Doctor Strange: The Eternal Flame *DISCONTINUED*

Chapter 5

 "You can do it. Just concentrate." I said. "The dimensional energy of the multiverse flows like a river. You can't go against the currents of a river, you have to surrender to it and let it carry you through."

"Okay...okay." Samrah breathed, holding out her hands again. She had taken to the first exercise quickly and was already advancing to the sling-ring. Where it took me about three days to master the techniques Samrah had finished them in three hours. She was advancing quickly, as much as I had after about a month of training. Samrah had an affinity for magic. I knew she would. She was just having a hard time with the sling-ring. Not a single spark. Just like me, and I wasn't loving it.

"Samrah, you're not doing what I'm telling you to do." I sighed. Samrah stopped waving her hands. She smacked her lips together and closed her eyes slowly.

"I'm sorry. It's just not working." Samrah groaned and pulled out a chair. These past few days had been tough for her, I can tell. I had given her over twenty books to read in a matter of four days. I gave her every book I've ever read about sorcery. She did finish them all, I'm just afraid she didn't sleep while she did it. When I read into the late hours of the night, I'd let my body rest and use my astral form to read. I haven't taught Samrah how to do that yet. She needed to be in full control of her bodies energy to accomplish it and she looked absolutely exhausted.

"How about we take a break? You've been going nonstop for a long time." I suggested.

Samrah nodded and stood up from her chair. She walked slowly to her room and I watched her sadly. I was pushing her way too hard. I could see it in the way her face scrunched up when she tried to cast a spell. Her fiery eyes were droopy and lost that spark of determination they held at the beginning.

The problem was we couldn't stop for long. Just last night another Sand Demon had paid the Sanctum a visit. It was smaller than the first but it still scared the heck out of me. Wong was especially concerned, normally the Sand Demons stuck to their little dimension located near the Sahara Desert. Why they were in the humid and sticky air of New York City was beyond me. They've never been a problem until now. I had a sneaking suspicion that Samrah did have something to do with it. I could feel it in her magical aura. There was something very different about her. The feeling was cold and hot at the same time. Familiar, I knew I had felt it somewhere before.

Everything about Samrah was confusing. She was completely new and yet something I had seen before. It made my blood boil. In all my life, there was nothing that ever confused me. Even magic made sense to me now. Samrah made my patience stretch without even doing anything. Mostly because of the mystery around her. Normally I'm very good at reading people. Samrah was...words can't even find a way to describe the feeling she gives me.

Lately, I've been talking to Christine a lot. She didn't mind talking until midnight, in fact, it sounded like she enjoyed it. I did too. She was fun to share my worries with and she handed out really good advice. She even brought up the idea of sending Samrah to school. At first, it really shocked me. I had never really thought about sending Samrah to school or even to get an education. I could tell she was bright and she learned very quickly but she has never been to school before. Samrah told me once that she learned to read and write by herself. No one taught her anything. Samrah taught herself to speak, write and read in not only English but also Spanish, French, Sanskrit(which was very helpful), Portuguese, and German. I couldn't believe she taught herself that in fifteen years. Then again, she did have fourteen years of sitting around an orphanage doing nothing on her hands.

Maybe I'd send her and maybe I wouldn't. I didn't know what to do with Samrah. Only time would tell.

"Hey, Wong, should we send--" I stopped mid sentence when I saw Samrah standing on the steps. She was holding her hands in front of her innocently and looking at me with some sort of puppy dog eyes. Of course, they had no effect on me. No... Permanent effect... but no effect nonetheless.