Firemancer Collection (Fated Saga Box Set Book 1)

by R. H. D'aigle

  “Do these people ever stop staring?” asked Meghan under her breath.

  “Does not appear so,” Colin thought back to her.

  Up the road from the school, the twins slowed. Two unfriendly female voices rounded the corner. The twins moved to the side of the road hoping to let whoever it was pass by.

  “Hurry up, Dulcy. You’re making us late again,” the first voice admonished impatiently.

  “I’m trying, Darcy. Wait up,” the second girl answered in a whiny voice. As the one named Darcy spotted the twins, her eyes brightened with an ugly smirk. She blocked the road.

  “I was hoping I would come face to face with you two.”

  Meghan’s guard went up, and she went into defensive mode. Colin shut down, unable to speak.

  “So what about it?” asked Meghan, her expression focused. The girl named Dulcy caught up to Darcy. She twirled her shoulder length brown hair, snickering.

  “Lucky for you, my time is short,” the girl said. She strode closer, her tan face scowling directly into Meghan’s. Her brown eyes were hateful and matched the color of her pulled back hair.

  “What do you suppose this is all about?” Meghan sent to her brother. Colin didn’t answer. Meghan glanced at him sideways. His face was blood red. “Okay, you’re not going to be any help.” She put her attention back on the girls. “I’m still waiting,” prompted Meghan, her gaze firm.

  Darcy’s eyes glared with fury. “Deliver the message,” she hissed to Dulcy.

  “You two better watch yourselves,” Dulcy warned, still twisting her hair.

  Meghan nearly laughed and bit her tongue. Did someone say valley girl! What an idiot!

  “It’s clear,” Dulcy continued, “you’re just a couple of wolves in cheap clothing. We’re watching you.”

  Meghan could not stop from laughing this time. Colin wondered if his sister had gone mad.

  “In cheap clothing… now that is an insult,” laughed Meghan.

  Darcy swatted Dulcy up side the head.

  “What?” she whimpered. “That was the message wasn’t it?”

  Darcy dug into Dulcy’s arm and tore away; glaring at the twins as she stalked passed them.

  “You complete dingbat!” Darcy spat out. “Sheep’s clothing. Not cheap clothing! How many times did I tell you that?” The girls disappeared.

  Meghan, still laughing, was scolded by Colin.

  “What were you thinking?”

  “We can’t let them think we’re weak, Colin.”

  “Easy for you to say,” he muttered. They continued on their journey to Grimble. “We should try not to make enemies. Remember what Uncle Eddy said about good behavior and gaining trust?”

  “I know, Col, but think about it. Those girls had their minds made up already.” He knew she was right about the girls, but he still despised making new enemies. This was not a place they could simply pack up and leave behind.

  As they entered Grimble, Colin realized he had not told his sister about Corny, living in the basement. Part of him did not want to and wished she would discover him on her own.

  “He lives in the basement? Does he get out?” she asked, confused. Colin decided she did not comprehend the old man.

  “No, I don’t think he gets out.”

  “That’s awful. They need to get him out, get some air.”

  “I don’t think he wants air. Jae says they tried but he refused.”

  “They must not be trying hard enough, everyone likes to get out.”

  “If you’re so keen on him getting some fresh air, maybe you should try,” he insisted smugly.

  “Maybe I will,” she retorted. Colin decided she would not understand Corny until she had met him, and gave up the topic. Once in the ghost town they quickened their pace, easily locating the meeting spot. A rustle in the trees above distracted them.

  “Hey, look, Col.”

  His gaze followed Meghan’s pointing finger.

  “No way!” he breathed in disbelief.

  “It sure looks like it,” said Meghan. A bird with a scruffy crest and gray-blue body sat high in the tree, watching the twins.

  “Maybe our eyes are playing tricks on us,” suggested Colin.

  “Sure looks like the same one to me,” said Meghan.

  “Maybe it accidentally went through the doorway, like we did?” he said.

  Uncle Eddy’s ghostly figure appeared.

  “Hi, Uncle Eddy,” the twins greeted in unison.

