The Gemino Glitch

Chapter 6: Friends in Cold Places

The next morning Rebecca awoke with a lighter heart. It was easy to cheer up when T'ariq walking into the room with two bowls of porridge in his hands and a nervous smile on his face. Her mood improved even further when she stepped out of her room to find the innkeeper presenting her with a steel sword.

"The man last night left it for you." she explained, holding it out in its sheath for Rebecca to take. Her eyes brightened in amazement. She strapped it around her waist, and practiced walking up and down the room with it nudging against her leg.

"How do I look?" she asked T'ariq, twirling in a circle. The Khajiit laughed.

"Like a little girl with a sword."

Rebecca dropped her arms and shot him a dry look.

Before getting back on the road, they bought some potions from Arcadia's Cauldron, mainly for health but also a couple for magicka. T'ariq even snagged a potion of invisibilty that he claimed would come in handy whenever he needed to stash her behind a tree while he fought. Rebecca found this especially unamusing. They also bought some fresh fruit and cooked meat to stash in their bags, unsure of where they would next be eating, or even sleeping.

They had just left Whiterun when Rebecca reminded her furry friend of his promise to teach her magic, unsatisfied with the feeble flame that she had briefly conjured the day before. They decided to stop just by the Battle-Born farm across the path to practice.

"Ok little kit," T'ariq took up a position opposite her, about a metre away, and placed his feet apart in a fighting stance. "Take your sword out."

Rebecca frowned, but did as he asked, holding onto her new blade with both hands to steady her grip. "I thought we were practicing magic?"

"We are. This one needs to learn to hold a weapon in one hand, and a spell in the other. Take your hand away from the sword." he instructed her. Rebecca gritted her teeth as she tightened her grip. Even though it was a one-handed weapon, it was still much heavier than she had muscle for, and took some effort to keep up.

"Good. Now, as we did yesterday-" T'ariq told her, pointing to her empty hand. "Remember that this magic is simply energy. This one has to focus that energy and mould it into what she wants. For example, make fire."

Rebecca closed her eyes tight shut, channelling that mysterious warmth inside of her to her hand. She tried to visualise it becoming hot, and destructive, and heard T'ariq purr in satisfaction. She opened her eyes and saw a ball of flames dancing about in her palm. She barely felt a thing, but for a slight tickling sensation, and was pleased to find that she did not have to concentrate too hard to maintain it.

"Now, direct it at me." he told her, putting out his palms in front of him.

"Are you sure?" Rebecca sounded worried.

T'ariq nodded, smiling. "Yes, little kit."

Closing her eyes and hoping to high hell that T'ariq knew what he was doing, Rebecca turned her palm outwards, and breathed out in a huff, trying to expel the energy that was building in her hand. But she heard nothing, no whoosh of flames or smell of singed cat hair. Opening one eye nervously, she saw T'ariq standing stock still, his hands on his hips.

"Did I do anything?" she asked hopefully.

"No." he told her. Rebecca groaned in frustration. She finally let her hands drop, the muscles in her wrist aching from holding up her sword for so long. "Perhaps it would help if the eyes were not closed?" he suggested, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Rebecca shot him a wry smile and held up her sword and left hand to try again. T'ariq cast a simple ward spell, conjuring a shimmering white barrier in front of him that warped his image like a sheet of running water. She tried again, reviving the flames in an instant and this time forcing herself to watch as she twisted her arm and breathed out. This time, to her surprise, a blast of fire shot out and splashed against T'ariq's ward. But she quickly ran out of breath, and when her lungs ran empty, so too did her magic. The flames vanished as quickly as they had appeared, leaving Rebecca unexpectedly tired, and panting heavily. T'ariq returned to her side, taking the sword and offering her his shoulder to lean on.