by Nixon, Diana
Waking up in the morning, Gabriel didn’t find his wife at home and went to look for her. Having found only fragments of her clothes on the shore of the lake, he decided that Lilly had drowned.
He had been mourning the death of his beloved wife for a long time, but he couldn’t believe in his loss and went for help to the old magician - Lillian’s mother. She came to the lake, and with the help of magic, forced the dark waters to tell the truth about what had really happened. For many years she had been trying to find a woman who had stolen Lilly’s life, but failed. That woman came to Gabriel herself and asked to forgive and stay with her.
But he said “no”. Unable to accept his refusal, she cursed him and his daughter, saying that there will be no happiness for any women of their family. Wishing to save his child, Gabriel went to Lillian’s mother once again. But no matter how hard she tried to take the curse off, nothing worked. And then she thought of a new spell, saying that over the next seven centuries no girls would be born in Gabriel’s family, and only then the old spell force would be broken by the power of true love, born in the heavens and destined by fate.
After saying the spell, the witch left this world, going down to the bottom of the Black Lake, hoping to see her beloved daughter Lillian for the last time. All her powers she gave to her eldest son Alexander.
“It turns out that Lillian was able to possess all the natural elements,” having read the legend, said Evan. “I’ve never heard about this before.”
“Not all of them. It says nothing about the spirit,” I noted.
“Indeed. Why is there no mention of the spirit?” asked Christian. “I don’t think Medellin didn’t know about it.”
“Spirit - is the power of the Fairey. As you know, the Wizardy may possess spirit just in case if they were the Fairey from the birth, or if they learn how to control it,” said Evan. “Who knows whom that Gabriel was?”
“Which means that we really haven’t learned anything new, except Lillian’s ability to possess the power of multiple elements,” I said disappointed.
“Shall we read the rest of the legends? Maybe there will be something useful,”Amanda said, looking at me.
“Can be worth it. Just not today, I'm awfully tired,” I said wearily.
“We all had a hard day. Let’s continue tomorrow,” Evan agreed.
Christian, who was sitting next to me, touched my cheek with his hand.
“Do you mind if I leave you for a few hours?” he asked, smiling gently.
“I’d rather you didn’t, but...”
“Ah, for God's sake!” Evan and Amanda groaned in unison. “Don’t make us witness your intimate scenes,” Amanda said. “I love both of you very much, but not that much!”
“Well,” said Christian with disappointment. “See you tomorrow, Eileen.”
He left a gentle kiss on my lips and went with Evan. A few seconds later I received a text message from him with the following words in it: “You are always in my mind.”
I smiled and, ignoring Amanda’s angry glance, went to bed.
The next day I had to attend another practice session, this time with the users of air.
“If today you feel something unusual, like the unbearable desire to show everyone how much more power you have, hold your impulses,” Evan whispered when we entered the audience. I rolled my eyes defiantly.
“So are you suggesting me just to watch silently their pathetic attempts to create anything of the air?” I asked, smiling.
“Clever girl,” smiled back Evan.
We were in the great hall filled with bowls on the perimeter which contained multi-colored rose petals.
“What do they need so many petals for?” I asked in surprise.
“How do you think?” Evan asked in response.
“You mean they're going to pick it all up in the air?”
“Soon, you will see everything yourself,” he said, leading me to a few chairs in the corner.
This time the show was really exciting. Not that the powers of fire or water were less mesmerizing, but the feeling that you were in the heart of the most powerful hurricane, was just mind bending. And all this wind was created just by three people. Two girls and one guy.
“They are Embry students. Air is their element,” explained Evan.
The blond boy was in the center of the hall, and the two girls were on both sides at a distance of several steps from him. They were making flows of petals that formed a tight colorful ball. When all the petals took their place in the figure, the impression was as if the ball was moving itself. As far as I could see, the guys were slowly moving around the room inside this multi-colored ball, making it roll along with them. When a range has been passed, they returned to the center again, and in no time the ball broke up with thousands of petals, which flew into the air and barely having touched the floor, filled the entire space of the audience. Then they formed another shape. This time it was a butterfly whose wings was moving smoothly with the flow of the wind. Only then I noticed that the petals of the wings, also turned into small butterflies, following it.
It was really amazing. When all the petals-butterflies came back into the bowls, it became quiet again.
The wind stopped.
“All the rehearsals that you see - are just small parts of what will be shown at the festival,” Evan said. “Each performance lasts at least for fifteen minutes, so it’s just the beginning of a real show.”
“It's looks more like magic,” I said stunned.
“Oh, no! You haven’t seen magic yet.”
Having said that, Evan touched my hand from the palm to the wrist and beautiful buds of azaleas appeared there. Their velvet petals were touching my bare skin.
“Take care of yourself,” he said, looking into my eyes. There was always some hidden meaning in Evan’s words as if he knew some secret. Sometimes he seemed to wise and experienced for his young age and I wondered why.
