Sinatus

✨Chapter Twenty-Four✨

"Now, this isn't going to be easy." Kaia warned. "At all."

"I never thought it was going to be." Lily replied. "What do I have to do?" 

"This is definitely not one of the first spells you'd learn, but... we're going to have to do our best. See, Montem's are dark creatures. They seek darkness and destruction. They hate light. Especially fire, because it's light and it's so hot. So, we have to create fire to stop them. Oh, and don't worry--" Kaia added quickly, "they won't die! If they come into contact with fire, they just get banished back to the Infestom. So you're not going to have to kill anything."

It was difficult for Lily not to get overexcited. "Fire? I get to make fire with magic? Woah, cool! Wait. What's the Infestom? And why don't they just come back from there?" 

"The Infestom is the place where all monsters and dark creatures come from." Ivy explained. "And they won't be able to come back--at least, not while you're still alive. If a monster is banished to the Infestom, they have to stay there for the next one-hundred and fourteen years. That's not even too long, when you look at the average monster's life span."

"And when they come back?" Lily asked. "Will they still be looking for me when they come back?" 

"I don't think so." Ivy said. "You won't be alive anymore when that happens. The bond--well, more like the curse--you unleashed, should fade with your death. Which, by the way, we're hoping doesn't happen any time soon."

"I thought that the curse would fade when the Montem's go back to the Infestom." Dalton said. "That's what Sir Kummerlidge told me."

Kaia sighed. Ivy shrugged. "I'm not sure. So don't take my word for it, but don't take Sir Kummerlidge's either. He was probably the most idealistic man to ever walk the earth. He often believed the nicer facts were truer, and the darker ideas were thought up by pessimistic douchebags."

"But we do know we have to send the Montem's back to the Infestom either way." Kaia said. "So we have to teach Lily how to make fire." 

"Please," Lily said. 

The four of them stopped at the edge of the path by a tree, and Lily and Kaia sat down. Ivy leaned against the tree behind them and Dalton pulled himself up into the branches.

"Hey, Ivy?" Kaia asked. Ivy looked towards her. "Do you have a Lapista with you by any chance?"

Ivy pressed her lips together and sat down. "Yeah, I've got one." Her voice sounded resigned. She reached into her pocket and drew out a small square of polished grey wood. She handed it to Kaia who grinned.

"Here," Kaia handed it to Lily. Lily took the square--Kaia had called it a Lapista--with a questioning look. "We give them to kids when they first learn magic. It's supposed to help you learn somehow. You can keep it in your pocket or boot, but make sure you keep it."

"Okay," Lily tucked the Lapista in her pocket. "What now?" 

"Now I'm going to try and teach you the spell." Kaia said. Lily smiled in anticipation. "So, the spell to make fire isn't actually quite as advanced as it sounds; it's basically the sped-up version of a telekinesis spell. You just need wood. Of course, some wizards have the rare ability to produce and control fire whenever they want to--but that's not the point. So, here's wood, I guess." Kaia put a small stick in Lily's hand. "It might be easier for your first time if you snap it in half."

Lily snapped the stick in half and held out her hand, laying the two pieces on her palm. 

"Good." Kaia nodded. "Now, fire spells work by magically rubbing the sticks together and creating a spark so quickly the speed can't be measured. the spark then magically intensifies. If you're casting the spell in the palm of your hand, you can't get burned by your flame. The better you get, the less wood you need, and the less time it takes. So, hold out your hand, the way you are right now, think of that wood in your hand bursting into flame, and say Incignis."

Lily nodded she held out her hand, staring at the two small sticks laying in her palm. She imagined them being no longer visible, a bright orange flame flickering in their place. "Incignis."

Nothing happened.

"Can you, uh, demonstrate?" she asked Kaia. Kaia nodded and took the sticks out of her hand, holding them out in her own.

"Incignis." And there was a bright flame burning on her palm and dancing across her fingertips. Lily's eyes widened.

"Woah." 

Kaia laughed and snapped her fingers, causing the flame to vanish. "Thanks, I guess. You try again." She pressed another pair of sticks into Lily's hand.

Lily stared at them, imagining the same thing that had happened to Kaia's sticks happening to hers. "Incignis."

The upper stick rolled slightly sideways, though that may have been caused by the slight tremble of her palm. 

"It's okay," Kaia said, seeing her dismayed expression. "Don't worry, you'll get there. Magic isn't always easy. Try again." 

"Incignis." 

Nothing.

"Incignis." 

Again, nothing.

"Incignis!"

Nothing at all.

"Don't get discouraged." Kaia told Lily. A smile tugged at the corners of Lily's lips. If Lily was unable to do something, she normally didn't go down the road of discouragement. She just felt more determined to get it right.

"I won't." she promised, then refocused on the stick. She now had to use magic. She'd wanted to do it all her life. And here she was now, given an opportunity to learn at least something. To do real magic. She imagined a fire blistering in her palm with more intensity than before. She imagined each tendril of red and orange, imagined the warmth of the fire coating her fingertips. "Incignis!"

Her skin tingled and the sticks flopped weakly on her palm. 

"Progress!" Kaia grinned. "Try again!" 

"Incignis," Lily said, loudly and clearly, picturing the sight, the feeling, the sound of the fire. The sticks glowed faintly, and Lily felt them grow warmer. 

"Good job!" Kaia clapped. "Keep trying!"

"Incignis!" Lily said determinedly. What happened next made Kaia jump to her feet in alarm.

"Lily be careful!" Ivy scrambled back.

"For the sake of Merlin!" Dalton cried, nearly falling out of the tree.

Lily stared at her hands, then looked slowly up, her heart thumping wildly in her chest.

"Um...oops?"