Nina's Observations, Entry 1: The Great Wizard, Master Edwin Ebonheart.

Today's post is the first in a series, called Nina's Observations. I'm writing these to get a feel for the character of Nina, the Main Character of a novel I'm working on, and to give a little insight to others about who she is, and why.

So, without further ado, here's the first entry in Nina's Observations.

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Journal Entry 1

I have received this journal from my Master as a gift. He has noticed my hesitation to go into town and interact with the people there, despite having lived with him on the edge of town for some time now. He is aware that I do not go because I am afraid they will not like or accept me because I am a Witch.

He says I should watch the people of the town, and write down what I learn about them that way so I can learn which ones might be accepting of me, and which ones might not be. He thinks it might help me feel better about going into the town if I know who I can interact with, and who I should avoid.

It is not the only thing he says I should use this journal for, but it was one of the things he put emphasis on when he gave it to me. I suppose I shall start with Master so I can get the hang of this Observation project he wants me to do.

Villager Observation 1 - The Great Wizard, Master Edwin Ebonheart.

At first glance, Master Ebonheart is a bit intimidating. His dark robes and wide-brimmed hat give him a tall, powerful look, one that many seem to fear. I remember being afraid of him, the first time I met him. Many people are suspicious of those with Magic, and I had experience far too much rejection in my life already to be anything but afraid of this intimidating stranger that caught me playing with magic out in the forest.

But beneath the intimidating look and serious face, he is kind. His eyes are kind, and he beneath his beard, he smiles more often than one would think. He did not yell at me, like my father would, or scream like my mother had. He didn’t throw rocks at me or chase me away, like the villagers in my hometown had. Instead, he extended his hand and offered me the opportunity to learn how to use and control my magic properly.

Master Ebonheart can be a bit strict in his teachings. He has repeatedly told me that magic is not for playing games or putting on light shows, pretty as they may be. But he only gets exasperated when I do it anyway; he doesn’t yell at me to stop, or start throwing things at me from across the room. It took a while for me to get used to; I was too accustomed to the negative reactions that my family and my village had to my magic.

But he is an excellent teacher. He often seemed uncertain about what he was telling me, and how he was instructing me when he first took me in. I have since learned that I am the first apprentice he has ever taken on; in his younger years, he had been too arrogant, too prideful of his power, to want to take on just any apprentice. He had turned away many hopeful, budding Witches and Wizards, seeking the strongest he could so he could one day claim that he had trained one of the most powerful Witches or Wizards in the world.

But he had never found one; no one had ever been good enough for him, back then. And time had a way of creeping up, and he had suddenly realised he was getting old and had nothing to show for it.

He’d been quick to assure me, however, that he was not settling for what he could find in the time he had left when he took me on as his apprentice. He took me on because I didn’t look at him with contempt. He had long given up on finding an apprentice; all his years of rejecting hopefuls had come back on him, and he had long since stopped receiving apprentices as stories and rumours passed from person to person.

He regretted his actions, regretted the sadness of the people he had hurt, that he had turned away. He regretted the lives he had ruined, the dreams he had crushed, with his self-absorbed attitude. But he was working to make up for his mistakes before his age made it impossible for him to.

I have come to the conclusion about Master, as I watch him work in his study, that once upon a time, I may not have liked him. I may not have accepted his offer to take me on as his Apprentice. But my Master is not the same as he once was. He took me in when no one else would, and has made efforts and sacrifices for my sake, that I do not think many others would make for their Apprentices.

I may be his first, and most likely only, Apprentice, but I will do my best to make him proud. I will do my best to make sure that one day in the future if he is still around, he can tell people that he was the Wizard who trained me.

This much, I promise.