by J E Mueller
“Glad I bring balance to your life,” That was a bad move, but there was no way I could have expected my route to be so dangerous.
“Me too.” Lee laughed, easily bouncing back. “Let’s go find you a job to help out with. I do need to check up on a committee too while we’re out.”
While Lee went about his business I helped out one of the local bakers with Tella. There was a lot to be done, but Tella enjoyed talking to me the entire time. Or rather at me. She had a lot to say and didn’t give much time for me to reply, but I didn’t mind. She didn’t seem to want to hold a real conversation and instead talked as a way to quickly pass the time. The only time she let me speak was when she asked what I liked best about the forest. The woods were her favorite place to spend her time. She loved everything from the smell to the sounds she described in wonderfully long details.
“Oh and the hawks!” she chattered on. “I’d love to train one someday, but no one here really knows how. I mean sure, some can mentally connect with them, but that's not really the same thing. I want my own connection with them! I really doubt Momma would like that though. They eat rodents and she really hates that. Would you ever want to train a hawk?”
I considered it for the second I was allowed as I rolled out some dough to make bread. “Possibly. You do need those special gloves for it, so it wouldn’t be impossible.”
“See! Now there’s something you should really spend more time on rather than wandering around. There’s lots to learn here and you can train hawks with me! It’s a perfect plan,” Tella prattled on as she worked on her own project.
“And where would you get a young hawk to train?” I asked, pointing out the small flaw in her plan.
“I’d convince someone to call it to me and go from there. I’m sure there’s got to be a book on it somewhere. There are lots of old talents here that have just been overlooked since so many of us now have magic, but that doesn’t mean every skill is lost. We can totally rebuild this! Just think. An army of messenger hawks. I bet one could have gotten to the palace in half the time a human would take and we’d already know for sure if they were sending us their aid or not. It’s a great system we’re overlooking. Don’t you think?”
“Well I-”
“Perfect!” Tella rejoiced before I could reply. “And could you imagine how much easier it would be for hunting parties to send word of an injury? We’d have so many good things coming from this, we really should see how possible it is. It can’t be impossible, I mean nothing really is impossible. If you’re training to use your magic, and curses can be broken, then I can totally learn how to train a falcon!”
By the end of the day I was feeling worn down and beaten. After dinner Juni offered to teach me how to crochet to give me something to do to stay awake. It wasn’t too difficult, but it took time to get right at first.
When Juni finally went to bed Lee offered to stay up and told me stories of his life and childhood. He didn’t leave out any details. Stories about the village, stupid things he had done, some small adventures with camping and traveling to other places. It made the time go by more quickly as we waited for dawn.
“What do you think you would be doing now if your father had died in battle but you weren’t cursed?” Lee asked.
“Hard to say.” I admitted, even more so since I hadn’t had any leadership training. “Could easily just be part of the king or queen's counsel or married and living in another kingdom. At this point, I can’t imagine sitting around trying to rule. Being out and about in the kingdom makes life much more interesting.” I curled up pretending I wouldn’t fall asleep by resting my eyes.
“Someone’s got to rule it, though.”
“Yeah, that's true, but I’d not likely have to rule anything. That would mean I’d still have two older sisters and I would be at the very bottom of the list for taking. This is probably better in the long run. I just don’t want to be in such a strong position of power.”
Lee shrugged. “What will you do if you get your magic under control? Better yet, if you make progress here, would you stay longer?”
My brain was starting to feel like mush. My second wind gone long ago. I opened my eyes and tiredly replied. “I don’t know Lee. I like traveling and can’t say what I’d do with more options. It’s like if I was allergic to chocolate and there was a miracle in the tangible future that would allow me to eat it, what would I do first with it? Would I care that I could have something new, or just be indifferent to it until I saw a chocolate cake? It’s hard to say.”
There was a soft knock at the door. We both started at it, confused before Lee got up to answer it. He returned with Lela.
“We need to go where there’s room for error,” Lela stated calmly. “Come.” She beckoned us to follow.
Tired and still confused, I followed behind her and Lee as we went outside. We walked past the entrance and a good distance into the night before stopping in a wide clearing.
“Lee,” she instructed. “When I say, we’ll test the exact level of the fire. It’s going to be terribly hot, and likely out of control, but you can handle it, yes?”
Lee’s eyes glazed over for a moment with magic. “Yes,” he replied with confidence.
“Good.” She backed up several feet. “Key, remove your gloves. Just a simple handshake will work for this test.”
I stared at her for a moment thinking that she was crazy, and only then remembering that Lee wouldn’t actually be killed. Would it hurt him? I was unsure. Nothing seemed to phase him.
Removing my left glove, I held out my hand and Lee took it without question. The fire blazed strongly inside me, and I could feel it not only latch out at freedom, but latch onto Lee who just stared at his hand with mild interest. I pulled away quickly and he just continued to stare at his hand.
“That was really hot,” he said with mild interest, “What was the point of that?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at Lela.