“Do you want me to show what I can do with the petals of your flowers?” I asked looking sadly at those magical creations on my hand. Somehow, the comprehension of the fact that the power of wind was also one of my abilities wasn’t making me happy.
“It’s better if you do it somewhere else,” he said, emphatically nodding in the direction of still present in the audience students.
All of our supporters thought that the manifestation of my other powers apart from dealing with water and fire should be kept secret from everyone, including teachers. At least until the moment we find out what this knowledge can turn my life into.
“How about a little walk, while the others are still training,” I said, looking at a few petals still floating in the air.
The weather today wasn’t sunny and all the morning light was absorbed by the fog. Embry’s gardens were still full of blossoming flowers and the air of Dever was filled with their incredible aromas.
“You’ve not chosen the best time for walks,” complained Evan, with his foot catching on the root of an old oak tree. “It’s pitch dark out here!”
Looking around, I didn’t notice anything unusual, except for some dim colors of nature.
“Everything here is clearly seen, Evan. Do not exaggerate. Even the squirrels, are laughing at you,” smiling, I said.
“What squirrels, Eileen?” he wondered.
“Those who are eating something under the tree over there,” I said, pointing in the direction of a tree in a few yards away from us.
I couldn’t understand why Evan’s eyes were asking something like “Are you crazy?”
“Why are you looking at me like that?” I stopped, frowning.
“Because, looking in the direction where the squirrels should be, I don’t see anything but the gray mist,” he said.
“Evan, you can’t be serious!”
His weird behavior irritated me to the utmost.
“Okay then,” he said and felt for the cell in his pocket. “Christian, are you still busy?” he asked into the phone. “Yes, we are conducting an exp
eriment here. Can you come to the pine trees that are near the back wall of the academic building? Okay, we'll wait.”
“Evan, I don’t understand…”
“Just wait for Christian,” he said.
“Is it necessary to keep standing in the middle of the path?”
“Yes. Like I’ve already said, we need to check up on something.”
“Great!” becoming even angrier I said, crossing my arms. “There is Christian,” I added, looking in the direction where we had just come from. Evan again gave me a look full of confusion. Coming up to us, Christian said:
“I couldn’t find you. What is it?”
“Ahhh… here's what we're trying to figure out,” said Evan. “Christian, what do you see in front of us?”
I couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Evan, for God’s sake, it’s ridiculous!”
“Christian?” he repeated.
“Absolutely nothing, except, perhaps, for the fog and the nearby tree,” he shrugged his shoulders.
“And Eileen can see the spruce in front of the Great Hall, where the squirrels run, whom she, by the way, can see too... at this very moment,” said Evan.
Christian frowned watching me thoughtfully.
“Do you mean that you can see that far in such a fog?” he asked.
“Is it just me, or do I really see at the moment two complete idiots who won’t stop asking the same idiotic questions?” I flared up.
“Eileen, we're just trying to say that your vision is clearly a… hundred thousand times as superior as ours,” Evan said, exchanging a look with Christian.
“You can see what we don’t,” said Christian, coming up to me.
“Just like Lillian,” I blurted out. Both pairs of eyes stared at me in surprise.
“Like Lillian…” repeated Evan quietly .
Only by understanding the meaning of my own words, I realized why they were both speechless. My new ability reminded them of the dark night’s gift from the legend of the Black Lake.
“No, it can’t be possible...” I said. “Do you think I can do everything, that she was able to do?”
“Maybe your middle name was given to you for that very reason,” said Christian.
Before he pronounced these words, I didn’t pay any attention to the fact that the name Lillian, which was my middle name, could be connected somehow to this story.
“By the way, you wanted to show us something else today,” reminded Evan.
“To show what?” asked Christian.
“I think I can possess the power of the wind,” I said, staring alternately at my companions.
“So you found the ability to control the third element, and you can see through the fog and at night... Can you find your bearings at night as well?” asked Christian.
“I don’t know. I haven’t noticed it before.”
“So we should check it out today,” Evan said. “Let's go, we must also make sure about the wind.”
This time we went into Christian’s room. It was as large as mine, but he had lived there alone. I sat in a big chair by the window, and Evan - on the opposite sofa. Christian went to his desk and picked up a stack of blank sheets of paper.
“Here, try with this,” he said, putting the sheets on the coffee table next to me.
I closed my eyes and tried to remember my feelings when I was watching the students of Embry. A light breeze rustled the paper. I opened my eyes and held out one hand to the sheets, making the wind increase, raising them into the air. Evan and Christian were watching in disbelief the white sheets of paper filling all the space of the room.
Someone knocked on the door. I immediately put my hand down and all the paper fell scattering around on the floor.
“Who's there?” Christian asked, coming to the door.
“It's me,” said the familiar voice of Amanda. All the three of us sighed with relief.
“Come on in, quickly,” said Christian, literally pulling his sister into the room and shutting the door behind her.
“Have you just been swept by a tornado?” Amanda asked surprised, stepping over the scattered papers.
“Worse,” Evan grinned. “By Eileen.”
