Blowing Embers

Chapter 16

            Kallai picked at one of her rolls, her knees drawn up to her chest against the chill of the cloudy day’s breeze. She sat in her usual corner of the dormitory roof, lunch arranged in front of her, but her mind was on her earlier failure rather than the food. When the winds picked up in front of her, she only glanced up, watching Shuu appear out of the swirl as he always did.

            He didn’t say anything until he’d dropped onto the ground across from her. The frown he wore had her ducking her head further down, only willing to watch him through the veil of her hair. “Why, like last night, your magic you not did use?” he said, attention wholly on her, not even stealing a piece of cheese off the cloth.

             She froze for a moment before her head snapped up so he could stare at him. “It…it wasn’t a dream?” she whispered.

            Shuu rolled his eyes. “Stupid you being are. Of course, dream it not was. Power you have. Now, we more practice will. Your eyes close.”

            Kallai obeyed instantly, feeling warmth surge inside of her. It hadn’t been a dream. She had done magic. And Shuu was going to show her more. Maybe, just maybe, she could learn enough to pass the exam and get her Magi license. She tried to shove that hope down, knowing how painful the emotion could be, but it kept escaping her to bubble painfully high in her throat. She didn’t know if this was going to work or not, if she should be happy or terrified, or if any of this was really real. Her biggest fear was that this was all a dream or a hallucination, and that she was going to wake up back into the daily grind of harassment and failed spells.

            Either not noticing or not caring about her inner turmoil, Shuu continued. “Your magic for reach, up into all of you it let flow. When your magic in you you taste, picture visualize. Detailed better is. When the picture perfect is, magic into it pour, then release. Illusion it should create.”

            For a second, Kallai was frozen with indecision. What should she picture? But a familiar face rose in her mind, one that made her smile, and she knew she’d be alright. She started from the top, with his long, pale blonde hair, always kept back in a loose horsetail. Next were his eyes, a shade of brown just a bit lighter than her own, that so often crinkled up in the corners when his wide mouth was pulled into a smile. His long nose was next, right over his mouth. His thin, long-limbed form was easy, as was his usual combination of loose trousers, plain shirt, and colourful waistcoat underneath the black of his Magi robe. His feet were last, hidden by the scuffed, leather boots he only changed when they completely fell apart.

Only when every detail of her cousin was perfect in her mind did Kallai once again try and force magic into this new way of doing magic. She didn’t know if it worked, but flushed with the effort of it, she could only hope. Slowly, she opened her eyes.

Shuu had turned around, his gaze running critically over the standing image of the smiling Sevilen. He turned back to her and nodded. “Well done it is.”

An unfamiliar emotion surged inside of Kallai, bringing tears to her eyes. She wanted to run, to scream, to sing, to cry, and to laugh, all at once. Instead, without being able to stop her body, she launched herself at Shuu. She hugged him, feeling her lips stretch unfamiliarly out into a face splitting grin. “Thank you,” she half-sobbed, half-laughed. “Thank you! I…I never thought I…I’ve always wanted to do real magic. I thought I didn’t have any, and that’s why I kept failing.”

            He struggled against her for a second, before he gently shoved her backwards, his winds helping both send her farther away and to steady her so she didn’t fall. Shuu shrugged as she looked at him, his cheeks tinged with pink. “Wasted talent, the worst is. No thanks necessary are,” he said, not looking at her. “As well, my questions you answered have, so fair trade this is.”

            Kallai only continued to grin, practically quivering with happiness. Whatever else happened, whatever the rest of the day brought, she had the memory of correctly creating her very first illusion to keep her warm.