You’re never too young to fulfill your destiny

“You’re never too young to fulfill your destiny"

Those words echoed in Abigail’s mind, as she stood on the front stoop of Wizard Arhon’s humble abode. Rizon moved up to the door and lifted his fist to knock;

“Come in!” came a voice from inside.

We entered cautiously; and were greeted by the glow of firelight and a table set for dinner.

“I wasn’t expecting you quite so soon! Dinner isn’t ready yet, so you should have time to freshen up a bit before we eat!” The voice called again from the room adjoining us.

I looked around at our surroundings: small but comfortably furnished, outlandish tapestries hung from almost every wall. There was a large, well used plush chair in one corner of the large room, and a sofa across from it. There were two other doorways; the one closest to us led to the kitchen and the other to a bedroom presumably.

A moment later we were met by Wizard Arhon, who walked in from the kitchen drying his hands on a towel.

“Ah, let me have a look at you all!” he paused a moment and looked us over, his keen blue eyes told me that he didn’t miss much. “Very good, I think you might just stand a chance.” He continued “As you may have guessed I am Wizard Arhon, would you please introduce yourselves?”

“I am Rizon Kandarr, and this is…..”

“No, no, no! I know you’re names, who are you?” He asked again

My blank stare was mirrored on everyone else’s face too!

“Uh, let me reword that question. What is your gift? What are you good at that will help you during this quest?”

Again there was a silence as we each thought.

“Well, you all freshen up and think about it, and we’ll discuss it after dinner.”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

On the circular dinner table was a large plate of steaming fresh vegetables, and several other smaller plates of various cheeses, meats and breads.

We ate our fill and then began cleaning up our plates.

“No need for that!” Wizard Arhon said. With a twist of his wrist and a hushed word or two, the table was cleaned off and the dished were polished and stacked on the china cabinet behind us.

We all moved to the living room, Arhon sat in the old chair, the girls took the sofa and I situated myself comfortably on the floor.

“Let’s begin with your talents Rizon.” Arhon said.

Oh swell! He would start with me!

“I’ve got this special talent that uh… makes my drawings come to life.” I said

His eyes shifted to Tallie

“Oh! Um, my talents” She said “I’m a good flier, and I’m very fast.”

“Lizzie?” He asked

“I don’t really know, I’m good at reading.”

He looked thoughtful, pursed his lips a little, and then nodded slightly. He looked at Abigail next.

“I’m good at using my knives and pretty good at sleight of hand.” Abigail said.

“Alright, thank you for your honest opinions about yourself. You all are probably tired so let’s get some sleep. We’ll start training tomorrow, bright and early.”

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

After breakfast we all gathered outside under the large willow tree, and discussed the rogue wizard’s fortress in detail. Then we practiced stealth movements, and self-defense. Arhon showed Abigail how to use a special mirror to create the illusion of either an empty road or a road full of armed warriors. Rizon was working on his spells, and Tallie was practicing flying maneuvers.

What do I have to contribute to this cause? I found myself wondering.

After lunch Arhon called us all together.

“I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?”

“The bad” We all said in unison.

“The bad news is that Wizard Martin is going to be moved to a different security facility sooner than we thought. The good news is this transport is a great opportunity to break him free.”

“When will it happen?” I asked

“It’s happening tomorrow morning Lizzie. That is also bad news because we won’t have time to train.” He paused “I think we can do it though, if you all use your gifts that I’ve observed you’ll do quite well, and the rogue wizards won’t even know what hit them! Rizon: You’re an exceptional leader, and a good apprentice wizard. You’re strong and courageous. Tallie: You are quick at flying and equally quick witted. You’ll do well at thinking on the fly….uh pardon the pun. Abigail: You are a good marksman and will do well with the sleight of hand- mirror trick I showed you. And Lizzie: You are good at planning; you’ll come up with a good idea for what to do. And you have more strength than you realize. That being said, we should discuss the plan of attack for tomorrow.” We sat at the table looking over the maps. Tomorrow would be the day! It was too late to turn back now, yet I felt a strange sensation of peace, I suddenly realized I wasn’t afraid anymore!