Life of Magic*

Chapter 1-A new beginning

Clara's POV

I'm living in a new home. A new life. A new beginning. And a new school. Tomorrow's my first day of school and I barely know anybody. It's not going to be that different from my other school. Just stay in back and don't talk to anyone. I can't risk my secret getting out. I probably have nothing to worry about. My parents don't even know!

I grab my bag and head downstairs. "Morning sweetie." "Morning mum." "So, your first day. Excited?" "Nope. Not my first ." I grabbed a granola bar and walked out the door. I have to walk to school. Kings Park here I come.

It's so much smaller than I expected. While heading to my locker, I bumped into someone and fell. "Are you okay?" He says. "I'm fine." I say as I get up. I looked into his eyes and I saw something. Something I haven't seen before except in the mirror. "I'm Tom." "Clara." "I haven't seen you around. Are you new?" "Yeah. I moved in last week just down the street." "Oh. Well, nice seeing you then." He started to walk away. "Wait. Do you know where room A-14 is?" A different kid showed me. "It's down the hall and the 3rd door on your right. Name's Benny." "Clara. It was nice meeting you." I walked away. I never thought I would see it again. He had magic in his eyes. I could feel it. Somehow.

After school, I was in my room reading some old books that I found in the attic. I guess the previous owners left them. But, why would they have books about magic? I've been trying to prove this for years. He just might be the first I've seen. Tomorrow, I hope I can see him again. And prove my theory.

At school, I headed to my first class and sat in the back by the window just like I did yesterday. Looking out the window, waiting for the right day. The right time. 30 minutes in, I realised I forgot my notebook. I asked the teacher for a bathroom pass and left. I went to my locker and entered the combination. It didn't open. This always happened to me. My locker would never open, no matter what numbers I put in. I looked around. I whisper a spell I saw in one of the books. "Topspringe" I heard a click and opened my locker. Honestly, I was surprised that actually worked. I don't have any power of any kind. I'm not that special. Or at least, I think I'm not. You know I took out my notebook and closed my locker. I started heading back to class and I bumped into someone again. Just my luck. "I'm so sorry." He says. "It's okay. This actually happens a lot." I make a grab for my notebook. And he does too. I realised who he was. "Tom?" "Yeah. Clara, right?" "Yeah. How did you know?" "I sit behind you in homeroom." "Right." I started walking away. "Wait. I saw what you did. With your locker." I freaked out a little. "I-I don't know what you're talking about." I started walking away but he blocked me. "It's okay. I have it too." He looked around and made a small ball of light in his hand. I started thinking about what the book said about wizards and pretended to be one. "You used one of your spells, for me." "What can I say. 3 spells a day, one is nothing for you." "Show me your wrist." "Um, okay?" He pulled up his sleeve. Some wizards had a mark on their wrist. Nothing. "May I see yours?" I lifted up my left sleeve showing my birthmark. "Cool tattoo." I pulled down my sleeve. I heard a loud clicking noise and he heard it too. I looked at the clock. A minute has passed and it's happening again. All of the lockers flung open and I heard the high pitch ring in my ears. "I got to go." I started running back to class. "Wait! When can I see you again?" "Eventually!" I ran to my class as the lockers closed.

When I got home, I recorded what happened at school. The lockers, the frequency, everything. The thing is, the frequency hasn't happened since I was about 6 years old. I met this kid and whenever we were together for a minute, bad things would happen. But the thing is, why was it happening with me and Tom? Whenever the frequency came, usually a bad thing would happen later on. But what thing? I had to get back to the school. I put my books in my bag and ran downstairs. "Clara, where are you going?" "I left something at school." And left. Running down the sidewalk with my bag on my back. I needed to find out what the warning was for.

I ran inside the school, to the gym, and hid under the bleachers. A few minutes later, I heard someone come in. It was Tom, and Benny. I think that's what his name was. "Benny, hand me the lock!" Said Tom. I was right. It was Benny. But, why did they have to lock the door? I heard banging. I guess I was about to find out. There was a blue light as the door was blasted to pieces. A person-sized creature emerged. Green, scaled skin with blue armour like suit. "You will come with me, Tom Clarke!" It demanded. "No! You'll never get me!" As he started kicking footballs at it. The thing dodged them as it walked in my direction. I ran to the other side but, by the time I reached it, something grabbed me. It dragged me out from under the bleachers. "Clara?" Said Tom. "Hi." "What are you doing under there?" "I'll explain later. But first, you should probably get back." They backed away. And I said a spell I saw in the book seconds before. "Ic þé wiþdrífe!" I yelled as the magic went from around me blasting the thing away. It dropped me and I hit my head. Images and words started flashing through my head. 'Druid', 'special', 'Jane' "Clara! Wake up. Grab her arm." And I woke up. "What are you doing?" "You were unconscious for a while so we dragged you out before it woke up." Said Tom. Benny just stood there. "Well, what are you waiting for?! It'll wake up any minute, come on!" We ran through the corridors to my locker. I climbed inside. "Come on! Trust me, this is not the weirdest thing I've done."