  “Hello back! Come this way, but carefully, we don’t want to be followed.”

  “Speaking of being followed, there is this strange bird, right up…” Meghan searched, but it had flown away. “That figures, it’s gone.”

  “You’ve been followed by a bird?” asked their uncle, cautiously.

  “Not sure it meant to follow, but it is similar to one we’ve seen back home. It’s an unfamiliar species, with a scruffy head, and gray-blue body,” answered Colin. Uncle Eddy floated high into the trees, but saw nothing.

  “Lets get moving. Lots to do, sure it’s nothing.” They followed their floating uncle down a path lined with dead trees, straying onto a smaller path, until they came to an abandoned, gray-shingled mill.

  “It’s the only area I’m aware of that no other ghosts or Svoda typically come, and we must be alone. I created this place from a memory,” Eddy told them. He saw the questioning gazes of the twins and continued. “You may notice, as ghosts arrive or move on from Grimble, sometimes things change. Like the buildings or the scenery. On occasion, even color will pop in somewhere. Grimble is built by the memories of the residing ghosts. Many ghosts spend a lot of years here, though, so some things don’t change.”

  The twins’ gazes turned to comprehension.

  “I realize that both of you must have numerous questions for me,” Eddy continued. “Firstly though, I must warn you, that at least for now, the subjects we discuss are for your ears only.” He rested his floating body a few feet in front of them. The twins got as comfortable as they could amongst the dust and cobwebs, sitting on an old pile of wood.

  “How about for today, we start with one question from each of you. Then we will begin your training.”

  The twins pondered what to ask first. Colin, still deciphering what he wanted to ask, let Meghan go first.

  “Can you tell us anything about our parents?” she blurted out.

  Their uncle smiled sadly.

  “I assumed this would be one of your first questions. I am afraid I do not have much to offer on the subject, any more so than you probably already know. You see, I died about a year after your parents met. I do remember your mother was a striking beauty. Inside and out. Not that everyone agreed with me,” he chuckled. “They did agree that she was one of the prettiest girls they had ever seen, but she was also infamous for her temper.”

  So our mom had a temper… no wonder Meghan’s always…

  Meghan punched his arm before he could finish.

  See. Proves my point, his thoughts shouted.

  “And daring!” Eddy added, continuing. “Quick witted too. Now your father on the other hand, I am afraid we were just not that close. He was a charismatic man, though. Well respected in his community.”

  The twins listened intently; their parents were not a topic Uncle Arnon ever discussed. They assumed it brought back too many memories for him.

  “I’m afraid that I don’t have much else to add,” said Eddy. “I never met either of you in person, but something kept me here in Grimble. Something nagged in the back of my mind that I had to wait for you.”

  “Honestly, Uncle Eddy, we’ve never known much about our parents, so even the little you can tell is fascinating,” Meghan told him.

  “I’m glad. I only wish I had more to tell.” His face smiled compassionately as he turned his attention to Colin. “Do you have your question ready?”

  He did.

  “How come I can do magic, Uncle Eddy?”

  Eddy floated back and forth for a moment bef
ore answering.

  “You are what the Svoda like to call lost ones, people who survived magic’s demise but whose families didn’t join a larger clan.”

  The twins stared at each other in stunned silence.

  “Is that why we can talk to each other?” Meghan divulged the truth before she could stop herself. It was a fact they usually kept secret.

  “Can you? No, I do not think that’s magic related. I would guess that has more to do with your twinly bond,” he answered.

  “That’s why we traveled around with Uncle Arnon isn’t it?” asked Colin. “If anything magical happened, he didn’t want us to get caught.”

  “Yes. I am sure he wanted to raise you away from prying eyes.”

  They were saddened again at the memory of their uncle, but Eddy continued.

  “And now you are with the Svoda. There is much you can learn from them.”

  “So where do we start?” asked Colin, eager to begin.

  “With the Magicante. If you don’t mind, Colin,” he gestured for him to take it out and hold it open. The leaves glimmered.

  “Ah, Magicante! Any ideas on how this book works, either of you?” asked their uncle.

