Shadowcast

Later That Day: Part 2

"Would you look at that? I'm used to it," Liza said after watching a human vomit in an alley and disintegrate the mess with magic.

The three of them walked down a street that ran across the flat top of a wide tower. Other buildings rose up around them, seeming to pierce the heavens.

Wendy was so focused on the shard of ice floating between her hands that she didn't notice she was about to walk off the edge of the building. Liza caught her by the back of her suspenders as one foot went over the abyss. Wendy snapped out of her trance and dropped the icicle.

"They should really put a handrail there," Liza said, glancing over the edge.

"Sorry," Wendy replied.

"No, that's alright," Liza said, "But while we're on the subject, how do you do magic?"

"Me?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not sure how to explain it. I just found a way that works for me."

"Can you try to explain it?"

"I guess..." Wendy waved her hands and summoned her glyphs again. "I just kind of sort through the symbols I have here..." Wendy ran a hand along her rows of glyphs like she was perusing a store shelf. She pointed to a symbol that looked almost like a V, but with a couple lines passing through it. "It's impossible to keep all my spells in my head, so I have references on hand. Now I just trace that symbol." Wendy drew the V-shaped symbol in the air in front of her and opened her palm underneath it. A violet buttercup grew in her palm. "And there it is. Do you want it?"

"Of course!" Liza took the flower and stuck it behind her ear. She took out a piece of scrap paper and furiously scribbled down the symbol Wendy used.

"It matches your eyes."

Liza looked up from her paper. "Hm?"

"Nothing!"

"Okay." Liza tapped the symbol she drew. A knot of vines materialized in her hand. "That's... something, at least. But it's not real magic."

Wendy looked around Liza, deliberately failing to make eye contact. "I don't know if my method will work for you. You have to develop your own."

"I don't even know what that means!"

Liza tossed her vine ball off the edge and quickened her pace. A few feet away, Wren grumbled strings of demonic-sounding words under his breath. His hand changed to stone, then wood, then metal, all the while retaining its flexibility.

"Wren, how does that work?" asked Liza, "How do you change your hand like that?"

Wren scratched his horns. "It's a more advanced spell. Not something I can teach you on the go like this."

"I just want to know the basics," Liza said, "You do a lot of talking when you cast spells. How does that part work?" She put on her best sad puppy face.

"Okay, let's do something simple. I'll do the words in a language you'll understand, too." Wren flicked his wrist and said "Lights!" One small globule of light grew in Wren's palm and rose up into the air, hovering just over Liza's head. Then another. And another. Four lights danced around Liza's face before swooping down under Wren and settling in the air between them.

"That looks complicated," Liza said, her head spinning from the arcane parlor trick.

"You just need to focus on what you want to happen. Once you know the basics, and you've established your technique, the words and motions should flow from that."

Liza cracked her knuckles and held out her hand. "Lights!" Again, nothing.

Wren shook his head. "A lot of it is practice. A lot of practice, and a lot of study. You'll get the hang of it."

Liza watched her friends walk ahead of her. Both fists clenched, she trailed behind them, repeating Wren's wrist flick and his "Lights!" incantation. She tried different languages. "Luces!" Once, she could have sworn she saw a faint point of light in her hand, but that could have just been her unreliable mind playing tricks on her. She could copy symbols onto spell paper and cast magic that way. Apparently that was more advanced. Why couldn't she get a hang of the simple stuff?

Maybe the wand was the missing link. She took the little twig out of her satchel and pointed it in front of her. Now she had something in her hand to concentrate on. She focused her breathing, drawing her mental energy and pooling it all into this one moment. "Lights!" she said forcefully, flicking her wrist as she waid it. An impotent spurt of light dripped from the tip of her wand. Liza gasped so hard she choked. A wild, confused smile emerged from her coughing fit. "Lights!" she said again, this time throwing away her focus and letting her unbridled excitement carry her. Her wand sent out a single orb. "This is awesome!" Her lights trailed back and forth across the shadowed bridge, bathing the dusky evening streets in a golden glow. Other pedestrians walking past looked at Liza with confusion and secondhand embarrassment. One ancient-looking draconic lady gave Liza a fanged grin and conjured her own small mote of light to briefly join her parade.

She dashed up to Wren and Wendy. "Guys!" she shouted, probably too loudly, "I figured it out! This!" She brandished the wand in front of them and her train of lights danced into view. "This wand is the key! Hiessa, I feel like I can do anything! Give me something to light up!"

"Since when did you have that?" Wren asked her.

"I, uh... I always had it. It's mine. My mother's. Her wand. Mom's wand. She, uh, she gave it to me. It's mine now."

Wendy and Wren shot her weird looks.

"Why didn't you use it before?" asked Wren as a follow-up.

"It's a crutch, isn't it? Using a wand will hold me back."

"Who told you that?"

Liza tried to think back to who told her that, but she couldn't actually think of anyone. "I guess I just always thought that. What's the deal with wands, anyway?"

"An arcane focus like a wand or a staff can help you, well, focus," Wendy told her, "It gives you something to... focus on. There's another word for 'focus,' I just can't think of it right now."

"Concentrate?"

"That's a good one. Thanks."

"No prob."

"I've actually been looking for a staff," Wendy said, "I broke mine and I haven't been able to afford a new one. I'm pretty sure we're getting paid for this, so I might go out and buy one once we finish up here."

"I need some new clothes," Liza said, "Because right now this is all I have." She pulled back the collar of her blouse and gave it a sniff. "Oof! Let's get this over with so I can get out of these!"

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Author's Note:

I've been in a bit of a creative dry spot recently. Thankfully, I have these mostly pre-written.

Happy New Year! Let's hope this one is better than the last.