It was dark and with only a half-moon in the sky, barely lighting up the ground below,
Having set out with Happy feelings to get a new wand only to have it stolen along with all his money, Ashen could barely hold back the floodgates of tears that ached to pour from his eyes as he watched his robbers turn their backs towards him, about to begin counting the money they had stolen,
He watched them silently leave in the shadow of the night with everything he had, trying to etch the memory into his since even if he returned to the academy, there was nothing they would do especially since his rank was one of the lowest,
He was still bemoaning his loss when he suddenly heard a somewhat familiar voice speak not far away from where he stood,
"I warned you, you know. If you'd taken my advice, I would have taken you someplace more trustworthy," the voice said as Ashen jerked his head in the direction where it came from,
Quick to notice that only four of them had left and one of them still chose to remain, Ashen turned to look at the man who spoke, surprised to see him take off his mask at the same time,
" I know you. You're the guy I met in the market...hmmm," Ashen said annoyed as his voice and tone immediately showed how annoyed he felt,
" You talk about trust and still you steal from me?'' Ashen asked wondering what loose screw had fallen off from his brain,
"If I chose not to, someone else would have come along," He replied with a shrug,
" Here!," Ashen suddenly heard him say, watching him throw something at him from where he stood as he quickly scrambled to catch it,
"The egg?" Ashen asked in surprise wondering why he would return something so useless to him,
"It's compensation for your bad luck," the lanky rugged man replied with a big smile,
" A better compensation would be my wand, if you're feeling so generous," Ashen argued as he held the egg in his palm, turning it around with the full knowledge that it didn't even look good enough to either be expensive or magical,
"Well, I'm sure you know the saying. Beggars can't be Choosers can they?" he said, lifting up his wand before tucking it back into his shirt,
"Leeeoooh!" Ashen suddenly heard Hera yell from more than fifty steps away, watching the man that had been speaking to him suddenly turn around to leave,
"If you save enough for a better wand, you can ask around for " The Haggler", or find me," he said just as he turned around before walking back to join Hera, Deon and the rest of the people he came with,
"What a fruitful day..." whispered Ashen to himself, holding on to the big green egg he had with him while looking at it with curiosity,
"I go out with a box full of money ready to take on the world with plans for the future and I'm returning to the academy with nothing but a metal egg," he moaned feeling the urge to smack the egg into pieces and just leave it there,
Only to begin walking slowly in the direction of the academy, with the egg in his hand, while wondering how he was going to explain how he lost his wand,
************
"Ashen…Ashen...Ashen," yelled his mother multiple times as she watched her son sleep on the only desk placed beside the window in his room,
"Hmmm…," he groaned right before stretching his hands out and opening his eyes to see his mother hovering over him,
"Yes mother…," he replied rubbing his eyes with his knuckles as he spoke, looking up to see her staring at him with a huge smile on her face,
"It's time to eat...how are your studies going? You just came back and you'll soon be going back for your second year. I and your dad have so many questions for you…," She said maintaining the high smile she had on her face without faltering,
"Come, let's have dinner," she then said pulling Ashen out from his seat, with a mildly confused expression on his face as he tried to understand what his mother was doing,
"Mo...Mo...ther…" he grumbled, while allowing himself to be pulled towards the dining table, glad to see May, his sister and Klastron his brother already sitting at the table with their father,
"Good evening, father," he greeted, before taking a seat right in between his older brother and his younger sister,
"We should pray first," ordered their father the moment he noticed that his daughter May was about to speak, waiting until Mara, his wife had served everyone their respective portions, before taking a seat right beside him,
"Time and Time again we are thankful for a new day, for the food in our bellies, and for the clothes on our bodies. We give the gods all the thanks," his father prayed before they all chorused a big 'Amen'.
"Father…, who did you pray too?" asked his ten-year-old sister as she looked up at his with a curious gaze,
"May, you know you're not supposed to ask that question. Who you choose to pray to is a personal choice,"
"But why can't I know father's own," she wailed in annoyance, looking at her mother who seemed intent on keeping her quiet,
"Because…," Mara began only to be interrupted by her husband, Hazen.
"May, it's fine. I'll tell you later when it's just the two of us, ehen…," he said reaching across the slim table to pat her head before he continued speaking,
"Let's eat…" he said while throwing a knowing glance at his eldest son who he knew had been stealing from his plate the moment his mother served his food, watching as he got a big smile and a mouth full of food in return,
In the meantime, Ashen concentrated on his food and was about to take a second spoon when he unexpectedly heard his father speak to him,
"Ashen...why are you so useless?" He asked almost in a jovial tone, however, his words rendered every at the table speechless as everyone froze in surprise at the blatant insult thrown at Ashen by their father,