《The Call of Cerexia》


 The Cat

    ¡°Mrs. Carter, it¡¯s time for lunch!¡±


    A plethora of delicious food lay spread on the wooden table, ranging from simple meals such as sandwiches and tea to more complex ones like homemade chicken pies and salad. A low hanging light bathed the room in an off-yellow glow, making the already pale walls a slightly odd color, but it was paid no mind.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how you manage, Mia.¡± Elaine Carter stepped, or rather, seemed to float down the staircase due to how graceful she was. Her fading black hair was twisted into an elegant bun, a few of the gray strands hanging in her eyes. She wore a simple but professional black dress, which she, in Mia¡¯s opinion, wore quite well.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, really.¡± Mia replied, pouring drinks for the both of them as Elaine took her seat. ¡°I¡¯m just happy that you enjoy it.¡±


    Elaine was certainly glad that the girl was a better cook than she used to be. From the time that Mia had come to stay with her at Marenwood Manor, the woman had tried to teach her how to take care of herself.


    At least, better than she already did.


    Cooking had been quite a difficulty for Mia. If the smoke alarm positioned on the ceiling was given an expression, it would be one of both pure terror and anxiety. Every food seemed to be brutalized in her care, but with a long while of careful instruction and more than a handful of patience, Mia began to succeed. Although her first success had been a simple meal, it was as worthy as a feast in Elaine¡¯s mind.


    After all, choking on a piece of burnt chicken wasn¡¯t a particularly pleasant way to die.


    ¡°Oh, Mia, I was going to ask you,¡± -- Elaine was cut off by a sudden scratching noise, her expression turning to one of displeasure.


    ¡°What on Earth¡­?¡±


    Both searched around, seeking the origin of the peculiar noise, and their search finally ended when Mia laid her eyes on a black cat sitting at the window, now meowing quite loudly.


    ¡°He¡¯s so cute!¡± Mia exclaimed, immediately reaching towards the window to unlock it, picking up the cat to cradle it in her arms. However, in doing so she missed the stormy expression taking over Elaine¡¯s face.


    It wasn¡¯t long until the sharp tone reached her ears.


    ¡°Put that thing outside this instant!¡±


    Mia turned, holding the cat protectively and running a hand through it¡¯s fur. It was a bit coarse, but she blamed that on the fact that it had probably been outside for a while and seemed to need a bit of care.


    ¡°Why?¡± Mia asked, a bit taken aback. ¡°It¡¯s just a cat.¡±


    Her words seemed to take Elaine by surprise, and the elder folded her arms in front of her, a scowl now present on her face.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know where it''s been.¡± Setting the cat down, Mia folded her own arms. She hadn¡¯t usually been one to disobey the house rules, but this seemed more than a bit unfair. After carefully listening to Elaine for years and trying her hardest not to get into trouble, didn¡¯t she at least deserve this much?


    ¡°Come on, he obviously needs someone to care for him!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t accept those creatures into this house.¡± Elaine said stiffly, ¡°You know the rules. I will not extend my charity to this¡­ stray.¡±


    That was the final straw.


    ¡°What about this stray?¡± Mia asked, gesturing to herself. ¡°Do you regret your charity to me?¡±


    ¡°Of course not, Mia! Don¡¯t be ridiculous!¡±


    ¡°Then at least show some kindness to it! Poor thing¡¯s probably starving!¡±


    Elaine¡¯s gaze turned furious. Her hands closed into fists and she stood up quickly, crossing to the opposite side of the table, inches away from the other. Mia returned her angry gaze with one of her own, the cat falling to the floor from her arms and trotting away to another part of the house, green eyes narrowed in disdain at Elaine.


    ¡°Amelia Beckett, I will not tolerate this another second! Either get rid of that cat or-¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Mia stood up from the chair, her face mirroring Elaine¡¯s original scowl and a feeling of both dread and deep irritation welling up inside her. ¡°What will you do? You going to throw me out too?¡±


    Elaine didn¡¯t respond, her eyes narrowing sharply, so Mia just kept talking and her anger eventually got the best of her.


    ¡°I wish I never met you.¡±


    Face dropping, Elaine¡¯s eyes widened and shock replaced her fierce disposition. Arms dropping to her side, she took a step back from the furious girl.


    ¡°You don¡¯t mean that¡­¡± Without a response, Mia moved past her and up the staircase to her room, slamming the door and missing the tears that fell from Elaine¡¯s eyes after she left.


