Issabell sat beneath a large oak tree that had a strange, yet beautiful amber tint to it giving it its name.. Isabell cradled her new born son in her arms, his hand curling around her own with a delicate strength. He was a small boy with crimson hair and piercing crimson eyes that seemed to be taking in everything around her. Her child did not cry out or do much of anything; he just watched her while she smiled down at him.

“I will name you Kai.”

Kai was different from all the other kids; he would sleep more than was normal for a child, something that made Isabell’s life a lot easier. But when he was awake, he gave off this strange feeling that he was watching her and trying to understand everything. Isabell was not bothered by her child’s strange actions because she loved him.

“Ah, I see you are awake, Kai.” Isabell said as she picked him up. “Do you want to come with mom? I'm going into the village.”

Kai, of course did not answer, he was only a couple of months old. Isabell set out into town carrying Kai. As they walked, Kai’s eyes were flicking everywhere, seemingly watching everything but eventually his eyes settled on his mother listening to her humming.

Isabell smiled down at him when she noticed that he was watching her before he fell back to sleep.

Time passed and Kai turned 8 months old. “m…. m….. mo.. mom mom mom”. Kai clapped his hands as he spoke his first word.

The pan in Isabell’s hand crashed to the ground as she whirled around looking at Kai. She ran over to him and picked him up. “What did you just say?”

Kai cocked his head to the side looking at his mom, his head slumped forward, and a small noise could be heard coming out of him. He was asleep.

Kai slept for an hour before waking up in the bed he and his mother shared. Kai crawled out of their bed heading towards the door knowing that his mom would be in the garden. “Mo…m mom mom hungrrry.” Kai said next to her. Isabell smiled down at Kai.

“What do you want?”

Kai walked over to a tomato and tried to pull it off the plant but found a hand stopping him.

“Kai, when you remove a tomato, you should not just pull, you have to be careful and remove it gently.” Isabell twisted the tomato, and it came off.

She handed it down to him and as he took it, he spoke.

“Th… tha.. yo..”

Isabell ruffled his hair gently. “Good job.” She went back to working in the garden humming to herself.

“Mom, help.”

Isabell turned back to him. “What do you want help with?”

Kai shook his head. “Help.”

“Do you want to help me?”

Kai shook his head. “Y… yes yes.”

“Ok. Come here, and I will show you what to do.”

Kai walked with her as she showed him what plants to pull and what not to pull. As he walked, there were a couple of times where he almost fell over, and many times he tried to pull the wrong plant. But each time, Isabell helped him, and he learned from his mistakes. They lessened until after 3 days he was doing an amazing job helping with the garden. Or as amazing a job as an 8 month old could do. He also started to get sleepy after working for ten minutes and fell asleep against a tree.

Isabell smiled at him, and then went back to working on her garden but was careful to always keep an eye on him. “He may be a little strange but he’s mine either way.” Isabell lived near the amber woods which were named after the slight amber tint on the edge of all the plants.

Kai soon adapted the habit of helping his mother in the garden when she was working there and then when she was not, he would go and sit by the trees and just watch everything happening.

Despite how old Kai got, he would never go into the village to play with the other kids; he would always stay with his mother either helping her with what she was doing or sitting and watching. He never seemed to get bored of watching what was going on.

Isabell watched her son as they walked through the small market in the village, his head swiveling around watching everything going on. “I wonder why he keeps looking around at everything like that. The way he watches everything; it's more than a normal child's curiosity. This feels different though not in any tangible way.” Isabell shrugged it off. Kai was hers, it didn't really matter to her. Kai was her and she loved him no matter what.

***

Kai walked through the streets with his mother holding his hand. His eyes had that subtle burning and the urge to see what was going on; the curiosity that drove him to see and hear everything, a curiosity that he somehow knew was not normal. Eventually, he decided to focus on something else, his mothers humming. Kai listened to the sounds coming out of his mom’s voice, and eventually he had the song memorized.

***

Isabell was a mother and like every other mother. She wanted nothing more than for her son to be happy, live a nice and peaceful childhood, grow up and get married to a girl that made him happy and if he was really lucky, he might even get some magic. But there was one problem with her hopes, he had no friends. Any time she tried to get him to go play with the other kids in the village, he would refuse and if they ever came over, he would run into the house. How could he live a happy life without company and people to share it with, But, she figured that he was still young he would grow out of it.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Besides, it was finally time as he was now five, and they could find out if he had any magic. Those with magic, no matter how minimal, would have infinitely more options and opportunities in their life. It was the kind of thing that could turn a boy from a poor family barely making it through the winter to a family with amazing opportunities. And if he had more than just a little magic, well that could allow him to go far, maybe even marry into a noble house. But this was something that every mother dreamed of and far from likely.

“Come on Kai, we're going somewhere new today.” Isabell said Kai walked over and grabbed her hand.

“Where, mom?” Kai asked curiously.

“We’re going to the town of Amberhill. It is the closest town to us.” Isabell said while smiling down at Kai.

“Ok. Why are we going there?”Kai asked her.

