Chatoyant College Book 8: From the Earth

Chapter 23: Pinwheels

Corrie watched Professor Lal for a moment as she walked towards the windows and began opening the one at the front of the classroom. At least it was a nice day out—fairly warm for November, with no rain. Now she was really glad the snow Edie had told her about Monday night hadn't stuck around.

She lifted her pinwheel and held out her other hand, palm facing toward the pinwheel, elbow resting on the desk. Then she reached for her magic. It was just as easy to find as it had been on Monday, and once again, it felt slightly different; this time it was just as large and warm as it had been for fire, but instead of pulsing, it seemed that the sphere of magic was spinning, rotating like a planet.

Well, that could only be a good thing. She was trying to get the pinwheel to spin, right? Then again, she realized, it could be difficult to get hold of it if it was moving like this... She shook her head, trying to rid herself of her anxiety, and told herself firmly to just do it.

And a second later, the pinwheel was spinning. She could just barely feel the air escaping from her palm—she'd thought it would feel like wind blowing past her hand, but it was more like exhaling. She focused for a moment, willing more air to come from her palm, and the pinwheel span faster. Then she relaxed it, slowing down the flow of air, and the spinning slowed down. She felt her face stretching with a grin. This was easy. This was almost too easy! She could create the air, and she could control it.

She looked up and around at the classroom, still letting the air flow out, and was surprised to realize that no more than a minute could have passed; Professor Lal was still opening the last window. She pushed it open, turned around, and caught Corrie's eye. Nodding, she came toward her. "You've done it already." It was a statement, not a question.

Corrie nodded, still grinning. "I can even make it go faster and slower. Watch." She demonstrated again.

Professor Lal stuck her hand in between Corrie's hand and her pinwheel for a minute, then nodded and drew it back again. "Excellent control. Your practice is paying off. You didn't try air magic before this class, did you?"

"No. I guess I might have, if I'd known it was next..."

"Well, it wouldn't be a problem if you had. Extra effort is always appreciated. Why don't you try creating specific types of gases? That shouldn't be much more difficult for you. In a moment—I think I see another student who has achieved the proper flow—I'll put you together and give you further instructions."

Corrie nodded as Professor Lal walked away, but took a moment to speed up and slow down her air flow for a minute before switching. When she'd managed to keep the pinwheel turning slowly but steadily for several seconds, she felt satisfied with her control, and moved on to the next task.

First she decided to create pure oxygen. The pinwheel kept spinning—sped up, in fact, as she increased the flow—but she couldn't tell if there was any difference in the air. She leaned closer and sniffed it, having no idea what else to do, but it didn't smell any different, either. She tried creating pure carbon dioxide with the same result.

While she was trying to figure out how to understand what she was doing, Professor Lal came back and tapped on her desk. "Corrie, I have a new task for you. Come to the back of the classroom."

Curious, she stopped the flow and stood up, carrying her pinwheel with her. There were a few empty desks at the back, and Kira, who'd asked about the biology of their air, was sitting at one of them. Professor Lal gestured at the other desk. "The two of you have both mastered the simple creation of air already, so I would like you to try learning the air next. Ordinarily this is something you would not learn unless you take the elemental magic class, but there are always a few exceptional students in each class." When Corrie sat down, the professor nodded to her. "What I'd like you to do is take turns creating air. The one who is not creating it should hold her hand out to feel the air and try to sense what it is made of. You should be able to get a general sense of the differences." Without further explanation, the professor turned away.

Corrie turned to Kira, raising her eyebrows, and shrugged. "You want to go first?" She held up her left hand, palm out.

"Sure." Kira held up her right hand, facing Corrie's, and frowned slightly, a furrow appearing between her brows. "Okay, this should be regular air..."