The Lore of Magus Chiyo of the Hills

PROLOGUE

Chiyo’s first memories were purely sensory: the feel of coarse fur against her cheek. The tang of musk. The sound of shrill barks like laughter. Piercing tickles on her feet as her siblings nipped her toes.

What became of her parents, her original family, she did not know, but the foxes raised her as one of their own.

As such, she was a wild girl. She learned to stalk, hunt prey, and pounce like her den mates. She wrestled with them in the sandy dunes and learned to dig holes to keep warm during the night and cool during the day. She yowled and sang with her siblings when they made a fresh kill, and she snarled at them when she needed space.

Years passed, and Chiyo grew.

Before long she was larger than her fox siblings and took up more space in the den. Chiyo had never seen another human before so, despite her differences, she still considered herself to be a fox like the rest of her family. This all changed the day she saw the wizard.

When she first saw the man, she didn’t even recognize him as one of her own species. Granted, he was an unusual human. He was immensely tall, yet his posture was stooped as he ambled along with the aid of a thick cane. He had a flowing gray cloak that trailed behind him like a swath of fog. His wispy beard nearly brushed the tops of his toes. Upon his head was a large triangular brown hat.

He was leading along a tired brown horse who snorted with every step. Chiyo had seen wild horses before, but this man’s creature looked shaggier and was laden with colorful bags and other mysterious items. The foxes were afraid by the presence of this stranger. Years had passed without a single intrusion upon the remote area in which they lived. They scurried into their den to hide but Chiyo hesitated. She was curious to inspect this unusual creature who walked on two legs instead of four.

Chiyo crept as close as she dared, using all her hunting skills to avoid making even the slightest sound. The wizard smelled strange as he passed by, like sage and something mineral. He smelled like another world.

Chiyo was certain she was invisible from where she hid behind a tangle of brush but, suddenly, the wizard stopped in his tracks and turned. His eyes glowed softly as they landed upon her hiding spot, looking right through it. His eyes bore into Chiyo’s very soul and she felt as vulnerable as a rabbit.

He spoke words to her, sharp and angular sounds like scraping rock, but Chiyo did not understand. The wizard’s brow furrowed, and he walked back towards her. She bared their teeth at him and growled, and his countenance shifted into one of surprise. That did not deter him, however, and he continued to approach.

He held out a long and bony finger, and Chiyo snapped her teeth as a warning. But the wizard did not flinch. He pressed his finger against her forehead, and Chiyo gasped as a sharp electric sensation snapped across her skin. Seconds later, knowledge flooded her, filling her mind with an explosion of color and understanding. It made her want to cry.

In that instant, she realized that she was not a fox after all, but a wizard with magic flowing through her veins. All at once she could understand the language of humans and she gasped, “What have you done?”

“I have done nothing other than awaken you to your own gifts,” the wizard rumbled gently. “You should be training in a citadel, not living like an animal in the wild.”

“What is a citadel?”

“Come with me and I will show you.”

Chiyo looked back at the den where the rest of her family hid, huddling in fear.

“I can’t leave my family,” she replied.

“Then your powers will be squandered,” the wizard said, looking disappointed. He turned to leave but hesitated.

He held out a hand, and a small red mushroom materialized in his palm from thin air. It levitated towards Chiyo, sparkling like a jewel. Entranced, she reached out to take it.

“You may not be ready to leave your nest now. But one day your magic will call to you, and your heart will long to answer. Eat this when you have decided to pursue your rightful path,” the wizard instructed.

Chiyo cupped the mushroom in her hands and held it close to her chest as the wizard clucked at his horse and walked away.

A part of her longed to chase after him, to beg him to show her a world of magic she never knew existed until this moment. But her mind was still reeling with new language, knowledge, and imagery. It overwhelmed her. She needed time to make sense of it all.

She crept back into her den and snuggled her parents and siblings. They nipped at her gently, reprimanding her for putting herself in harm’s way. She was safe again…and yet…

Chiyo couldn’t sleep that night. For the first time in her life she felt she didn’t belong.

The mushroom she held pulsed softly with amber light…

Entered by: 0x4C97…3f86