first page.

Strained, he looked at the page, "I guess... I make a palm. And then, is that supposed to be the hand from the side? I move it forward and these lines that are everywhere are air. So, if I press the palm into the air it will get pushed together and then shoot forward?" It visibly confused him.

"I know it seems silly, but you need to think about it. Try to understand every part of it. Why did he depict air as lines? Maybe you would use different imagery. Once you truly understand the process and the result that is supposed to happen, magic works. Trust me, it will just take some time."

The boy looked up and down at Alya, he had several questions, but decided to be polite, "Where did you learn magic? Are you, like, a noble?" He closed the book.

"No, but my uncle was a court magician." Alya looked towards the sunset, when she realized. It was just one, but she had regained a feeling towards a memory.

Her loving uncle who would often travel to the village and help everybody with his spells. Because of him, she was accepted at the magic academy. She had already known he existed, but forgot her relationship to him. Together with a few more faint images, that was all she found. It reminded her of caring about a person in her past and that she still did. For the first time since she woke up, she wanted to go out and find something from her past. It also reminded her of Olaf. Alya hoped that her uncle would not stay by the king's side and fight for the rights of the slaves instead. She would not want to face him one day, knowing that it would be best for him to die.

Joy looked away when he saw the water rise to Alya's eyes. It reminded him of his own family. Of his mother, father and sister. They were his family and yet he had hated them. In anger and despondency, a tear of his own rolled down his face.