Aspect Of Winter

by Tom Early

  Chapter Ten

  Sam and I met on Saturday, the unofficial end of our week of relaxation. Once again, I opted not to tell my parents what we had planned since they were off enjoying their 20th anniversary in Scotland.

  My grandmother, Gramma Alice, was in town to watch over me. She was the person who had given me my name. I was born in the middle of a blizzard in December, and so I was named Feayr, meaning “cold” in Gaelic. And yes, the irony wasn’t lost on me.

  Gramma Alice was more than slightly eccentric, but she loved me and my family. She was also aware of my magic. She had none of it herself, but was a believer all the same. She’d give me cookies and encourage me to make giant snowflakes for her to take pictures of when I was younger. Nowadays she just relaxed around the house and let me get away with anything, so long as I called her if I was going to miss dinner. She was awesome like that.

  Since it was sunny and warm outside, I grabbed the journal from my room, and we headed outside. I also got Sam to text Tyler about what we were doing, since I don’t have a cell phone myself. Technology for the most part is beyond me. All those little buttons are scary, and don’t get me started on touch screens. Tyler replied pretty quickly that he’d be here in a half-hour, so Sam and I started chasing Lexie around the yard. I was trying to corner my dog around by the tree line when I let out an “oomph!” as Sam slammed me into the tree, flipped me around so I was facing her, and pinned my arms above my head.

  “Don’t give me that look, Fay. You know there’s no way you’d admit to liking Tyler if I asked you when you could run away.”

  Shit. The situation was way worse than I thought it was.

  “I, uh, have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Sam’s look would have pinned me to the tree if her arms weren’t doing so already.

  “Okay, I might have some idea about what you’re saying. But I don’t have a crush, I swear! He’s just good looking, and really nice. Really good looking. And friendly. That’s new, and I’m allowed to like that, right? Just because he’s nice and I like that doesn’t mean I have a crush!”

  Sam just shook her head. “Oh, sweetie, you’re further gone than I thought. And more obtuse. You two spent a lot of time together this week, didn’t you? I might have been busy with Danny this week, but I still hear things.”

  I blushed, and clammed up. Discussion over, as far as I’m concerned. After being let down by Logan last year, I don’t have any interest in putting myself out there for anyone I’m not sure of at least being bi, and at least potentially liking me back. “Tyler is a friend,” I thought hard at myself. “Lay off.”

  Sam gave me an exasperated look as though she could hear what I was thinking, but let the matter drop. For now.

  Tyler showed a few minutes later.

  “Hey, what’d I miss?” Lexie sniffed him once, used to his scent from the past week, then started licking his knee determinedly. Sam said hi, and I stuck to nodding. Less chance to flub your words that way.

  “Playing with the Queen, I see. Hey, Lexie. You look ravishing as always,” Tyler said, laughing. Lexie ignored him; she was on a mission to thoroughly lick that knee, even if it was through his jeans.

  “We were just about to open the journal,” I said. “You ready to see some magic beyond just snow?”

  “Hell yeah,” Tyler said, his eyes brightening. “Seeing you do magic has been the best part of the week!”

  I shot Sam a look that screamed for help. Was he doing that on purpose? Thankfully, she picked up where I left off.

  “Down boy, we’ll get to that soon enough. First we’ve got some decision making to do. We haven’t actually looked at the non-summoning section yet. Want to help make the choice?”

  “Sure!” he replied enthusiastically, sitting down cross-legged, looking up at us expectantly.

  My brain fried a little just looking at him. I sat down as well before my legs gave out, and put the journal down in front of us. Sam joined us, rolling her eyes so much that I was honestly surprised her head didn’t roll with them.

  I opened the journal, winced at the ercinee page, and flipped until I reached the back. On the last page, scrawled as almost an afterthought, were a few lines of text. The top of the page read “Cantrips.” Which according to Google and quite a few video games referred to minor tricks of magic, or the most basic spells out there. It sounded like as good a spot to start as any. There were only five spells on the page, each with a brief description and an incantation. They read as follows: Light, Stability, Minor Orb, Run, and Dispel.