I pulled them through to the secret room. "Woah." Said Benny and Tom in unison. "I know." I said. I gave them a minute to look around. "Where are we exactly?" asked Benny. "An attic. Maybe. I was a little confused when I woke up." "Well, will you explain now?" said Tom. "Well, just like Tom here, I have magic…" "wait, you have magic?"said Benny. "Were you not paying attention in the gym? I saved you. Anyway, I have magic but I'm not a wizard. I'm a Druid." "A Druid?" said Tom. "Like the ones who wore robes and did human sacrifice?" "Well, those are actually two of the many myths about my race. We rarely wore robes and never did human sacrifice, unless you were Morgana. Then you did it a lot. Many 'wizards' throughout history were actually Druids." "So, you don't get the '3 spells from sunrise to sunrise' rule?" asked Tom. "Nope. Completely unlimited." "So there are other races of wizards? Are there other Druids?" "There are other races of wizards but, I'm the last of mine." "Oh." said Tom. "It's okay. They've been gone for centuries. I've gotten used to being the only one. Apparently." "Well," Tom said as he and Benny put their arms around me. "You've got us now." I smiled. We heard a bang. "What was that?" asked Benny. "Behæpse fæst." I said. "What was that?" asked Benny. "A spell. Or as my old friends called them, 'enchanments'. That door is indestructible." "I meant with your eyes. You irises change from blue to gold when you say a spell. When Tom does a spell, he gets a ribbon of colours and snaps his fingers. You don't even have to lift a finger." "It's a Druid thing. But wizards of all types actually can do magic without moving your hand. You, Tom, just need to know how." We heard more banging. I turned around and put my hand out towards the bookshelf. "Onhríne achtung bregdan." I said as the book flew to me from shelf. "Identify." I said as the book examined the thing outside the door. The pages flipped. "What are we dealing with?" asked Benny. "We're dealing with a female Nekross. "I think I speak for both of us," Tom said gesturing to himself and Benny. "When I say, what the heck is a Nekross?" "You've never seen a Nekross?" They both shook their heads. "I'm surprised. Especially you Tom. They're all throughout history finding wizards and feeding on their magic. I lost some of my best friends to them." I said as I put the book back on the shelf. An image flashed through my head. "Jane, I'm your friend." I heard. "Did you hear that?" They shook their heads. "Well how do we defeat this thing?" asked Tom. "We can't. We can't kill it. Trust me, I've tried. But, we can disarm them." The door started melting. "Let them through. I've got an idea!" I said. The Nekcross came in through the melted door. I stood in front of Tom. "Get out of the way, halfling!" "I don't think I will. You look very familiar to me. Have we met?" "Get out of the way or you will come with me and die!" "Oh! Now I remember you! I believe it was 1265 and you took my best friend, Jane. Oh. Did I put up a fight. I even did a spell. What was it again? 'Go awayus?' 'Be goneaday' oh now I remember," I said as I grabbed Tom and Benny's hands. "Ástríce!" As the Nekross was pushed back, I turned around. "Come along boys!" I said as I started running. When we left, the room disappeared, and so did the Nekross. We ran to the front of the school. "You two should go home now." I said. "Why?" said Benny. "This is the most exciting thing that's happened in my life! I'm not leaving now." I took two rings out of pocket and put one on my hand. "Benny. Are you sure you want to be apart of this. You could die." "Of course. I don't want to miss out on the best thing that's happened to me since my parents let me out of the house." "Tom. Do want to be apart of this." I said holding the other ring in my hand. "Yes." "Give me your hand."he held out his hand and I put the ring on. "Are you two getting married?" said Benny. "No!" Tom and I said in unison. "These are bio-dampers. It keeps you hidden. To the Nekross, me and Tom are food. With these on, we're just ordinary humans wether we do magic or not. So what ever you do, Tom, don't take this ring off or the Nekross will have you faster than you can say a-say something." I collapsed. "Clara. Are you okay?" "I think um, I don't know. This morning I thought I was just a weird girl with a mental disorder. Now, my entire life story flashed through my head. I never knew a Jane or what happened in 1265." "You might just need some rest." said Tom. "It's 6: 26. We should head home. The Nekross should be back on it's ship right now." said Benny. We all started walking home.