    A high meow made her jump, and her spirits lifted slightly as she saw the cat she had allowed in sitting on her bed, licking it¡¯s paw.


    ¡°At least you¡¯re here¡­¡± Mia whispered, sitting on the bed with him. ¡°Just don¡¯t be too loud or Elaine might throw you out, okay?¡±


    The cat seemed to purr in understanding, crawling into her lap to sit.


    Mia absentmindedly stroked her fingers through his fur, talking to herself, or rather, the cat. Who knows how much cats can really understand, anyway?


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to yell at her.¡± She started, sighing. ¡°I really didn¡¯t. I was just so angry because you didn¡¯t even do anything. I know she doesn¡¯t really like cats that much but she didn¡¯t even give you a chance. I¡¯m sure you¡¯re a really good cat and she¡¯d love you if she just tried.¡±


    The cat stared at her, it¡¯s eyes unblinking. At least, it seemed like it.


    ¡°Anyway¡­ I should probably give you a name¡­ I can¡¯t just keep calling you ¡®Cat¡¯ forever.¡± She thought about it for a minute, throwing out some names and commenting on them as she went.


    ¡°Salem! No¡­ That¡¯s a bit too common.. Shadow? Nah. Too ironic. Hmm¡­¡± Thinking for a moment more, she smiled victoriously.


    ¡°I know! I¡¯ll name you Merlin!¡± The cat meowed, and she couldn¡¯t tell if he was pleased with the idea or not, but it was a good fit to her, so she nodded. ¡°I always did love those stories. Elaine used to read them to me when I was little. I used to refuse to go to sleep unless she read something to me and I guess Camelot was always a favorite.¡±


    Yawning, she crept to the door and opened it to hear nothing but silence. Elaine must have gone to bed early. Mia felt a bit bad for saying those things to her earlier, but she would apologize tomorrow and find someway to make it up to her, and maybe if she showed Elaine she was responsible enough, she would get to keep Merlin.


    Closing the door, Mia got into bed, burrowing under the covers and turning off her light, Merlin curling up on the pillow beside her. Within a few minutes, she fell into a comfortable sleep, not noticing the magic that was beginning to swirl through the air.

 Intruder Alert

    Dreams were always something that Mia enjoyed experiencing. Since she was young, the tendency to remember her dreams always stuck with her and enabled her to experience fantastic adventures such as maneuvering her way across a rickety bridge spanning the length of a dangerous chasm, only to be faced with a vicious dragon, guarding it¡¯s horde of precious gold pieces.


    Her current dream, in which she was solving a rather interesting mystery involving three students, a locked door, and a man that seemed to be everywhere and nowhere, was unfortunately interrupted by the sound of desperate meowing, growing increasingly louder by the second.


    Eyes opening, she came face to face with Merlin, and even for a cat, who are usually mysterious creatures themselves, his normally impassive face seemed to express worry.


    ¡°Oh, Merlin.¡± Mia mumbled, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. ¡°What is it? I was having such an exciting dream, and I think I was actually close to solving this one.¡±


    The black cat stared back at her with his bright green eyes, unimpressed.


    ¡°Well you see, there was a man named Oliver Quincy who lead a school and he would wander the grounds, making sure everything was okay. All of the students were friendly with him and life was generally pretty great. However, when asked where he was one day, none of the adults seemed to even know who he was. They thought the children were just being foolish and-¡±


    Merlin cut her off with an impatient and rumbling meow, latching onto the sleeve of her nightshirt with his teeth and pulling with a sense of urgency.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Mia agreed, ¡°I suppose you¡¯re right. I had better get up and make breakfast.¡±


    Getting up, she dressed simply for the day in a pair of jeans and a slightly flowing shirt. Some of the girls within the town nearest to Marenwood Manor had once criticized her for not being fancier with her choice of clothing. It didn¡¯t bother her in the least, and she just told them that it was how she was accustomed to living and surely if they tried it they wouldn¡¯t really mind it either.


    At least, that was what she meant to say. She didn¡¯t really know if they had taken her words as anything but a grain of salt, but they would probably forget the whole conversation within a week or two so she figured it best to forget about it as well. No point in dwelling on it after all.


    ¡°Come on Merlin.¡± Mia said, opening the door for them both and following the cat as he scurried out, rushing down the stairs.


