Saving Magic (The other side) Prologue

[Michelle Mackenzie (Admin)]

SAVING MAGIC

PROLOGUE

The night was cold and icy. It had been like that for as long as she could remember.
Stories have been passed down to each generation, of the failing magic, freezing the lands. It couldn't be explained, and people had decided that the magic was trying to survive.
People mocked them, the children sblack personed. "Magic," they repeated, "has long failed and left the world- which is why the land had frozen." Others though, continued to believe that the magic was still alive; hanging on, hoping that one day, someone could save it.
Maggie sighed, wishing for a miracle.

[Michelle Mackenzie (Admin)]

Melody Veil looked around her, gasping in awe.
Her dress was worn and grey, faded from what use to be black.
She looked up to where she had just been, a tear in the sky. A tear that she had caused,
resulted from healing the world with her magic. The sky was clear blue, empty. There
were no clouds hanging above her head, and no tear in the world. She swallowed hard, the broken veil had repaired itself. No one could get through from the other side. Even her fiance, Bane Rainsinner, a watchman who could implant his mind into animals, couldn't get through. He would be standing on the other side, along with Zeal; a wizard of the Seventh Sector. Tears rolled down her cheek. She was alone in a new world and a new universe. Getting her barings, she suddenly shivered. She frowned noticing the ice coated town. She looked around for her robe. It wasn't on the floor where she had landed. She frowned, deciding that she must have left it on the other side.

She shivered again. 'Now what?' she wondered bitterly. 'Where am I suppose to go now?'

She looked around for a familiar tree that she could use as shelter, though there was little to use.The small houses were all fairly simple, though it didn't seem to be anyone awake.

She began to walk around, gritting her teeth from the icy cold wind. Her dress pressed
against her bare legs.

The houses, she noticed, were all bungalows.
The buildings were all brightly coloured, and they had cottage styled windows. They were circular and split into quarters. She wandered around blindly, and finally came to a tavern.

It was slightly longer than the rest of the buildings, and the windows were squared and
weren't divided. She pushed open the door, entering the gloomy building.
A large man stood at a desk, wearing a royal blue shirt and a dusty brown trousers.
The man leaned over his desk at her, eyeing her up suspiously.

"You're not from around here are you?"

"No. Im from a far far away. In fact, im from another universe."

"You came through the sky?"

The woman nodded. "How'd you know?"

"I saw the broken sky. Its healed now. So I am guessing you fixed the sky."
Melody nodded, "I was healing my own world too."

"Maybe then, you can heal our world too. The magic has frozen."

She looked out of the squared windows. It certainly would explain a lot.
The tables were all round, set in rows of fives. A blank space remained by the front door.
There were broken wood in it's place.

"I'll try," she told him. "How long has this place been frozen."

"Its been about a century." The man sighed, "Since the tear in the sky."

The woman frowned, "The tear has been there for a hundred years? Thats odd."

She fell silent. Sighing, she put her hands into her pockets. The money was gone.

"Great. My money was left behind on the other side. Is there any way I can stay until I can find my own place. I will help out with the washing etc."

The man nodded, "Sounds fair enough."

"Thanks," Melody smiled.

She took the keys and walked down a long hall way.
The door was all ready open. She stepped in and closed the door behind her.
Leaning against the wooden door, she crumbled to the floor and burst into tears.
The next morning, Melody groaned as she woke from her bed.
The room was silent, and unfamiliar. Memories of the prevous night came rushing to her. She groaned. She thought about her fiance, who she wouldnt likely be seeing again. There was a hundred years between them, by now, he would have all ready died from old age.

"Oh Bane, I'm so sorry." Melody's bottom lip quivered, and suddenly she burst into tears. She curled up onto the bed, wishing that she was back home with her friends and family.
She wiped her wet red, swollen eyes with the tip of her fingers, glancing at the wall to look out the window. Pressing her lips together she sighed, it was too high up, making it
impossible for people to peer in.

Pulling herself together, she made her way over to the door and took one final look at her room.
The bed was a single and made from oak. It was tucked into a corner, making more room for other things.

The walls were green, though the wall paper had long started peeling.
She turned around and began to walk down the hall. She smiled sadly at the Inn keeper,
sitting at a table. "Would you like some coffee?" he asked.

The woman nodded, "Yes please. As strong as you can make it."

The round man nodded, wiping his greasy hands on his apron.

"Had a rough night?" he asked.

Melody shook her head, "No. A rough morning. I am use to waking up to my fiance, not
waking up alone." New tears welled in her eyes. She blinked, trying not to cry.

