Radiance - The Alight Archives Book #1

56. The Worthy Ones

Minerva pursed her lips and let out a barely audible whistle, all while keeping her gaze fixed and her hand steady in front of her. "Rubrus." A single word and a spell had been born.

As soon as her younger brother's hands clasped together, a minuscule burst of crimson-colored light emerged, gradually unfolding itself into a wispy, ethereal creature. Its flimsy arms extended outward, swaying gently in the soft breeze, while a wide yawn emerged from a gaping mouth that covered almost the entirety of its flickering face. 

As the wisp gazed back at her with bright emerald eyes, a look of astonishment and bewilderment seemed to dawn upon its features, as if the very notion of its own existence had only just dawned on it.

Whenever she used magic, Minerva felt an emptiness engulf her Core, like what had once been a full cup housed inside her stomach had spilled. Wisps like these didn't require too much magical energy—Essence! Remember, it's called Essence!—but it still took a lot out of her, meaning she needed more practice. Much more practice.

Despite her lack of experience, she could cast a spell well enough. They would be satisfied with that, wouldn't they? Well, William certainly was, wildly exclaiming as the reddish flame that was a wisp sewed with life cocked its head back to glance up at him, only to release a snicker from its widened sneer and twirl within his hands. "Amazing, Minerva!" William laughed. "You mastered that spell in only three days! I wish I were as talented as you!"

"No, brother," Minerva huffed, a hand over her mouth. "Look at me. I haven't come anywhere close to mastering it. But I've made progress; that's a start."

The snickering wisp stretched its body into a serpentine shape that coiled around William's fingers, causing the boy to laugh some more. He always was a ticklish, if not squirmish, lad. "It doesn't even burn!"

"That's because wisps aren't made of fire. Natural ones are born from the tears of dragons." Minerva glared down at the wand grasped in her left hand. "Mine are forged from my Essence." 

A pale imitation of true beauty. She had to grab the wrist of her dominant hand to force the shaking of her arm to cease. A few more breaths, and she was back in control. In their current forms, they serve as little more than mobile candles. They're practically useless in combat. She would have cursed to herself, but a proper noble girl should never sully their tongues with profanity, or so she was taught. Training. I need a lot more training. I won't stop, not until my skills are—

"Perfect! Absolutely perfect!" someone cheered. It was her mother's voice; she could always recognize it. Her voice had a musical flare that could send the heart into an unrehearsed chorus. "You are well and truly meant to be a sorcerer! A prodigy if ever I've seen one!"

Minerva's eyes shot open in sheer disbelief. Wait...they're pleased? By such a weak spell?

In moments of intense focus, she would sometimes lose track of the world around her, and forget that her parents were present. To her, they appeared as towering deities, their imposing figures reminiscent of the legendary Twin Sisters. Their frames were so grand that their faces were obscured by a strange blend of light and shadow, leaving them featureless. The only thing visible was a vague and indistinct haze The Haze. It was an eerie and unsettling presence, shrouding her parents' identities like a cloak, casting a mysterious veil over their true nature.

"Her magic is strong, don't you think so, dear?" the titan that was her mother happily inquired, wrapping an arm around Father's hundreds of meters in a cloudless and dark sky. A single pillar of light shining down from the Eternal Gardens kept the barren landscape from being entirely overrun by shadows and ghosts, however.

Her titan father cocked his head down at her. "Yes, she is a wunderkind for the ages. But what else would you expect? She is our daughter, after all." He sounded pleased, but if he'd been smiling, Minerva couldn't tell. The Haze held everything captive within its smoke.