Lela pointed at me. “Describe what happened.”
“I could feel the fire being drawn to the surface, and not being able to go anywhere else, it latched onto Lee.” It was like the moment with the poison again. I could tell what was going on. Was I always able to tell what was happening and just ignored it, letting the horror of my curse taking hold of someone cloud my vision?
“Lee?” she asked, nodding for him to answer the same question.
“The magic latched onto my hand. Its source is basic demon fire. Demon fire will attack what it first latches onto but cannot be transferred to the surrounding environment without an actual demon to guide it, which is why it only attacks and destroys the subject if the subject cannot combat it. With my own magic I kept the fire centered on my hand and didn’t let it spread. When she withdrew her hand she cut off the source of power. Without the power source and something to feed on, it died. With my elemental magic against it, it wasn’t difficult to fight back against the fire.”
Lee looked at me and continued. “My magic is centered at my core. The fire inside me came to meet yours, and was then drowned with water and smothered with earth and a lack of air. While I cannot do great things with my gifts, I can control this much.”
“Excellent, Lee. You’ve come a long way with your gifts and understanding how they work,” Lela said, with approval. It appeared to me that she may have helped him with it when he was younger. That hadn’t occurred to me before, but I was happy to hear that at one point in time he was not completely in control.
“Now it’s your turn, Key,” Lela continued. “What you feel, your magic is within your control. If you can expect contact you should be able to control when or if the fire moves outside of you. Try again, and try to lessen the amount that escapes. When a kettle whistles you remove it from the flame, you don’t give it more heat. When you come in contact with someone you’re giving your fire a way out. Withhold it.”
Lee offered his hand and I just started at it.
“You really were able to combat my fire, simple as that?” I a
sked instead, wanting to be reassured. It seemed like it should at least hurt in some way.
He smiled. “One person’s nightmare may be an easy feat for another. Magic’s strange like that. You cannot significantly hurt me. Yes, your magic is hot, and yes it is almost unbearably so, but it doesn't leave a burn and the feeling is gone the instant you remove it. I’ve got this.” He offered me his hand again.
This time I took it and tried to concentrate on withholding my magic, but without success. It felt as if it had a mind of its own.
Lela offered different suggestions, but time and again nothing worked. Finally, I sat down feeling quite frustrated with the world.
“I hate magic.” I declared in an exhausted huff.
“You’ve tried, felt, and learned at your worst,” Lela pointed out. “It can only go up when you’re at your best.”
“And if that doesn't work?”
“If you fall off a horse every day for a week does that mean no one can ride or that you need to do something different?” Lela asked in reply, crossing her arms.
“I hate magic, I grumbled, laying down as wisps of color started to light the sky.
“Maybe it’s not about holding it back, but directing it?” Lee offered. “Ordering it to go to a different place, leaving no magic in your hand?”
“I really don’t want to keep trying right now,” I said, feeling tired and defeated. “Maybe later.”
Lela nodded. “There are many options, but you’ll need to be willing to explore them and try them. Not just once, or twice, or even three times, but over and over until you know for certain it won’t ever work for you.” She started walking back towards the village.
Lee offered me a hand up and I accepted it.
“This feels like such a waste,” I complained with a yawn as we walked back. “Why couldn’t we do this when I was rested?”
“We had to test what your fire was actually capable of. Which is a lot. It just doesn't have a large adverse effect on me thanks to my magic. I wouldn’t be surprised if you could make it take a physical form, like summoning a fireball.”
“You have an odd obsession with fireballs.” I yawned at him.
“I just think they’re neat.” He shrugged, not bothered by my remark.
“That sounds like it’ll take more control than I’ll ever have. What we tired tonight I put all my effort into and it did nothing.”
“You tried one thing and it’s clear that it wasn’t the method for you. Forcing it to back off wasn’t the answer. Redirecting it is now the goal and it still has a chance of working,” Lee replied. “And that’s really all fireballs are. They are directing your magic into a physical form with the aid of an element. Your element is fire and a strong fire at that.”
“Didn’t you say only demons could direct cursed fire elsewhere?” I watched him carefully, expecting him to realize it wasn’t a likely answer.
“Yep. Your fire is based off demon magic, and part of that is in you, and possibly within your control. And I could be wrong about the whole demon part. Not every curse is the same, and what we know yours is all based on second and third hand information that took days or even weeks to get to your family. Who knows for certain what went on? You may end up in full control of this.” Lee was optimistic as usual.
“So I could be part demon?” I questioned.
“Nah, maybe tainted, making the curse more powerful but giving you more control. Curses are odd, and even when cured no one has firm answers about their origins or inner workings.” Lee shrugged.
Too tired to care, I ignored everything we had just discussed in favor of watching where I was going. I was tired enough that I would likely run into something, or worse -someone.
When we finally returned I collapsed onto the sofa and Lee sat in the adjacent chair.
“We should seriously set some daily practice time aside,” he said between yawns.