"Maybe he'll be waiting for you when you get back?"

She shook her head sadly, flicking her long black hair behind her ears.

"No. A hundred years have passed in between worlds. He's gone."

The man placed a large mug of coffee in front of her.

"Here. After, we can talk."

"Thanks..." she trailed off.

"Call me Marvin," he smiled.

"Thanks Marvin," she said quietly.

She sipped at her drink in silence.


Rain drummed against the glass windows.
Dark clouds loomed above them, soaking the icy landscape.

"That'll be more ice by this afternoon," Marvin mumbled miserably.

Melody gave him a flicker of a small smile. "Now that the broken sky is healed, maybe the rain will melt the ice? In the mean time, maybe I can go to the library and find out more about this ice decade. Maybe there is a record of how it all started."
The inn keeper nodded his approval.

"I'll be back afterwards, and then prepare the kitchen to make some meals."

"Sounds good," he replied cheerfully, "and you can tell me what you learnt."

Melody finished her cup of coffee and stepped outside on to the street.
The rain slammed to the icy ground. Looking around, she sighed.
'Where is the library?' she wondered.
A woman approached the inn and frowned, staring at Melody.

"You're not from around here," she sstated.

"No, I'm not. Can you tell me where the library is?"

The young woman smiled, who appeared no more than nineteen years old.
"The library? Why would you want to go there?"

Melody Veil sighed, straightening her faded black dress.
"I want to know more about when and how the ice started here. I might be able to help."
The young woman looked up at the sky, saying a silent preyer of thanks to her spirits.
She frowned, something was different.

"Hey, where has the rip gone from the sky? It was here yesterday."

Melody cleared her throat, "Yes, sorry about that. I've fixed that all ready."

"Fixed it? How?"

Melody shrugged her shoulders, "It's how I got here. I came through the tear, and it sealed itself behind me. So now, the sky isn't broken no more."

"But it's been that way for a hundred years," she insisted.

"Not for me," she muttered. "My journey was instantanious, but a hundred years have
passed as soon as I went through the rip. Anyway, it's healed now. Im stuck here, and cant go home. By the time I have another instant journey, another hundred years would pass. Everyone I know is all ready dead. So- please tell me where the library is, so I can fix the magic here."

There was a long pause. The young woman stared at her in stunned silence.

"I - I'm sorry, I didn't know. The library is a couple of doors down," she finally replied;
pointing to her right.

"You have no reason to know," Melody sighed. "My name is Melody Veil. What's yours?"

The young woman hesitated, biting her lip. "My name's Maggie. Maggie Smith."

"Well Maggie Smith, would you like to accompany me to the library?"

Maggie smiled, flicking her long blonde hair behind her slender shoulders.
She straightened her red patchy dress, and nodded.

"Sure. I can show you around; we can be friends."

Melody smiled, "Yes. Friends. Now, what's it like living here? Is it always this cold in this
ice?"

Maggie shook her head, "No. It's not proper ice- otherwise it'd melt. The magic froze itself to survive. It stays frozen all the time because it's magic."

Melody smiled, that part was obvious to her.

"It's fairly mellow here. Over the years, people have become accustomed to not using
magic."

Maggie smiled, "What was it like where you lived?"


Melody sighed, "It was chaos. We had to look out for dragons, theives, and save the world a few times."

She paused, thinking of what she left behind. "There were healers too though. Nurses,
Doctors, Herbs people. I also had a very good friend, and a fiance..."

"You had a love? Why didn't he come with you?"

"He was suppose to," she sniffled "but the tear sealed itself before anyone else could follow me through."

A tear rolled down her cheek, hidden by the rain.

Maggie and Melody walked into the library. Melody stared in awe at the rows and rows of shelves full of books. "We need the refrence books that go back to as far as a century,"

Maggie said simply. Melody nodded, walking towards the refrence desk at the front of the building. "Excuse me, where are the desk for the history section. I would like to know
more about how the ice century started."

A woman at the desk grunted and pointed towards the end of the isles.

"Shelf row C8," the receptionist grunted.

Maggie smiled at Melody, giggling "She doesn't like working in the mornings."

Melody nodded, understanding slightly. Her wet dress clung to her legs and torso from
the rain. The red sun though, still made the air humid and warm. In any other world, the
ice would have started melting. Outside though, the ground remained frozen.

"Maybe we'll find some truth to these rumours of how the ice began." Melody frowned, she knew that the facts may have changed through the years.