I walked along the beaten track next to the stream, thumbs hooked through my belt loops casually. A cyclist whizzed past me as the tinny music blared from his headphones. I knelt down and sat on the edge of the dunes to shield myself from the wind. The school year had ended and my time as a year 9 had come to an end. A tinge of sadness was my first reaction but was replaced by a feeling of happiness. In the recent days, I'd much preferred to be alone. I sat and stared out into the waves. Suddenly a noise louder than the pounding of waves against the rocky hills, a scream came from the end of the beach. I leaped up and looked at where the scream came from. A young boy around my age was sprinting away from a ragged wolf. A very odd sight to see in the east of England. I grabbed the largest stick I could find and sprinted down the hill to them. I stood at the bottom of the hill, fighting my conscience, to endanger my life to save another. I waited till the wolf came closer to me, I threw the branch and it hit the wolf's head with a clunk it fell to the floor. It didn't get up. The boy dropped on his knees and sprawled to the floor, gasping for breath. After a couple of moments, I walked over to the boy and offered him a hand, he looked at it nervously then took it and I pulled him to his feet.
"What happened there? Are you hurt?" I asked. He rolled up his sleeve, revealing a blood soaked shirt. I glanced up to his pain stricken face as he rolled the shirt sleeve. There were huge gashes where the wolf had swiped at him. I looked down to his arm to see the blood fading. Astonishingly the wound was healing itself, and leaving his arm healing to a series of vicious scabs, faster than humanely possible. I looked to the remains of his wound in awe, muttering to him.
"How did you do that?" He turned away from my gaze.
"The less you know, the safer you'll be." He began to walk away when I leaned forward and grabbed his shoulder, swinging him round.
"I just saved your life, you owe me an explanation at least."
"I could have saved myself-"
"But you didn't." He spun round muttering to himself.
"Mortals aren't supposed to get involved in these things," He spun back round to face me
"It was magic."
Chapter 2
My mind bundled with questions, tripping over each other to be asked first. But unbelievably the first question I asked was:
"Really?" He looked at me in confusion,
"People usually deny seeing anything and walk off pretending nothing happened. Do you not think you're going mad? That I'm lying?"
"Umm... No? Should I? I saw it so I expect it was real."
"You're perfectly right, It is real, but I need you to forget all about this because no-one should know." He looked away in thought.
"I should wipe your memory but I would only mess it up," He continued. "I'm going to be in so much trouble if they found out you still remembered." I looked at him and couldn't help but feel sympathetic.
"Can I not just learn? Then I would need to know about it and you wouldn't get in trouble." He looked into my eyes for a moment.
"It's not that simple, You don't even know if you can do it and if you were to learn I'd have to take you to the others."
"Hang on a minute, who are the others?" I asked.
"They are like the council of magic in this area..."
Still not entirely satisfied, I asked,
"Can you not teach me yourself?" He stood and thought for a minute.
"I suppose I could, It might not be as good as being taught by someone who knows how... But, If I do and you can't do magic, You've got to forget about all of this and go back to your normal life. Get it?"
"Of course. If I learn properly and we don't tell them you taught me, could we go see the council?"
"Maybe..." He replied.
I grinned with excitement,
"Can we meet here? On Sunday?"
"See you there."
***
Chapter 3
I stood on the sands, my back to the wind. Slowly I felt a burning feeling in the back of my head. I turned round to see the boy dip back behind a rock. He was hiding from me. I walked over to the rock where he hid, scowling, I leaned over the top of it.
"Did you plan on hiding from me for much longer?" He jumped when I spoke, I smiled at his nervousness. He looked up at me innocently, his face then hardened.
"Could you tell I was looking at you from all the way over there?" He looked at me in thought. After a couple of minutes I broke the silence.
"What's your name? You never told me-" His eyes widened as if he had just woken up from a trance.
"Blaze... Urm... yours?"
"Charley Sharpe. Whoever named you had some imagination. Who did name you?"
"I did, The idea is that when you lose your birth name the mortality involved with it also goes."
"So if I change my name, I can start to do magic?" He started to get up and walked behind me.
"If you're capable." I turned to face him. He muttered to himself.
"First find out if she can." He moved towards me and placed his hand on my shoulders, closing his eyes. I then felt something inside my, rooting through my chest. I felt it withdraw and Blaze opened his eyes.
"You have alot of potent energies," A burst of excitement shot through me."But you've got to think of a name now. Make sure it's one that won't with your appearance and is one that will fit you." I stood and thought for a couple of minutes.
"What about Jet?" He shook his head,
"When you grow older you could put on weight and it would be an unsuiting name for you."
"What about Amelia?" He tilted his head slightly. He thought for a moment. "That could work." He smiled. "So Amelia Sharpe it is."
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