Master’s name "Liester Manchkan"

Chapter 1

I sat before the large fireplace, lazily polishing the blackened steel. I was lost in a daydream. Someplace where I had no one telling me to work, work, work. I sighed and leaned my head against the smooth stone of the fireplace when suddenly a jarring kick landed on my ribs toppling me into the unlit fire.

"What are you doing here?" Boomed an ominous voice. I cringed trying to remember what I had done wrong.

"I am cleaning the fire place like I was told." I answered in a very small, scared voice.

"You were TOLD to have it done before the noon bells your wretch! For your punishment go clean the guestrooms. And have them CLEAN before the dinner bell rings!"

I scurried away. Gathering my supplies as I went, careful not to leave any black smudges on the carpet as I left. Not daring to look up, not caring who the other person in the room was. Once safely outside the doors, I paused for a breath. 'Clean the guest rooms he says'. Those darned rooms haven't been used in months. NO WAY can I get that done before the dinner bells. I continued my monologue until I reached the rooms. When I entered a tall sinister looking young man stood in the middle of the room, looking furious.

"Eek!" I squeaked when I saw him. He was my master's apprentice. "I'm sorry Sir. I had been sent to clean the rooms. I didn't expect to find your here." I began backing out the door.

"Stop!" He yelled quelling my flight. "If you are here to clean, start cleaning. I will stay and make sure you do things right." With those words he crossed his arms and sat in a high back chair, looking down his nose at me.

I was flustered. Never had he been so near to me. Now that I saw him, I determined he was not really that old, just incredibly tall. I began talking to myself trying to ignore him. I talk to myself a lot. Especially when I am under stress. It helps me to focus and right now I really needed to focus.

"The sheets, the bed needs sheets. And I should beat the rugs, make sure the curtains are clean. AND the windows, they are probably dusty. The entire room needs dusted. Ugh, I'll never get it all done. I turned, ignoring the apprentice who had said nothing more. I fetched clean sheets and carefully made the bed, making sure the mattress was smooth and the pillows fluffed. I started to roll up the carpet when the apprentice foot appeared to stop me.

"You will never get this done in time you know." He stood looking down his long nose at me.

"I know I'll never get it done if you stand there." I replied in a tight voice.

"I have been sent to make sure everything is done before the dinner bells. I will help." I stared at him in shock. "You will help? With the carpet?"

"Yes, stand back." I moved till my back was to the door. He nodded his head in acknowledgment, then crossed his arms and appeared to focus on something I couldn't see. He stood stock still for a full minute. I was afraid to move or even make a sound. Then suddenly swirls of dust filled the room! Lifting from the carpet, the curtains, the bed, and even the books on the shelves. I plastered myself against the door. Feeling a tingling sensation as the dust left my skin.

When it was finally over, a huge pile of dirt sat neatly on the hearth. I stared at him in silent awe. He smiled at me, more of a grimace in ways, showing he knew how much worked he had saved my miserable hide. "Do you doubt my word now?"

"No, no! I can't believe what I just saw." Suddenly a spark went off in my head. "Can you teach me to do that?" I dropped to my knees at his feet. "Please? I'd do anything."

He just stared at me, almost as if I had come from another dimension. "I'll think about it." And with those words he strode from the room leaving the few preparations for the room to my very capable hands.

Chapter 2

I saw nothing of apprentice for the next several weeks. I spent my days thinking about what he had done and how much work it had saved me. Many, many times as I was cleaning I would say to myself. "If I could just do 'this' my life would be so much easier." But I couldn't just 'do' magic. There was some trick that I didn't know.

Then one day there was an unusual amount of activity around the household. I dreaded the thought of extra work, so I asked the housekeeper what was happening. "Nothing for you to worry about child. The master will be gone for the next several weeks. You of course will be staying here. I think that no good apprentice of his will be staying also. I don't see why the boy stays. He's up to no good I tell you!" And with a huff she was off. Leaving me to my own musings.

By that evening the household was almost barren. I actually went looking for the apprentice. I was shaking by the time I found his chambers and knocked on the door.

"Leave me alone!" He yelled through the thick oaken door. I smelled some strange odor coming from his room. I considered leaving, but I also knew this was perhaps my only chance to learn how he had caused a dust storm that left a room sparkling clean.

Muttering to myself to get up the courage I finally put my face to the crack of the door and said "Please? You promised to teach me."

