The next morning as it dawned, the whole village was still sound asleep. They were tired because of the last night celebrations. Cassie woke up early and prepared for the long journey ahead. When she was done packing, she had tea and before she could finish it there was a loud knock at the door. There is only one person who knocks like that in all the 4 kingdoms. A knock so loud you would think she was running away from something. Cassie opened the door and Refilwe came in. Amber, Cassie’s younger sister shuffled from the hallway. The loud knock woke her up.

“Hello guys, you are leaving?” Amber asked.

“Yes we are leaving, I will see you when I come back.” Cassie replied.

“Are you going to train me with when you come back?” Asked Amber with a hushed voice.

She was sad that her sister was leaving already. She had just arrived yesterday to attend the celebrations and now she was going away again.

“Yes baby sister I will stay with you for two weeks and train together, This is my last assignment for this month.” Said Cassie, comforting her little sister.

Cassie is a very active Shinobi mage, she averages 6 high rank missions a month. She is considered by many as the most beautiful in the region of Abalon. She has blonde braided hair and ice blue eyes just like her little sister. She is tall as April and has a fit triangle body. She is very perceptive for a sixteen year old and is regarded by many as the first sword of Yoshino ahead of Uriel because many consider her the strongest of the two. She is quite strong for someone who does not have spectra. Nobody knows what rank she is because her eyes do not change color. They are ice blue all the time and there is no bright colored ring around her when she’s using magic yet she is swift as light and tough as steel.

Refilwe is half Abalonian and half Botswanian. Her mother, Neo is a Botswanian princess. She is fifteen and has dark short hair, brown skin and sparkling honey eyes. She is elegant and attractive with a gorgeous dimple smile. She has a slim, slender body.

Unlike most girls she is wild, energetic and dresses like boys. She likes to do things usually done by boys. If it was her wish, she could have been born a boy.

Cassie took her bow and hung it in her back together with the arrow bag. She took two gold and white hilt daggers and slid them in their scabbard and hung them in her gold body chains around her abdomen.

She was wearing a crop top short enough to show her flat lower abdomen. She kissed Amber goodbye and they left.

They made their way through the empty streets and fetched Giannis who was waiting impatiently for them.

“I was starting to think you left without me.” He said.

“We wouldn’t leave without you Gia?” Cassie reassured him.

“Yeah I was just impatient, I have been waiting for so long for my first hunt.”

“Okay but you’re carrying my bag.” Said Cassie as she was handing Giannis her bag.

“Mine too.” Refilwe interjected.

“No, just mine alone, you will carry yours.” Cassie replied.

He took Cassie’s bag without hesitation and they went north of the village. Giannis is 13 years. He has dark hair and chartreuse eyes. He is timidly shy. The only things he is comfortable being around are his many dogs. He has different breeds of dogs including the greyhounds, bulldogs, huskies and even chihuahuas. He is one of the many who look up to Cassie. He dreams of being strong and daring as her someday. But first he has to find a way to stop being timid and nervous. He had just graduated from magic school after seven long years.

There are seven grades at the magic school however the first four are selection based.

At 6 years of age the new students attend the mage selection program. Those with the most advanced skills are enrolled in grade four. And those with basic skills are enrolled in grade one.

Uriel started his year one a year prior to Cassie and he was enrolled in grade three. A record at the time. The following year Cassie took the daring challenge of grade four trials.

Requirements for grade one was to retrieve a cherry blossom. Students had to fight and behead magical puppets. Inside their heads were the cherry blossom flowers.

For second grade, candidates had to retrieve a peony flower from grade two students.

The requirements for third grade was that candidates had to retrieve a Sakura flower. They had to find clues in the forest that led to a secret pathway guarded by magical creatures. Each clue led to a different pathway and the creatures were stronger and faster than the puppets and the second grade students.

Cassie took the challenge to retrieve the dragon’s bane from Mount Nara. It is a high altitude flower that grows only at the top of the mountain. It is a long, steep and slippery climb full of dangerous animals.

When the candidates went to fight puppets she went towards mount Nara which is south of Yoshino. Most candidates retrieved the cherry blossoms for grade one intake before she even reached the base of the mountain. The shadows grew longer and by now she was the only one unaccounted for. No one knew what happened to her.

Teachers asked around and no one seemed to know where she disappeared to.

She started her climb up the mountain. At first it looked like a piece of cake but along the way it became more challenging. She clambered up looking for spots to hold on to. After an hour she was still a long climb away and the sun was about to set. She maneuvered around looking for a good path but it was hard to find it in the dark. She relied on the moonlight and her visual prowess to guide her through the climb until she reached the edge of the mountain big enough for her to sleep. She conjured multiple magic flames around her and above and went to sleep.

It was lonely and cold but there was no part in her that regretted her decision to go after the dragonsbane except that she wished she could have told her parents or friends so that they would not be worried.

‘They could have stopped me if I told them so I did not have a choice .’ She thought to herself and dozed off.

Early in the morning she continued her quest. She could see as far as Yoshino where the whole village was looking for her. The trackers have traced her on the road to Mount Nara and they knew without a doubt she went after the dragons bane.

It was a tough task for even the grown ups to climb this mountain because of the aggressive territorial birds that breed in this mountain. In about an hour’s climb she will be at their nests.

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‘I have managed to not draw their attention thus far, and now there is no way I can get past their nests without them noticing.’ She thought as she struggled up the mountain.

The territorial bird saw her and swooped down on her. There was no way she could fight off thousands of birds while trying to hold on to the rocks. That is why this mountain is impossible to climb for a six year old and also because there is little oxygen at this altitude. Using magic to suspend in the air will require a lot of energy which she had already drained by climbing the perilous mountain.

