As she waits, Erny's mind begins to drift back in time once again. Though normally not given to reminiscing, the events of today are directly based on her history, and she's well aware of the importance of history.
The mysterious man, whose name she didn't learn for a very long time, took the time properly teach her the basics of magic. He never admitted it to her, but he was often surprised at her grasp of the concepts, and she readily learned the cantrips that all mages learn as a basis of more powerful magics. He was also taken with her ability to cast while still maintaining some skill with her dagger. He enlisted another to help him, one more skilled in the arts of the rogue, and the two discreetly taught her more advanced skills and magics. They also educated her on the war and the roles of the temples.
Erny in turn educated many of the children that still flocked to her. As she learned to read, she taught them, seeing that they could survive better if they could actively participate in the world around them, rather then leaving them caught in their place below a society that has forgotten them.
Finally, something catches her eye on the horizon, but it's distance is still to great to be sure what it is. Her wings flutter faster in anticipation, until unbidden they lift her from the ground. Her new height shows what she has been waiting on. A barge is being pushed up the river toward Aliuna by another boat. It's taken quite a bit of time to gather the funds to pay for the boat, but the barge came at no cost. It was a gift from her Deity.
When her teachers stopped coming as regularly to teach and train her, she began to seek them out. Finally, she found them in Naerlan, working in a temple. After discussing with them their roles in the temple, she went back to the streets of Aliuna to consider their teachings in more depth. She understood now about the war, the roles of each of the temples in the war, and the hunt for the relic known as the Rod. She also had an understanding of society, a society that would leave her and the other children, most of whom are casualties of the war, to fend for themselves on the streets. The orphanage in Aliuna was a joke, and could barely feed the people that work there, let alone the children that sought refuge there. She flew back to Naerlan and joined with the temple of her teachers, wholly embracing the teachings.
She befriended many people, but her size often was a source of ridicule from her templemates. How could someone who was small by the standards of pixies be of much use in battle? Sure, her spells often gave aid, and he skills with a blade were good enough that she could defend herself, but that was about it. She asked her teachers about it, and drank in what they had to teach. She then went off in search of a piece of mind and possibly a few words of encouragement from her God.