Exercise

         The tall prairie grass waved in the wind. Tianna stood on a small rise in the terrain. Her long, brown hair was blowing around her face. She kept her eyes fixed on some point in the distance as she brought her hand up to pull a strand of hair from her face and tucks it behind her ear. The wind suddenly stopped and everything became still and silent. She resumed walking across the plain. The forest was in sight now; she would reach it before midday. Her dress was long and a pale blue, with silver wizard’s thread edging the sleeves and collar. She had first had the vision three days ago. She now knew something she shouldn’t. She shouldn’t have been able to see what she had. She was a special sort of magical being that the common people called a seer, but the more correct term would be Dayhsharia, something like a prophet or an oracle. She could see the future through visions but she was not supposed to be able to see her future. Only one Dayhsharia was powerful enough to she her own future. She had died hundreds of years ago and now was thought to be mostly myth except to the Dayhsharia. Tianna knew what lay in her future. She had reached the forest and stood just outside, at the head of the path she must take. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath letting it out slowly, preparing for what she knew she must face down this path. She stepped into the darkness of the forest and started down the path.

                     ~*~                              ~*~                              ~*~
         Chamylion sat in a corner of the smoky tavern watching two drunken men argue. As usual the argument, seemingly innocent now, would soon escalate to a viscous bar fight resulting in one of them dead. A shadow fell across him as someone stood directly in front of him, blocking his view of the argument.
         Excuse me,” He looked up to find that it was a beautiful young lady, about 17.
         "Sir?" she addressed him again. "I'm looking to hire a guide, could you be of service?"
         His eyes scanned her figure. She was clad in loose fitting black robes and a black cape. Her stance and the sapphire jewel hanging from a single chain around her neck were the only things suggesting nobility.
         "How much you offering?" He asked quietly
         “I need it through Commyair Forest and across the Ten Plains to Dagyebb. I’ll pay 200 gold now, and 400 when I reach Dagyebb." Chamylion raised his eyebrows. Must be desperate, he thought. Anyone trying to get to Dagyebb is either desperate or crazy. She looked like she needed someone who knew what they were doing.
         "I’ll take it." He replied and downed his drink. "We’ll leave at first light tomorrow." 
         "Thank you." She scribbled the name of the inn she would be at and left stepping over the body of one of the drunks who had been fighting. Chamylion popped a cooked piece of cymilla into his mouth and looked at the piece of paper the girl had given him. He spit the cymilla out before he choked on it. Topica inn and tavern was one place he couldn’t go. He had been young and didn’t know what he was doing.
                     ~*~                              ~*~                              ~*~
         The sign swung in the breeze making the place feel even more deserted in the early morning light. He looked at the sign and back at the paper to make sure. Shaking his head, he sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly.
         "The things I do for money," he muttered walking into the dark inn. Nobody was there. The place looked like it hadn’t been touched for years. There was a thick covering of dust on everything except the well polished counter and the slightly dusted stairs.
         "May I help you?" a man asked coming out from a back room
         "Yes, I’m looking for a young lady." Chamylion paused trying to think if she had given a name, realizing she hadn’t he went on. "She said she’d be staying here, I’m her guide."
         "Ah yes." the man nodded "up the stairs, last door on your right."
         "Thank you." Chamylion hurried up the stairs. He found the room and knocked impatiently on the door. The girl appeared and handed him a small bag.
         "Lets go,” she said rushing past him and down the stairs. He caught up to her just outside as she was mounting her horse. "We need to hurry."
         "Yeah sure...” Chamylion paused again still not knowing her name
         "Kelsey." She stated simply "My name is Kelsey."
         "Okay then Kelsey, we’ll hurry." He spurred his horse into a gallop and they left the town heading into the perilous forest.

                             ~*~                               ~*~                              ~*~
         Tianna walked on through the forest, dark fingers reaching out to her. A name echoed through her mind as her eyes gazed far off.
         “Kelsey.” she whispered. It would not be long now. She needed to stop and prepare for their arrival. She veered off the path and walked a little way into the dark forest. She stopped in front of a tree that would shelter her while allowing her to sensor everything. She opened the small pouch at her waist and took out the little tin pot and bowl and several little bags of herbs. She cast a small spell of water and filled the pot and bowl with it, and then she cast a fire spell on an old dead bird’s nest and set the pot to boil. In another small bowl she mixed a few herbs with some water and ground them to make her blue dye. She tattooed the symbols of her clan, her race, and her title on her arms and forehead. She needed to play the part that Kelsey would know. When she was finished with that, she threw a few herbs and spices into the pot of boiling water and put the remainder of the blue dye in the larger bowl of water along with a few leaves and portents. She put them over the fire while she silently ate her soup preparing for the magiks to take over her body and mind.