The Breath -Sixth Whale Book 1

*3*

Thandre looked at his home and realised he'd let it so as much as he had himself. The cabin had become nearly derelict. The headache had mostly faded now and so he set to work repairing the bones of the building and clearing the clutter collected over a hundred years. The cabin was the only building in the halves with a yard in the back. Mostly because it was built around him, oh people from the city had come over the years but they had always left quickly and only a few ever tried again. It got to the point where evicting him was simply too much hassle. 

He missed the forest, the way the light used to filter through the leaves onto the forest floor. He missed living off the land and he missed Derys. He remembered how his beloved would spend hours making their arrows, despite Thandre telling him time and time again that he could just create them in seconds. Derys would shake his head at that and call it disrespectful to their prey. It had been a beautiful time. 

Caught in his memories he set the pink mist swirl through the building. When he opened his eyes an hour later everything was how it had been. The table Derys had made stood proud with half-finished arrows cluttering the surface, He had gotten too lost in time again. He grabbed the arrows and tossed them into the fire. They burnt well and Thandre climbed into a bed-mounted with soft furs and skins. He slept without dreams, which was something to be thankful for, they normally just broke his heart after waking. As he slept a soft blue figure drifted up through the floor and sat on the edge of the bed, it gently stroked Thandre's face. Its sorrowful eyes staring at the burnt remnants of the arrows in the fire. " Oh, my foolish love." Derys stayed there silently guarding Thandre's dreams for as long as it could before being pulled back in by that wretched seal. 

He awoke to a knock on his door and looked through the window. It was still dark and easily an hour till dawn. He could already feel the queue of magic snaking its way around his home. They had camped out overnight, well the impatient hopefuls could wait. Thandre needed to eat but there was no food in the pantry, it shouldn't have surprised him. His stomach growled after decades of neglect and he had an idea. He opened the door, hundreds of eyes looked up at him. Ofrin was stood waiting, with Shae at his side.

" You're too early. Go bring me breakfast, I'll see you for the tests at dawn." In truth Thandre didn't need tests, he could tell exactly what they were capable of with a look, but it was all part of the experience, feeling like they had earned their place. Ofrin turned on his heel and vanished with Shae skittering behind him. Since he was awake Ofrin began to scan his eyes over the overly eager hopefuls. He was ashamed to say he didn't recognise any of them. He barely recognised dear Agretina, she had changed so much with time, mortals were so excruciatingly fragile. He could remember her as the sickly child that needed so much healing, then as the headstrong young woman who constantly wanted to rebel, then a frantic mother with a brood of children. She remembered still, with fierce loyalty she remembered. It was difficult for a man like him to admit that he had been failing in his duties for so long. He had become a hermit surrounded by people.

Across the Halves, Ofrin was seething and Shae was trying to calm him down. She wasn't having much luck, Ofrin was tired of the witchfather. He positively loathed the man, and now he was being forced to bring him breakfast. "It's just a part of the test Offy. Apprentices do need to do tasks for their Masters. Gilly up in the bakery is always saying..." She trailed off as they reached the early morning market of the Halves. " Gilly. You still speak to him?" Ofrin grabbed her wrist his face twisted in rage. " That half-breed ogre mutt! I told you not to speak to him." He was virtually growling at her now. His grip was starting to hurt. Shae knew bringing up Gilly was a mistake it always made him so angry when she talked to other boys. " Only when he serves me at the Bakery. He's nice, he sometimes gives me those little cakes to share with Mae. Not good ones mind, the ones that got a little burnt." Shae was rambling, trying to pull her arm free, but his nails were now digging into her arm.