Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ok, so this is the start of a fantasy based in Tamoria Peirce's world of Tortall. I know a few things do not match her world perfectly (I renamed the black god), but I like how it's coming. As you can guess, I was influenced heavily by Daughter of the lioness (Aly) when writing this.
Please try to read as a seperat book, though.

The girl sat on the lip of a fountain watching the royal parade in the stifling midsummer heat. She was not someone who would cause a second glance. Dusty brown hair fell to just below her ears in a fashion that was favored by boys of her age. Dull brown-black eyes peered out from under thin, but boring eyebrows. There seemed to be no curves to speak of under a rumpled tunic and leggings. Jenna Mastson was thirteen and went unnoticed by most. Jen wiped sweat from her brow and wished she lived in ice covered Scanra instead of Tortall, she hated the heat. She sighed, living in Tortall was still better than trying to live in a war torn place like Scanra. Here, at least, they had a good and powerful king.

Jen turned her attention back to the parade as everyone stood to get a good look at King Jonathan. He was a handsome man with jet black hair and kind, but serious eyes. On his right side of him rode his queen, Thayet. On his left, his champion, Alanna, the first female knight in over 400 years. Jen sat down crossly, thinking of the few gold coins she had left in her belt purse. Yes, Jen was fairly happy here but, she wished she could find better ways to make a living than running messages and errands for the merchants on the cobbled streets of Tortall. It was too bad that there was scant work for a girl with her skill with daggers. Jen knew she had another skill with magic, but was hesitant to reveal it. Many people in Tortall, and everywhere else for that matter, had the gift. Most people had small magic, healing and that sort, but Jen's was as powerful, if not more powerful than, the greatest known mage in Tortall, Numair Salmalin. Jen hated and feared her powers for reasons she kept to herself.

As the Royal Parade moved onward, Jen snuck away into an ally way she had grown to like and leapt cat-like from a pile of hey bales onto the roof of a shop. From that vantage point she could see the main street and the ally ways near her that lead into it, all without being seen herself. She sighed; the capitol's sunset was a beautiful. Jen looked up into the darkening sky and used one of the hardest magical spells. She took flight in the form of a sparrow-hawk.

Powerful stroke after powerful stroke brought Jen higher and higher until she could see Tortall's entire capitol and the lands around it. Then with a whoop, she streaked down towards Hilda Mulch's Fine Bakery, or so Hilda called it. Down below someone took note of the unnatural appearance of a hawk in the city.

"Miss Mastson, where, may I ask have you been this morning?!" scolded a bustling Hilda.

"Aw, come on Hil, you know I wanted to see the parade this morning and technically I'm not your full-time worker. I just run a few errands."

"Yes and you can run a few more. Here's the payment for Mr. Lawn for that flour he let me borrow when I was short some, go pick me some spices from Mistress's Pullunder's herb garden, with her permission, of course, and be a sweet girl and drop these eggs off over at my friend Betty's house." The large woman could talk faster than a hen could cluck and Jen still stared at he in awe. Anyone who could say all that in a lungful could be a champion runner, if Hilda would be bothered to try. "Don't give me that look! There will be five coppers in it for you. Now run along, girl, the day wont wait for you to get your lazy behind moving!"

Hilda was the only person who paid enough attention to Jenna to conceive how much potential was within the girl and put it to work using Jen as an errand runner. Jen could run like the wind when she put her mind to it. Jenna took a liking to the large pastry woman and enjoyed running errands for her. She smiled as she trotted up to Mr. Lawn's small shop. With five more coppers she could afford flatter daggers that she could where under her long sleeves.



She had just finished dropping off the eggs At Miss Betty's house and was setting off to the less legal part of the city. Raven Armors was known for making fine swords, but if you wanted thin hidden daggers, the back alleys worked marvels. Jen knew of a particular back ally that held the flattest knives around.

She slipped into the damp alleyway and was attacked by a fierce bodyguard. "I come for trade of knives, as you know, Dart," Jenna sighed. She thought the whole body guard business silly, but Hadden thought otherwise. The burly man released her as Hadden strolled over.

He glared at her, "I got a reputation to keep here, ya know! I don't need sissy little girls skip'n in all the time!"

Jenna gave him one of her sweetest smiles, "Oh, but I'm here for business and I want one of your prettiest daggers."

Grimacing he held out a set of paper-thin knives, "Three gold nobles, and that's a steal."

"Not worth one."

"Two"

"One"

"One noble and ten pence. Final deal."

She smiled, "Deal."

