Magic Invitation: Kalendra Chronicles Book One

by Barbara Ferrier

  “Good idea,” Jaime agreed. Sam handed the rope to Tahendra.

  The crew climbed the cliff, hoping to get to the meadow at the top. They saw the sun setting when they were only two-thirds of the way up the cliff. Tahendra found a wide ledge, large enough for both tents. She decided it was safer to climb the rest of the cliff at first light. They used Beacon’s rope to anchor the tents for added security in case it became windy. Fortunately, the ledge provided enough space. They heated the food Presence gave them.

  Chapter 5

  In the morning, Kassara opened her eyes first. Surrounded by clouds she couldn’t see more than a few feet in any given direction. They were covered in a blanket of fog. Letting the others sleep, she pulled out the message card Kelne had given her at Presence’s house. It read: “Strengthen your intuition with practice.” She thought about that for a moment. How was intuition going to help? They needed the mist to lift so they could see the best route forward.

  Before they left, Kelne had instructed them to meditate for fifteen minutes each morning and said it was okay to start with five minutes. Kassara’s view of meditation and intuition was negative. She assumed it was a waste of time. Surrounded by pea-soup fog with her companions still asleep she figured, why not? She had nothing to lose. Could it make a difference?

  She cleared her mind to the best of her ability, then thought of the route ahead. Kelne had said meditating and clearing your mind felt like having your eyes wide open as you tried not to see. Next, she pretended she was looking at a white piece of parchment. She kept bringing her mind back to that. And then she focused on the message card. How do I practice intuition, she wondered? She continued to focus on the white parchment paper in her mind. She felt lighter and began to settle into a comfortable feeling. When a few minutes passed, she was back to worrying. What were they told about the ridge? Which way did they turn once they were up there? She wanted to pull the map out. Okay, back to the white parchment with a couple of deep breaths. Intuition, why did she need to practice that? She’d just ask. Tah was intuitive enough for them both. Back to the parchment paper and more deep breaths. She continued this mental battle for about ten minutes altogether and said to herself, I tried it. It wasn’t so bad. Kelne said it matters. I’ll try again later today.

  She got out of her sleeping bag, silently unzipped the tent, and climbed out. She walked over to the cliff’s edge. What if this fog doesn’t clear today? I guess that’ll make us use our intuition if I have any. As she looked toward what she assumed was the rest of the cliff wall, she saw something in the mist. Who or what was that?

  Kassara froze. Was someone there? A young Kalendrian woman stepped out of the fog. She was incredibly muscular and agile, as if she spent a lot of time on the rock walls.

  “Hello,” Kassara said.

  The Kalendrian woman smiled and nodded in return. She bowed her head in respect, and Kassara bowed back.

  “What are you doing here? Can I help?” Kassara offered.

  “It is urgent. Have you felt the quakes?”

  “Yes.”

  “The moon. She is weak. She needs our strength to repair her energy zones.”

  “Has anyone found the problem?” Kassara asked.

  “I do not know. It just started getting worse.”

  “Do you know Kelne and Beacon?” The woman nodded. “They are worried too.”

  “You are the travelers?”

  “Yes. We have come together. We have a lot to learn. We want to help,” Kassara said.

  “Thank you so much. Many people appreciate that you have come.”

  “Do you know the shamans? What do they say?”

  “They have diagnosed a problem of energy networks with the Shaman Moon. I do not know more. If we work together, we can solve this problem.”

  “I agree,” Kassara said.

  The two bowed to one another again. The young Kalendrian woman disappeared back into the fog as she descended to the valley below.

  By the time everyone woke up the fog had dissipated. They finished the climb. At the top of the cliff, Kassara walked across the meadow and realized they were above tree line. She decided to wait at the far side of the meadow where she saw the trail marker ahead. A leaf landed at her feet.

  How is this possible?

  Kassara picked it up and examined it in her hand. She turned it over to look at the back. A note woven into the fibers read, “You got this.” A leaf with a note of encouragement written on it. Were all the leaves from this tree the same? Did they all carry messages way above tree line? She carefully tucked the leaf into her front vest pocket for safe keeping. She thought about the message and smiled.