  Light seemed pretty self-explanatory. Say the words, focus, and you would summon a small ball of white light that would hover over your hand. Handy for when lost in the woods at night, and so on, burning energy for as long as it was manifested, but slowly.

  “I’ll give it a try first,” I said, looking at the page. Sam and Tyler settled down to watch.

  I uttered the short incantation, and the air grew slightly chilly around me as a ball of blue-white light started orbiting lazy circles above my head. It was exactly the color of ice you see on those glaciers on computer backgrounds. A blinding blue-white. Mist floated softly around it from the temperature difference. Pretty impressive-looking, if you ask me.

  Sam went next, the strange words echoing through the air. A globe of light rested above her palm, casting a soft white light around it. We waved our hands around and through it. The air was definitely no colder with Sam’s Light.

  “Huh,” Sam murmured, staring at our two spells side by side. “I wonder why they turned out different.”

  “Maybe it’s just with this one. Let’s try another,” I suggested, closing my fist and dispersing the spell.

  “Okay, I’m all for Minor Orb,” Sam said excitedly, ending her Light as well.

  “Fine by me. Just make sure to aim well.” I edged away, you know, just in case. Tyler mimicked my motions, standing next to me a safe distance away from Sam.

  Sam struck a pose confidently, holding the journal close to her chest with her left hand while pointing at one of the large pines lining my backyard with her right. She spoke the words confidently, like a command, and Tyler and I watched in awe as the air in front of her hand seemed to coalesce into some sort of transparent ball, swirling slightly. Sam grinned, clearly excited herself. At some unseen mental signal of hers, the ball spiraled forward from her hand, slamming into the tree trunk. A few pine needles fell to the ground from the impact, but not much else happened. Sam ran forward, examining the trunk closely. She let out a victory whoop when she showed us a small indented circle in the trunk. I high-fived her, while Tyler continued his impression of a six-year-old opening presents.

  Tyler was grinning uncontrollably. “This is so unbelievably cool!”

  “Baby, you haven’t seen anything yet,” Sam smirked. “Sure, my magic ball was awesome, but you need to check out Fay here if you really want to be impressed.”

  “Shut up, Sam,” I scowled, “I usually collapse after I do stuff anyway.”

  “Don’t let me stop you,” Sam grinned, throwing me the journal. It bounced off my hands, and Tyler caught it. He handed it to me. I froze for a half second when our hands touched, then mentally smacked myself and took it, walking back to where Sam had stood when she cast the spell.

  I spoke the words aloud, and felt a shiver run through me. I felt ever so slightly drained as I finished speaking, and watched as the air began to form a sphere above my outstretched left hand. The air swirled, then grew cold. Small ice crystals formed in midair, and joined in the orb. It looked like I was holding an orb of swirling snow in my hand. I frowned. I hadn’t tried to do that at all, I just said the spell. Sam and Tyler just looked confused.

  “Fay, what did you just say?” Tyler asked.

  “I just read the words aloud like you did. Why, did it sound different?”

  “Yeah, it did. When Sam spoke, it sounded forceful, like she was telling the air what to do. When you said it, it sounded like ice crackli
ng and wind blowing.”

  “…Huh. Well, that wasn’t my intent at all. Let’s see what happens when I use it.” I could feel a trigger, for lack of a better word, waiting in my mind that wasn’t there before. I focused in on the same tree that Sam had, and let loose. Just like with Sam’s orb, it levitated, and then flew in a sort of corkscrew pattern at the tree. When it impacted, there was a sharp crackling noise, and part of the trunk was covered in white. We all ran over to take a look.

  There was no real new impact from my orb, and barely any needles had fallen down. There was, however, an incredibly thick layer of frost coating the trunk, radiating out from where my orb had struck. Glistening ice had formed where the orb itself hit.

  “Whoa,” Tyler said. I agreed wholeheartedly. Sam frowned.

