Pali was staring up at the nearby mountains. He would go up there today in his yearly summer quest to find special students for the school he taught at. The school, The Kein School of Magic and Learning, sent him out and a few of the other teachers every summer to look for bright children from poor families and give them a chance for schooling.

While Pali was more than happy to give these children a chance at an education, he wished the reason behind it was not there. The reason was the country to the east, Toa Mirr. Pali’s country, Flaern, had been conquered by Toa Mirr in the past and after a long and bloody fight driven them out. With such a dangerous country next to them, Flaern needed the best. Because of this Flaern had fortified itself, allowed women in every aspect of the military to help with numbers, and searched the populace for bright minds and strong fighters.

It wasn't surprising if he would go an entire summer finding nothing. So he used his search as an opportunity for seeing the country and if he found a child all the better. But this year as he lounged around a food stall in this city by the mountains, called Stutra, and was asking his usual questions about if there were any bright children in the area, someone told him something that caught his attention.

The man, an ore cart driver, told him about a strange child, with white hair, skin, and blue eyes that lived in the mining village that fed Stutra's refineries. Pali was immediately hooked. He wanted to know everything about this child. He quickly learned that the man did not know much. All he knew was that she was about seven years of age, that she lived with one of the miner's families, and that she took care of the records and pay stubs for the mine. He also said that as far as he had seen she rarely talked and showed no emotions.

Pali was excited. If this child was as the man described, then she was most likely a Terran. Terrans were extremely rare now with only one or two in the entire country. This in of itself wasn't what excited Pali. It was the possibility of what Terrans knew. While most Terrans suffered from severe memory loss, or just did not have much learning to begin with, there had been a few that remembered things.

From what those of the past had written, Terra was more advanced than any country on Calorin and sometimes a Terran would come that had some or most of their memory intact while also having been educated. These few Terrans had brought new ideas and technology to Calorin. Since the height of the coming of Terrans ended some eighteen hundred years ago and the fact that Candrar, the Deity of Knowledge, had not provided those on Calorin with new knowledge since eons ago there had been no progress.

There was no way Pali would turn down an opportunity to find a Terran. It surprised him that she had gone this long without being found, but it made sense since to most commoners she was nothing more than an oddity. He just hoped that she turned out to be more than this, but the fact that she was in charge of what she was made him optimistic.

Unfortunately, it was too late in the day for Pali to venture up the mountain. He needed to call the school for permission, anyway. He almost wanted to just go up now even though it meant arriving in the middle of the night, but everyone would be asleep.

Pali quickly made it back to his room. When he arrived, he pulled out his travel bag and took out a locked box. Opening it, he pulled out a flat rectangle of clear crystal. This was no ordinary crystal because when he concentrated like so… it lit up.

At first, he saw nothing other than what looked like a ceiling. He had not been expecting for anyone to be there as soon as he tried, so he called out.

"Headmaster Ury, This is Pali. Are you there?"

There was no reply. He wasn't surprised because Ury was the headmaster of a school and wouldn't be available all the time. He would have to try again later. He was not in any hurry, anyway. He just had to catch the headmaster before he retired for the night and since there was about another half an hour of sunlight left, he still had some time.

Twenty minutes later Pali tried again, and this time caught the headmaster.

"Hello, Pali. I trust you have some news." The headmaster said before Pali could say anything.

"Yes, Headmaster. I have heard rumors of a Terran child and would like to see if they are true."

"A Terran child? Come now, you know Terrans cannot have children."

Pali laughed. "You know what I mean Headmaster."

"True. If you really can find a Terran that would be worth a detour. But you realize that even if this Terran looks like a child they are not."

"Yes, I know that much. This child could be eighty years old or in their twenties. Maybe if we are lucky, she will tell us."

"If it were that simple Pali, then we would have found that out by now. But finding out why their ages change when they come to Calorin is not important. Just go see if she is there or just a rumor. You know how peasants can be."

"Great! I will leave at dawn tomorrow. She is in the mining town of Porra-Kel so it will take me a while to get up and down the mountain but I will contact you again when I get back."

"Sorris be with you Pali."

"Thank you, headmaster."

Pali had expected nothing different from Headmaster Ury, but getting it out of the way made him feel relieved. Now he needed to find something to do to pass the rest of the night. He just wished he had one of his books on Terrans with him at the moment and his guide to the language they called "Latin."

The next morning Pali woke up early and left the inn as soon as the sun made its presence known. He did not need to leave so early but he did not know how long he would be in Porra-Kel and he wanted as much time as possible to make it back to the inn before nightfall.

Pali almost rode one of the ore wagons up the mountain, but one reason he did these summer searches was because he enjoyed walking, even with the long distances he traveled. He also had not hiked up a mountain in years and wanted to take in the scenery, especially with the leaves farther up that were already turning their reds and yellows as winter approached.

