She held a splintered wand in her hands. Her fingers traced the intricate runes that had been carefully carved into the ancient willow. The orange glow of the setting sun cascaded through her small room. A voice carried through her room, breaking her concentration.
“Seline!” A girl shouted while pushing through the door.
“Yes, Eva?” Seline laid the broken wand on her cluttered desk as she moved towards he young sister.
“Can we go practice now?” Eva enthusiastically jumped over to look out the window, there was a pleading tone in her voice. “could we... maybe even go to the waterfalls?”
Seline thought about her request, looking at her broken wand, before responding, “Okay, but we used most of our supplies last time so we’ll need to search for new ingredients.” Before Seline could even finish, Eva was packing the empty containers into their travel bag.
Outside, the girls wandered through the trees. Seline watched her sister joyfully play through the fog. With their mom gone, Seline had taken on the role of teaching her little sister magic. As she was so young, she had only turned eight this past summer, Seline had only begun to show her how simple herbs were used in potions.
“Eva were getting close to the falls, start looking for lavender. We can focus on calming potions tonight.” Seline handed her sister a small jar to collect her flower. Eva ran off, her slender frame stirring the fog as she ran nearer to the waterfall. Seline thought of how it may affect Eva to be ripped from her current home as the tides rounded the earth closer to their village. Soon after she left, Eva bounded back with a jar full of lavender. “Good job Eva, we can start back to the house now. You can help me collect willow bark on the way.”
They followed the narrow paths through the fallen leaves of the approaching winter. At their house their older brother waited for them at the door. “Where have you been? They just notified us, there’s a city that was just uncovered by the tides. The last inhabitants enchanted the entire city with magic and everything is just as they left it. It’s as if the tides never covered it.”
Seline looked at him in awe. “One of us have to go. Its almost time for us to move anyways, the tides are coming.”
Dominic looked towards Eva, “One of us have to stay here with her until we can move.”
“I can go. You and Eva will be fine here without me. We need to find a fresh start and somewhere new can only help."
[03]
Seline sat outside the Mistborn forest, thinking of her trials with the clerics that had taken place just days before. Seline wondered how it may have impacted their goals if she was stronger. She held her knew wand in her small hands, the smooth white bone cooled her hand. It was a piece of art; the handle was carved with runes and lines that told stories of power and success. Each marking seemed to have its own, definite purpose. Seline practiced the elemental spells her mom had taught her. Most of her knowledge was useful for moving trees, growing plants or opening paths. Nothing she knew would help her defeat the army that was growing nearer to Elantris with each passing moment. She needed to work on practicing spells that had more depth and that could aide Nira and the rest of the Clerics, in doing their part to save Elantris.
Seline stood still outside the woods, holding her wand once again. She worked on uprooting trees and throwing them. She had never experienced such a power as what coursed through her body as she held her new wand. Every move of her wand and incantation she recited embodied more power than she had ever imagined having. She continued for hours, trying to handle her knew abilities and to use the same spells that she always had. But it was different for her know. She needed something more.
The marketplace bustled with people, as It had when she had visited with Apollyon and was gifted her wand from Nira. Seline, pushed through the crowded streets, searching for something that could help her harness her knew aptitude for magic. A man on the outskirts of the market caught her eye. He stood dressed in black cloths, at a small cart. He was barely older than her but he seemed to have been through much more. White scars lined his arms, his face was dark and defined, she could sense power from the Earth radiating off of him. Normally she could sense when someone practiced magic, but it was rarely ever intense enough to feel from more than a few feet away.
“Excuse me, sir.” Seline said stopping in front of his cart. “Do you have anything that would help enhance my skills in the magic of the Earth.”
The man stared at her intensely, “Ah,” he finally started, “You’re a servant of Nira. Interesting, the lot of you. I have many materials dedicated to Earth magic, but without a teacher it could take years to understand and master these abilities.”
Seline pulled her wand out of her jacket, showing it to him. “I understand earth magic, but this wand was given to me by Nira herself. I need someone to train me to use the wand and to battle. I can tell from your scars that you must have some experiences in that too.”
“okay, I'll help you. We’ll have to start soon if you’re going to be ready to help fight the impending army.” he grinned before lunging at her. Seline fought his hands as they grasped her, before she managed to fight back she had been toppled over his shoulder and into the grass. “Lesson one” he said, “be prepared for anyone to attack at any time.”
“Youre really about to throw me on the ground before you know anything about me?” Seline snapped as she brushed the dirt off of her jacket and followed after him.
“I’m Aspen, and you are?”
“Seline.”
“Good, now we’re not complete strangers.” He stopped at a house, partially hidden within the trees, inside the walls were lined with books, swords, and wands. “Wow, you really do have it all.” Seline scanned the beautiful room, everything looked like a work of art.
