[wattys 2018 shortlisted]
Humans see her as a dangerous threat -a witch that must be executed. With the uncontrollable ability to form ice at her fingertips, Ravenna is forced into hiding amongst the humans, stealing to survive. That is, until she h...
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THE NEXT WEEK passed in a blur — way faster than Ravenna expected it to. Throughout each second of the day, her mind was fully occupied. The training sessions were rigorous and endless sparring that stretched deep into the later hours of the night. Each hour was intense and physically demanding. It forced Ravenna to be quick on her feet — dodging globs of white magic that Caelan hurled at her. Sometimes she could deflect with a magic shield. As more time passed, Ravenna soon became able to throw her own globs of light blue magic right back at him. It wasn't long before globs of white and light blue magic covered everything within the study — the walls, the floors, and even the ceiling.
Any time spent not throwing globs of magic at each other was dedicated toward performing mundane chores around the ever-crumbling castle. Caelan showed her the simplest of spells, growing progressively harder and higher leveled as the days passed.. She learned spells to make food, to make utensils and dishes float around, and to even organize books. She had to figure out how to perform a simple cleaning spell that could remove the magic gunk from the walls — an unfortunate side effect of their endless sparring. She even learned a spell that would help maintain and restore the exterior of the castle, preventing it from falling into ruin again.
Nights were spent reading through various different spellbooks from Tylat's immense collection. Caelan and Ravenna typically found themselves seated at a table in the study, much like how they used to back in the Royal Library. Various scrolls and spellbooks surrounded them. Each had a book open and their gazes glued to its aged pages.
Ravenna focused on the more offense-type spells, reading about various forms of attacking with magic, whereas Caelan focused on armor modification spells.
Discussion was minimal and hardly necessary. Ravenna found the quiet nighttime to be relaxing, especially while in his presence. It also gave her a chance to study him more closely.
Caelan was an enigma to her.
His personality had changed — in a good way. He was warmer and more open to her. It was as if the stoic veil that he hid behind had fallen. She saw more genuine emotions. His teaching style had changed drastically compared to her memories as well. No longer the aloof, self-focused teacher, Caelan spent every moment of the day with her. He distracted her. He laughed at her. And he challenged her, pushing her further to make more progress.
And progress had been made — but it was not as much as Ravenna had wanted.
She stood currently in the study, partially leaning against a bookshelf. Her breaths came in heavy, labored pants that she struggled to calm. Caelan was several feet away from her, leaning against another bookshelf. His expression was barely distinguishable to her from afar — however she could sense an overflow of determination seeping from him in waves.
"Had enough?" he called out to her.
He was shirtless, naturally. So even though her body was turned away from him, she watched his every movement from the corners of her eyes. "No," she told him.
