by E A Foley
She grew increasingly frustrated at their lack of ability to find such a location. Morrigan had already taken them to a dozen places they thought were perfect, only to find footprints, or a cruise ship within view, or trash left behind—which disgusted all of them. Iris began having nightly dreams of twin archways that led to large, deserted areas she knew couldn’t exist anywhere on the planet. Some looked vaguely familiar. Twice they faded into her mansion dream, but something was different from before.
After three weeks of disappointments, they stumbled upon two potential candidates in one day. Rather than practicing, the seven friends scoured the tropical island and forest around the clearing Morrigan transported them to. Neither location showed any signs of human presence during their search. Even so, Iris made everyone check both locations at their next training session. To Iris’s delight, they were both as empty as they had been the first time.
“So, now that we’ve found two places where we can try more offensive types of things, I’ve been working on using air in various forms since it exists everywhere. Thus far, I’ve figured out ways to whip up a powerful gust, use air to blow dust in a person’s face or to cover tracks, and even focus it into a pinpoint projectile. The hard part involves focusing enough to use only what you need rather than all the air surrounding you.
“I’ve also worked on ways to alter the light source I taught you guys how to create and I’m pretty sure I can make a fireball. I haven’t tried it yet. I assume Roz will be rather successful with that one,” she added with a grin. “Violet was also telling me about how she can continually pull flows of power into her while releasing requests, so she has a never-ending supply of power that never gets close to her strength capacity. So, lots to try today. We’re going to start with continually pulling in power. That way we’ll never have to worry about not having enough power ready for a counterattack.”
“Is this because of the magic user in Disneyland?” Aerianna called.
“Yes. In part. I’ve also felt other magic users closer to home.” Iris debated saying how close to home or telling them the warning she’d received in Disneyland, but that would mean admitting that she’d kept that information from them for over a month. She’d also have to admit she felt they were all vulnerable and needed to have their guard up. But she didn’t want to scare her friends away from their dreams, so she didn’t elaborate. “Are there any other questions or can we get to the lesson?”
No one responded, so Iris asked Violet to explain how she was able to continually pull in and expel power at the same time. Iris tried it out while listening to Violet’s explanation. It was such a simple concept, but a little difficult to master. Much like circular breathing while playing a wind instrument.
Half the lesson time went by before Iris felt she had a handle on continual magic use. She could do it, but she couldn’t pull as much power into her being as she’d like to be able to. Deciding practice was probably all she needed, Iris switched her focus to what all her friends were doing.
Violet had continual magic use down, of course, as did Rozlynd and Cirrus, surprisingly. Zarina was close, as were Aerianna and Morrigan. Since everyone had the gist, Iris decided to switch the lesson up and focus on a new skill of her own.
“How’s it going? You guys ready to try something new?” Nods and murmurs of assent surrounded her. “How about working with air?”
“How about making fireballs?” Rozlynd asked.
“Yeah, that sounds way more interesting,” Morrigan agreed.
“Sure. I think it may be easier anyway since it’s a similar process to making a light source. First, you want to think about the properties of fire. The heat. The flickering flames. The different colors and where they are in the flames. All the elements that make fire possible.” Iris pulled in power, opened her hand so it was palm up, and released her request. A small ball of fire floated above her palm. She rotated her wrist so her hand was palm down. The fire disappeared.
“You don’t need to place the fire above your hand or use any wrist flicks, but they seem to help me. I think I’ve been reading too many books recently,” she grinned. “Anyways, give it a shot and I’ll move around and see how everyone is doing. Oh,” she added as an afterthought. “If you do request the fire to appear above your hand, make sure you place it on or in a containment field so it doesn’t burn you. Otherwise, you can think about it floating in the air in front of you.”
Everyone moved away from each other so they had a little space to try this new, more than a little dangerous task. Iris wandered from friend to friend, felt their powers swell and then focus into a request. Based on the qualities of the flames—or lack thereof—she was able to add pointers where needed and coach entire attempts.
Once she was satisfied everyone was getting the hang of the lesson and could continue independently, she decided it was time to try something new. Positioning herself a good twenty paces away from everyone, Iris drew in a great deal of power and focused it into the creation of a much larger ball of flames. She contemplated the lack of heat she felt from the almost basketball-sized orange blaze with its bright blue center before she raised her arm and threw the ball at the nearest tree.
To her surprise, the ball actually flew from her hand and crashed into the tree. Flames spread out to engulf the trunk in an instant. They expanded upward and with a whoosh attacked the fronds. Before she could think about what she was doing, Iris pulled water from the ocean and sent a spray of water at the tree. It stilled the flames and suppressed the smoke before it could turn into a signal fire and alert others to their presence on the island.
“Seriously, Iris?” Cirrus called from her left. “When the hell were you going to show us that one?”
