Excerpt from YA Novel: Immortal Essence.

Right after leaving their home country of Erisland, Ion and Cedrus hopped on a merchant’s wagon that was headed to Luag, a southwestern town in the country of Saolavi, north of Erisland. That winter’s rain helped the flora bloom in a way that the earth was beautifully decorated by an abundance of green. The merchant knew of a Master in Luag and offered to take them all the way. After ten days of traveling, they finally reached their destination.

Ion and Cedrus arrived at an open gate — short, metallic and curled at the top, and it looked quite rusted, but still in working shape. When the wagon driver turned into the property, all Ion and Cedrus saw were full trees, flower bushes, and plants and grass growing savagely. There were stone benches and small, round, stone tables that were being devoured by ivy.

The driver stopped in front of a massive wooden door with a metallic handle that looked like a lion’s head. To the side of the massive door were three stone steps followed by another small, rusted green, metal gate. Right in front of that small gate was a slender girl. She was wearing a dress that looked as if different colored butterfly wings were covering her. Her waist-long, light-orange hair had soft curls at the ends, and a small section of her hair twisted in a braided bun that was decorated with a few, small, lilac-colored flowers .

“Watch out for Rootbeer,” she said, pointing at a reddish-brown cat lying right in the middle of the steps.

“Are you here for Master Kemi?” she asked. Her green, round eyes suited the rest of her delicate features.

Ion and Cedrus nodded as the girl signaled them to walk inside the cottage. They thanked the merchant and followed her.

They could immediately see the dining room was cramped, but it had a cozy, pleasant feeling to it. The walls were brick, mostly covered by big, wooden furniture. The table in the center took up a lot of the space in the dining room. The tabletop was covered in a combination of objects—a scale, a large, heavy napkin holder, a bowl of fruit with apples, pears, bananas, and berries, a few books and some lose sheets of paper, and a basket with baked goods which caught Ion’s and Cedrus’s attention.

Cedrus, being a big guy, had to move his chair out in an angle to fit in the small space left for the chairs to be pulled out. Ion couldn’t help but snicker at Cedrus’s attempt to get comfortable.

“My name is Cleomé. Cleomé Donne. It will be an honor to train beside you,” she finished saying this and waited with her hand firmly in the air. “I am also a student of Master Kemi’s. He is in his studio right now,” she pointed at the wall to suggest the space on the other side. “We just finished one of our sessions. I like to help out with some of the chores, like watering his plants.”

“Hi, Cleomé, it is a pleasure to meet you,” started Ion. “My name is Ion Dalahn, and I hope we can encourage each other to bring out our best.” Ion and Cleomé smiled at each other.

Cedrus stood up and shook Cleomé’s hand as well. “Cedrus Rotsen. Nice to meet you,” he said.

Ion and Cedrus talked to Cleomé about where they were from and what their Essences helped them do. While both boys were in the category of Energy Manipulators, their handle on energy was very different. Ion’s Essence gave him the ability to do energy transfers and Cedrus’s Essence helped him harness energy and use it to create energy fields.

“Where are you from, Cleomé? What do you do?” asked Ion.

“Your accent is very pleasing,” said Cedrus. “I am not familiar with it, though.”

“I am from the city of DaGassi, the capital of Saolavi,” she explained. “I just arrived here about three days ago, and I started my traveling experience about three months ago.”

“Just like us,” said Cedrus. “Well, we’ve only been traveling for some days. This will be our first Master.”

“That’s great!” said Cleomé. “Master Kemi is amazing, he is my second Master since I started traveling. You boys will love working with him.”

The three of them were deep in conversation that they did not notice a presence in the dining room’s arched doorway.

“Ahem,” they heard. All of them stopped talking and turned around.

“Master Kemi!” said Cleomé cheerfully.

Ion and Cedrus quickly stood up.

“I was just getting to know Ion and Cedrus, they just arrived from Erisland to come train with you. Should I...?” Cleomé stopped talking and looked at Master Kemi’s face for confirmation before finishing her question.

Master Kemi looked from Ion and Cedrus to Cleomé and nodded at her.

Cleomé went into the kitchen, located towards the corner of the dining room. If she had not walked that way, Ion and Cedrus would not know there was a room back there. She disappeared behing yet another brick archway.

Master Kemi was a man of average height. He had long, grey hair. It flowed straight down like a perfectly vertical waterfall. The top part of his hair was pulled back, held by a dark wooden hair clip. His beard was just like his hair, but short and pointy. His gaze was very calm, but his presence made him look bigger and sharper.

Ion and Cedrus felt intimidated, so they stood still.

Master Kemi waited a few more seconds, staring at both Ion and Cedrus. His calm yet covertly stern face broke when he gave them a smile.

“Please, sit,” he spoke and gestured with his hand, palm facing up.

Master Kemi’s tranquility was unnerving. He blinked slowly, but Ion and Cedrus felt he could see through his eyelids, even when they were closed.