Thea walked hurriedly down the steep path. The cold was starting to seep into her clothes, but she still felt warm. Her mother was always worried she would freeze whenever she went out with only her summer cloak on. Thea wasn't worried though. She liked it best when the snow fell and she could finally feel cooler. Ice crackled under her feet as she picked up her speed. She wondered if she should just slide down, it would be faster.
Her eyes darted, looking for a potential faster path- she was starting to get impatient with herself.
"If only I could fly!" she cried as she leapt from the path and down the mountain.
She reasoned she should be okay, she had fallen further and without much injury. A few moments passed when she heard footsteps on the path she had just left. Thea turned around to look in the direction she came. On the path, she saw a figure in a heavy cloak. It dragged the ground, bringing snow with it as it moved further and further along the path. A voice, "Thea! Where are you?!"
Marina. Thea smiled and started back towards the path. But, why was Marina coming up here? Surely, she'd want to see the mage too!
"Marina, you didn't have to come looking for me! You should know I wouldn't possibly miss the mage!" she shouted as she climbed out of the shrubbery.
"Well, I wanted to tell you that the mage was going to arrive soon! The whole village is clamoring with excitement! They say that there were rumors that the mage thinks there might be a mage here too!"
"Really? One of us is a mage? Oh, that's exciting!" Thea responded, giddy.
Thea hoped with all her heart that she was the secret mage. Mages got free trips to the capital via escort to be trained to control their innate power. Anyone could theoretically become a mage, but those born with the power had the best training of all. She had always wanted to see the capital too. Marina's parents spoke well of it and told tall tales of the grand buildings. They said people bustled and hustled about their work and there were plenty of people and guilds.
She wanted to go, but her parents kept refusing her, telling her that the Queen was no good and it was best to keep her eyes away from their village. "That'll show them, now the Queen surely knows of us! If she sent a mage down here to come find the one with abilities"
"Come on! Let's hurry," Thea shouted as she grabbed Marina's arm.
She began to drag Marina behind her, the girl shouting her protest and going too quickly down the slippery path. "Careful! Thea! You might seem to be made of stone, but I'm not! I'll get hurt if we slip and slide all the way down!" Marina protested, wiggling and pulling her arm free.
"Cold," she whispered as her arm was free of Thea's grasp.
"Cold?" Thea asked, nobody had ever felt cold around her.
"Just the cold air came rushing back to my arm, that's all. It reminded me of how cold it was, I had almost forgotten. You're like a fire Thea," she smiled.
Thea smirked and began to make her way down once more, they had dallied enough. They couldn't be far now anyways, there was the stone marking the path entrance from slight to steep.
After what felt like hours of picking, running, and sliding down, they finally saw the first building appear through the trees. The typically brown roof looked blue and white from ice and snow. She could already hear the clamoring of the villagers gathering in the small square now. Were they too late to have seen the mage make his entrance?
Just as they arrived and pushed their way to the front, a small blot of smoke started to swirl on the ground. The smoke started to smolder and quickly turned into a tall fire. The villagers, Thea included, stared in awe and amazement. They had heard that mages could control elements, possibly more, but they had never seen such a display before.
Just as the fire seemed to begin to go out of control, it turned humanoid. The fire seemed to be looking at them, smiling. Thea found it to be a bit unsettling if she was honest with herself. Suddenly, a loud crack came from the sky and a man was standing in a white robe beside the blazing fire. As quickly as the first man appeared, the fire was gone and a second man in a red robe stood where it had burned moments before.
"Good evening everyone," the white robed man said, smooth as ice.
The village erupted into applause at the spectacle. Thea realized she was also smiling, wide-eyed with amazement. Even if she didn't have mage abilities, could they possibly be convinced to take her with them to study it? She just had to be a mage, it was just too exciting of a prospect to ignore.
"It appears you were expecting us," the red robed man commented, eyes washing over the crowd that had gathered.
"Well, it'd be hard to not expect you with your entrance!" a voice shouted.
The men simply chuckled before a serious look overtook their face, "We've come from the capital to find the one with the abilities to become a mage. One among you has the power for this, we can feel it even far in the capital. We'll spend a few days here, to ensure that our intuition is correct. In that time, please, go about your business as usual," the white robed man said coolly.
The villagers muttered, words caught Thea's ears, "Can't they just grab whoever and be on with it? What a pain. Nuisance. Some mages they are." She'd never heard such contempt from her neighbors and friends before. Wouldn't having not one, but two, mages be exciting in the coming days? Surely, they wouldn't meddle in affairs.
The white robed man moved towards the crowd and pointed at Marina, stating, "You, you look familiar. Why?"
Marina blushed and looked down, explaining, "Oh, my family has ties to the capital. We're from there originally. We only moved here a few years ago, so, master mage, you may have seen us around."
Marina disliked telling people she came from the capital, it was a tough point for her. She didn't seem to miss the life that was full of bustle, but the people in town had had a hard time accepting her at first. Saying she was too uppity and not enough like them for her to be part of the community. A year or two had gone by before they finally stopped giving her the cold shoulder and warmed up to her, like the Sunta embracing the ground after a long winter.
"Ah, yes, that must be why," he muttered as he walked back to his companion. The two shared a look before breaking apart once more, beginning to speak with some of the more eager villagers. Answering barrages of questions about their entrance, their travel, and how the capital was doing.