  “So your power definitely has something to do with this, then,” she said. “I believe you when you said you didn’t do that consciously, but I think your icy stuff interfered anyway.”

  “That’s probably it,” I said thoughtfully, “though there’s got to be a better way than ‘icy stuff’ to describe my powers, Sam.”

  “Probably,” Sam replied, “but I’m too lazy to think of one. Either way, I guess that settles it. You’re just too special sometimes.” I stuck my tongue out at her, and Tyler just watched, amused.

  “Are you two always like this? You’re like an old married couple or something.”

  Sam laughed delightedly. “Why, my dear Tyler, I’m afraid I lack the necessary parts to entertain Fay in that way. Honestly,” she mused, tilting her head mock-thoughtfully, “you’re far better suited to that role than I am.”

  “Sam!” I snapped, blushing furiously. I admit I knew I would have to come out to Tyler at some point, but that was not how I planned on doing it. Sam made a conciliatory gesture with her hands, and then started on another incantation. Tyler looked at me thoughtfully while the sharp cracking noise of several Minor Orbs hitting the trees behind us echoed all around.

  “Huh, so you are gay, then?” Tyler asked, more rhetorically than anything else. “Honestly, if it weren’t for the rumors that Logan’s friends spread, I wouldn’t have guessed. I hate to play with stereotypes, but I see you almost every day at school, and you don’t really, um, look it.”

  “Yep. Sorry to have you learn about it like that, Sam’s not exactly the most subtle person,” I growled, shooting a glare at Sam. Which she ignored. Sam had always thought forcing the issue was the best policy. It made being her best friend really difficult at times.

  “And no, I don’t look like the stereotype because not all gay people look the same. I couldn’t wear pink without wincing because I hate the color, and I’m not exactly skinny enough to fit into the tiny shirts and jeans that gay guys on TV always seem to wear. What people don’t seem to get is that a hell of a lot of gay people look exactly like straight people. The only difference is that we like guys.”

  The air around me was getting colder as I got more annoyed. My breath was fogging the air as I spoke.

  “Sorry,” Tyler said awkwardly, backing up a little. “I didn’t mean to strike a nerve there. I get it, I really do. And I’d rather know that sort of thing than be left in the dark, so thanks for telling me. Believe me when I say I am 100% okay with you being gay.”

  “Good to hear, sweetie,” Sam whispered, suddenly standing behind him. “I like you better when you’re not all broken.”

  Tyler gulped audibly. I just sighed, grinning a little at Sam’s usual approach to dealing with people. The air began to warm up again.

  “Well, that notwithstanding…” I began awkwardly, “It’s pretty clear that we can use the small spells safely enough. Do you want to practice some more?”

  “Beat you there,” Sam said, as she fired yet another Minor Orb into my poor, beaten up trees.

  “Mind if I keep watching?” Tyler asked. “This is cool, even if I can’t participate. Also, can I take a look at the journal once you’ve memorized those few spells? Maybe I could help with preparation next time one of you summons something.”

  I smiled at him. “Go right ahead, Ty. The more the merrier, right?”

  He grinned back. “Definitely.”

  I gave Stability a try next, as Sam was still busy having fun blasting the trees. The words were quiet, and meant to be read slowly. The moment I finished, my mind went still and clear. The usual hubbub of my chaotic thought process vanished altogether, and I’d never felt so calm in my life. I blinked, and the spell broke off, my mind becoming noisy again.

  “What was that like, Fay?” Tyler asked, looking at me curiously.

  “It feels like I just woke up from a really good nap,” I responded. “Or probably like meditating, if it’s anything like in the books. Everything just got really peaceful.”

  “Imagine how useful that’d be for studying,” Tyler said. “I’m always getting distracted. But what next?”

  Sam was suddenly right next to us, and then to our left, and then literally doing a flip over our heads. She was moving so fast, I could barely see her. Then a second later, she was lying on her back in the ground, breathing heavily.

  “Okay, so Run is definitely going on the ‘yes’ list,” Sam panted, her hair in absolute disarray. “It’s like a speed booster for a few seconds followed by a crash.”

