Snow White Queen [NaNoWriMo 2018]

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Hello again, Lilia. I trust you've been practicing?"

"Yes, I have."

"Have you been making progress?"

"Yes."

Lilia was back at Amantha's cozy hut once again, this time with much more confidence in her abilities.

Amantha set a jar down on the table as Lilia settled into her usual chair. Lilia focused on it, and within seconds it had fractured neatly, all the shards in one small pile. Seconds later, the jar was whole again.

Lilia sat back and looked up at Amantha, who nodded approvingly. "Very good." She turned around and searched her shelves, supposedly for Lilia's next assignment. Apparently, she found what she was looking for and grabbed it.

Lilia saw what it was as Amantha set it down before her: a match in a stone bowl.

"New task: light the match."

"What's the bowl for?"

"So you don't scorch my table."

Lilia nodded to herself. This should be easy enough.

She spent the next few minutes trying different strategies to get the match to light. At one point she thought she smelled smoke, but she wasn't sure if that was the match or her mind starting to fry.

Once the sun had set, Amantha decided to let her go, telling her to practice on her own time.

"Be careful. Fire is unpredictable and hard to control."

Lilia bid her farewell as she walked back up to the castle with the match and bowl.

~~~

Lilia stayed up late into the night, trying to get the match to light. A few times, she thought she saw something flicker, but it was gone before she could really tell what it was.

The sky had started to turn gray with the approaching sun, and she still hadn't accomplished anything. Her eyelids had started to feel heavy and she was having a hard time keeping her head upright.

One more try, then I'm going to bed.

She focused one more time on the match, but her concentration was slipping. She rested her chin in her hand. She was so tired... she might as well just sleep here...

A burst of heat shocked Lilia from her daze. The match had ignited. More than that, it was completely engulfed in an inferno.

In her haste to get away from the flame, she pushed her chair away from the desk, only for it to tip and land her on the floor.

Okay, so we got that. Now how do I put it out?

She scrambled up off the ground and ran around her room, trying to find something she could use to put the fire out before it spread. She found a pitcher of water, which she haphazardly dunked on the flame.

Lilia picked up her chair and sat back down, waiting for her racing pulse to calm down.

The match, which was now soaked, was blackened and charred. I'm going to have to find another match.

Suddenly wide awake, Lilia decided to just get started with her day.

~~~

Lilia paged through a book that she had borrowed from Amantha, idly passing time. For the most part, she let her mind wander, but she was keeping an eye out for anything that could help.

Her eyes drifted to an illustration of an apple. The artist's depiction included a skull in the background. Curious, she leaned forward to read the caption.

The Moristis Apple is found in the heights of the Akima Mountains. It is said to be guarded by fae. The Moristis Apple is said to induce a coma, followed by a painless death. It is effective on all living and unliving creatures; the only exceptions are constructed and summoned creatures and enchanted objects. This is a favorable weapon for those who cannot or are not willing to face their enemy in hand-to-hand combat.

This could be useful, Lilia thought to herself. She bookmarked the page to remind herself to bring it up the next time she saw Amantha.

~~~

Lilia demonstrated an improvement in her skills with the match, though she still had a way to go in controlling and putting out the flame.

"You're doing very well. I'll see you next week?"

"I'll be here." Lilia was about to leave when she remembered her question "Oh, I just remembered." She pulled the book out of her bag and opened to the page she had marked. "What do you know about this?"

Amantha looked at the page and nodded solemnly to herself. "The Moristis Apple. It's very rare, and very dangerous. Anyone wanting to use it needs to be extremely cautious. Why do you ask?"

"I... just curious." Something told her that she shouldn't be open about her idea just yet.

"If you were thinking about going to find it, forget it. It's too dangerous, especially for someone as inexperienced as you. The Apple tends to behave erratically; you can never be certain that it'll do what you want it to."

Lilia nodded, trying to appear as if she was in agreement, but Amantha's words were too late. She was set on finding this apple.

One last update before I go on vacation. I plan on writing while I'm gone, but I'm not bringing my laptop, so I won't be updating. Hopefully I'll be able to write enough that I have enough to update during band camp.
That's all I have for now. Thank you so much for reading. If you enjoyed, leave a vote, and comment with your thoughts. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.
Until next time,
~Patchesmimi