  “When we were in trouble and asked for help, it gave it to us. Although it was quite unexpected, I might add. I guess you have to ask it?” answered Colin.

  “Make sure you say please, though, Uncle Eddy,” muttered Meghan.

  “A spirited book is it?” he chuckled. As his ghostly hands hovered over the leaf-filled pages, the book came to life.

  “I see I’m moving up in the world,” a snide, bored voice announced. “Finally, someone with experience. Dead, but knowledgeable, at least.”

  “See?” Meghan rolled her eyes.

  “Magicante isn’t just a magical book, it’s original magic,” continued their uncle. “Magic long forgotten by most. If you ask for help, it may choose to help you or it may not. Or it may offer help, but not in the manner you might desire or understand.”

  “Uh, okay. So I guess when we were first unaware of what it could do, it offered help, knowing we needed it.” Meghan tried to understand. Colin butted in.

  “It didn’t offer me help when I was trying to save Meghan back in Cobbscott. Why?”

  “What do you mean?” she demanded.

  Colin realized that he had never explained to Meghan how he had gotten her home, when she had first fallen ill under the oak tree.

  “Maybe before I continue, you should fully disclose to your sister what the book did and did not do. First lesson- never keep secrets from each other.”

  “What are you keeping from me?” She bore into his mind trying to infiltrate his thoughts.

  “It wasn’t that big a deal,” Colin said, blocking her. “After you stormed off, the book told me you were in trouble and I had to find you.” He explained the leaf tornado which led him to her. “I wasn’t sure how to help you. I asked the book to get us out of the woods. But it wouldn’t, it told me I had another way.”

  “Another way?” she questioned, adding, “I couldn’t even move. I was paralyzed.” Meghan shuddered at the memory.

  Colin continued.

  “I couldn’t move you and the book wouldn’t help me. I panicked. All I could focus on was getting you home, and BOOM! I was there.”

  “Without the book’s help?” she asked.

  The book answered her question.

  “Not with my help, lassie. He didn’t need it, did he?”

  “What I want to understand,” she whined, “is why can Colin do all this magic stuff, but not me?”

  “Before we get to that, Colin, let me ask you, why do you think the book made you figure it out for yourself, instead of doing it for you?”

  Colin recounted the incident in his head before answering.

  “I think it was because the book thought I should learn how to do it on my own.”

  “Correct. Magicante is a complex thing. Think of it as a textbook to end all textbooks. It will not, however, perform what it thinks you should be able to do for yourself.”

  “So back to my question,” implored Meghan. “Why - can’t - I?”

  “Have you tried?” enticed her uncle.

  “No, I suppose I haven’t,” she answered less impatiently. “The first time the book helped us we weren’t sure that it wasn’t a fluke. Even after the second time, and Colin doing magic, it honestly didn’t dawn on me to try.”

  “Well,” Colin started, “when I did magic the second time, before the Scratcher attack…”

  “You used it again?” she questioned.

  Uncle Eddy gestured Colin to explain.

  “Remember when you sensed I was being bullied, and you came looking for me with Sebastien and Jae?” Colin bowed his head, embarrassed to let his uncle hear that he had been bullied.

  “Yeah, I remember, you had this smug look on your face…” she exhaled and asked in a dark voice, “What – Did – You - Do?”

  “It was a complete accident,” he insisted. “I didn’t realize anything would happen. I wished that the boys would freeze, and they did. Then they started yelling. I was afraid someone might see what I’d done, so I wished for them to shut up, and they did. I heard the spell wear off after I ran away.”

  Meghan was dumbfounded that Colin had done magic, twice, before she had known about it. What scared her most was that he had successfully kept this fact hidden from her.

  “He must be getting better at blocking me,” she thought.

  “Yes, I am!” He stuck out his tongue.

  She mimicked him, folding her arms in disgust. Uncle Eddy eyed them both apprehensively.

  “I am afraid that before either of you can continue, this bickering has to stop. You must both find peace with each other. Your bond is strong, but it needs to remain so. Remember… no secrets.”

