Tim Roth as Senkrad>>>>> 

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They left the next day. They went in the morning with Arian and Rowan. I watched them go until the edge of the mountain top and I could not see them anymore. The house was almost silent as we two elves went around each other without talking. Then he disappeared, returning about half an hour later. He was clad in a simple pair of trousers and a shirt, round his shoulders hung a cloak, a sheath of arrows and a bow, belted to his waist was a sheathed sword. He told me to follow him outside and we sat in the garden.

We sat out there for hours, not making a sound, just watching the morning hours make their way past. Finally he spoke “At least you have patience.” I said nothing and just looked at him, waiting for him to continue at his own speed, I was in no hurry.

“You are quite an interesting anomaly, never did I think that I would teach an elf after Orion taught me and brought me to this place to hone my skills. But here you are, in the flesh and blood. How old are you child?”

“Sixteen human years.”

“Ah, I see that you are already wise to the fact that we age differently to those that are human. What else do you know? For instance, can you use magic, wield a sword, shoot a bow? Can you read and write? Can you sing, dance, play? Do you know the secrets of your past and the secrets to power? Do you want to know?”

“How can I answer so many questions at once?”

            “Very well, can you use magic?”

            “Yes.”

            “To what extent?”

            “To what extent is there?”

“Show me the most impressive thing that you can do with magic.” He told me.

“I have no idea what I can do with magic and how far I can go with it, I have no idea what will impress you or to what extent of magical capability you will be impressed by.” I said, trying to explain to him calmly.

“Very well then, I will set you a task.” He sat silently for a minute, thinking deeply. “Lift this rock” I looked at the fist sized rock quickly, thinking that he was trying to have a joke with me. He wasn’t. So I lifted up the rock as easily as I would have lifted a grain of sand. He looked at me, “I see that you are competent with things like that, what about something bigger” He pointed to a rock on the ground that was about twice the size of the last one.

I went to say something to him, but realised that I did not actually know what he was called. For the first time I actually felt shy, and a bit awkward. “What should I call you?” I asked him tentatively.

“You can call me Senkrad.” I nodded and stared at the rock on the ground. “What is it Ilea?”

“Can I try to lift something bigger?” I asked him uncertainly.

“Like what?” I looked around the clearing and saw a rock lying on it’s side, it was about twice the size of me and I lifted it up cautiously, I was more worried about dropping it because it was an awkward shape, rather than because it was too heavy. I held it in the air, about a meter above the ground for a minute, then I looked at Senkrad, he had a strange expression on his face, it looked as if he disapproved. “I can do more if you want me to?” I asked him worried.

“No, that will not be necessary.” He said quietly.

“Have I displeased you?”

“You should not be able to do that.” He said quietly, staring at the rock still in the air. I put it down gently and looked at the grass beneath my feet. Waiting patiently for him to speak, I knelt down and ran my hands over the small, neat blades. I closed my eyes and inhaled the sweet smell of the mountain, it seemed so peaceful, so serine, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I was missing something, something important that was lying just beneath the surface. It was a gut feeling.

We stayed there for about 10-15 minutes, saying nothing, hardly moving. Then eventually Senkrad turned to me, “You have just done something that I’ve never heard anyone as young as yourself do.” I didn’t know whether I was supposed to reply to this or not, I did not know what to say, so in the end said nothing.

“You have magic strength of an elf that has been in training for twenty years, it is not right.” I bushed red indignantly, how could I be wrong for doing something that meant that I had ability beyond my years.

“Why is it wrong?” I asked him, slightly hurt by his words.

“It is just surprising, I need to know the extent of your ability, was that all you could do?”

“No.”

“What else can you do?” I put my arm out straight in front of me with my palm facing towards the rock, I slowly raised my arm and lifted it again, this time I was more confident so made it soar into the air. I held it about twenty meters off the ground, high above our heads. This time it took a bit of effort, but not much, about the same amount that I had to use when I used to lift a school bag with books in, before I had changed. I looked at Senkrad, noticing the unreadable expression on his face.

I started to make the rock spin in the air above us, “Can I do as much as I can?” I asked him

“Show me what you can do.”

I smiled and thought to myself, this would be fun, finally letting myself go with the magic. I span the rock faster, increasing the heat of the air around it, making it blisteringly hot so that the rock started to melt under the intense heat. I kept it spinning and moulded it into a careful ball, making sure that not one drop escaped. Finally, when it was glowing bright orange, I found its core and gave it a sharp push, letting it explode into a million droplets of molten rock. I crouched and swept my foot along the ground, taking the moisture out of the soil and holding it in an icy blue haze a meter above us. The molten rock rained down above heads as if the sun has exploded. As it hit the icy barrier the colour of the air changed and the blue and orange mingled into one. Then the rock cooled and bust apart in tiny grains like sand, falling harmlessly onto the ground below our feet and mingling seamlessly with the grass and soil.

I stood there breathing deeply and smiling at myself. After a while I noticed Senkrad’s gaze, I turned to look at him, he stood there just staring at me wordlessly. I noticed for the first time that he was not as old as Orion. His eyes looked old and wise every time that he had looked at me before, but now I saw a new part of them, the side that had never seen things like that before, the younger side of him. It caught me off guard to know that I had done something that he didn’t expect me to, he had seemed all knowing and I had assumed that he must be because he was the one teaching me, but he wasn’t and I don’t know if it made me happy that I had exceeded his expectations, or worried that the one teaching me had no idea about what I was able to do.