  Tahendra caught up on the far side of the meadow and asked, “What now?”

  Kassara pulled out the leaf and showed it to her. “Look, it says ‘You got this’.”

  Tah placed the leaf in her hand and looked at it closely. “It says ‘Trust yourself’.”

  She showed it to Kassara, but Kassara still saw ‘You got this.’ The two looked at each other, trying to understand how the message could say two things at once.

  Jaime finished climbing up the cliff and walked across the meadow to his friends.

  “Check this out,” Kassara said. She showed him the leaf and asked him to examine it. “Do you see anything written on this?” He looked at them, puzzled. Then he examined the leaf.

  “That’s weird. Right here it says, ‘be open.’ What does this mean?”

  Kassara and Tahendra smiled at each other. Sam was up next. Before he got across the meadow, he took a swig of water.

  “That was a grueling cliff,” he said walking towards them.

  Kassara and Tahendra were fascinated to see what the leaf would say to Sam. They didn’t get the chance. Just as Kassara walked up to Sam, a huge gust thrashed across the ridge, and they knew at once they needed to get down into the valley. The leaf blew out of her hand. There was a fork in the trail. Kassara tried hard to remember which way.

  Tahendra ran ahead, “This way.”

  Kassara and Jaime followed her to get off the ridge as fast as possible.

  Sam ran but the wind engulfed him. His sight went black as his feet slipped out from underneath him. A sense of loneliness filled his being. Inside Sam’s head, his father’s deep, harsh voice boomed and snarled, you always mess up. Can’t you follow directions? Sam immediately wanted to run and hide. Anger filled his chest at the injustice of his father’s words. In a panic, Sam ran down another trail. Shaking from his dad’s voice in his head. He felt like a scolded little boy.

  As he went down the trail, he got out of the wind and his feelings of helplessness retreated. He felt lost and like a fool, uncertain why he took this path. The trail ended abruptly. Before him was a cliff.

  Jaime ran down the trail behind him. “Sam, we’re going the other way. Please come with me.” He caught Sam’s eye. “Is everything okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

  Sam stared at Jaime for a few seconds. “I think I might have. I don’t understand. I meant to follow, but something happened, a voice loud in my head.” I shouldn’t have said that he admonished himself. “I mean, clearly this is the wrong way,” he said, feeling sheepish. “Coming.” Sam followed Jaime back to the ridge to a clearing where the girls were waiting. He felt red-faced. “Hey, what was that note you were passing?”

  “It was a leaf. It gave a different message to each person who read it. It was cool. I’m sorry the wind blew it away and you didn’t get your message.”

  “What did it say?” Sam asked.

  Tahendra came to Sam’s side. “I got ‘Trust yourself’.”

  “Mine said, ‘You got this’,” said Kassara.

  “Mine was ‘Be open.’”

  “I know this sounds weird, but did you guys hear a voice in your head? I got this loud voice that sounded like my dad screaming at me. I thought he was going to punch me and I ran away. It was terrifying.” Then Sam quickly added, “I’m okay now, really. I just
thought you might have heard. It was so loud.”

  Tahendra looked thoughtfully at Sam.

  The four climbed to the next plateau and saw Beacon’s Village in the distance. The cold wind wrapped itself tightly around Jaime’s mind. He felt transported and isolated.

  I don’t understand. What have I done? Uncle Kris said. I love Jaime, and I want to spend time with him. I worked all the time until I burned out. Dad said the most valuable thing he ever did was travel alone so I took his advice.

  Off on some lark. It’s irresponsible. Don’t fill my son’s head with fairy tales. He needs to follow my rules.

  Jaime heard the front door slam and saw himself run upstairs. When he looked out the window, his uncle Kris blew him a kiss and drove away.

  Experiencing that memory through the Winds of Doom, Jaime witnessed the injustice his mom dealt with her rigid ideas. Did she believe life was a narrow corridor never to be explored? Why couldn’t a person make a change?