  Once again, the twins found themselves in trouble for arguing. They tried to put aside their bitterness and continue.

  “So how do I do it? Magic, I mean,” asked Meghan.

  “Let’s start with something simple,” suggested Eddy. “Perhaps the book will allow some assistance, since it’s your first try.”

  The book answered, this time with a snide poem.

  Assistance I will give,

  For the one that lives,

  Although her brain a sieve,

  Oh drat! We all know she can’t do it on her own!

  Colin frowned at the odd poem, while sensing in Meghan’s mind a desire to kick the book.

  “What would you like to try, Meghan?” asked Eddy.

  “I don’t know,” she replied, unsure.

  “How about something simple, like color changing,” Eddy prompted.

  “Color changing!” she grinned. “How about my hair?”

  It wasn’t exactly what Uncle Eddy had in mind, but it would work. Colin rolled his eyes and was about to make a joke, when Meghan gave him a glare; he put on a fake smile, motioning for her to continue.

  “Book,” she tried to ask politely. “Hm hmm,” she cleared her throat. “Give me a spell to turn my hair sky blue.”

  “As you wish your…”

  Uncle Eddy interrupted. “If you don’t mind, stick to the spell, thanks.”

  It sniveled and snarled under its breath. The pages flipped, stopping on a shimmering yellow leaf.

  Meghan was thankful to her uncle for stopping the oncoming onslaught of contempt. She read the directions, which floated over the shimmering leaf.

  “Although an insult to my knowledge…”

  Humpff Meghan’s thoughts shouted.

  A Spell for Blue Hair.

  To have hair of blue in every strand,

  Say three times, whilst waving your hand,

  Blue hair everywhere.

  To have blue hair just in stripes,

  Please say thrice, while trying to be nice,

  Blue hair here, blue hair there.

  Meghan stopped reading. “I’m going to try it!” She stood up.

 
“But there’s more options, Meghan,” pointed out Colin.

  “I want the first one, all blue.”

  Colin was going to argue, but decided to play nice.

  “Okay. Here I go. My first spell. Hope it doesn’t go wonky and turn it a bad blue, ‘cause that would suck.” She closed her eyes and waved her hand, palm side toward her face.

  “Blue hair everywhere,” she repeated it three times.

  After the third time, the hair on her head changed to a brilliant sky blue. She opened her eyes and admired herself in a nearby broken window.

  “Too cool! I love…” she choked, looking down at her arms as bright blue hairs took the place of her normally blond ones. “What the…”

  Torrents of laughter filled the empty mill, Colin couldn’t help himself; even Uncle Eddy got in a good chuckle. Meghan’s hair was blue from head to toe, including her eyebrows and arms. She hiked up the bottom of her skirt. All she could muster was a low grumble.

  “I guess,” Colin squeaked, “when it says everywhere,” he could barely talk, “it means everywhere.”

  Meghan grabbed the book, snarling. A steady stream of insults churned in her mind: Reviling! Ridiculous! Conniving little … dang book thinks its sooo smug! Well, I’ll show…

  A new bout of hysterics bubbled out of Colin. He had not laughed so hard since he could remember.

  Meghan, humiliated, continued reading.

  “Since you’ve decided to be smart enough to read all I have written…”

  Meghan ignored the sneering remarks, and the hysterical laughter bellowing from Colin, and read the final verse.

  If blue on your head is what you desire,

  Then what you need is a way to inspire,

  Sing it three times like a children's choir,

  And if you’re lucky (ha), blue will be your outcome!

  “Be your… outcome?” She glared at the book, shaking her head.

  It took all Colin’s strength to stop laughing, and feel even the slightest bit of remorse. It was possibly the most humiliated he’d ever seen her. Even more so than the night he’d found out about her crush on Sebastien Jendaya.

  She mustered up what courage she had left and sang blue fire three times. The hair on her body returned to its normal color, and only the hair on her head remained blue. “At least that’s over!” she stated, plopping herself down. “I suppose,” she said, humbled, “That the first lesson is to read all the instructions, first.”