The winds of the ominous weather worsened as she moved closer to the lands of Tarmi. She was filled with anticipation because she never came so close to a festival. “I hope Minos isn’t too upset with me, “ she smirked to herself, knowing that she was in for an earful as soon as she caught up to her companion. She could already see the mountains of the capital city, Elysia, where she knew Minos would be. The lingering smell of animals made her frown as the smell was carried closer to her with the wind. Even from the distance, she could see the elegant spirehorses of all the people of the city. “Wow!,” she exclaimed after glimpsing the elaborate spirehorse carriages of the High Born families and the more simple designs of the Midborn artisans.

She slid down the ember tree she had climbed to get a better view, the wind wisping through her short lavender hair. She took off at a sprint, trusting the direction she had gauged from looking at the treetops. Her heart pounded in her chest as she darted through the low branches with ease. She smirked again. “ I could do this in my sleep,” she thought as she cleared an undisturbed Armacian trap. She could tell that she was reaching the edge of the Natus forest because the forest floor was slowly becoming more firm as the composition of the ground shifted from soil to gravel. The smell was even stronger as well because the poor were very unkept and lived near the outer parts of the city in the rural town of Tarmi. Nina gagged as she passed a rotten golonfruit in a pile of fallen leaves. Tempted to take it because it was still filled with charms, she knew it was nothing but an old trap.“Nice try,” she thought, easily avoiding the obvious trap. She knew if she even grazed it, crazy locals would attack her. They were people of little magic, often ravaged by the cursed Desperate souls that followed the storm. Although they were viewed as easy targets by some, she had seen firsthand how vicious they could be if underestimated.

The temperature was dropping so she pulled her hood over her head as she moved quickly toward her destination. She was excited about seeing the grand festival for the Day of Sagacity. Hosted by the Arminius Royal family, she doubted the royals would let the storm stop a thing. They were the Grand Leaders of Magic in the area and lived in a palace embedded into the mountains of Elysia. Dedicated to the Sages of Arquir & Pieci, two giant fountains in the form of the great sages stood as the foundation of the palace gate. The loud sounds and bustle of carriages made Nina stop in amazement. It was the day before the Day of Sagacity, so the flags of the Royal Magic houses could be seen flying on every street post leading into the city, but she had never expected it to be so grand. The crest of the magical family, Arminius, was enchanted, so water serpents glided over the golden pillars embedded into the crests. The sparkle of the bluest sapphires glinted like stars adorning the tall pillars leading to the large gate. The smaller flags of the high-born Lavius family, protectors of the Arminius, flicked about whipping like velvet shadows beneath the lavish crest of the Royals, boldly accentuating the already stunning fabric. Nina shivered in excitement. The magic was in the air. Residuals of charms could be seen coming from the famous magic factory normally creating visions of lavenders and blues in the sunlight, but today’s overcast sky had an eerie effect. Clouds of the darkest shades of purple swirled in the sky above the city. She stood in awe gazing at the puffs of magic smoke being transformed into such eerie shades of purple. No one around her seemed fazed at all by the signs of the coming storm or the visions in the sky. She sighed and pulled her cloak tightly around her. “They could care less,” she thought as she prepared to enter into the mix of the crowd. The spontaneous storms had been plaguing the land for as long as she could remember. The Curse of Taru she had heard it called but never explained. She shuttered as she thought about the real violence that followed the storm. “The Desperate,” she thought, shuttering again as she quickly moved into the crowd towards the gate to the city.

The dusty ground met paved obsidian the closer she got to the crowded entrance. The people seemed to be in a hurry, rushing past, bumping carelessly into one another. Quickly annoyed by all the random bumping, Nina smiled a mischievous smirk. “Might as well make this a little fun,” she thought as she began to gracefully dodge the people around her by watching them quickly and closely. Minos was avid about her being able to protect herself and she took her training sessions seriously. She liked to create her own training games that she could apply in real life. As she moved through the crowd, she applied her training with Minos, making shadow-like movements careful not to bump into anyone. “89…90…91,” she counted as she glided through the crowd, hearing a few displeased grunts from the people around her. Nina felt a sudden change in the air and attempted to change directions but it was too late. She jerked backward as she felt the weight of a person connect with her shoulder.

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“Ugh,” she grumbled as she lost her stride, causing others around to bump into her. “That’s what I get.” She snatched off her cloak which was now covered in the dust that she had stirred from all of her commotions. Nina had chosen to wear a simple black cloak and a veil that she heard was very common in the area of Tarmi. People in Elysia generally wear black because they work for the huge factory and their uniforms are black. She wanted to blend in as best she could without having a sapphire or any of the other stones that citizens of the great cities wore. All Tarmians wear some kind of sapphire and she had no way of getting one of those. It is the stone of the two guardian sages of the land and is seen as a good luck charm protecting all true Tarmians from the darkness that comes from the curse of the lands. The wealthier the Tarmian, the more ornate the sapphires. She had always wanted to see up close what types of sapphires the Arminius family wore. She sighed, “Whatever, I just need to find Minos.” She tried to keep moving forward but quickly realized that the person she had bumped into had not moved. She stared at the person in confusion. “Why is this person just standing here,” she was annoyed and the people around them were grumbling because they were slowing the flow of the crowd. “Hey!,” Nina yelled in protest as the person grabbed her by her arm and pulled her quickly to the right, stopping just outside of the fast, forward-moving crowd. Flustered when she was finally released, Nina tried to find a defensive stance in case the person attacked her next. Prepared to fight, Nina frowned. She looked at the person who had pulled her body so effortlessly. She was shocked. Standing before her was an old woman who was very tall and slim. Her pale skin was almost translucent and it seemed a miracle that she could stand, let alone have pulled her away with so much aggression. Nina noticed a glimmer at the base of the woman’s neck. The woman’s black velvet shawl had a small diamond brooch. She did not look like a Tarminian. The woman's eyes squinted at Nina. She felt uneasy as the woman’s blue eyes pierced through her. Without warning, the woman snatched away Nina’s veil.

“A diolass,” the woman’s face lit with excitement and recognition.

“Wha..,” Nina stood frozen and confused that the woman seemed to recognize her. She felt a feeling of wonder, curious because no one had ever recognized her before because she was a wander along with Minos. “How could this woman recognize her?” She thought, quickly attempting to gather her thoughts. The woman was mumbling something but maintained the excited look she had when she tore away Nina’s veil. Nina could not help but look at the woman with curiosity. The woman grabbed Nina’s wrist and she felt a shocking surge of magic rush through her body. Shivering from the sudden flow of magic, Nina was sure she had not felt this much energy in such a long time. “No, stop it!” Nina yelled, attempting to push the woman away as she noticed the lady’s tall pale body began to wither away in front of her, cloak and all. Horrified and amazed, Nina gasped at the sight of the woman crumbling into a pile of translucent dust. She caught the glimmer of a smile peeking from the lady’s mouth as she faded into the wind. Terror and fear filled her mind as she flinted in astonishment at what had just occurred. The loud sounds of the crowds made her quickly remember what she was doing. She began to look around frantically for help, muttering, trying to make sense of the ordeal. “ No, I’m not sure... What happened? I- I,” Afraid that no one would believe her, she jerked lost in thought. A man suddenly called out to her.

“Hey! What happened there!” He yelled. Filled with fear and doubt, she began to panic. She did not want to try to explain what happened. The woman had released a noticeable amount of magic and Nina knew the stir of charms would cause others to notice that something had happened in a matter of secs. Deciding she had no time or way to explain, she darted into the crowd, using the shadow-like movements from before as quickly as she could to get away from the scene she had just caused.