  Chapter 6

  The teal-and-white phoenix looked through the canyon and into the many dwellings in the village. She knew the travelers were coming up the cliff face now and the Winds of Doom would delay them. Kelne and Beacon were preparing a proper celebration to welcome the travelers.

  The decision of host families was Misty’s responsibility. As Kelne’s phoenix, she was responsible for ensuring their mission would succeed. Beacon would be Sam’s guardian. Kassara would stay with Kelne. And Jaime would stay in the valley with Caroline. No one yet knew how their magic would unfold, only that it would expand their capabilities.

  Misty placed Tahendra with Maureen. They were the same age and came from different lives. She knew they must become allies. Misty reasoned it was a perfect opportunity despite real dangers involved. Tahendra’s mission was critical. She must learn fast and understand the colorful people in the village. Kelne’s memory charm, still in place, would protect her.

  Misty had read their character as each traveler arrived in Kalendra. Misty thought this canyon village was the perfect training ground to awaken Tahendra’s gifts. Kalendra’s very survival was in the balance.

  The travelers entered through the cliff passage and found the courtyard opened in every direction. They saw stone pathways drifting midair to dwellings in the cliffs. Stone figures towered above the village providing a presence that could be seen for miles around.

  Kelne and Beacon greeted the travelers who looked remarkably good under the circumstances. During their hike, the Winds of Doom left its mark on each of them. The four shared a look of hesitation. Tahendra felt overwhelmed by shame and loss but had no memories of what had happened. The Winds left her feeling fragile and raw yet woke a fierce determination.

  Kelne and Beacon were anxious to start training. They knew the Winds identified fears that blocked the traveler’s magic. Getting them past their fears would help them step into their superpowers. As brutal as they were, the Winds of Doom gave them the gift of seeing part of their lives from a new perspective.

  As the travelers got settled into Beacon’s living room and put down their packs, Kelne stood before them to introduce their training.

  “You cannot own your magic if you’re reacting to ghosts in your head. That is the long and short of it. Plain and simple,” Kelne promised. “That is why we ask you now to learn as much as you can from your experience in the Winds of Doom. Those memories must be resolved. I promise your magic will arrive exactly on schedule once you reprocess your greatest fears.”

  Kelne then sat down next to Sam and looked him in the eye.

  “How are you doing here?” he asked. Sam hesitated and looked down. Kelne turned to each traveler, one at a time, as he continued. “I really mean it. How are you doing here? It’s a crazy place. I know that. It’s not your fault. It was already like that. I’m here to help you deal. I have never met one person who hasn’t had a hard time with something. In Kalendra, everything is amplified. You learn what you didn’t think you needed to know. It is hard in the short run and it’s good in the long run.”

  Kelne stood up and walked across the room. He paused, then looked bashful.

  “You heard about me, didn’t you?” he said. “I wanted to be happy. It should have been easy. Maybe there was a handbook? All I could do was beat myself up. I was lonely. Then I discovered I had magic. Did you know I didn’t know?”

  Sam looked surprised. “You didn’t know you had magic?” he asked.

  “I didn’t,” said Kelne.

  A glimmer of possibility crossed Sam’s face.

  “Do you know my story? I had terrible judgment. I was so frustrated when things didn’t go my way. I blamed other people when my plans didn’t turn out.”

  Kelne acknowledged them.

  “I wanted things to be different, so I left and traveled alone. Nothing changed. I still heard the voice. It said that nobody cared, I wasn’t worthwhile. The voice in my head was as loud as if someone said it to my face. How was that possible?”

  Kelne took a deep breath and looked to Sam, then shook his head at the memories.

  “I wanted to pull those thoughts out of my head, so I didn’t have to hear them ever again. Then I could be happy. Putting the bad thoughts into the wind, it wasn’t a great idea. It wasn’t my idea. There were a lot of us.

