Follow Your Heart

Part 4

It couldn't have been on purpose that the spell had been cast. Lyla thought back to her lessons in school. It was only theorized in the myths of her people as to what did it, but what if it had been her ancestor? The ancestor that had given all of herself, used up all her magick, to win the war? That is a raw and primal act that would have a high chance of having unforeseen consequences.

Lyla wished she could see into the mind of her ancestor, to personally ask why or to find out the real reason if it hadn't been her. But Lyla just couldn't shake the feeling that it had happened that way and felt small compared to the supposed task ahead of her. How could she, a young witch dare to change a centuries old spell/curse upon every race out there?

Behind her, the three wolves stopped. Lyla, turned half her face to Nedra, Rogue, and Aliya, "This wasn't a purposeful spell. No one meant to cast it did they?"

"No." Nedra shook her head with a lame gesture to some of the other scrolls and books in the case. "In some of the recordings by our ancestors in their personal journals and diaries, they tell us of what happened. Mayestia's sacrifice was a powerful blast that swept the lands and waters, traversing many, many days. Only one of her blood can fix this and that is what none of those writings will tell you."

Lyla sighed, and rolled the scroll up containing her family tree. "Then how do we start? How do I, with limited knowledge of magick even begin to fix any of this? I'm just one person, one witch."

"We teach you. That is why we are here—to guide you on your journey onto healing the lands of their turmoil and limited potential." Rogue put a hand on Lyla's shoulder.

"We can start with the basics for now. Build up to the more grandiose and complex spells that you think you cannot do. You raised all of those buildings, what makes you think that you cannot do this?" Aliya asked with the head tilt one would see in a wolf or other animal.

"Because this feels... bigger somehow. Like by myself I will fail, but if I am more I will not," Lyla fumbled lamely.

"Right here, right now, call up a light." Nedra told her with the tone of someone exasperated.

Lyla held out her palm, closed her eyes and thought about light. Was it merely a torch or a flame? Or was it something else? She reached deep, pulling within someplace in her mind and soul to be rewarded with a ball of warm golden light that covered a decent area. It was beautiful and should have been out of her realm for being a novice, though here it was.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't start with basics, but look at that. You have power above that of any previous master. It would be a waste to spend too much time covering things that would be a mere flick of the mind once you got past your nerves." Nedra flicked her eyes to the circular space not too far away surrounded with a gorgeous view of the grounds below. "Are you ready to push the limits?"

"If I must," Lyla answered unsure of herself, but knew that the wolf must be right. There was no time to be scared or to do reckless things. There was only time for now and how far.

She stepped into the area that Nedra asked her to go into and went through all of the exercises that they asked of her. Calling up all the dust in the library and making it take on other forms, using the ball of light to become different types of light, summoning things from across the room, and going through a language older than ancient. It was called the Tongue of Mystics, or the dialect of Magick. It was difficult to get her mind around as some of it felt like there was a rough, gritty, sandy paper in it, but she stumbled on. She had to do this, must do this.

Lyla was just trying to get out a spark when she slumped against the wall. Having never performed any type of magick before in her life, she was tired. It didn't matter about her potential or ability, this was all new to her. The wolves once again helped her to the kitchen, but their mindset was ironclad unshakeable. They would be pushing her after dinner, again in the morning, multiple times a day or week to get her to last longer when using magick and the longer that she would last, the more she would be able to handle the larger task at hand.