by Milton Garby
'So then I said to him,' she heard. ' - I said to him, really? Fifteen, are you sure? But he was all like, yeah, that's what you get when you subtract both sides. Anyway I'm gonna get to studying, talk to you after class. Damn it I hate that buffoon. And there's that freak Sara looking at me thinking I don't know -' Sara narrowed her eyes and made a note to hurt her before class was done. ' - and ugh, class hasn't even started yet. This is the worst. And then there's - '
Sara leaned back and listened to Annabelle's thoughts, as she went from talking about her tutor to quietly thinking about how boring class would be, even though she'd heard a rumor there was going to be a party. For her part, Sara kept channeling her shadow magic in secret: normally new lines would remain, but if she tried to connect one outside of a brain like she was now, she needed to keep feeding magic into it. Luckily she had a lot of magic, so much she'd never run out in her life.
Eventually she got bored of Annabelle's thoughts and stopped keeping the link between them active. She looked around, and extended her magic into Alerd so she could read his mind instead.
Like always, her peers never really had anything interesting on their minds. They were always just focused on themselves, thinking nothing but about how things related to them and that was boring.
She hopped between people to read and, on the fifth person, Leira came in. A quick glance around confirmed that Leira was the last one in, with Mrs. Wirn - a twenty year old with blonde hair done up in a ponytail and laugh lines even at her age - at her heels.
Leira came back and sat in the seat next to her, holding a blue hand out to her. Sara reached over and clasped the hand. "Hey," she said.
"Hey yourself," Leira whispered as she let go. "I already talked to Mrs. Wirn about it, we're gonna have the party at the end of school."
"Okay," she said. "Cool." Sara turned her attention forward to Mrs. Wirn, and cast her mind reading spell on the adult, since they usually had more interesting thoughts. Leira shivered when she finished the spell, but then Sara leaned back and started listening while the teacher also started talking.
"Good morning everyone," Mrs. Wirn said, her thoughts echoing her words. "I hope you all had a good week. Now, everyone take out your history books and open to page two-seventeen. Remember, if you forgot your book you'll just have to share with someone else." Everyone opened up their books. Sara looked at it lazily; they were up to the story of Medivh and how he apparently got possessed by some big demon guy.
While Mrs. Wirn read, or had members of the class read paragraphs aloud, Sara continued to listen in to her thoughts. Usually when people were talking their only thoughts were what they were saying, and Mrs. Wirn wasn't an exception. When she wasn't talking, however, her thoughts wandered and Sara picked up on them.
'Are the cupcakes still in my desk? Just a quick glance yes. Alright, Leira's done reading. Sara, please read the next paragraph.'
Sara blinked and drew herself back to the real world. "Huh? Sure." She looked down. "When Medivh awoke over twenty years later, Sargeras began influencing his thoughts with subtle pushes to make him increasingly sadistic and cruel. Eventually, Sargeras was able to push Medivh to seek the destruction of humans in order to attain true power, and further pushed him to communicate with Gul'dan on Draenor, who was himself being controlled by Kil'jaeden the Deceiver, and worked to create one of Azeroth's most infamous magical constructions."
"Excellent," the teacher said. "Annabelle, please read the next paragraph."
Sara tuned out and went back to mind reading. Mrs. Wirn had thought about cupcakes. She hadn't thought about what kind they were, which was good, but now Sara knew there were going to be cupcakes. With a frown, she stopped keeping the link to her teacher's mind active and pulled her hand out of her pocket.
With agonizing slowness the day's history class went by, and they'd learned all sorts of 'interesting' things about Medivh.
After that was Common class, which was stupid because they already knew how to speak and read Common. Bunch of lessons on how to write pretty.
And after that, ugh, a math sheet! A math sheet! With quadratic equations and stuff. Eugh. She envied Leira for getting to be a squire and leave all that behind.