Iris stared at the blackened tree for a few more seconds before Cirrus’s question registered and she realized what she’d managed. “I’ve never tried it before. Well, how could I?” She said in earnest. “I was thinking about how I didn’t want the tree to smoke too much and alert someone else to our island. I don’t even remember forming a request to send water at the flames. I just did it.”
“Well, whatever it was, I’d say you’re well on your way to being able to defend yourself against another person,” Zarina said.
“Yeah, the water was cool,” Cirrus agreed, “but I was talking about the fireball.”
“Oh, yeah. I haven’t tried that one before either. But it’s on the list. I think we need to find better targets before we all try it, though.”
“That and show us the water spray for safety,” Zarina suggested.
Chapter 21
It was the most grueling lesson Iris had taught yet. Both for her and for her friends. They found some rocks that made a better target than living things and drew targets on them with chalk Iris got from her house via a doorway. No one could make a fireball as large as Iris, but they each managed several before leaving. Morrigan’s were the smallest, but they were also the most accurate. Their pinpoint accuracy caused almost as much damage as Iris’s large fireballs. The practice also eliminated Iris’s need for linking her fireballs to any physical actions.
“See you guys next week for practice!” Zarina called from across the parking lot once they all got back in their cars at Pacific.
“What about Thursday?” Iris called back too late.
“She has a date,” Rozlynd said in a voice that dripped with disgust.
“I didn’t even know there was someone she liked,” Iris mused.
“Yeah, well there is.”
“Who?”
“It’s this guy from her community concert band. He used to play clarinet with her, but he goes to Davis now. They’ve been talking more and more since January. She’s leaving Thursday after school to see the campus and stay with him for the weekend. They seem to have gotten serious.” Rozlynd grimaced.
“Not a fan, huh?”
“I don’t know him, that’s all. You know?”
Iris didn’t know. Rozlynd and Zarina shared a special bon
d that Iris hoped she could have with another human being one day. “Well, is she happy?”
“I think so.”
“Will the guy hurt her?”
“No. He seems to be genuine in his adoration for her,” Roz sighed.
“Then maybe we should be happy for her.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” Rozlynd didn’t sound convinced.
“Well, I hope I get to meet him sometime. What did you say his name is?”
“I didn’t. It’s Jaden. Anyway, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Bye,” Iris waved.
Iris made a mental note never to piss Rozlynd off unless it was absolutely necessary. Even then, she hoped Morrigan would be there to defend her with a katana. A few moments later, Iris realized Morrigan wouldn’t need her katana to defend herself anymore. The line of thought continued and she wondered if it would make sense to practice using physical weapons in conjunction with magic. But what would they need both for? In fact, what was there to be afraid of anymore?
After their successful Tuesday practice, Iris was refreshed and ready for a second round of offensive magic practice on Thursday. Everyone advanced their skills, which sent Iris into the weekend in a great mood. It allowed her to come up with a lot of new ideas as well as master everything they’d been working on. She was particularly proud of being able to fill with power to capacity while using continual magic.
Iris walked onto campus Monday morning with a new outlook on life. She felt fantastic. She held her head up and walked with a stride that spoke of a confidence she’d never exuded before. Nothing was going to bother her today. Her classes were going well, magic practice was great, and she was in the longest running streak of blue eyes she could remember having while in school.
She looked down at her horn and decided Cirrus’s idea of carrying it with magic was a good one. With a continual draw in and release of a trickle of power, she carried her horn with no physical strength. It put a spring in her step that made her feel even better.
Iris’s good mood was put to the test in second period when Brett leaned over and whispered, “Why are you so happy, freak?”
She asked the front left leg of his desk to bend and smiled when he shifted in his seat to say something to her again. The whole desk pitched forward with him still in it.
“Karma’s a bitch, isn’t she?” Iris said as he picked himself up off the ground. No one heard her over the laughter. “Perhaps you should try being nicer to people and maybe the universe won’t punish you as much.”
“Whatever, freak,” he retorted.
Iris requested his backpack fall over and its contents spill out. It complied. Her smile increased with his frustration. So did the mirth in her eyes.
“You seem in a really good mood, Iris,” Zarina said as she bounded into her usual place.
“I am.”
“Any particular reason?”
“I realized I don’t have to take any crap from these jerks.”
“I never have.”
“That’s because you’re five-nine and have been on the varsity swim team since freshman year, Roz. I’m a band geek who barely registers at five-one with a weird eye condition that none of these assholes understands, so they make my life a living hell!”
“Tell us how you really feel,” Aerianna joined in the conversation.
Iris opened her mouth to respond but Violet spoke first.
“How about not. I think that may be safer. You’re starting to get yourself worked up and I like happy Iris, not pissed-at-the-world Iris.”
“Yeah, looks like you already lost happy Iris, though,” Cirrus said as he bent down to look Iris full in the face.
He was right. Her eyes finished their flare up. “What color are they?” she growled.
“Not sure I want to answer that question,” Cirrus said as he stood up and took a half step back.
Iris turned toward Violet.
“Green. You should try thinking about what you’re going to teach us tomorrow.”