“Well, to be fair, it’s not all mine. I inherited it. My family was part of the founding of Elantris that’s how I have all of this.” He grabbed a book from the wall, “But it seems like it will help me help you.” he opened the leather-bounds book and handed it to Seline. The worn pages were covered in spells and ways to use a wand to better your skills. “With that knew wand, it may be beneficial to start working with the basics to build your familiarity and bond with the wand.”
Outside, Seline and Aspen worked on spells and actions that she had been able to do since she was a child. But soon she began to move everything with speed and accuracy that she never couldve imagined. “Woah, a wand really can change so much about someone and their magic. I've never really had a good wand before.”
“It also helps that your wand has been enchanted by Nira.”
Selines eyes widened, “How do you-” Aspen tucked his leg under hers attempting to bring her to the ground. Seline was quicker to respond this time, she swung her elbow into his side, knocking him away from her. “good try” she smiled, “sorry if that bruises.”
Aspen picked himself up quickly, “Nice work Sel, even this short practice has led to improvements. I think we’re good for today” The sun had begun to set, the sky was a deep sea of red and orange flames. “I hope you come back.”
“I will. I need to be able to work for Nira. She saw something in me and I don’t plan on being the one that drags the rest of the Clerics down. Especially now that she has given me such an incredible wand.”
“It is not just the wand that makes you special Seline. You are one of the people that were graced with the opportunity to move to Elantris. And you are also among the few that Nira guided into her ranks as a Cleric. It seems that you are the only thing standing between you and your success here in Elantis. You cannot doubt everything that you decide and you surely should not count every mistake as a failure. You need to believe in yourself and Nira.”
Seline made her way back into town, she thought about what what Aspen had told her. After so much success with him, Seline realized that she was holding herself back. She didn’t feel as though she belonged in Elantris. But she was here for a reason. Nira hand-selected every person that resides within the city. Nira was the at the center of everything in Elantris.
Seline stood now, looking at the fountain of Nira, others drifted past, but her eyes were entranced in thought. The fountain of Nira; the symbol of the goddess of their world. Seline was finally beginning to understand what it meant to be a servant of Nira. Nira had visited Seline and gifted her a wand that had been carved from bone. A wand enchanted with undescribable power. Earlier, In Nira’s presence Seline had felt such undeniable power within herself. It had scared her at first, but seline realized that she had to use the power to help others and herself. For the first time since she had entered Elantris, she finally understood that Nira had chosen her for a reason.
[02]
The speaker had made their choices perfectly clear they could battle monsters as an Inquisitor, do Nira’s work as a Cleric or she could choose to become a warrior and join the ranks of Templars. Seline walked behind the crowd, outside after the assembly.
Seline wandered the streets, paying no attention on where she was headed. Her three choices ran through her head as she strayed further and further from the assembly that had given her so much to think about. The sun faded from the white streets, leaving everything in an eerie shadow. Her mind drifted, running through her choices and how she could make a decision so quickly.
“Hello.” A voice jolted her out of her thoughts. She looked around, noticing just how far she had strayed from the center of the city. Tall, twisting trees stood all before her. She had stopped only steps away from entering the Mistborn Forest. A place that was forbidden in the rules of the city. Seline turned around searching the darkness, the trees keeping the sun at bay. “are you okay?” The voice sounded again.
“Yes.” Seline replied searching for the source of the voice. Her eyes finally settled on a man sitting on the edge of the tree line. “Thank you for stopping me. I almost just walked right into the forest.”
“It doesn’t seem too bad in there.” He smiled, “Anyways some of us will head in soon enough to prove our capability of joining the inquisitors.”
“Is that why you are all the way out here?”
“When I walked out of the assembly, I planned on going back home, but when I got here something stopped me. And now I'm just sitting out here, just thinking everything through.” He stepped closer to her showing his barely peeking out of the shadows. He couldn’t have been much older than Her.
“I still don’t know if I can make the decision. It’s nothing that I'm used to and I don’t think I'll be good enough at anything to stay.”
“But isn’t that the point of them gathering us here. Nira chose us to come here. I don’t think she would have led us all the way out here just to fail.” He walked out of the dark even closer to her, his bright eyes sought out hers, “So now you just have to choose what you believe you can do the best.”
“I think that I would be the most help if I could help people, and I don’t really think I'd be much use in a battle.” Seline laughed at herself. She really just needed someone to tell her she belonged in Elantris as much as everyone else. She had already made her decision.
“Well good luck, I hope I have the pleasure of meeting you again.”
“Well, we do live in the same city now.” Seline smiled, turning away and walking down the street that led back to the city. The sun reclaimed the road as she got further from the forest. The building shone their magnificent white. Seline walked much more confidently than she had before. She had chosen the place she would take in this new unfamiliar city. The same man she had met at the woods stopped her in the street, just long enough to slip a thick piece of paper in her hands, before he disappeared into the crowd. The paper held a map and a message telling her to travel to the notable fountain of Elantris.