When she was finished filling out the last answer, put down her pencil and turned the paper face down. She snuck a glance to her right. Leira looked back at her and rolled her glowing eyes. Sara stuck her right hand back into her pocket and put up a link with Leira's mind. This wasn't a mind-reading spell though, she respected Leira's privacy and all that. It was more elaborate, linking the language and hearing centers together. The moment the spell was done, Leira jumped.
'By the Light, WHAT?!'
'Relax, it's just me.' Leira glanced at her, but remained silent. 'Just imagine talking to me.'
'Like this? Sara what did you do?'
'Eh, no big deal. So, some problems huh?'
'I'm still working on it!'
Sara blinked, and glanced again. Sure enough, Leira looked to be nearing the end. 'Oh. Sorry. I'll be quiet.'
She sat back in her seat and glanced around the classroom, looking around quietly. About half the class was still working on the worksheet, and Mrs. Wirn sat at her desk with a book open in her hands. Glancing at the desk, she wondered where the cupcakes were hidden, and what flavor they were.
Leira put down her pencil and turned over her test. 'Is this still working?'
'Yep.'
'Jeesh Sara, this feels weird. Like you're pouring water down the back of my shirt.'
'Sorry. I'll have to work on that. So, that worksheet huh?'
'Eh, it wasn't that bad. Why, was it hard for you?'
'I had some trouble with number five, did you get A or B?'
'I got B.'
Sara mentally cursed, not sending it to Leira. 'Oh. Oops.'
'... so since when could you do telepathy?'
'Well I just have to change my mind reading spell a bit - '
'Your WHAT?!'
'I don't use it on you, if that's what you're thinking,' she said hastily.
Leira turned to glare at her. 'And that makes it okay? Sara you can't just read people's thoughts! That's not a nice thing to do.'
'Blah blah, who cares? It's not hurting anyone.'
'You're - ! Sometimes, Sara, I swear. Alright, ignoring the whole 'creepy mind reading shadow magic', this is pretty cool. Where'd you get the idea?'
'Was reading ahead in history, apparently the Lich King used telepathy. Sounded pretty handy.' Not that Sara was going to work on it any more. She had, like, a bunch of other stuff to do.
'Alright. Oh, looks like everyone's done. Hey, can you turn this off? I need to go do something.'
'Kay.' She relaxed her hands and her shadow magic fizzled out. At the same time...
At some point while she was talking with Leira, Mrs. Wirn had gotten up to the front of the room. "Alright class, please pass your worksheets up to the front." Sara did so, watching her paper ride to the front of the room. Mrs. Wirn collected them, and looked out over everyone. "Alright everyone, instead of regular lunch today we have a surprise. Leira has something she wants to share with all of us, and then she brought snacks with her."
Leira got out of her seat and walked to the front of the class. She stood infront and to the side of Mrs. Wirn, her hands clasped in front of herself and her tail swaying side to side. "Sooo, as you all know, there are a lot of careers open in military options on Azeroth. I sent in an applec - application to a guild called the Chimes of A'dal, and one of their warriors wrote back, saying I could be his squire!"
The class around Sara chittered excitedly.
"His name's Mr. Huan Earthstong, and he's a pandaren. I'll be helping him carry his armor and his weapons, and he'll be teaching me how to use them! He's coming to pick me up next week, which means this is the last day I'm in school here. I'm gonna be leaving on the weekend, so my mom made cupcakes and I brought them in!" More excited talking.
Leira went to the teach
er's desk and started to ruffle around. Meanwhile, the lady stepped forward. "Alright everyone, now to celebrate Leira's last day in Greenevale we're going to have a half day! That means no geography studies, no Orcish class, and at the end we have early dismissal. Sound good?"
There were a lot of happy hums and nods just as Leira emerged from the desk with a metal tray in her hands. On it were about twenty five cupcakes. Brown ones, yellow ones and pink ones, covered in frosting and wrapped in purple-pink paper. Sara's mouth watered as Leira walked through the class, handing out the chocolate, vanilla and strawberry cupcakes to everyone. Eventually Leira came to her, with three cupcakes left. She reached for the first one she saw, grabbing a chocolate cupcake.