They ganged on her like vultures on a carcass. She desperately held on a rock with one hand and glanced at the incoming birds. As they prepared their talons for an attack, a gust of cold air breezed through them and they all halted and went on with their business. Whatever she did worked because they no longer saw her as an enemy.

After a whole day of climbing she reached the summit. And there it was, a dragon’s bane. She was exhilarated about this achievement as it meant that she will start her first year at grade four. She took the flower and clambered down the mountain happily. She did not focus much on her descent that she was surprised when she looked down and saw trees. That was when she realized that she was just few steps from the base. She jumped down and hobbled to Yoshino. Along the way she was found by a search party and they escorted her to the village. A raven was sent ahead of them to inform the village that they had found her.

It was almost midnight when they arrived and the whole village was still awake, waiting for her. Even her fellow candidates and the whole school at large were awaiting her return. Her parents and relatives met her on the way and they were relieved that she was safe. They embraced her, tears streaking down their cheeks. When they arrived at the village everyone was excited to see her. They did not even think about the dragon’s bane. All they were thinking about was that she safely returned back home until she took out the flower and gave it to the deputy headmaster. The whole crowd watched her in awe. Pushing each other trying to see the dragon’s bane flower. Most of them had never seen it before, not even Daniel and Raphael. Cassie was already admired for her beauty but when she retrieved the flower, they knew she was special. Most of her school mates were amazed by her and some were envious and jealous. Never in the history of the school had someone retrieved the dragon’s bane before and since Cassie did. The flower was preserved and displayed at the school. Giannis heard the story growing up and since then he looked up to Cassie.

“Where are we going hunting?” Asked Giannis.

“Can we go to the thunder smoke forest?” Refilwe said enthusiastically.

“No we are not allowed to go to the thundersmoke forest.” Cassie replied.

“We will hunt in the nearby forest towards the sandstone river.

“What if we don’t find game? Are we going to go back empty handed?” Refilwe asked.

“Let’s hope we find something.” Said Cassie.

“We can’t go back empty handed, I know this is not a mission but we are going to treat it like it is. I just won a medallion for the highest success rate so I want this hunt to be successful. Even if it means going to the thundersmoke forest.” She added.

They went along cattle trails throught out the day. As they were going the trees got more and more crowded. By dusk they were well out of the grazing pastures. They were now in the forest. They decided to set up camp. Giannis collected fire wood and kindled a fire. They set up their tents around the fire. Giannis made oden and Refilwe made ramen and miso soup. When they were all settled down, digging into the food, Giannis reminded Refilwe of a time she wished to forget.

“Do you remember when you turned rice into white worms at the school dinning hall.”

They all burst into laughter.

“I remember seeing Mrs Sachiko rolling on the floor as she tripped, trying to run away.” Cassie said.

“She was so fat that she couldn’t even stand on her own.” Giannis added

“That was the last time we saw her. You made her retire.” Cassie replied.

“The whole hall screamed, aghasted by the worms. Some even retched.”

“How can I forget that day? Principal punished me so cruel that I had to stay home a few days after the punishment.” Said Refilwe.

“You’re lucky you were not suspended.” Giannis

“Lucky!? I would have preferred to be suspended.” Refilwe snapped.

Refilwe has different magic abilities. One of them is re-animation. She can turn trees, plants, seeds and fruits into animals and organisms.

A while later they went to sleep. It was the peaceful sleep in the woods that Cassie had missed so much but she was abruptly awoken by growls of a hungry black bear. Everyone got out of the tents in panic and Giannis wafted a log of wood at the bear with his magic but Cassie diverted the log.

“We don’t attack attack animals in their natural habitat.” Cassie said.

“It’s acting on instinct so we shouldn’t attack it. The fish it is eating is our tax for using its forest to hunt.”

The head of the bear was inside a bag of supplies, eating smoked fish. It yanked its head and scowled at them , warning them to not come closer to it’s food. There was something about the glare that would make one think it was her fish that she single handedly caught.

“Can I keep it as a pet?” Refilwe asked.

“No you’re not keeping it as a pet.” Cassie replied as she was taking out more fish from another bag.

She slowly inched closer to the bear and threw a fish at it. The bear devoured it in seconds and looked at Cassie again. She knew it wanted more so she threw another fish and inched a little closer. It growled a little lower this time and then continued devouring the fish. When it looked up again Cassie handed out the fish. It came closer to her and clasped the fish. It ate it near Cassie while she groomed it slowly. She gave it more fish that it had its fill. It’s temper grew colder and Refilwe and Giannis joined in and groomed it.

A dog lover like Giannis was very pleased to groom it. He was nervous at first but he got used to it and most importantly the bear got used to them. By daylight the bear was still with them and it followed them where ever they went. At midday they picked a trail of an impala. It was not fresh but it was a good sign that there was game in the forest. At this time of the year, game is scarce.

They followed the trail along the river while also taking rests to fish for themselves and their new furry companion. Darkness crept in and they set up camp. That night Cassie had a dream of a family living in a cave, speaking a language she had never heard before. Early in the morning they followed the trail and Cassie couldn’t shake off the dream because she did not know what it meant. The trail led to the end of the forest and it disappeared into the mist forest, known as thundersmoke forest.

The bear stood between them and the mist forest as if it did not want them to go any further. It tried to push them back, growling as if to tell them not to even think about stepping in the thundersmoke forest. They did not want to disappoint grandpa Raphael so they had to follow the trail. Whatever roamed this forest must be fierce for a predator like a bear to not want anything to do with it. No one had ever come out alive in this forest to tell of the monsters inside the mist.

The bear growled in despair as Cassie hugged it goodbye and they disappeared in the forest.