“The wind is one of her elements too,” Christian explained, sitting on the armrest of my chair.
“Geez!” exclaimed Amanda. “Have you checked up the earth already?”
“This is what we are thinking about doing right now,” said Evan.
“But I don’t know how to do this!” I returned. “I felt the power of all the previous elements through someone else, and I have no idea what to do with the earth!”
“So, try to imagine that the floor under my sofa, is movable. Make it move,” Evan commanded. “Come on, Eileen, show us what you are capable of.”
“Do you really want me to do this?” I asked unwillingly.
Christian put his arm around my shoulders.
“There’s nothing to worry about. If something goes wrong, Evan will stop you. Just try.”
Again I closed my eyes, raised my hand up and tried to imagine how the floor can move. At first I didn’t feel anything, but then I felt some new sensation in my arms and heard Amanda’s scream. I opened my eyes and saw that the sofa on which Evan was sitting before was shaking noticeably, and the floor beneath it began to wriggle like a fabric in the wind. I put my hands down frightened.
“Holly Hall! I can’t believe that,” I whispered.
“And I can,” said Evan, again sitting on the couch. “Of course it’s hard to believe, but the fact remains obvious.”
“As far as I understand you can’t see auras yet,” added Christian.
“No. I have no idea what that is like,” I said trembling. Even Christian’s presence didn’t help me to calm down. I was shocked and I was scared to death.
“That's another similarity with Lillian,” noted Evan.
“With Lillian?” repeated Amanda. “Do you think that Eileen has the same abilities as she had?”
“Why do you think that Lillian didn’t possess spirit?”I asked. “If it wasn’t mentioned in the legend it still doesn’t prove anything.”
“In addition, all the rest of her abilities have been well described, so if she really could control the spirit, that would be mentioned too,” said Christian.
“The fact that there is no mention of the spirit, doesn’t mean that Lillian didn’t know about its existence. The spirit begins to emerge at eighteen, and you, Eileen are not eighteen yet. In addition, we don’t know what age was Lillian, when she died,” Evan replied.
“You forget that there were other times, they could be married to Gabriel at fifteen and have a child already before becoming eighteen.”
“I think Evan’s right,” timidly said Amanda.
“Thank you, dear,” smiling radiantly, he replied.
“Maybe Darcy can say how old was Lillian? She knows the legends of Dever after all,” assumed my friend.
“Maybe. We must not forget to ask her about it,” said Evan. “Amanda, would you like to take a walk before dinner?”
“I would love to,” she said shyly.
They left, leaving me and Christian alone.
“Are you still worried about them?” I asked.
“Not really. I just don’t want to wipe my beloved sister’s tears and lose my best friend,” Christian said putting his hands around my waist.
“So you are still worried,” I smiled.
“Eileen, I’m worried about many things, beginning with our relationship and ending with your constant waste of energy to control the elements.”
He closed his eyes for a second and continued:
“Every day I wake up thinking about what might happen to you today, and how I can protect you from all of these. I think about you all the time, checking your emotions constantly.”
“You don’t have to think about me all the time, Christian. You have enough stress before the festival even without me and my problems,” I said, taking his face in my hands
.
“I'm scared to fall asleep every night and that your nightmares might start again,” he added, drawing me closer to him.
In moments like this, I felt completely safe. I felt so good in his embrace, that it seemed that all the forces of nature were helping us when we were together.
“I don’t have nightmares anymore. And I always feel your presence, Christian,” I said, squeezing up tightly to his chest.
Chapter 17. The Quarrel (Christian)
This morning I was awakened by a loud knocking.
“Evan,” I muttered.
“Couldn’t you come at least a little later?” I asked sleepily, opening the door.
“Sorry, but I couldn’t. We have other things to do later,” he said, settling into a chair. “While you and Eileen were having your sweet talk yesterday, Amanda and I managed to find out something.”
“So, you didn’t just ask her for a walk?”
“Well, yes and no. We met Darcy accidentally, and guess what she said? First, Alexis really spent many years in Europe and came back here right before her appointment, which is strange, because the candidates for the presidency of Dever pass a strict selection. They should be here at least for a few months before the appointment. Second, no one knows how she managed to get to Dever, because her name wasn’t even mentioned in the book of invitations. Lastly, Darcy confirmed our assumption that Lillian Wizardy wasn’t eighteen when she died. She died three days before her birthday.”
Evan’s news quickly helped me to wake up. Now there were so many thoughts in my head that it seemed as if I hadn’t slept at all and the anxiety of the previous day just flowed smoothly into today.
“So it means that Lilly didn’t know about the spirit,” I summed it up. “As for Alexis, I’m completely confused...”
“Me too,” Evan nodded. “I can see that you haven’t cleaned up after yesterday’s mess,” he noticed. I didn’t hear his last words, so was surprised a little when the papers scattered on the floor, flew in the air and were put on my desk again.
“Thanks. I didn’t have time to do it myself,” I said dully.