the Forest of Emmitaenu

Making Magic

"I want to make magic with you Lara, here in this place." Lienkin looked up into her eyes. His were like melted caramel, beseeching her, swaying her to his will. "It would be so wonderful, so pure and personal. It would be so right."

Lara took in every detail. She looked at the flame of the candle, the dirt and water; she saw the movement of Lienkin's hair caused by a stealthy breeze. He was already making magic. In the distance the moon was breaking on the horizon, and for a split second Lara's mind was hijacked by thoughts of Zeftx. Her heart skipped a beat as she realized she had left him and Jade both without warning or some kind of explanation. Then something new caught her eyes and diverted her attention.

She saw what looked like snowflakes, but just couldn't be in this weather. The floating white particles glowed like fireflies. She started to ask Lienkin what they were, but one look at his face told her he couldn't see any of it. It was just like with the gold dust in the clearing. He could use, attract, and breathe it in, but he couldn't see it. That's when it clicked. Magic! This was just another shade of magic.

The gold dust during the day and the white dust at night all amounted to the same thing. It was very literally magic. As though confirming her correlation, the glowing, twinkling white particles collected around all the magical elements. It surrounded the candle, the circle of dirt and water, the wand in his hand and even sheltered them both cocooned inside a bigger circle in the air.

The thought of actually using magic was starting to intrigue her and she was beginning to realize she couldn't say no. The possibilities of what could be done with real-to-goodness magic were beyond her wildest dreams and she was leaning over that void full of avid curiosity. Carefully she stepped closer and took his hand. He smiled and relief crossed his face. She realized then that he had been worried she might refuse.

Without letting her go, Lienkin kicked off his slushy shoes at the head of the plateau and Lara followed suit. They walked back barefoot to the middle together, their toes tickling as they brushed lightly across the soft moss that coated the entire cap of this secret place. They turned to face the center where the large rock sat, and lifted their joined hands to the sky.

The full moon crawled slowly over the forest treetops in their direction. Lara's gaze rose to its glowing white light as the pale beams lit their faces and reflected in their eyes. The snowy dust seemed to float to them on the ethereal rays and accumulate like pollen in their circle, except it didn't tickle her nose when she breathed it in.

Lara was taken by surprise when Lienkin began singing.  She had never heard this song before, but he had a nice singing voice and it was enchanting to listen to. The sound resonated in her chest from the vibrato of his deep voice. The words described a lovely sense of admiration and gratitude toward the Immortal Moon Queen. He thanked her for her gifts and summoned her to join them.

His voice rang out loud and clear with a sense of fulfillment as he boasted of her blessings. Lara was awed and humbled by the magnitude of his song even though she'd never heard of the immortal moon queen before. The story he spun with each lyrical phrase took on a more personal meaning as he got deeper into it. She closed her eyes and listened as he continued on.

Now he spoke of a prophecy coming to life and a promise fulfilled, dually squeezing her hands with his own gentle pair as though to emphasize the importance of its meaning to Lara. Her eyes opened wide as his voice rose with his enthusiasm and his words drifted easily into a second language that Lara did not understand. It had an ancient ring to it that danced along her nerve endings in a tingly sort of way.

Inhaling deeply, Lara tried to distinguish the unique scent of magic before slowly breathing out. Just like she had seen with Lienkin in the clearing, when she exhaled the magical dust spiraled off in a renewed frenzy, charging their circle with even more energy.

Unlike what she had seen in the clearing, the dust that zoomed away from her as she exhaled had taken on a new color. All the particles she breathed out turned blue! Looking to Lienkin yet again for his own reaction, she was once more dissatisfied by his continued lack of recognition.

In fact, the casual passage of magic as it entered and exited his own lips confused her. The moon-guided dust that slipped into Lienkin's mouth on a subtle intake of breath, between lyrical phrases, was sung out gradually during the refrain with the same bright white intensity that it entered with.

Fascinated, she took a few more gulping breaths, sucking in as much glittering snow-like particles as possible without being obvious about it. She released each breath with deliberate slowness and watched with renewed amazement as each time, the magical specks turned sky blue and joined the circle Lienkin was weaving.

The breeze still swirled majestically around them, cocooning them in a miniature vortex and causing her to shiver when it brushed her still damp shirt against her back. When Lienkin noticed her discomfort, he lowered and released their hands without missing a beat and walked behind Lara, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and swaying her with him as he continued to sing.  She rocked back and forth in time to the music and watched the glowing particles of light orbiting around them.

With Lienkin blocking the wind from reaching her, Lara felt a gradual rise in warmth. Her pruned fingertips and toes started warming up and awaking her senses. Now she could feel a very real glowing presence and she knew they weren't alone anymore just as she had unexplainably known where the young woman had been hiding in the clearing. It came to her with remarkable certainty though this time she couldn't see it.