"Thanks," she said as she started peeling off the paper.
"Mmhmm," Leira said as she went to hand out the last two.
Once she was done, she sat down in her seat and Mrs. Wirn continued. Apparently while Sara had been distracted, she'd procured cups and set out a water tanker about twice the size of her head at the front of the class. "Now class, everyone enjoy your food. If you want drinks they're up here, and there are games on top of that shelf," she said as she pointed to a closet filled with various rulers and books.
The class broke up, people getting up to pull board games off the shelves, or moving their desks into circles to talk with each other. For her part, Sara got up and walked to the front of the class to get some water. She sat back next to Leira, who looked at her. "Hey Sara, I'm gonna go over there and play Demons and Titans, want to come with?"
"Nah, I'm good," she said, leaning back and taking a bite out of her cupcake.
"You sure?"
"Really, I'm fine. You have fun, don't worry about me." She decided to throw in a wink. "It's your going away party, enjoy yourself."
"Well, if you say so. Thanks, Sara." Leira got up, cupcake in hand, and went to go play with a group of three.
"Yeah, no problem," she muttered, leaning back in her seat to enjoy her food. Really, she was happy for Leira! Why wouldn't she be? The draenei was getting to go off and do what she wanted to do in life, leaving Sara to remain behind in Greenvale with people who either hated her or were terrified of her, remain there for another six years before she also got to do what she wanted. She was happy for Leira. So. Very. Happy.
Sighing, she swallowed another bite and took a sip of water. Okay, so maybe she was a bit sore. But there was nothing she could do, and at least they'd keep in touch with letters. Maybe when they were adults, with all the training and schooling behind them, they could visit. That'd be nice.
Sara smirked. And wait till Leira got a hold of her then. She wondered what another six-plus years of magic and schooling would do for her.
Sara
"Do you have your map?" Mom asked.
"Yes, Mom," Sara said as she packed away a toothbrush. "I have the map, I have enough gold to last until I get a job, I have water, I have food, I have my address, and I have my entry ticket to the Academy of Arcane Arts and Sciences. I have stationery, I have clean clothes, I have everything I need. Now stop messing with my hair! It's going to get blown around anyway."
"Oh, all right," she said, taking a step back and letting Sara get her hair out of her face. "Sure you have everything?"
She threw back her head. "Yes, Mom!" She stood up and slung the pack over her shoulders. "I need to go now, I'm going to get there late if I don't start going!"
"Oh okay. One more hug," her mother said.
"Fine," she said before going in for the hug.
"And for me too," Dad said from next to her. Sara rolled her eyes but gave her giant of a father a goodbye hug too before pulling away and kissing his cheek. She did the same to her mother, then turned towards the door.
"Okay, now I really need to go. Love you, I'll write, bye!" She opened the door and swung out into Greenvale. There were a lot of people out and about, and the sky was gray with recent rain. It smelled of mud and fresh air, the former of which forced Sara to jog instead of run, lest she slip. Sara made good time through Greenvale, past the schoolhouse, past the smithy, until she reached the stables.
The stables smelled, predictably, of horse, and made Sara wrinkle her nose. There were a few of the things trotting around out back, in various colors and sizes, though her attention was focused on the man standing out front of the wooden building. She approached Stablemaster Kenrod, clearing her throat. "Hello, I spoke to you - "
" - about your ride to Stormwind," the middle aged man said with an even tone. "I know, come along the back, I've got her already saddled up."
"Thank you," she said excitedly, following him into the building and out the back where several of the horses were walking about slowly. One in particular was tied to a post, a dark brown horse with a lighter saddle over its back. "This the one?" she asked as she approached the horse. It flicked an ear at her approach.
"Yep. That'll be twenty five gold and thirty silver, miss."
She reached into her pants pocket, hiding her sour face, and pulled out twenty six gold to give to him. He handed her back seventy silver, and she approached the horse. "So, I just get on?" she asked. She'd never taken a horse travel path before, and she wasn't looking forward to it. It was going to take a week to get to Stormwind, and she was dreading that week.
