An elderly woman sat on a rocking chair, knitting a new sweater while whistling through her work. Her hand threaded with elegance that one could guess that she knew the craft as she knew her name. A young girl ran up to her, her face bubbly and filled with smiles.
"You did well, my little girl" she said to the child.
These were the words of excitement that found its way out of the elderly woman's mouth while she sat sickly in her home and did what she loved the most. The girl took her hand, her tender hands firmly holding the woman's. It was Gaia. She just told her grandmother that she was accepted into the sorcerers' guild in Nortvard as a sorcerer scholar.
"I'll train and become the strongest sorcereress in all of Nortvard. So I can protect you, grandma," she swore.
At such a young age, she already developed a very strong resolve. Gaia was filled with so much excitement that she now had the opportunity to pursue her dreams. An opportunity not many Nortvardian youths like her was afforded.
It has been some weeks since Gaia started her journey as a sorcerer scholar at the most esteemed guild of the north. It was rough but she was daring.
Blaaammm!
Her body crashed down on one of the wooden tables that served for dining in the refectory for scholars. Gaia was violently flung away by Hegar like she weighed no less than a feather. Hegar was also a scholar of the senior years and worse off, a violent one by personality.
"You're stealing elixirs now, peasant child?" Hegar accused her.
"I...I did no such thing. Please let me go," Gaia pleaded, shrilling to the pain from her bruises, "I'll return them."
"Oh? You still have them," Hegar continued.
"I only have them because he gave them to me," Gaia said, pointing to the person behind Hegar, "and it's for my grandmother. She's very sick, you see."
The one she pointed fingers at was none other than Hegar's right-hand, Katus. It was an unfortunate moment for Gaia as she had fallen for a setup by Hegar and his gang. This small group of scholars were infamous for bullying their fellow scholars and various offences that had to do with abuse of power. All simply because they were descendants of the respected families of Nortvard.
"So you're calling me a thief, huh?" Katus asked, ambling forward.
"You just called Katus a thief right now," Hegar added and as usual, his words not helping matters.
Gaia started to understand that she was being framed by Katus, who had come in the guise of helping her with elixirs for her sick grandmother. Gaia was gullible enough to fall for that but she could not be blamed. She need help to save her grandmother and she needed it desperately. She remained on the floor of the dining hall while Hegar and his gang cursed at her.
"To think she'd fall for that. How stupid can she be?" said one of them.
They all laughed at her.
"Like I'd give a smelly girl like you such quality elixir. If only you checked those bottles, you would have seen that it was filled with water. Hahahaha!" Katus said, teasing and laughing at her.
"How can you?" Gaia asked, "How can you derive so much joy from the pain of another!"
Gaia ran towards Katus with a clenched fist that she thrust forward rather weakly. It was not even enough to make Katus fret. Katus stepped to the side to evade the punch, before landing one of his knees to her belly. Gaia shouted while spewing saliva out of her mouth. She felt her gut twist within her as she fell and wriggled on the floor while holding her belly.
Katus grabbed her wrist and lifted her. He flung her again to another table. Her body slammed into the table and with the force from Katus throwing her, she broke the wooden structure. Hegar and his boys laughed hysterically.
"Who do you think you are, poor girl?" Katus asked, "I will teach you a lesson you will not forget."
"Wind Magic..." another voice whispered so calmly.
"Drift of the Gentle Wind."
The words were those of a spell already cast and set into action. Katus felt a strong push on his back that sent him plummeting into the same table he had thrown Gaia but the female sorcerer scholar was quick enough to shift away.
The rest of their gang turned around frantically and darted their eyes to all corners of the hall. Before they got a hang of what was going on, two of the remaining scholars other than Hegar were sent flying as well.
"Show yourself!" Hegar dared, baring his fingers like a wild beast.
"I said show yourself right now!" he yelled.
A gentle breeze blew over his face, swaying his hair around and his eyes dilated when it dawned on him that it was already a little too late to stop the spell. A shape manifested on his belly that resembled a fist. The force behind this spell also sent him flying into many tables.
"Wind Magic," the voice whispered with a figure appearing in front of Hegar, "Fist of the Night's Gale."
A hand lifted Gaia's body from the floor where she laid, panting and carried her out of the refectory. The image of her saviour slowly became clearer with each passing second.
"Are you alright?" this person asked her. It was quite gentle, this voice.
Gaia could only nod her head to the question. She was grateful to her saviour at this time. The only thing she held on to as she slipped into unconsciousness was the memory of his face which she had captured in a moment.
-
"You're awake, my dear" a nurse spoke.
The nurse on duty had noticed Gaia's bodily movements and walked over to her bed to check on her and it was then that she woke up. She placed the back of her hand on Gaia's forehead and neck to check if she was running a fever.
"Good thing, you are not running a fever," she said with a relieved tone of voice.
"How long have I been here?" Gaia asked, interrupted her caregiver.
"A lot of time. A little over a day. You spent the night here actually. Thanks to the young man that brought you, you'll be fine."
"A day!" she screamed, jerking up from lying down. Gaia tried to rush out of bed but the pain she felt was intense and kept her in the bed.
"Don't overwork yourself. Your body needs time and rest to heal," the nurse advised her.
"But I have to go home," Gaia said.
"But you also need to rest, my dear," the nurse tried to convince her.
"I can't stay here. There would be no one to care for my grandmother. That's why I have to go. I'll definitely come back to be checked on."
The nurse saw the persistence in her eyes and felt the inclination to let her go. "Okay then," the nurse finally gave in to the lass' persistence, "but take these with you."
The nurse handed her some pills that were meant to help her body heal faster.
"Make sure to take them once a day for the next four days," she advised, "do you understand?"
"Yes!" Gaia answered, "Thank you."
Gaia left the room where she received care and headed home. Meanwhile, Hegar and his little gang were yet to wake up.
-
"I'll see you around then," he said, waving a fellow scholar goodbye.
This fine young scholar walked with elegance to the infirmary after the day's study. Getting there, the nurse that was with Gaia sometime ago recognized him.
"Oh! It's you again," she said.
"Yes. How is she?" he asked.
He stopped by after his day's work to check up on Gaia and know how she fared.
"Well, she left not too long ago. Say two hours ago."
"Shouldn't she be resting?" he asked yet again
"Family issues, I presume," the nurse said.
"Thank you," the scholar bowed and left.
-
Gaia came back home only to discover that the door to the house was not locked. That was an unusual thing.
"Grandma?" she called, first in a low tone and repeatedly.
When she received no answers, Gaia made her way to her grandmother's room. Before getting far, she met a number of people that stood in her way. Some she recognized, some she had never seen.
"Grandma?" she called again.
Before Gaia could make her out through the group of people in her home, another woman rushed at her.
"Gaia dearest" she said, hugging her.
It was a familiar voice but did not belong to her grandmother. It was the voice of elder Chola, one of their neighbours. Chola heard the voice of the young Gaia and moved to speak to her first but it was late. Before she could call Gaia's name, Gaia had struggled her way to let loose. It dawned on her what had happened, Gaia stood there, dumbfounded as tear rolled down her eyes.
"I'm sorry, my child" Chola spoke, "but she has passed on."
Gaia threw herself on her grandmother's body and cried loudly. Her grandmother was cold and stiff, and covered in white cloth. None of Gaia's cries and words reached her. She continued calling for her grandmother and expected an answer even though she knew, deep down, that no answer was coming from her.
Gaia could not accept it. The only light in this cruel world she knew had now faded.