“We are going to the church.” Isabell stated simply

“Ok” Kai said, satisfied with her answer.

And with that, they walked on Isabell quietly humming to herself holding her son's hand; the world could not have been more peaceful.

“Mom, why do you hum.” Kai asked curiously.

“Because I like music; it is something beautiful that can convey emotions and stories without a word ever being spoken. It is also something that reminds me of your father. Years ago, before your father married me, he saved up all of his money and took me to see some music in the noble’s quarter of the town. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever heard.” Isabell said. As she walked, she had a small smile on her face, and Kai started to hum with her.

Isabell walked up to the guards at the gate and handed over the entrance fee before heading in. As they walked, Kai’s head was constantly moving back and forth trying to understand everything going on around him.

Soon they ended up at a large building with a statue in front of it. The statue was that of a man standing in a noble position on top of what seemed to be a thunder cloud. In front of the door was a guard in half plate armor with a sword on his waist.

“Hello my lady, how may I help you today?” The guard asked.

Isabell nodded her head at Kai. “I am here for my son. He turned five a couple of days ago.”

“Ah I see, please enter, the priest should be waiting for you.”

“Thank you.” Isabell said as she walked in, but Kai didn’t move. He was staring at the man, more specifically his sword.

“Come on Kai.” Isabell said.

“Magic sword.” Kai said, pointing at the sword barely following his mother.

“Your right kid; this is an extremely rare type of sword. Maybe if you have enough magic you can get one. It's called a bond armament.” The man said seemingly extremely proud of himself. He then seemed to consider something before speaking. “Those are some amazing senses. If you were able to tell that my sword was not normal, it's very likely that you have magic.”

Kai walked into the church with his mom where they found an older man in robes waiting for them.

“Are you Isabell?” The man asked.

“Yes, I am, and this is my son Kai.” Isabell said.

“Please follow me.” The man said.

The priest took them to a small room with a round wooden tub in the middle of it. Inside of the tube was a strange clear liquid that almost looked to be glowing. “Please step into the tub.”

Kai stepped in and despite the tub being filled to the rim, none of it spilled out.

“If he has any mana, the water will glow. The brighter the glow, the more he has. The sooner it glows, the easier it will be for him to access his mana. If it doesn’t glow after 15 minutes, he doesn’t have any.” The man said.

15 minutes passed with the only change being that the pool seemed to no longer be glowing.

“I’m sorry, but it seems that Kai doesn’t have any magic.” The man told Isabell

The priest led them out of the church where they had met the guard, and then they left.

“Come on Kai, let's go to the market, and I will get you an apple.” Isabell said. While she was disappointed especially after what the guard had said, it was not unexpected.

A week later, Kai was watching his mom working in the house. When he had asked to help her, she had told him that she didn’t need help and to go outside to play. So, he had done as told and gone outside.

He could feel that slight burning in his eyes increasing. As he lay on his back, he smelled something sweet coming from the house. It reminded him of the smell of baking bread but different. Isabell came out of the house.

“Kai, come here. I made something for you.” Kai got up and ran over to her.

“What did you make?” Kai asked.

“I made an apple pie for your birthday.” Isabell said, smiling down at him. She grabbed his hand. “Come on, let's go eat.” Isabell said walking towards their house. As she walked she felt a tug on her hand, she looked back and saw Kai staring towards the edge of the hill that overlooked the village. “What’s wrong Kai?”

“I hear something over there.”

“Ok, do you want to see what is going on?” Isabell didn’t hear anything, but there was no harm in going to investigate.

As they walked towards the hill, Kai could hear better but didn’t understand. He wanted to understand and began to tug on his mom’s arm.

When they got to the edge, Isabell heard, and then saw it. Below her was a scene of chaos and carnage. The screams of scared and dying villagers mixed with the excitement of mounted bandits. The village was burning down around them as the bandits killed and looted, leaving few alive. Isabell spun around grabbing Kai and running for the forest, but it was too late.

“Up the hill! get her!” Someone behind her shouted. Kai was clutched tightly in her arms.

“Mom what’s-”

“Kai when I set you down, run towards the town we went to a week ago, don't look back just run.“ Isabell reached under her shirt and pulled out a small medallion on a leather necklace and shoved it into Kai’s hand. Behind them the pounding of hooves could be heard. They reached the tree line, and Kai was set down. “Run, live Kia!”

Kai’s body moved as if on auto pilot running in the direction of the town, but his head never moved looking back and watching as his mother smiled at him before turning around.

The men on horses yelled something, but she just stood there. One of them tried to ride past her, but she grabbed his leg and pulled. The rider fell to the ground then turned and punched her in the face. She was thrown back but was back on her feet. She grabbed at the other man slowing him down. The first man tried to stop her, but she moved out of his way stopping the second man. The first man grabbed Isabell, but she fought back.

The second man ran past her after Kai. Kai watched as his mother didn’t give up. Fighting the first man as he reached for his belt where he grabbed his sword. Kai watched as the sword flashed down, and Isabell's head left her body.