A Promised Prophecy

Chapter Thirty-Five

As if she didn't trust me with any other item, she grabbed a spoon from the table that had been used to stir coffee. She extended her hand and I leaned across the table to grab it from her. With the spoon in my hand I focused. I started by doing what would have been standard to infuse an item with elemental magic. When that didn't work, I settled for an incantation in my head since I didn't want Est or Callisto to know how much I was struggling. Even with the incantation, a beautiful flame did not engulf the spoon as I'd hoped. Instead, I noticed a different feeling. The spoon felt hot to touch and, as I focused my magic, it also turned red to indicate the spoon was being heated.

Est gasped and clapped her hands, happy with the achievement. But I couldn't control it. The spoon continued to heat even when I tried to reign it in. I dropped it as the spoon began to melt, molten metal dripping to the stone floor and fusing to the cold ground below.

"That was something else," Est acknowledged. She seemed almost giddy when she spoke, and I couldn't tell if her excitement was in my failure or my potential. "Do it again."

"I'm not sure what I did." I looked down at the melted spoon, darkening in color as it cooled down.

"You melted it," Callisto answered me. Est looked at him and then back at the spoon on the ground.

"What do you think about it?" She asked Callisto. She had the same excitement as before, maybe even more so this time and I wondered what it was that Callisto said to have hyped her up more so than she already was.

"Standard pyrokinesis," he answered. "The manipulation of fire and heat. It's not about what you can do right now, but more about where to start. You're heating things up to the point of melting, catching fire, and I'd guess even explosions depending on the material."

"Fascinating." Est raised her hands to her face in a prayer position before tapping her fingers together and taking a more menacing look. "I have so many ideas."

"Est," Callisto almost chided her.

"You're ruining my fun, Callisto." She groaned back. "I haven't had this much fun since Celeste was here."

"Yeah," I agreed with a smile. Maybe it was being in the Vault with them, or specifically being there with Est, but it was reminiscent of training with Celeste. "I miss her."

"She'd sure know what to do right now." Est sighed. "She missed you too, you know?"

"She did?" I questioned. I hadn't reached out to Celeste after I left. It was hard to. I felt like I had abandoned her and Silverleaf, but specifically her, because I had chosen a new coven. I didn't give her any warning either. We didn't leave on bad terms and yet we hardly spoke after. It was as if she was disappointed in my decisions. How could someone still miss you when you're a disappointment?

"Of course she did." She smiled at me as if she could feel my change in energy. Was Est always this good at reading people? "You were like a daughter to her, when you left Celeste canceled classes for a few weeks. She continued business as usual, but she didn't go out unless it was needed. It was probably the night we first saw you on TV that something flipped in her and she was back to normal. We all assumed that seeing you on TV gave her some form of peace, like she knew you were safe."

Est's words made me feel guilty and happy at the same time. Maybe I needed to hear something like this after I first left, and I would have reached out to Celeste more. But then I think back to those years in early adulthood trying to find out who I was, and I don't think it would've mattered. I've grown since then and maturity brings out different feelings than my young angst. What I feel with Est now is not guaranteed to be how I felt back then.

Est looked at Callisto and then back at me. Then she waved her hand as if she expected me to come closer to her. I stared at her, curious to see if she actually expected me to respond to that. She did the motion again, this time even more dramatic than the first. I rolled my eyes and gave in, interested in hearing what she had to say. When I got to her she pulled me in closer.

"I'm taking a break," Callisto gruffed as he walked away from us. It felt like he knew what she was going to say and didn't want to be a part of the conversation.

"You're lucky," she whispered.

"What do you mean?"

"Callisto responded to you. He doesn't just respond to anyone, haven't you noticed?"

I looked over at Callisto who refused to look back in our direction. I hadn't noticed, or if I had it wasn't unusual for someone not to respond to me if they didn't know me, so I didn't think much of it.

"I don't understand how—"

"It took Callisto three years to respond directly to Celeste and six years to respond to James. He responded to you in a matter of days. The only one he responded to faster than you, was me."

"I still don't understand. Why does that matter?"

"Well, think about it—"

"I'm back," James commanded as he entered the room and cut off Est in the middle of her sentence. "And nervous. I'm sending you out."

"James?" Est questioned, quickly standing up on the table and jumping off into action. There was genuine concern in her voice and the girl who only moments before was so excited to practice magic with me was gone, taken place by someone who was far more serious.

"Cybill is on the move to the plaza. Est, I want you there. Callisto, she made a report of an unnamed disturbance in the grove. I need you to check it out."

"What about you?" Est asked.

"Cybill's mad at me. I need to stay back."