    Mia followed, calling out a whispered warning to Merlin about being careful to not let Elaine see him. After all, Mia was pretty sure that the older woman¡¯s opinion concerning cats hadn¡¯t changed from the previous night, and every night before, so she thought that it was best that Merlin kept out of sight until she could come up with enough rational explanations as to why she could possibly be allowed to keep Merlin within her possession.


    When she first entered the kitchen, she noticed something peculiar.


    The absence of Elaine.


    Merlin was sitting on a chair, his tail swaying back and forth lazily. The lights were still off, a situation which Mia soon rectified, causing the familiar off-yellow glow to be cast around the room once again.


    Mia looked at the dishes scattered around the table, remnants from their previous meal. The food had already been carefully stored away, a fact which she assumed was true based on the emptiness of the aforementioned dishes.


    ¡®I¡¯ll just do the dishes before I make breakfast.¡¯ Mia thought, setting them in the sink and beginning to run hot water over them. Scrubbing at the few stubborn stains left behind, she wondered where Elaine could be. Surely she wasn¡¯t still asleep. Elaine wasn¡¯t really one to sleep in, but rather one of the people who was able to rise early in the morning and act like each time she had experienced the best sleep of her life.


    ¡®Maybe she went out?¡¯ The thought crossed Mia¡¯s mind, but usually Elaine would leave a note of some kind if she was going anywhere without her, or as was usually the case, she¡¯d just inform her directly. Unless the note was somewhere Mia couldn¡¯t see it of course, which would be rather odd, but again, didn¡¯t sound like Elaine¡¯s normal behavior whatsoever.


    Waiting a bit longer for her friend, Mia ultimately decided to eat breakfast without her. It was a simple meal of eggs and toast, but it was enjoyed nonetheless. She really was grateful for the lessons that she had received, even if they were awfully tedious at times.


    Finishing with her meal, Mia headed up the stairs to investigate. She walked through the halls until she came to one of the many wooden doors, this one decorated with elegant carvings of swirls and flowers.


    Knocking twice, she waited patiently for an answer, knowing that it might take a bit for Elaine to get to the door, depending on where she was in the room at the moment. After no response was heard and the door remained firmly shut, Mia knocked two more times, a bit harder than she had previously, and waited. Once more her attempts were met with silence.


    ¡°Mrs. Carter?¡± Mia asked timidly, ¡°Elaine? Are you in there?¡±


    There was no response.


    ¡°She must have gone out for the day, Merlin.¡± She said to the cat, who was currently circling her feet. ¡°I just don¡¯t see why she didn¡¯t tell me first.¡±This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Walking down the staircase, her eyes landed on the old grandfather clock that stood tall within the entryway. The pendulum inside the grandfather clock was unmoving, and no sound emitted from it. Mia had once suggested that Elaine replace the aged grandfather clock with something a bit more modern and possibly more reliable and Elaine had shot down her statement immediately, saying that it had been a gift from her late husband and she absolutely refused to part with it, no matter if it was in a working condition or not.


    As she was about to cross the foyer, a flash of white darted in front of her eyes, startling her into taking a step back. Looking to her left, she saw a gleaming dagger stuck firmly in the wood of the wall, ornate handle protruding outwards. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears and her mind raced a mile a minute with each possibility the situation could have. She did read a lot of novels, and she honestly didn¡¯t like some of the outcomes that were appearing within her mind¡¯s eye.


    ¡°State your name and explain your presence here.¡± Mia turned to see a man standing before her, black hair drawn back into a ponytail, a dark look on his face and the thing she noticed most of all, the presence of a sword in his grasp.


    ¡°Easy there¡­¡± Mia said, as calmly as she could. She tried not to give away your fear. That was a thing, right? Not letting enemies know that you were afraid so they thought you more admirable? ¡°Let¡¯s just take this slow. Maybe put down the weapon¡­¡±


    He didn¡¯t really care for that suggestion.


    ¡°State your name and explain.¡± He repeated, lifting the sword a bit more, his eyes daring her to challenge him. ¡°I won¡¯t ask again.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Mia agreed, raising her hands in surrender. ¡°Just calm down.¡±


    He stared at her, clearly waiting for an answer.


    ¡°My name is Amelia Beckett.¡± She said, keeping her gaze on him. ¡°I live here with Elaine Carter.¡±


    The man lowered his sword and looked at her quizzically. ¡°You can¡¯t be. Amelia Beckett is a five year old girl.¡±


    ¡°Not quite sure what year you live in, but I haven¡¯t been five for a long time.¡± Mia replied, slowly lowering her hands as he put his weapon away.


