Wielder's Awakening Read Online Free Page A

minutes, the trees began to thin and give way to the small village of Oak Tree.  The village consisted of several houses and shops in a circular pattern around a large park in the center of the village that boasted the largest oak tree anyone had ever seen.
    People were already milling about and several little kids were chasing each other around the oak.  A few people stopped to wave at Traven and his grandfather as they made their way through the town, past the grand oak in the middle of the park, and towards Hand’s lumber mill on the outskirts of the far side of town.
    The mill was nestled alongside the swift creek that flowed along the edge of the village on its way to emptying into the Blue River.  The mill rose above the trees and towered over all of the buildings in the city.  Alongside the mill, its mammoth waterwheel was turned continually by the swift creek providing the power needed to cut the oak easily into useful lumber.  Hand’s mill was large enough to process all of the raw oak that the villagers brought in.  The lumber was then sent in huge wagon loads to a warehouse in Kavar and from there shipped all over the land.  Hand owned the only lumber mill nearby and all of the villagers had to accept the prices that he set.  He paid good money for the wood but not as much as it was worth.  Traven had often thought that maybe he could open a lumber mill in Oak Tree, when he had enough money, and create a little competition.
    After they had unloaded the oak and received payment for it, they began back across town towards their home.  They had been working more than usual all summer, and Traven wondered why they were still bringing in so many loads.  He knew the money from their last couple of loads should last them through the winter, and they had already cashed in on several loads previously.  He wondered what had happened to the money, but his grandparents wouldn’t tell him.  So he was left to wonder as he had continued working hard through the end of the summer.  For some reason, his grandfather insisted that they needed to keep working through the fall and winter also.  Maybe his grandfather was so quiet because he was worrying about money.  Traven assumed that they must have plenty, but what else could he be worrying about.
    As they slowly came out of the village and back into the woods towards their home, Traven’s grandfather finally spoke up.
    “Traven, I have something very important to tell you.”  He then paused for several moments as if trying to decide how exactly to say what he wanted to.
    “Go on Pops,” Traven coaxed.  From the look on his grandfather’s face, he didn’t know whether the news was going to be good or bad.
    “The reason that we have been working so hard is because your grandmother and I have been saving up all of the money for a specific purpose.  We’ve been saving a little ever since your father died and with the extra money that we’ve made this year, we had enough money to pay for you to go to a respectable merchant school in Calyn.”  For a moment, Traven sat in silence, completely dumbfounded.
    “A merchant school in Calyn!” he finally exclaimed.
    He couldn’t believe it.  Calyn was the largest city in Kalia and the busiest port on the Great Sea.  It was also the home of the High King of all Kalia.  He had always dreamed of visiting Calyn but had never really expected that the day would ever come.  And on top of the chance of just going there, he would be going to a merchant school.  No wonder his grandparents had been talking about him becoming a wealthy merchant.  Yet, he knew that only the wealthy had enough money to send their children to a merchant school.  Oh how he wished he could go, but he couldn’t just take all of this money from his grandparents.
    “I don’t think you should spend so much money on me.  You should keep it and use it for yourself and Mams.  It really isn’t that important to me.”
    “Nonsense boy.