“Okay, Dawn, You can say a spell to make your powers activate. Its easy. Just repeat after me, okay?”, says Davin with a look of compassion.
I nod my head, “Alright”.
“Vicis tardus” Says David. Then he does this weird snap-clap motion.
“Why’d you do that snap-clap thing?” I ask.
“It’s called a nae-tunde. It breaks a Quo spell so it doesn’t work. Now try what I just said but, without the nae-tunde.”
I take a deep breath, Okay, Dawn. You can do this., “Vicis tardus”. All of the sudden, everything slows down. The other campers stop moving. Wait, they’re moving so slowly, I can hardly see it. They’re posed in ways that you should stand while fighting. Swords, shields, and daggers in hand are driving towards dummies and other campers. The only thing different about this is that I am moving at normal speed. At least for me. It feels like the whole world just stopped except for me and David. He’s moving at my speed, too.
“Great job, Dawn. Now to stop this, you’ve got to say, duis tempus.” He does the nae-tunde again, “Got that?”
“Yeah”, I feel nervous. I don’t know why. I’m just saying a spell, “Duis tempus?” Everyone’s speed goes back to normal. I see one aeris kid crash into the ground and land on his back sliding and getting dirt on his white outfit.
“Dawn! You did fantastic.I’ve never had an apprentice cast the spell perfectly on the first try. You, Dawn are something special. I can just tell”. He gives me a high-five.
“Thanks, David. Do I need to practice some more of my spells or can I choose a weapon now?” I ask
“I think we should practice a few more spells before you choose a weapon you need to see how you are fitting in with the magic and other stuff. Choosing a weapon is the most important part of training for combat and we need to see how you move so we can suggest you one. Then, you choose”.
“And when would you think I’m ready? After I perfect five spells?”
“Three”, says David with assurance.
“I’ve got two down, one to go. Right?”
“No you need to know which spell does which and how to cast them flawlessly. You got that?”
“Yep”.
“Okay so to speed up the time, you say tempus celeritatis”, he does the nae-tunde again, “Last time, you slowed down time. Try to speed it up, now”.
Those last two spells were easy but this one is just weird, “The last part is confusing and it sounds like celery. Could you repeat it? Please?” I give him a confused look and then do a little hopeful half-smile.
“Celeritatis. Cel-er-it-at-is”, says David, trying to get me to hear him properly.
“Celeritatis. Got it”, I snap and look up trying to get the pronunciation in my head. I take a deep breath and say confidently, “Tempus celeritatus”.
All of the sudden, which isn’t really sudden; I already knew something was going to happen. But, everybody sped up. It looks as if everybody was moving at supersonic speed. I can’t even keep my eye one one specific person because everyone is just a big blur.
“Okay, Dawn”, says David in a calm fashion, “Do you remember the cancellation spell?”
“I think so”.
“Then, say it”.
“Duis tempus?”
Everything turns back to normal immediately.
“Great job. Now, What’s a nae-tunde?” David asks
“It’s the hand-motion that stops a spoken spell, right?”
“Correct. How to you do a nae-tunde?”
I hesitate for a second, “You snap and then clap”.
“Duis tempus?” he does the nae-tunde.
“Spoken cancellation spell”.
“Vicis tardus?” nae-tunde
“Speeding up?”
“No”.
“Slowing down?”
“Correct. I’ll ask you again later.
“Okay. So there’s one more spell. Ask me”.
David raises his eyebrow, “Tempus celeritatus?” He then does the nae-tunde once again.
“That’s to speed up and Vicis tardus is to slow down”. Everything slows down because I
forgot to cancel the spell.
Darn it. I think, cancel the spell, idiot.
Then, my stupid mind decides to forget the cancellation spell, “Umm, uh, Vicis…”. I’m trying to remember the rest, “tardus!”
“I’m surprised you actually remembered the spell, it looked like you forgot the spell for a second”, says David with a questioning look in his eyes.
“Well, I remembered, didn’t I?”
"True, true".
I'm starting to get more comfortable with David. He's much more mature than me but he's cool.
"I remembered most of the spells. Can I choose my weapon, now? Please?"
"Since you keep begging me, fine. We'll choose it. Come on, let's go". He motions me to follow him and we start across camp.
YOU ARE READING
Dawn
PertualanganDawn Hawkins is a twelve-year-old girl who finds herself at a mysterious camp for people who control the four main elements. But she discovers that she has a special power... Instead of earth, fire, water, or air, she controls... Time.
