The Fire Inside

Chapter 3 - The Contact

Vera opened her eyes, but the darkness remained. It pressed down upon her, drowning her in fear. Her mind was aching, racing for an answer to her situation. What was she supposed to do? Where was Luna? How could she have been excited for this?

Sensing her surroundings she tried to move her arms and legs. To her, it felt as though she was in water, the abyss around her so thick that if she could see anything, she would be floating in the nothingness. This was not good for her. As great as magic was, there was a physical element, an initial spark was needed through friction. It was almost a requirement for all User’s, however the highest User’s were known to initiate a response without the need to move a muscle.

Finally, she felt her muscles respond. Bringing her hands together as fast as she could, she tried to emit a clap, but when her hands touched it was as though the darkness swallowed the sound. This was problematic.  Thinking back to her final class, she remembered something.

Your graduation is specifically designed for you. The High User will adapt the stage according to your strengths, but more importantly your weaknesses. To succeed, you must exploit your greatest fears, and worries. Your strengths will not always be in your favour.

Her Advanced Magics teacher. His wise words were always cryptic, yet always useful. What can I do? What did he mean by all of that. And that is when it occurred to her. Her thoughts were loud in the silence, so loud in fact, that it almost echoed in her mind.

Clearing her thoughts, she decided to try imagining a sound. Clap. It was not loud, but it was something. Clap. Louder this time, she tried to create a flame, but nothing came. Clap, clap, clap. A spark appeared but quickly vanished. Shaking her head she let her excitement die down inside of her. If I want to do this, I cannot let emotion take over. Clap dammit!

The shouting in her mind seemed to explode out her body as a flame as big as her hand appeared besides her right shoulder. Her vision blurred with the sudden light. Blinking against the intensity, her first thought was to find Luna. Squinting her eyes, she began looking around.

The light from her flame only spread as far as she could reach out. A flame this size would normally light up a living room quite easily, leaving very little area for darkness to hide. Here, however, it was a futile attempt to see further than your nose. Putting more effort into her flame, she grew it tenfold, struggling against the still pressing weight of the darkness surrounding her. The growing flame barely moved her line of sight. It was as though the darkness was an entity, and was fighting to consume her again.

Maybe, just maybe. Vera stopped using the flame to fight against the darkness, and instead tried to use her flame to take it in. Churning the flame in her mind, she created a vortex, and slowly but surely, the darkness crept over to the flame, and spun around its centre. The weight on her mind and body started to ease, and her vortex slowed. The darkness was solidifying her flame, something she had never seen before.

The vortex came to a standstill, but will now emitting a soft blue glow. She attempted to move it through the air, but she had lost the ability to do so, as though the weight she had lost from the darkness gathered into orb. Grabbing it, she looked around.

Vera noticed her vision had expanded, she could see at least five meters in front of her now. In the space between her and the darkness, she saw water droplets moving through the air. Confused she moved the vortex in the direction of the water.

The water was coming from Luna. Her eyes were filled with panic and terror as she floated through the air, her body twisting and turning as she tried to direct herself towards Vera. Her mouth was shaped into her howl, but there was no sound, just empty silence. Frantic now, Vera attempted to call out to her, to get to her. She reached out, tried swimming through the space between them. Nothing happened, no movement at all was made.

Luna, seeing Vera struggle to get to her, only tried harder, the water droplets continuing to fall from her eyes. Vera attempted to call out to her, only to have it swallowed up again. Then she resorted to her mind, like with her conjuring.

Luna! Her voice directed at the crazed puppy. She felt a tugging at her mind, and she pulled back. Frowning she let her thoughts wonder in the direction of Luna again, and then it came to her. The pulling, it was Luna’s mind. She could feel her. Shouting again, she grabbed onto that feeling.

Luna! Relax, calm down, I’m right here. As Vera thought that, she felt the tugging change. It felt as though two ends of a rope had tied themselves together in her mind. Emotions and thoughts filled her. Get out! Darkness! Help! Mama!

She could hear Luna. She could feel her fear, she could sense her own presence through her. Hushing softly down the link, she called to Luna again. This time their eyes locked, and shock filled the space in Vera’s mind where she could feel the link. Luna stopped struggling, and just stared at Vera.

Mama? Confusion and relief filled them both

I’m right here. The feeling of being able to communicate with the Luna was unbelievable, ecstasy flooded her and washed away her fear. Lost in this state, neither of them noticed that they were sinking down. There was no sensation, until their feet touched the ground. Luna sprinted over to her and jumped into her arms.

Mama! Came the happy cry directly into her mind

Hello there lil’un. Luna wagged her tail happily at the name Vera called her often. However, they were still in the darkness, the soft blue glow of the vortex easing it slightly, but they needed to find a way out. Looking around for some sort of escape, or goal, Vera saw a darker section in the space.

Holding Luna now, she picked up their light source and stood. The dark section seemed to move with them. Moving towards it, it appeared to mirror them, advancing towards them. Vera stopped, and Luna growled softly through the connection.

It is another person.

Can you tell who?

Uh-uh.

Stepping forward again, with nowhere else to go, the silhouette took shape. It was a girl, no, a woman much like herself. Alongside her stood a menacing wolf, with its shoulders as high as the top of the woman’s head. A smirk played along her lips, accompanied by a snarl resting upon the wolf’s face.

With an audible click, a flame appeared in the woman’s right hand, and lengthened till it took the shape of a sword. At the same moment, the wolf burst into flames, bright enough that the darkness rushed backwards.

Vera and Luna had a moment before the two rushed at them. Letting go of her vortex, Vera held onto Luna tightly and turned her body. She would allow no harm to come to her. Before the two could strike, the vortex shattered on the ground, imploding onto itself, pulling Vera and Luna backwards. Together, they hit solid ground again, the wind being knocked out from their chests.

“Welcome back,” came the proud, radiating voice of Garret.