“Can you possibly do something new with your hair?” Mrs. Bacik scolded as Basil walked into the kitchen of the rather large cottage just outside of the village square. “You always wear it in that messy ponytail. Do you even brush it?”
Basil slammed a cabinet shut as she rolled her eyes. Her mom always had something to say about her appearance. Her father and two brothers had entered the kitchen by this point and sat at the table, patiently waiting to be served breakfast. Basil helped her mother bring the meal to the table. Conversation consisted of small talk and village gossip. Ms. Fergason a few miles down the road had fallen ill, the eldest Sawyer boy was getting married (which Mrs. Bacik had commented on how it wasn’t Basil getting married), and the council was due for another meeting regarding early evacuation.
Basil Bacik always thought she had the name of someone destined to be great. But, living in the large village of Altavista, an upscale homestead with a population of some 5,000 people, has made it seem very unlikely she would do anything beyond going to the market to barter for bread.
It was never hard for her family to get by and they even had enough money and goods to trade for more extravagant wants. Her father being a respected councilman let her walk around with a sense of royalty, which wasn’t bad, she just wanted to earn it for herself. She wanted to escape her family and explore.
As the meal came to an end, the Bacik family expected to go about their daily lives as expected. Basil was to get bread and ingredients from the market, her father had to meet with the council (they would ride into town together, it was the most tolerable time of Basil’s day; her
father actually complimented her hair), and her mother and younger brothers worked on reading, writing and learning about the stars. But as Basil and her father walked out of the front door, they were greeted by a massive wave which was now about two miles from the other side of the village. They ran back inside to warn their family but were beat by the piercing siren, warning the population of the appending doom.
Basil’s only dream was to travel and meet as many new people as possible. While at first she was scared, she eventually realized this was her chance to be great. She was finally going to get her hero story. She ran to her bedroom and grabbed everything she thought she would need: clothes, spell books, her wand, and some money she had hidden under her bed. She would worry about food as she needed it. Seeing as she was a born elemental magician, she figured she could make it work. She threw everything into a bag and ran.
Basil Bacik only had two things on her mind as she ran out of her house and away from her parents who were calling out to her. The first being, getting to Elantris. Everyone has been ranting and raving about it and she has been dying to figure out if the hype is real. The other thing that she thought of was that, no matter how long it took, she was going to meet as many new faces, and see as many new places as possible on her way. Or she was going to die trying.
Struck with panic, the entire village erupted into utter chaos. There were screams as everyone hurriedly packed their carriages. It was going to be a long and hard trip to find a new place, for everyone. Most people would just settle in the first town they find and have to do the same thing again within the next ten years. Basil was sure that’s what her family would do but she didn’t stick around long enough to find out.