Madison McClain, or Madi for short, is a young elf girl who is close friends with Ian and Barley Lightfoot. Madison and Ian have feelings for each other, but they both are too scared to admit it. When her friend receives a wizard's staff from his la...
An hour goes by as the four make their way to the tavern. Wilden was sitting on the seat, just chillin while Madi sits on the floor of the van, watching Ian practice his magic, or at least attempt at it. "Aloft Elivar!" Ian said, pointing his staff at a soda can, which he was trying to make it levitate. The elf boy briefly looks over at the girl sitting before him. He wanted to try a spell so that he can impress her, but he feels like he's not doing it right. "I can't get this spell to work, maybe I can try Arcane Lightning?" he said, which made Barley laugh a little. "Yea, like a level one mage can bust out the hardest spell in the enchanters guidebook. Probably should stick with the easy ones" he replied. "Also, I don't think a lightning spell would be safe to do in a moving vehicle" Madi said to her friend/crush. Ian looks at her then back at Barley. "But the spell isn't working, am I saying it wrong?" Ian asks his brother. "Well, you said it right, you just have to speak with your heart's fire" the older brother replied. "My what?" Ian said. "His what?" Madi said as well. Barley looks at both of them as he explains "His heart's fire. Say it with passion, don't hold back" Ian looks over at the elf girl, who gives him a thumbs up and a simple "you got this, Ian" from her. HE silently sighs and looks back at the can. "Aloft Elivar!" he said. "No, like 'Aloft Elivar!'" Barley demonstrated. The two kept going at it as Madi watched from the side. She knew that he can do it, she believed in him, of course. But also, she can somehow sense that there is magic in him. She can't really explain it, but she has this strange feeling inside her, a feeling that she doesn't even know or how to put it into words. Madi then sees Ian getting very frustrated as Barley is trying to help him speak with his 'heart's fire'.
"Stop saying heart's fire, this just clearly isn't working" Ian said as he removes his seatbelt from the passenger's seat and moves to sit on the seat in the back, next to his dad. "Hey, it was a good start" Barley said to him. Madi looks at the floor for a moment, then looks up over at Ian. She gets up and moves in a kneeling position next to him. "Hey, it's okay, Ian. It takes some practice. From what I've heard, magic isn't easy to master, but I know that you can get there in no time" she said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Ian glances at her, blushes at the contact and gives her a warm smile. He then places his hand on top of hers and said "yea, thanks Madi" The elf girl couldn't stop the blush from appearing on her face. "Uh, no problem, happy to help a friend out" she said, even though it kind of hurt to call him that. Ian felt the exact same way, thinking that Madi will only ever see him as a friend. The two continued to look into each other's eyes when they heard Barley say "Alast, gentlemen and lady, we have arrived at the Manticore's Tavern" The young teenagers walk up to the front seats and sees the old building itself, towering over them. "Wow, I can't believe it's still there" Ian replied, amazed. "Yea, I'm actually very surprised" Madi replied as well. "See, I told you guys it was still there" Barley said to them.
Barley parks Guinivere by the front, and they all stepped out of the vehicle. Ian then attaches a leash on Wilden's khakis so that he can have him close by. They then start to walk up a small hill, with Barley in the front, Ian right behind him, Wilden being pulled along second to last, and Madi being at the end. As she was walking, she could hear what sounded like little growls and chirps coming from behind her. She would turn around and look at the tall grass and bushes, but wouldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Her brows furrowed in confusion. "Madi?" she heard Ian call out. She glances back up at the brothers who were waiting for her, then back at the grass and bushes. Shaking her head, she moves on up to the hill to meet up with them. Completely unknown to her, from the grass, a pair of bright blue eyes stares at the four figures. The creature chirps and decides to move up to greet them.
When Madi caught up with them, Ian notices that the girl still keeps on looking behind her. "You okay, Madi? You seem a little distracted" he said, concerned for his friend/crush. "What? Oh, sorry, I'm fine. I just have a funny feeling that we're being watched. And I keep on hearing this sounds from around the bushes and the grass" she said. Barley walks up to her and places a hand on her shoulder. "It's probably nothing to worry about, Mads. What you're hearing is probably just a little bird or a squirrel just scurrying around-oh god!". He kind of jumped as him, Ian and Madi see a little, baby purple dragon with bright blue eyes, just staring up at them and chirping lightly. "Or a little dragon, that's also a possibility" Barley said. The dragon looks over at Wilden, approaches him slowly. She sniffs at his feet, not sure what to make of him. When Wilden felt her nose touch his foot, he gets startled and kinda jumps a little, thus causing the dragon to get scared and jumping right into Madi's arms. "Woah, woah, it's ok, it's ok, he's not going to hurt you" Madi said to her, gently petting her head to soothe her. "The noises you heard must've came from this little guy" replied Ian, who goes to scratch the dragon's chin, which she really liked.
"Must be" Madi said. Barley gently rubs the dragon's nose with his finger, making her chirp happily. "Aww, that was so cute. But we still have a quest to continue. Now we just need to ask the Manticore for the map to the Phoenix Gem" he said. Both Ian and Madi look up at him and Ian said "a map? I thought you said she had the gem?" "Hah, you're so cute. You hear that Dad? He's a smart kid, just doesn't know how quests work" Barley laughed. Madi goes up to him, while still holding the baby dragon and asked "is there anything else you're forgetting to tell us?" "Hmm, no" he replied. He then goes to open the door and....
Normally I don't like doing these things, but cliffhanger!! Sorry to do this to you guys, I didn't want to make this chapter too long. But don't worry, the next one will be up either sometime this evening or tomorrow. And, I promise, this will be the only cliffhanger I'm gonna here. Have a good day/night!!
Plus...take a look at this little cutie that the four meet
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