    ¡°Really?¡± He asked, and she nodded. ¡°Ah. I apologize for the mix up, but you really should have been quicker with your answers.¡±


    Mia raised an eyebrow at this, crossing her arms.


    ¡°Oh I beg your pardon.¡± She replied sarcastically, ¡° You¡¯ll excuse me if I¡¯m not exactly used to answering questions in a timely manner when the tip of a sword is pointed directly between my eyes!¡±


    ¡°I deserve that.¡± He replied, nodding at the statement. He seemed less threatening now, so Mia didn¡¯t see the harm in relaxing her stance a bit.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± She asked curiously, ¡°I already told you mine so it seems only fair that I know yours as well.¡±


    ¡°My name is Erzain.¡± He said, looking upwards toward the top of the staircase. ¡°I don¡¯t mean to be rude, but I really do need to speak to Lady Elaine.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you.¡± Erzain answered, shrugging. ¡°It¡¯s just a piece of news that Lady Elaine requested a time ago that I¡¯ve finally acquired for her. Although, I do regret that it took so long.¡±


    ¡°Sorry to be the bearer of bad news,¡± Mia said, turning to pull the dagger out of the wall. It took her a few tries, but she finally managed to yank it free, handing it back to Erzain, who placed it back inside a small sheath. ¡°Elaine isn¡¯t here.¡±


    That seemed to shock him.


    ¡°Not¡­here?¡± He asked curiously, ¡°Where else would she be?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, honestly. Usually she tells me if she¡¯s going somewhere.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like Lady Elaine to just disappear.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me¡­¡±


    ¡°I- What is that?¡± He asked, disgust evident in his voice. Looking down, Mia saw Merlin sitting at her feet. She groaned, rolling her eyes at him.


    ¡°Not you too!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that supposed to mean?¡±


    ¡°Elaine and I got into a big argument after I let Merlin in, now you¡¯re going to tell me you don¡¯t like cats either? I swear you two have this crazy dislike for nothing!¡±


    Erzain scowled, glaring down at Merlin, then returning his gaze to Mia.


    ¡°It¡¯s not for nothing, we¡¯ve had bad experiences with cats.¡± Mia scoffed, continuing to lecture about how ridiculous their prejudice was, but he dismissed her with a wave of his hand.


    Erzain walked to the top of the staircase, Mia following close behind, almost bumping into him when he stopped abruptly.


    ¡°Do you feel that?¡± He asked, and she shook her head. Honestly, he was as odd as Elaine sometimes.


    ¡°Magic is in the air. Something has happened here.¡±


    That peaked her curiosity. Magic? Surely he couldn¡¯t be serious. Had Elaine perhaps found someone to keep her company for the day and fill her head with the stories that she liked of magic and mystery?


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    Erzain shook his head, continuing to walk through the halls,, Mia following behind him once more.


    ¡°I fear that Lady Elaine is no longer within the manor. Tell me, Amelia, have you cast any spells recently?¡±


    ¡°No, I haven¡¯t cast anything of the sort.¡± Mia responded, and his face fell.


    ¡°Then I fear that the residual magic in the air was originally uttered with malicious intent.¡±


    ¡°Malicious?¡± Mia asked, stopping with him once he reached a wooden door decorated with many animals, a blue stone in the center. It had always fascinated her as a child, but it always remained locked, much to her disappointment.


    ¡°Someone cast a transport spell, and if it wasn¡¯t you, then it could¡¯ve been a threat.¡± Erzain explained, taking a white key out of his pocket. ¡°Elaine is gone, and the wards won¡¯t hold long without her. I have no choice but to take you with me.¡±


    ¡°Where?¡± Mia asked, a bit frightened. ¡°Why should I trust you?¡±


    ¡°You have no good reason to, I¡¯ll admit that. But I¡¯m far better than what might await you should I leave.¡± He turned the key and unlocked the door, a small click sounding.


    Upon the door¡¯s opening, a gentle breeze blew through Mia¡¯s hair, and Erzain gestured for her to step past the door¡¯s threshold. Taking his hand, Amelia crossed through the door and was utterly amazed at what was before her.


    Trees with leaves of all colors spread out across green fields, a simple road cutting through and making a path for the use of many travelers. A multitude of houses were in the distance, along with what seemed like a bustling village. The sky was a crystal blue, the sun shining brightly, casting warmth on her face.


    ¡°Welcome, Miss Beckett, to the city of Rohallan.¡±