MagiStream

The Gift

Many, many years ago in the land of Arkene lived a small family with three little girls, and a boy just two years older then the girls. They were a very, very poor family. The children rarely saw their father, as he was always working in the mines. This was long before there was Magic--at least magic that anyone talked about.

No one is sure who the first Magi was--but if you are willing to believe...there is a secret story that I've been wanting to tell for so many years! You see, that family was my family. My father told me the story when I was a very little girl on Christmas day.

So, sit down with a mug of hot cider, and let me tell you the tale of the first Magi and origin of the coal wyrms!

As I've said, the family was very poor. The father's name was Serif. He worked many, many hours each day. His wife, Mari, tended to the triplet girls--Henni, Ophela, and Tari. But, really, the story isn't so much about the triplets as it is their older brother, Teneri. You see, Teneri had a secret that he was afraid to tell anyone.

It was almost time for the winter solstice and his parents, he knew, would never be able to get even the simplest of gifts for the three little girls who were, after all, only five at the time. Too little to understand about things like coins to purchase things.

On the eve of the Winter Solstice, Teneri traveled to the mine where his father worked. It was very late at night, so no one was in the caves. He didn't have to go far before he found a few little pieces of coal lying on the hard ground just inside the entrance to the cave.

With a smile, the young boy put the three pieces of coal into his pocket and ran from the cave, just in case someone should come 'round.

He took the coal pieces to the forest. It was very cold, and he wrapped his cloak around himself with a shiver. It was still a long walk home, and he was wondering if he'd really be able to do what he wanted to do.

Carefully, he put the three pieces of coal on the ground and pulled out a wand he'd made himself. Closing his eyes, he repeated these words three times--once for each piece of coal.

"This is a gift for my sisters three. Bring life to the coal for me," he chanted.

Of course, he'd never tried to actually bring something to life! Why, it was absurd of course, but maybe if he believed really hard, it could work? After all, he'd been able to do a few strange things he had not understood.

When he opened his eyes, his shoulders slumped. The three pieces were lying right there on the ground where he'd placed them. With a sad little sigh, he picked them up and put them into his pocket, along with a surprisingly straight long twig from one of the trees.

The whole way home, he twirled the twig in his fingers and repeated his little chant. Maybe just maybe it could still work?

By the time he got home, it was almost daybreak. He put one of the little pieces of coal into each of the three stockings his mama had put on the shelf above the fire. When they woke up, he'd just explain to his sisters that the pieces of coal were because they had been naughty, and then he'd laugh an tell them that he would whittle the pieces into an animal for each of them--the animal of their choice.

Satisfied with his decision on how to give his sisters a gift for Solstice, he went to lie on his pallet and was soon fast asleep.

He was awakened the next morning by the excited shouts of his little sisters as they all stood by the fire and held their stockings.

Rubbing his tired eyes, he walked over to them. "You three are up quite early," he said quietly. "Shh, so we don't awaken Mama and Papa."

The three girls looked at him with wide eyes. "But look! Look what is in the stockings!" his sister Tari said.

Teneri put a smile on his face and watched as the three little girls pulled out their pieces of coal. His eyes went wide with shock. The little pieces of coal were now all exactly the same size! He had been too tired to try and sculpt them. "What?"

HIs sisters giggled and sat their coal pieces on the ground. "They are pets for us," Tari said with certainty. "I had a dream about them>"

"Is that so?" Teneri said. "And what about you two? Did you have a dream, too?"

Both little girls nodded and then all three knelt by their pieces of coal. "Just watch," the three said in unison.

Before his eyes, Teneri saw the pieces of coal crack and three tiny little creatures were suddenly there.

None of the four children noticed their parents standing behind them. The couple looked at each other with wide smiles. It was time, they knew, for the children to learn that they were not just normal children. Serif and Mari were the first Magi. Now that the children finally had their abilities, it was time for them to move on from this place. Serif and much to teach his children. They knew that the rest of the world wasn't quite ready for magic yet--so they had been here with Serif working in the coal mines in frigid Arkene.

But for now, the couple just smiled at their children as they played with their new creatures--the first three coal wyrms.

Teneri didn't know it yet--but inside his stocking was a small piece of a shiny rock, too! Serif smiled as he and Mari watched the children. When their new pets grew, they'd have safe companions to travel with. The girls with their coal wyrms--at least that was what Serif thought they should be called--and Teneri with his shiny TInsel Wyrm.

The End

I hope you enjoyed my little tale. I imagine it'll get a bit of editing before the contest ends!

This was a really cute story!