"Who are you and how did you get in my house?" Eddie scowled, stopping a few paces from the intruder.
"I am Deborah, a wizard, locks are not a problem to me." She answered in a modest tone.
"So, what you are trying to say is that you are a witch?" Eddie raised his eyebrows with a sly smile.
"When you say it like that it sounds really bad, I am not that bad..."
"You just broke into my house, sat on my favorite seat and poured yourself tea, my tea, is that your definition of good…anyway, what are you doing in my house?"
She gave a small smile when he stopped pursuing the fact that she was a witch. The tension between them relaxed a little; he did not stop being cautious though.
"I am Deborah, I serve Green Wyvern, a dragon residing in Noya forest. All the powers I have are thanks to him. However, to some people, I am an assassin. I am supposed to kill you, that is the reason why I am here."
She left the recliner and stood straight, looking at him. He retreated with a few steps. When he heard what she had just said, his heart almost jumped out of his chest. He started thinking of anyone he had offended either knowingly or unknowingly but no one came to mind.
"Why would anyone want me dead, I have not offended anyone." He asked doubtfully.
"It is because of who you are" She answered even before he finished talking, "It is also the reason why I cannot kill you."
"What do you mean?" Eddie asked in bewilderment.
"You are a mage, Eddie. None has appeared for the last three thousand years. Even before that, only three have. I cannot kill such a great man."
His fear was alleviated a little but the confusion stayed. It was not that he had never heard of the fact that he was a mage before, it was just what people said about him being the mage. He was always told how a powerful wizard he was, how with a snap of a finger he could make Woodland crumble, how he was a rare person. As the person in question, he had never felt any power inside him and he aways wondered if they were making mistakes.
"Then what are you doing in my house?" He asked.
"I have come to warn you. You are destined to destroy people like the one who sent me. They want you dead before you are powerful enough to fulfil your destiny. I may be an assassin but as a wizard, I must protect my kind, I owe that to Green Wyvern. I wish I can tell you the specific person in need of your life but, I am just a part of an organization that takes assignments before giving them to people like me. I may be able to fool them into believing that you are dead but not the person wanting you dead. You have to be careful."
Before he opened his mouth to ask a few questions, he saw the lady leave. He heaved a long sigh of relief seeing her out of his house. He closed the door and found his way to the recliner. He had barely seen the girl's features. With fear creeping in, he could hardly remember a detail of how she looked. Shrugging dismissively, he took the cup on the table and poured himself tea.
As he sipped his tea, he could not help but think about the warning had just received.
…
George was a handsome man in his late twenties. A year had not gone since he graduated from the University of Noya but he was already a rich man owning Noya Art Gallery alongside Eddie.
He had studied photography at the university to enhance his skills in memory photography. Memory photography was a magical skill held by some artists. Whenever a memory photographer took one's photo, when one took a look at that photo, everything that happened to one from three days before the photo was taken would play in one's mind for as long one looked into the photo.
George had been making money with the skill even before joining the university. However, Woodland never lacked such individuals giving his business a terrible competition. While in the university, he realized that even after refining his skills, he would never escape competition. He therefore decided to find an exceptional artist who would make his work stand out. In his quest, he came across Eddie, a spirit painter.
Spirit painters stood at the apex of all artistic magics. They were so rare that in the entire Woodland, maybe the one person he had found was probably the only spirit painter. Together, they started Noya Art Gallery. The aim of the Gallery was to sell art pieces from both of them and other works of art from young artists in Woodland. This way, they would help not only themselves but also the young artists make money. So, while Eddie made the paintings which were actually the main products of the gallery, George took care of management and finding other artists. It did not take long before they started making thousands of hogs from the gallery as people flooded in to buy spirit paintings and to see the other works of arts.
Even if no one bought any piece, to ensure that there were no troublemakers, there was entrance fee to the gallery. Otherwise, if the works lay in the gallery without finding buyers, how could they make money or even pay the artists that brought their works to be exhibited.
As many would travel from the surrounding kingdoms just to see the pieces in the gallery, George did his best to find young artists, especially with magic to come and do their work in the gallery. Magical pieces of art work were beneficial to the buyers. They would never hesitate to buy if they found any in the gallery.
For example, spirit paintings which Eddie produced had the power to cure people of all illnesses as soon as they allowed their spirits to be sucked by the paintings to find nourishment in there. Many would flood the gallery daily just to receive a piece.
At this moment, George was in a loose blue robe in a high-speed train heading to Truetown. A few days ago, he had received news that there was a wish painter there. He wanted to find him and possibly take him with him to Noya. Such a painter would prove to be an asset to the gallery.