“How did it go?” Juni asked, coming from the other room while holding a small box.
“Terrible,” I supplied.
“It went well,” Lee said over me. “She learned a lot and is disappointed that the first method wasn’t the perfect solution.”
“So slow progress then? Okay.” Juni handed me the box. “This is for you. Go get some sleep.” She headed into the kitchen.
Puzzled by the gift, I opened the box to see a small stone talisman with the runes for balance cut into the otherwise smooth surface. Someone had turned it into a necklace.
“What is it?” Lee asked, coming to sit next to me.
I moved over and put on the necklace, “This is nifty,” I said, showing him. I hadn’t had a gift like this in a very long time. Maybe a friendship bracelet as a kid, but nothing as seemingly random as this.
He smiled. “Mother used to make those all the time. Haven’t seen her make one in a long time though.” He laughed a bit. “They’re said to bring luck.”
“Why balance, though?” I rubbed the engraving with my thumb.
“You’d have to ask her, but if I had to guess, I’d say just to bring some balance into your life. You’ve had a lot of bad luck. Maybe this will help bring some good luck?”
“Even if it doesn't work, I love it.” I tucked it into my shirt. “I’m going to bed.” I yawned as I got up.
Lee jumped to his feet and offered me a hand up.
I stared at him, puzzled, but accepted the help up anyway.
He smiled happily to himself and went to bed. It was only in that moment I realized I hadn’t put my gloves back on. I didn’t even remember taking the second one off, but must have during the course of practice. For a moment, I stared mystified at my hands. It was clearly past time for bed.
17
The next morning I awoke to the sound of a knock on the door. I glanced out the window in the guest room and saw that it was nearly midday. Instead of answering the knock, I buried my head under the pillow. There was no way that I had gotten enough sleep. Hearing the door open, I pulled the pillow down tighter.
“Time to get up,” Lee called into the room.
“Liar,” I called back, yelling through the pillow.
“There are things to get done today. Come on, I’ll make some breakfast,” Lee tried to persuade me.
“It’ll still be breakfast if it’s the first meal I eat,” I was not budging.
“Do I have to drag you out of bed?”
“Fight me!” I was not ready for morning to be here. Traveling alone made it far easier to set my own schedule.
I heard the door close. I glanced out from under my pillow but Lee was still there, arms crossed. He had tricked me! I didn’t know he was capable of such a thing.
“We’re both tired, but there are things to be done so come on,” he said as sternly as he could.
I grumbled. “Fine. Get out, I’ll be there shortly.”
“Promise?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, now go,” I assured him. I had actually taken the time to put on some nightclothes and would need to change, so my insistence was real.
“Good, thought for a moment you'd be more difficult,” he said as he headed out of the room.
I probably would have but I was wearing nightclothes. That would get awkward fast. I changed quickly and joined him in the kitchen.
“Why the sudden rush?” I yawned as I took a seat.
“The committee is readying everyone for a second attack. They’ve been inching closer. We don’t know what will happen so you might want to be awake for it,” Lee explained, starting some tea. His cheerful demeanor was gone.
“Well… shit.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Our riders will not likely reach the palace until tomorrow… We can defend ourselves until we receive aid, but we may run low on food if we don’t get help soon. We can’t just keep evacuating the fields and not letting our people go out and hunt. Supplies can only last for so long.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” There didn’t seem to be many option
s available.
“I can’t think of much you could help us with honestly,” Lee said, bringing over breakfast. “There are going to be a lot of the same people using their magic to push them back further. Aside from advising people, there’s not much I can do from a distance either.”
I picked at my food for a moment. “I know problems like this happen, but I’ve never been somewhere while it was actually happening.” It made me prefer traveling even more. Avoiding large scale problems seemed worthwhile, but since I was here, I would do what I could to aid the villagers. Hopefully, it would be as simple as staying back and not touching anyone.
“Me neither,” Lee confessed. “We’re kind of out of the way, and keep to ourselves. Aside from the Order, most people don’t even know we’re here. Even then, I think that most of the Order has forgotten about us.”
“I had never heard of this place before, so it’s possible,” I agreed. Not that I took travel advice from anyone there.
“Why don’t you hang out with Tella today? I’m sure she’d love to see you since this nonsense is kicking up again.”
“Seeing me could make things worse,” I said with a sigh. Would the sight of me remind her of what had happened? I couldn’t help but think that it would.
“I don’t think so. I saw the way she looked up to you yesterday. She’ll be happier seeing her rescuer again.” Lee sat down with his food. “My mother is worried that you’ll run again too, so stick around, okay?”
“I’ve already said that I won’t run off.” I shook my head. “She probably won’t believe me if I say so again, so no matter. Where’s Tella today? Still at the baker’s?” I got up, ready to go find her.
“Yeah,” he picked at his food. “She’s not the only one who’s concerned, though.”
I paused. “What’s got you worried, then?” While part of me was surprised, I knew I shouldn’t have been.