He hadn't actually promised, but I thought perhaps he had forgotten that. Maybe even forgotten me. Suddenly the door was pulled open and I ungracefully fell inside. He grabbed me by the arm and slammed the door shut behind me. "Teach you? Teach you? Are you nuts little girl? Do you have any idea what you are asking of me?"

I just stared at him, because in fact I had no idea. "I just want you to show me how to make my life easier." I whimpered. His hard grip on my arm was painful and sure to leave a nasty bruise. "Please?"

To make a long story short, and to avoid telling any secrets. I think I will just say... his answer was "yes". I begged, I pleaded, I agreed to follow his every command. Since the master was gone, he told the housekeeper I would be 'assisting him' and she dared not argue. I really didn't learn that much. But I did learn some interesting things. Air is the easiest magical element for most people to control. Cleaning carpets in a whirlwind is AIR. I am happy to say I can now clean almost anything with next to no physical effort.

Fire is often an easy thing to master. My 'teacher' could do amazing things with fire. Like call lightening, fireballs blazing from his hand. I however could not manage fire well. I am lucky to light a candle or a well-laid fire. Of course when you don't have flint and steel, even such a small thing can be very handy to achieve.

So I was not a master at fire, what else could I master? I guess control of fire is very common. Water, Earth and Spirit are the other major areas. My talent seems to be strongest with the Earth. That means I can 'sense' things that come from the earth. I can identify various rocks and metals just by their "feel". I have tested it. I can even tell if a mine is worked for gold, silver, copper or coal.

Chapter Three

Things changed after those weeks when the master was away. He no longer spent much time at this residence.

One memorable lesson was the day we went into the woods. I shudder just to think about it. He took a bow and arrow and killed a wild boar. He used some kind of magic to bring it down so easily. I should have learned how to do that trick. Maybe someday I will figure it out! But that's not the point of lesson. We were studying anatomy. It was so gross. He had me help him dissect the animal. I learned all the muscles, the organ, and many more things about the body. Once you get over the blood and gore, the insides were really quite fascinating. The muscles go just so, the liver accomplishes this the lungs do that.

Once I got a feel for things, I discovered that I could explore a living animals flesh. This proved to be most interesting. I experimented with little bugs. I could literally squish the life out of them with one magical thought. Then one day I was learning to mend cloth and metal and other types of things. I asked, "why can’t we do this with people too?" As it turns out some people can. And I’m fortunate enough to be one of those people.

At first I was hesitant to try it for real. But after working with several injured animals, I got up my gumption to try it on a person. Finally one of the girls around the house had major problems during childbirth. The midwife said there was nothing she could do because she was bleeding too much. Well, I ‘looked’ and saw exactly what she meant. It wasn’t hard at all to fix the small rips and stopp the bleeding. I felt so good to be able to help someone. But, I think this is what attracted the attention of the Master to my powers. Perhaps I would have better off never to have learned these things.

Chapter Four:

Looking back at things it all seems so simple. But I spent more than four years 'studying' to learn even the simple things I know. Cleaning is now almost second nature to me. Actually I have to watch myself so that I don't 'clean' when someone is watching. As time went by, I heard various rumors that the Master was no longer welcome in this part of the country. I had no idea why though. At least not until his apprentice explained things to me one day.

"The master is a very powerful magician. I have spent 8 years studying with him and 3 years before that learning my magic. He has volumes of books that hold many, many secrets. Even most of the things you have learned are not well known in the outside world. The outside world is not very 'friendly' toward magic or it's users. That is the main reason I swore you to secrecy about what you have learned. The servants of the house do not know who or what their master is." He stopped and looked at me steadily. "The master is selling the house. All the slaves are to be set free. You are going to be on your own now."

I nodded at his words, but did not totally comprehend them. "Free? So that I can leave the grounds? Go to town if I want to?" He shook his head. "No free as in you won't live here anymore. The master is leaving and he's not taking the servants or the slaves with him."

I pondered his words. I had no idea what the 'outside' world was like. But I had heard many fantastic stories and I was eager to see the wonders! "Perhaps?" I asked him a bit hopefully, "perhaps I could go with you?" But again he shook his head. "No, it's too dangerous. The best thing for you to do is forget everything you have learned, go into town, and get a job."

Soon thereafter, my master was forced to close the house where I was a slave. All the slaves were set to be transported to a nearby town for future employment. However, I was singled out the night before (I believe because he had found out about my magical tutoring? and sold to a friend of his. And so began my adventures.

List of Magical Expressions I have Mastered

and a short explanation on how it works