Benny already left so me and Tom walked by ourselves. "In the room, you stood up to the Nekross." "I've met them before. I think." I said. "You said in 1265. It took your friend. You couldn't have been alive in 1265. You weren't even born yet. How were you alive in 1265?" "That's a long story." "I've got time." "Well, 1265 was the year my friend, Jane got taken by the Nekross. We were playing in the woods and it appeared. Jane and I were both Druids. We both put up a fight. I was almost taken but then I said something and we ran. I was only a child. It caught up to us and took Jane. Since then, I haven't seen her since. She's probably dead." "But how are you alive?" "Oh, um, I don't know. I remember a young man explained how life is full of wonderful and horrible things. He thought that I could make a change in the world. Have sorcery become legal again. His last words I remember was a spell to have me live immortal. So now I'm here, I guess." "So you were born in…" "1257." "And it's 2015. So that would make you…" "758 years old." "Woah. You look good. For 758." "But to Benny and everyone else, I'm 13. So don't go around and tell everybody." "Of course I won't. But, my gran would love to meet another wizard. Especially a Druid." "Your gran's a wizard?" "Yeah. Maybe I could have you come over sometime." He stopped walking. "I have to go now." He said. I looked across the street and noticed my house. "I do too. I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" "Yeah." I ran across the street, walking to the front door, turning around and waving at Tom. I walked inside and he was still out there. I smiled. "Is that a smile?" Said my mum. "I just met one of the neighbours. He's really nice." "Okay. Okay. Dinner'll be ready soon." "Okay mum." I said as I walked upstairs to my bedroom and opened the window. Looking out to Tom's house. I was so happy that I wasn't alone anymore. After so many years, I've finally found another wizard. I wonder what Tom was doing now? Probably telling his gran about me.

Tom's POV

"Tom? Where've you been?" Asked gran. "Oh, just meeting the new neighbours." 'Hi Tom.' Said a voice in my head. I'd recognize that voice anywhere. "Clara?" "What was that, Tom?" "Um, nothing." I said and ran upstairs and yelled in to the street. "What the heck are you doing?" I across the street. 'Shh. I don't want everyone to hear. It's better if we talk like this.' She said. "And how do I do that." I yelled. 'Stop yelling. I'll teach you how. I'll be right over.' And she closed her window. "What are you doing now? What do you mean you'll be right over?" I looked down thinking she would do something outrageous. It was. There was a cloud of smoke & Clara appeared. "Clara, what the heck are you doing in my room?!" "Well I couldn't teleport you into my room. That'd just be weird." "This IS weird! A girl teleporting into my room." "What you never had a girl in your hou-?" And she fainted. "Clara?" I said in a panic. She slowly woke up. "Sorry. I'm trying to re-learn some things." "Are you okay?" "Oh yeah." She said as she got up. "I'm fine. Wow. You really like football." "So you said you were going to teach me something?" "Yes. I'm-" I looked down at my hand. It was fading. "Fading?" ******"Um, No one, Gran!" I said. "Yes. That's my gran but how did you know?" "Well, let's just say that I have my secrets." "Okay, well you need to leave before my gran or my dad come up here." "Okay. But, if you need to talk…" 'just talk. Then no one else can hear.' She stood near the window. "Bedyrne ús! Astýre ús þanonweard!" She said as she disappeared in a cloud of smoke. And gran came inside. 'Just in time.' I thought to Clara.

Clara's POV

'I know.' I thought to Tom. "Dinner!" I heard my mum yell. 'I got to go. We'll talk later.' 'This is so much better than texting.' 'I know. I got to go.' And we stopped. It was nice to finally have a friend who I don't have to hide from. I can actually do things without freaking them out. I can't believe he's my neighbor. "Clara?" I heard my mum. "Hmm." "How were the neighbors?" "Nice. Very nice." "Anything happen at school?" "No. Not really." I picked up my half empty plate, put it near the sink on the counter and headed back upstairs. Tomorrow, is a new day.

The rest of the week was pretty normal. Went to school, visited Tom, and hid my powers from my mom. Benny still doesn't know that I'm from the 13th century. So everything's going pretty well. No Nekross invasions so far which is even better. I'm just glad that no body died.

About a week later, I was in my room. Looking at old photos of me. Sometimes I wish that I could go back in time. Just to see my dad's face one more time. Happy. After school, Tom, Benny and I went to the park and talked. "So, Clara, how did you get your powers?" No one ever asked me that before. "I don't know. I was born with them I guess. What about you Tom?" "Same." "You know, most wizards have to work for their powers. Study for years looking through books and practicing. Did any of your relatives do that?" "Not that I know of no. " "hmm. Ahh!" My head started hurting. I saw a shadow-like figure standing on the other side of the park. "Tom, run!" I said. He took off and an arrow went into the area he was sitting in. Benny ran. The arrow went for him also. I saw the arrow come for me. I slowed time, got up and ran. My head was still hurting. The arrow flys past as soon as I get up. Time goes back to normal. "Bedyrne ús! Astýre ús þanonweard!" We were all inside the room of my locker.