Ennara and the Fallen Druid [Ennara #1]

Chapter Two - A Wizard Visits

Ennara recalled the lumos powder of the night before and speculated her aunt knew how to make fireworks too.

Now, the wizard was coming again, but this time Aunt Marsaili would not be here. There would be no quizzes or fireworks, only shadows that held monsters. And somehow he would help her parents fight them.

"I'd better start preparations," Aunt Marsaili said. A ruffle of leather suggested she pulled on her cloak.

Ennara and Kithe scurried up the stairs as her boots crossed the kitchen to the front door. "Ennara, I'll see you in a couple weeks. I expect you'll finish your text on logic by my return."

"Y-yes, Aunt Marsaili!" she called. Her face flushed red at being caught eavesdropping. Kithe snickered at her.

"And you, Master Fontaine, had better return to your father with those eggs. He is waiting for you."

The boy scrambled to his feet and ran for the door.

###

Tork arrived four nights later with a sudden rapping at the Gaern farmhouse door. Ennara almost mistook the sound for the thunder that had been shaking the shingles all night. The old oak door creaked open, and a murmured conversation in baritone voices followed. She would have crept out of bed to hear the details, but she was snug in the blankets, cocooned against the cold and damp from the spring storm.

"From where?" she heard her father ask.

"Dordonne," Tork replied.

Dordonne was the closest port city to their village, Hogin. It was an entire day's ride away. The walled city was the largest in the northwestern continent of Estlan. The capital city was also where the royal family of Estlan lived. Ennara had never been to the city-or anywhere outside Hogin for that matter-but she'd heard many reports from Kithe and traders passing through their village as they traveled east to the Inner Ocean. The castle, great cathedral, and many shops were enough to make any girl wish for a trip.

"It isn't safe. If anyone was to see her tattoo ..."

Ennara glanced at the unwanted companion on her hand and shuddered. She'd been told time and again what life was like for caul children who fell into the hands of the wrong people.

"She is powerful in uncommon ways. She may be the only one who can help, Lir."

"Yes, I know the legend well," her father replied. His voice sounded tired. "The only other caul in Estlan was born over three hundred years ago."

"The stolen child."

Stories of the last caul child had been etched into her memory at an early age. On the eve of the baby's birth, the Briant family of Dordonne had celebrated their fortune of having a magical child with the whole city. That night, two travelers heard of the auspicious birth and disappeared with the baby. The boy was never seen again. The family was devastated. Her parents mentioned it every time she tried to go to town without covering her hand. "What if a stranger saw your tattoo?" they'd say and march her back upstairs to change.

But the tales also said the child grew to become Gisilfrid the Great, the King who united the townships and districts of Estlan after defeating Ardewynn the sorcerer and his forces in the Great War.

Ennara wondered if she could ever do anything so impressive. It seemed too fantastic to be possible.

"I am sorry, Lir, there is no one else. She is our best hope against the shadespawn."

Silence followed.

"I will return for her tomorrow," Tork said. Footsteps crossed the room below. The front door shut, and the house grew still.