I looked away from the young eyes that scared me and spoke to the floor, “Senkrad?” silence followed my unspoken question. Finally he spoke to me “I was slightly startled before when you lifted the rock, but now I am in total disbelief,” He said slowly and clearly “You have the ability of a fully trained elf when it comes to magic, the only things that I can teach you here is when to use it and how to control it.” I bowed my head respectfully, his words didn’t mean all that much to me, I had no idea about the abilities of other elves, he was only the second that I had ever met.

After another pause he looked at me again, "Have you ever used a bow and arro?" I shook my head, well then, that will be where we will start, in the warfare department.” I nodded again.

Our first lesson consisted solely of using the bow and arrow. Senkrad taught me how to make sure that my bow was strung before I tried to shoot anything, he told me tips and ways to make sure that the arrow flew straight even in strong winds and he showed me how to use the winds to my advantage when shooting. Although he taught me how to hold a bow, how to string it and where to hold and position the arrow, he did not once let me actually shoot it, but I suppose that it was only my first lesson.

After the lesson we went back inside the house and ate a late lunch. I noticed that there was meat on the table. I decided not to inquire about it, maybe another time. After the meal Senkrad told me to wait inside until he called me, so I sat in the kitchen. He was gone about ten minutes. When he called I went outside and saw him with a make-shift wooden sword in his hand, as I approached he pulled another from behind his back.

He threw it at me suddenly, I whipped round and caught it just before it smacked into my side. I looked at him warily, he obviously expected me to fight him, but I had no desire to hurt him. “Is this a good idea?” I asked him cautiously.

“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.” He said pedantically

“That’s not what I’m worried about” I whispered under my breath. He laughed slightly, a look of contempt in his eyes.

“Tell me when you’re ready, I wouldn’t…”

“Go.” I said, cutting him off. We stared at each other for a while, sidestepping around an invisible circle. Then I shot my arm forward. He wasn’t there. I spun around and saw him a few paces to the left, a small gleam in his eyes. I ran to him again and he parried my blow with a slight flick of his wrist. I went into attack mode, slashing my sword around, trying to hit him at least once, but whenever it got to where I thought he was, he’d either moved or had his sword ready to block my attempt. I stopped, breathing deeply, a low chuckle came from his mouth and I realised that he was simply playing with me, this cost him no effort at all.

“If you’re not going to try then why are we bothering?” I asked frustrated.

“Because I don’t need to try,”

“If you’re not going to try then I’m not going to bother.” I said crossly turning around. He rapped me on the side of my arms with his wooden sword, I jumped, surprised. “What was that for?” I asked angrily

“Your impudence.” I stalked off towards the house, angry that he was treating me like a child. I got another rap, this time on my shoulder. I swung round furiously. “Never turn your back on an opponent.” He said sternly

“I won’t be made fun of!” I said sharply, I could feel the anger boiling in me.

“Impotent girl! You want me to try? You want me to try to fight you?” He started to weave an incredibly complicated pattern, I barely had enough time to raise my sword before his came crashing down on it. The attack continued, I tried to block the blows but every single one got through after the first. They were light blows that didn’t hurt much but that I could tell would bruise. After about five minutes of this hammering fighting I yelled for him stop, he paused mid-blow, standing still as a stone statue. “Now do you see why I wasn’t trying, I don’t want you to feel how incompetent you are, but you forced my hand and now you know how weak and inexperienced you are when it comes to fighting with weapons.”

I turned around and stalked into the house with a largely bruised ego and many other physical bruises. I stormed up the stairs and into my room, slamming the door behind me. I sat on the bed and stared at the wall, I knew that I wasn’t good at fighting, that’s why Isaac was dead. I was indecisive when about to attack, that’s why he jumped in front of me. I could feel the tears slowly streaming down my face again as I closed my eyes and tried to hide in the blackness behind my lids. I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I knew it was dark outside and I could smell the aroma of cooking meat.

I got up off the bed and wiped my eyes with the tip of my finger to get rid of any sleeping sand. I sighed and walked down to the kitchen, Senkrad had his back to me as I came through the door and sat down on one of the kitchen chairs. Neither of us said anything, but the silence was all right by me. After awhile he turned around, pan in hand, and placed it on the table, fetching two wooden plates out from in the cupboard. I sat there slightly horrified as he dished up a thick meat stew onto both of the plates.

He sat down and pulled a plate towards himself, motioning for me to do the same, I just sat there silently, without moving. “Eat.”

“I can’t eat that.”

“Why not?”

“It’s meat, I don’t eat meat.”

“Then you’ll starve.”

“So be it.” I said and stood up from the table. I ignored the bowl lying on the counter top and walked out into the garden again, it was dusk and the sun was just setting in the horizon, I quickly looked around and saw some apples on the tree in the middle of the garden, but did not have any. I slowly walked around the edge of the garden, following the small brick path as it wound around the exterior. I was half way round when I noticed some nectarines growing on a tree near me; they were my favourite fruits, so I quickly took one and ate it as I wondered around the garden, trying not to think too hard.

Eventually the darkness seeped into the sky, bringing an eerie feeling over me at the same time, a sense of foreboding, so I went back into the house and walked quietly up to bed; it had been a long day.