As he hiked, he became more and more impressed with the surrounding scenery. To the south, he could see the land that spread out as far as he could see while to the north were the high snow-covered peaks of the Flaern Mountains, of which they had named his country after.

As he neared Porra-Kel, his sense of excitement grew. In a few more minutes he would see if what the mine cart driver had said were true. He had no reason to doubt the man but doubt there was. Terrans were such a rare sight that rumors should have spread past Stutra, yet they had not. Maybe the fact that the Terran was in an isolated mining town was the reason, but that could not be the only reason.

Pali rounded a ridge and saw Porra-Kel. It was a small village with only fifty of the small rock and mortar houses that most commoners lived in. Pali was taken aback at how poor the village looked. Most of the houses were old and worn. Even the small shrine in the village center had seen better days.

In the village, Pali went to the first person he saw and asked them about the Terran. The villager looked uncomfortable but confirmed that there was a Terran in the village and even told him how to find where she lived. The village also gave him some advice.

"That child speaks little and avoids people as much as possible. Speak with her parents first. They know her best. Even if that is not much."

Pali did not know what to make of this news. It might be a bad thing or nothing at all. Terrans were known to be highly eccentric after all. If it was a bad thing, then it would make things hard. He hoped that things would go smoothly.

It was easy to find the house. With there being so few houses there was no way he could get lost. He stood for a moment and looked it over. It was just as small and worn as most of the other houses. On the other hand, he noticed a few differences. Unlike the other houses, the latrine had been moved farther away and the children playing in the yard looked cleaner and healthier than the others he had seen, though their clothes were just as ragged.

Pali walked up to the door, waving at the children as they looked up at him. It was open, but he knocked on the door, anyway. A woman of immediately answered his knock. She was about thirty if Pali had to guess. This must have been the mother.

She looked at Pali and gave a momentary expression of surprise before bowing herself slightly. Pali had thought he had chosen clothes that would not give his higher standing away, but she had seen through it.

"Good day to you Sir, I am Eliz Attish Porra-Kel."

"Good day Eliz I am Pali Candrar Bo and am a representative of the Kein School of Magic and Learning. I heard there might be a Terran child living here, and I wanted to invite her to come and attend, but before I see her I was told I should talk to you about her first."

"I see. I will answer anything I can."

"Thank you, Eliz. Could you tell me her name and how you came to care for her?"

She thought for a little while and then told him. "The child, Salis Terra, as we call her was found in the middle of a ring of fire six years ago by my husband and a few others near the village to the west."

That sounded right. Every case he had read about said that Terrans were always found in the middle of what looked like a magic circle and blue orbs of raw magic that often started fires.

Eliz continued. "She was no larger than a one-year-old child at the time. Since she could barely stand on her own and could not talk, no one knew what to do with her. In the end my husband volunteered to raise her."

"I see." So this Terran, Salis, had been given the body of a baby. "Can you tell me if she has any deformities?"

"Deformities? Why would she have any deformities?"

So, she did not have any deformities that anyone could see. That was a good thing.

"How about her memories? Has she told you anything?" Pali asked what he hoped would get a good answer to.

"I could not say. The child has said nothing about where she came from or even her real name, but sometimes she does strange things and even makes us do them too."

"Like?"

"She will not eat any food I prepare unless I clean my hands. She also made us move the latrine away from the house and refuses to sleep with the other children and instead uses a hammock."

"Why would she do those things?"

"I do not know. I asked her once, and she did not say."

That was strange. Why would the Terran do these things? Pali knew there must be something to it, but what? What would doing those things accomplish?

"All right," Pali continued, "could you tell me what the child is like?"

Eliz thought again before speaking. "There is not much I could say. She rarely speaks and only when spoken to or instructed and she often goes off to her…" Eliz paused again, "She goes to her water wheel by the river that runs just behind our house."

"Her water wheel?"

"Yes, she just recently finished building it. It quite surprised me when I saw it."

She had built a water wheel? What would she need one of those for? There was no way she would build it to grind grain.

"Is she there right now?" Pali asked.

"I could not say for sure, but for the past few days she has been going there right after she finishes her job at the foreman's house."

She had a job at the foreman's house? There was no way this Terran was a child of about seven, but he knew that already. It also seemed that she had much of her memories intact or at least habits. Pali was looking forward to talking to this Terran more and more.

"Could you take me to her?"

"Yes."

Eliz took Pali outside and led him into the trees behind the house. He soon heard the river and wanted to run but did not want to leave Eliz behind like that. So for another grueling few minutes, he walked. When he finally broke through the trees, he saw it. In front of him stood a somewhat crude but working water wheel and the small figure of a child inside.