She walked a few minutes before stopping and strapping the knives on. They really were magnificent. Worth five gold nobles, but Hadden had a soft spot for her. Two ankle knives, two wrist knives, one on a leather strap around her neck, and three tiny, but still deadly, ones in her hair. Jen quickly put magic in them to return to her if they were stolen. Satisfied she strolled leisurely back into the nicer end of town. A pastry might be nice, she thought, and some cold cider.

Jen was done her cider and reached into her belt purse to pay, except there was a problem. Her money was gone. Her whole belt purse was gone! She saw a boy scampering away down an ally and her eyes turned a steely grey-blue. Jen growled, the little thief was about to learn a nasty lesson.

Jenna stormed into the ally. "Now listen here who thieving runt..," was as far as she got before realizing she had judged his size wrong. He was tall, lean, and wiry. Jen stared for a moment at her folly before coming to her senses. She could deal with him. "Give me my purse, and nobody gets hurt." She cringed at using the stupid cliché. He grinned, white teeth flashing on dark, almost black skin. "And what are you gonn'a do about it?" Jenna hooked her left leg under his legs and kicked his legs out from under him. That was what she intended to do. In one motion, he jumped over her legs, grabbed her foot and swung her past him into the wall. Jenna knew that there would probably be bruises for weeks. He stood over her almost laughing that a small girl like Jen would even think of trying to get her purse back. “And that’s where he gets it wrong.” Jen thought grimly. From the ground she thrust both feet at his chest. The boy grunted as his head cracked against the opposite wall.



Jenna crossed the street with her money bag at her hip. Maybe she had hit him too hard. After the earsplitting crack of his head against the brick wall he had been unconscious. Jenna had grabbed her money bag and stepped quickly back into the street. She hurried back to the alley she liked and jumped from a trash pile to a roof. She sat and stared out at the city. She still had an afternoon to do something. She had spent all her money on lunch and the knives. Jenna slid one of the gleaming daggers out of its sheath. She stared at the leather covered hilt and wondered why she had not pulled them out on that boy. Suddenly she realized what had been tugging at her mind. He had had a dagger in his boot too. So why had he not pulled it and gotten rid of the little nuisance of Jenna? She bit her lip. He had not killed her. Was it fair to leave him to die? I didn’t hit him that hard. He’ll be fine.


As Jenna trotted back to Hilda’s, she could not stop thinking about the boy in the alley. He could have killed her, but he had not. Why? She started feeling guilty. He had hit his head pretty badly. The sickening thud of it hitting the brick wall went through her head again. Jenna stopped. Then she sighed grumpily and turned around. Why did she have to have the soft heart? It was the same with that alley cat who had stolen her meal once. And that small, half starved beggar girl. Jenna walked back to the alley where she had left him.

When she saw him crumpled limply on the ground she knew he was dead. But, none the less, Jenna sat down cross-legged next to the corpse and closed her eyes. Beneath her eyelids the irises started turning a deep green, the color of her magic.

She opened her eyes. Everything was black and white. Except for two things. Herself and a dark form shrouded in a cloak and cowl. The figure looked up and sighed. “Again?” Gabriel, lord of the dead, asked.

“Yes.” Jenna answered simply.

Her glared at her, “You know I was fine with the cat,” he shook his head, “and the little girl, I really did pity,” He pursed his grey lips, “but a random boy? A thief, no less.”

Jenna looked down at the blurred grey cobblestones. “I think I killed him.”

“Yes”

“You could be a bit more feeling, you know.” Jenna mumbled.

Gabriel gazed into the street at the frozen grey carts pulled by motionless grey horses. “I do not feel. You know this.”

“Please. Once more? I can not live knowing I sent someone to you.”

“Once more.” He gave her a stern look and pulled a small round ball out from the depths of his cloak. It was no bigger than a marble, for that is the size of souls. Jenna carefully took it from him and leaned down. She placed the small orb in the dead body’s mouth and looked up. Gabriel was gone. Suddenly the color was back and the normal, everyday sounds of the city reached her ears. The boy in front of her groaned.

She should not be able to do that. To bring back the dead, you had to be insanely powerful. Even when the powerful achieved in bringing back life, it never lasted long. And yet, the milk Jenna left out for the cat was lapped up by the one and only every day. Jenny knew this because every morning she watched the previously dead cat lap it up. And whenever you passed the corner of Yeomen’s’ and Gleam Street you saw a hungry, but healthy little girl holding out her little felt hat and asking for your spare coin who, if fate had had its way, should not have been there.

I'll probably keep writing this. I just have so much to do. If you like this type of story you should read some of the books by Tamoria Peirce. They're great!