When he said yes, she put her left foot in the stirrup, hoisted herself up with some difficulty and got herself settled into the saddle. "Be safe out there, miss!" he said, before untying the horse. He gave some verbal order, and the horse began to run. Sara had to brace herself for a moment, then leaned over slightly to get her balance. The horse moved along a dirt road, picking up speed until it was galloping along a path. She left the stables behind, the trained horse moving past the buildings of Greenvale.
All too quickly Sara left her town behind, and her stomach knotted in her chest. She'd never truly left Greenvale before. Sure she's played and exercised in the forest immediately around it, but that was different. She could always go back at any time. Now though, she was really, truly gone. If she ever wanted to return home she would need to invest a lot of time, effort, and money into it.
Ten minutes into the trip, with the wind in her face and trees streaming past her, Sara was already homesick.
The horseride was rough and unpleasant, but eventually the howling of air and thunder of hooves turned into background noise, and Sara allowed her mind to wander. At first her trains of thought didn't last long, she'd start thinking about something like the sunny weather and she'd immediately think about the woods around her before cycling around.
Slowly though, as the trip wore on and on, her thoughts became more settled, and she allowed herself to fantasize about all sorts of things. She imagined great thunderstorms marching across the land, she imagined watching as mountains rose up, their stone flowing like water. Sara entertained herself with those daydreams for a long, long time, even as the sun made its trek across the sky.
Hours passed, and she started to get sore from riding. Sara tried to take her mind off it by reaching into her pack and pulling out a waterskin. The bumpy ride made taking a drink rather tricky, but she managed it. Then noon came around and she took out a bag of assorted nuts and ate them for lunch. With that done, she went back to idle daydreaming.
Then she got bored of daydreaming, and wished she could use her magic on something. She didn't dare try to, though. There was a decent chance she'd spook the horse before she could use her magic to calm it, and then where would she be? No, Sara didn't dare to use her magic. Which just meant she had to sit there, on the horse, with the wind and the bugs blowing in her face, for hours on end.
Nothing happened beyond Sara shifting uncomfortably and trying to distract herself from the various annoyances of the horse ride, not for a few hours. Eventually though, the trees streaming past either side of her moved outward. The road thickened and the horse slowed down until it cantered briskly into a new town.
A new town, she thought. She'd never been to
another town besides Greenvale - Tellaville didn't count, really - and it was... disappointingly similar. All the buildings looked the same in the evening light, and if it weren't for the different layout she would've sworn she was back in her hometown. The horse made its way to the town's local stables, where an old man with graying hair was already out and waiting for her.
"Hello there, incoming from Greenvale?"
She gave a weak grunt of assent, and let him help her out of the saddle. Once back on solid ground her legs wobbled and she nearly collapsed, but the stablemaster held her up. "Thanks," she muttered after she got her footing back. "And I'll have another horse at seven in the morning, right?"
"That's right, miss. Hope you enjoy your stay in Varishire."
"I'm sure I will," she muttered as she wobbled her way out of the stables. She passed through the town's various buildings without paying them much attention, and purposefully ignoring the curious glances the residents shot her. Sara - after a brief detour to find an outhouse - only had one building in mind, and that was the local inn.
Hmm, she thought. This is also the first time I'll have set foot in an inn. Biting her lip, she slowed down as she approached the warm, welcoming building. What would she find inside? How would she be treated? She considered turning around and heading... heading where? There was nowhere for her to go. Sara's stomach knotted; this was the only option open to her. Sara took a deep breath, and headed inside.
The smell of warm bread and drinks filled her nose, and a surge of heat pulsed through her from head to toe. She turned a corner and saw the main room of the inn, with a moderately high ceiling, tables and chairs, and a weakly crackling hearth. Some of the seats were occupied by people she - obviously - didn't recognize, but further back where alcohol was kept was a man dressed in a red shirt with a gray vest over it who she assumed was the innkeeper. Adjusting her pack, she walked up to him.