  “Blow the negativity away, we were promised,” Kelne continued. “There was a whole lore that said you could release your bad thoughts into the wind. Apparently, a lot of people had trouble with their thoughts. Some had worse thoughts than I did.”

  “The wind?” Sam was startled. “The Doom Wind?” Kelne nodded.

  “People made it. They made the Winds of Doom. They believed they’d be happier if they released their bad thoughts to the atmosphere. It was the wisdom of the time. The idea was powerful. We were in pain, unable to live our lives the way we wanted because we thought terribly about ourselves.”

  Kelne looked to Kassara.

  “Once the wind collected the bad juju from people’s mean beliefs, strange things began to happen. The wind became colder and stronger. It blew the negative ideas around and stirred up people’s old wounds. You couldn’t walk on the plateaus or get through a storm. It was debilitating.

  “We discovered the ideas in the wind were attaching themselves to the unkind words already floating around in our heads. Eventually we learned to create new beliefs, and that ended our pain. Once we created kinder thought habits, we were safe in the Winds. They no longer upset us. Before I understood, the wind would upset me all over again.

  Kelne used his staff to create a map on the table. Then he pointed to the location of the Winds of Doom and the four saw them moving across the outer plateaus. “Part of my problem was that I found my magic too soon. I wasn’t ready and I pushed it away. More accurately, I used it against myself. Not intentionally, of course. I simply had too much fear about not getting what I wanted, and that’s what I got. I panicked about how hard it was and it became harder. Take your time and find your true magic. That is my invitation to each of you.”

  “Tea Service with all the trimmings,” Beacon said as he clapped his hands twice. The table filled with food and drinks. Along the counter, piping hot dishes appeared. Salads, entrees, deserts, and plates. He gestured for Sam to start a line for the meal.

  Kelne held his crystal staff high, and in a flash, mattresses sporting colorful blankets and pillows appeared in the sunken living room. Each held one of the traveler’s backpacks.

  “Ready for a sleep over? Please. After our meal, you may take a shower and put your pajamas on. In the morning you’ll each have an opportunity to explore the village. Then it will be time to meet your hosts.”

  Each served themselves and they ate and talked about the trek and their favorite things about Kalendra.

  Chapter 7

  Maureen, Tahendra’s host sister had long blond hair, big blue eyes, and full lips. She was a few inches taller than Tahendra and had a sunny disposition. She walked up to Beacon’s door and kn
ocked.

  “Hello. How are you? I’m Beacon.” He gestured for her to come in.

  “Hi, I’m Maureen. I’m here to pick up Tahendra.” Tah waved to identify herself.

  “Hi. I’m Kassara.”

  “Hi. Jaime.”

  “Sam.”

  Tahendra picked her pack up. Maureen took it from her before she put it on.

  “I get to carry that. You’re my guest.” Maureen smiled broadly to Tahendra’s friends and waved good-bye. “See you later.” Tahendra waved to her friends, then followed Maureen down the path.

  The two new friends were excited to spend time together. Maureen led Tahendra across the bridge and to the cliffs on the other side of the canyon, then through an archway to Maureen’s home in the cliff. She opened the door, and when Tahendra walked in, sunlight streamed across the rooms. The ceiling was filled with skylights. The outer wall of the cliff was rounded and provided an expansive view of the lands beyond the village. Tahendra also saw another plateau with a plaza and stone buildings. She noticed they would have to walk across the floating stones to get there.

  “This is your room while you’re here,” Maureen said. “It’s my favorite guest room and I hope you like it. I turned our other one into my music room. My dad isn’t thrilled,” She laughed and Tahendra nodded.

  Maureen put the pack on the bedroom chair. Tahendra looked at her new temporary home. There was a large desk made of a deep black polished granite. The room also had a view across the canyon. Tahendra saw many homes in the cliffs across the canyon.

  “Let me give you a tour,” Maureen said. The ceilings throughout the cliff home had large skylights that spilled light across every room. The interior of the building was visibly carved into the cliff. Walls were smooth and finished in a light pink adobe color, infused with shiny golden mica.