  “Sounds more like a quick getaway spell than whatever you were just using it for,” I said dubiously.

  Sam waved her hand in front of her face dismissively, still breathing hard. “I’d rather use it to get an edge in a fight, actually. The incantation is really short.”

  Tyler looked green with envy. “Oh man,” he moaned, “imagine what I could do in lacrosse with that.”

  “You play lacrosse?” I asked curiously.

  “Well, currently I’m playing soccer, but in the spring, yeah,” Tyler replied, looking at me. “I basically have to play a sport year-round or I go crazy.”

  “Wow, I’m like the opposite,” I said, laughing. “Except for swimming, I cringe at the thought of sports.”

  Tyler smiled at me. “Well, you’re a good swimmer, so who cares if that’s your only sport?”

  “Wait, you’ve seen me swim?”

  Tyler flinched and his face turned red. “I, uh, I might have gone to one of your meets last year.”

  “Why?” I asked. “Were you there to support a friend?”

  “Something like that,” he muttered.

  “Still here, you two,” Sam said warningly from the ground. “Don’t you dare get lost in your own little world in front of me. That’s just sickening.”

  I aimed a vicious kick at Sam’s ribs for that, and my world spun as Sam grabbed my ankle, yanked me off balance, and sprang lightly to her feet at the same time that I hit the grass. Ow.

  Tyler collapsed with laughter, and I scowled at the both of them.

  “I hate you all.”

  Chapter Eleven

  It was around a month later when we decided on a new creature to attempt to summon from the journal. It was from the middle section, which contained the ones that were really rare, that Aiden had found deep in wherever it was he was looking.

  It was called a Baí Zé, and it was a creature from really obscure Chinese folklore. From what we could discern, it was essentially an old man with the body of a goat and a human face, and a benevolent spirit that literally existed to dispense information, sometimes of a prophetic nature. I figured that we could use its help in figuring out what else we could summon safely.

  Sam prepared another one of her circles, again beneath the rock in the woods. Tyler helped me move some logs and rocks around between the trees circling the overhang of the boulder, and when they were in place, I froze the gaps between the trunks and logs, creating a large container for the summoning to take place in. We had no intention of having a repeat of the ercinee again.

  “Fay, you ready?” Tyler asked.

  “I think so, yeah. Sam, do you have the Orbs ready just in case?”

  “Way ahead o
f you,” Sam smirked, pointing out the five levitating orbs around her. She was going to provide incentive to keep the Baí Zé at bay in case this really went to shit. I focused my attention on the words in front of me, and pulled out a sketch of what Sam thought it looked like. We didn’t find any mention of a token or sacrifice needed to summon a Baí Zé, other than being “worthy,” but one of the Japanese versions of the myth mentioned that the creature said charms made in its image were necessary to ward off a magic plague or something. Maybe it likes seeing its own image or something.

  I began to speak. The words came to me ponderously, and it took several seconds to sound out each one. Start to finish, it took about five minutes to recite. When the last word echoed throughout the makeshift container, I could hear the clopping sound of cloven hooves from a direction I couldn’t place. The air suddenly smelled of fresh-cut grass, and the Baí Zé appeared in the circle.

  It was easily the most bizarre creature I’d ever seen. It looked like a white goat, with mangy tufts of long gray hair sprouting at random over its body. Its head was that of a wizened old man of Asian descent, with a small gray beard similar in appearance to the other hair on its body. Most weird, however, was the small black hat on its head, looking all the world like slightly rumpled black cloth just laid on its head. Its keen brown eyes looked at all of us shrewdly, and then it spoke.

  The Baí Zé’s voice was deep and rich, and held absolutely no emotion at all. “How distressing. The first time I’ve been summoned in centuries, and it’s by a group of children of the New World.”

  “Yep, that’s us!” Sam chirped. “We were under the impression that you know things.”

  Wow. That was one hell of a sassy look for an old goat-man. I’d never seen “Bitch, please” more perfectly exemplified.