Water Wizard Wander

Chapter 1

The year was 1859 in Yradel.

That was the day Connie Terrance missed his alarm not for the first time. It was also the day he was fired from his job. He opened his eyes to see that the time on his alarm clock read well past his normal wake up time. The big hand was pointing at the 3 and the little hand was pointed at the 7. It was 7:15, 45 minutes past his alarm.

"Oh, by the gods! I'm already late!" 15 minutes to be precise. He jumped up, looking for his pants. All he wore to bed were his undershorts.

What job was he late for, you may ask? Not a job that tested his abilities as a well rounded mage, that was for sure. He was a fire mage, however, and in the New Constable Township, that was a bad thing. He had dropped out of school, laughed at by all his peers for being too versed in the School of Power's fire.

He jumped on one leg to pull on his pants, then he put on his brocade over his shoulders, buttoning it up. He didn't need anything else, not where he was going.

"Connie!" screamed his boss, Madison Breech, "This is the last straw. You're late, you're a dropout and you're fired!"

"What!" he protested, "Please no!" he hadn't slept well the previous night, and he tried to explain. But Madison was not having it.

"If you're so hard of sleeping, then I recommend you had seen a doctor long ago." she huffed and pointed a finger at the door, "Out, now."

"The doctor. Right." he sighed as he shoved his hands into his pockets and kicked at a rock. The rock landed near a bench, where a boy was waiting for a taxi carriage. He stood up as the carriage came.

Just before it pulled up he stooped to pick up the rock. "I think you dropped this," he handed Connie the pinkish-blue rock, and he stared dumbfounded down at it. Did he really just give me a rock from the ground? He smiled politely at Connie, "You really shouldn't lose that, it's so pretty."

"It's just a rock..."

"It's a fire stone," said the boy and the carriage came to a stop. "Do you need this?"

"Oh, you go ahead, I'm just going to the doctor's." Connie shrugged.

"Just going to the doctor's he says! Just!" the boy laughed. "Luckily for you, I'm going as well, to pick up a prescription. Perchance you'll come with me." he hopped onto the carriage and extended a hand to me. Connie pocketed the fire stone and thumbed it as he hopped aboard with him.

"Isn't fire bad?" Connie asked the boy and he smiled at him.

"Historically, it was not. The School of Practical Arts frowns upon it because fire is not practical."

"Right, because it's so destructive. So why would you tell me to keep a fire stone when all they're good for is sitting and looking pretty." Connie felt like a fire stone. A useless pretty fire stone.

"That's not all they're good for. My name's Sapphi by the way, if you'd like to call me by that." he held out his hand and the carriage came to a stop outside the doctor's office.

Connie stared at his hand like it was a festering wound. Gross and harrowing. "Why would I call you by that now?"

"Becuase Sapphire's the name, Sapphi's my game." he winked and grabbed Connie's hand, shaking vigorously. He had not permitted him to touch his hand and he pulled away at once.

"I suppose I should tell you my name is Connie," He scoffed and followed him out of the carriage. Sapphire gave the cabbie the fare for both of them and Connie felt guilty at once for not paying his own way. Typical Connie, never feeling quite good enough. "Oh, I could've paid."