“I just ruined a ten-day streak."
“We know. Why do you think none of us have mentioned your eyes for a while? Months, even. They’ve been the most consistent I’ve ever seen,” Rozlynd told her. “Even when they do change, they’ve reverted to blue so fast that a few times I thought I’d only imagined them shifting colors.
“So, Tuesday?” Morrigan changed the subject.
“More practice with air and fire.”
“Great! I still can’t manipulate air correctly, so I definitely need more of that,” Cirrus said.
“Yeah, I don’t think any of us really has air manipulation down,” Rozlynd agreed.
“Not with Iris hounding us. Did you know you can be mean?” Zarina teased.
Iris blushed. She tried to hide a grin, but it crept out into the open.
“Back to blue right in time for the bell,” Aerianna teased as the two of them headed to AP government.
When they walked into class, there were pictures posted around the room. Iris groaned at the thought of having to complete another politician pop quiz. She dropped her bag off at her desk and pulled out pen and paper. After staring at the first picture for a full minute, Iris noticed a small piece of paper taped over the name. She thought about the paper being see-through, drew in a fingernail’s worth of power, and released it. The name shone through for a half-breath. Iris smiled and wrote it down.
She moved to the next image. She knew this one as well as the following three. The sixth she had a thought, so she released the first few letters of the name rather than the whole thing. It was enough to spark her memory. Iris hummed to herself as she moved from picture to picture.
“Two minutes left,” Ms. Wells called.
There were ten images left. Iris went to the next one. Aerianna was there.
“Cheating much?” she mumbled.
Iris grinned sheepishly at her and shrugged. “Remind me why I need to care about these people again?”
Aerianna shook her head in disgust. “You’re going to be most improved if you’re not careful.”
“Good point,” Iris agreed. Of the final ten, she only knew two for sure. She guessed at the other eight and decided it was good enough. None of the ones she’d used her powers on were too obscure. Most of them had been topics of conversation in class recently and all of them had been plastered all over the news and on social media, so she felt it was fine. Iris recognized all of their faces, she just couldn’t remember their names.
“What happened to all your warnings about not using it in public?” Aerianna asked as they left class forty minutes later.
“I’ve never felt anyone else on campus able to use it and realized there are probably more of us than them anyway. Besides, what’s the point of being able to do things if we can’t use our abilities?”
“I think this is a topic for discussion, Iris. Not something you can decide on your own. It’s not only your life that would be on the line. It’s all our lives.”
“Aeri . . .”
“Think about it, all right? I’ll see you at lunch.”
Iris stood there for a few moments and watched Aerianna’s back as she headed to her fourth period class.
“What is she on about?” Iris muttered to herself. “When did she become the magic police? I can handle myself. Besides, it’s not like what I’m doing is going to affect anyone’s lives. I made a little karma come to life and got a few reminders. No big deal.”
Then why are you trying to convince yourself it was fine?
“You can just shut up and shove it. You’ve been useless for the last several weeks. I’ve had to figure everything out on my own and I’ve done a fine job of it if I do say so myself.”
That’s true, but you’re playing with fire. In more ways than one.
Iris walked into fourth period, so she couldn’t respond. Her Little Self shut up and by the end of the period Iris had convinced herself she was in the right. Aerianna didn’t say anything about Iris’s use of magic in class,
but she continually shot her looks. Iris ignored them. By the time Tuesday’s practice arrived, Aeri couldn’t keep quiet any longer.
“Iris, you want to talk about AP gov on Monday, or do you want me to?”
More than taken aback, Iris glared at Aerianna. She could feel her eyes burn as they changed color.
“Does this have anything to do with why I thought I felt magic being used during second and third periods?” Zarina asked.
“Second and third periods? Seriously, Iris? After all your talk about not using magic around people and such?” Cirrus demanded.
“You’re one to talk,” Iris shot back at him.
“Yes, but I stopped after Roz told me I was a homing beacon and you guys came back from Disneyland all freaked out.”
“Fine. So I used magic a little. I’m fed up with people being jerks to me. And with having to know the names of stupid assholes who for some reason have all of our fates in their corrupt hands,” she added after a look from Aerianna.
“Does this mean we can be more public with our magic use, then?” Zarina asked.
“I say do what you want. But be prepared for any consequences.” Iris was flippant with her response.
“Good, because I think Jaden can do magic and I kind of told him I can.”
Chapter 22
“What?” Everyone yelled at once.
“Yeah, well, we were hanging out and he knocked a glass over that was full, but nothing spilled and the glass righted itself. He didn’t think I saw, but I did. Then the next day, he was complaining about having dropped something in his car and it magically appeared on his seat. After that, I had to ask him. He denied it until I showed him I could do magic too. He says he and his best friend, Rowen, figured it out at the end of high school last year. They can’t do much and they’re really inconsistent, but they are magic users. I was hoping you guys would be cool with them coming to practice once or twice a week so that they can learn more stuff.”