Elements of Power (Council of the Harvest Moon Book 1)

by Kate Stoessel

  “Not anything more than ‘here are the notes on my reading’ or ‘is this where Ed wants me to plant the juniper?’. We are keeping things professional.”

  “That wasn’t what it looked like when he nearly killed Brett for threatening you,” Itzel responded finally.

  “Nope.”

  “Boys are weird,” Itzel mused.

  “Yep.”

  “Well, if he gives you a hard time, I am getting really good at commanding people to do things with my voice. The other day I made Orpheus and Anubis cluck like chickens. If I can do that, I can do anything.” She winked at me and laughed.

  Chuckling, I turned back to my notes. After my success with the wind tunnel, I started looking for more connections between magical correspondences and my elemental magic. I finally had enough information to create a chart that outlined how I thought my powers worked.

  Focusing on the list, I closed my eyes and checked in with myself, like I learned from Orpheus during the meditation sessions. Breathing carefully, I sought a connection to my powers, hunting for them inside myself. After a few moments, I felt a subtle hum of electricity underneath my skin, starting small, but growing more powerful. Soon, the electricity tingled, moving throughout my body. In my mind’s eye, something started to come into view, three buzzing lines- gray, blue, brown-- and one red stagnant line. A fifth stagnant, white line twined throughout the other four. As I focused on each of the buzzing lines, they grew more active. I opened my eyes and held on to the connection, focusing on the body of water in front of me. Thinking about emotional memories, I felt the blue line from my mind’s eye begin to vibrate. I mentally tugged on it like a guitar string and the vibration grew larger. Looking at the water, I focused on a small spot and commanded it to move. The electricity extended from my body and a small orb of water the size of a baseball rose into the air.

  “I did it!” I shouted. Looking back to where Itzel was working, I could see her eyes grow wide. She closed the book and ran over to my side. The orb dropped back into the water and she closed her arms around me in a hug.

  “¡Órale! This is so exciting.” She took a step back and then looked at me. “Well, what are you waiting for? Do it again.”

  I stood there for a while, practicing lifting orbs out of the water, stopping only to make notes in my journal about how I was achieving the magic and what I was accomplishing. I drew sketches of the orbs and included approximate measurements after I successfully conjured different sizes.

  “Now try a different element,” Itzel suggested.

  Nervous about drawing attention to the dock, I paused and checked in with my body. Strictly speaking, practicing without a teacher or Perry was not allowed. If I could conjure gentle breezes, though, it would blend in with the day. In my mind’s eye, the gray thread was waiting patiently for me, ready for action. Letting its energy fill me, I conjured up a breeze to dance around Itzel, tossing her blue-highlighted strands into the air.

  “Yayyyyyy!” She said, giving me a jump and a clap. “Now, we just need to trigger fire!”

  “We?”

  “Hey, we are a team.” She looked down at my notebook. “Ooooohhhh, passion and desire,” she read dramatically. “That could be a fun one to trigger. Too bad you are so set on just one guy. Mister Professional.”

  “Itzel, I’m not set on him. Whatever that means.”

  “Tell the truth,” she said in a sing-song voice.

  Her voice reached my ears, and I was yanked to attention. Turning towards Itzel, I was overcome with deference. I had to tell her everything. I wanted to tell her everything. Words came tumbling out of me unconsciously. “The truth is that I cannot explain how I feel. It’s unusual. I am annoyed and frustrated with him a lot of the time. Other times I am intrigued and attracted to him. I just want to be around him. The feeling intensifies every time I see him, even if we are at odds or he does something that upsets me. He doesn’t seem to want that, and it is gutting me.” When I finished speaking, I could feel the spell release me with a jerk. Falling at Itzel’s feet, I took a few short breaths to regain my composure.

  “Oh Khlorie, I am SO sorry,” Itzel cried. “I was just teasing, I didn’t mean to…” Tears began welling in her eyes as she collapsed down on the edge of the deck, hanging her head. “I’m so sorry.”

  Pulling myself into a sitting position next to her, I reached out and hugged my roommate as tightly as I could.

  “It’s okay,” I kept saying. “We are going to figure this out.” We sat like this for a while, with Itzel crying into my shoulders. “There is no one else I would rather tell all my secrets. We are a team, right? We are going to look out for each other.”

  “No one should be forced to do anything,” Itzel cried. “Nothing good will come of this power, Khlorie. What is the ACC going to ask me to do?”

  “You are going to figure out how to chant and join that specialty,” I responded. Having experienced her power, though, I wasn’t sure if that was true. Imagining what Bodhi Trackerson could do with someone who could control others was a scary thought. Would the ACC and M.A.S.L.E.O. let a power like this one go because the witch was unwilling? I doubted it. “We will figure it out. You have three years before career counseling starts. We are going to learn all that we can and figure out a way that you can do what you love and still be seen as an asset to the ACC.” I felt her nod against me before picking her head up. Smoothing out her hair and giving her an extra squeeze. We sat there in a silent embrace on the dock for a good long while.

  “So, your feelings for Perry are kind of intense,” she said breaking a smile. “Orpheus felt all of that, huh?”

  “Yep.”

  “Rough,” Itzel responded with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

  “Thanks,” I responded sarcastically. “You know,” I paused dramatically. “You are not the only one who can use her power on her roommate.” Removing a hand from Itzel, I conjured water orb the size of a basketball and sent it after to her.

  “No!” She screamed, hopping up and running away. The orb chased her around the dock until the outer membrane cracked against her skin, leaving her drenched. It was good to see her laughing and smiling. “I would push you in, but that skirt would drag you right to the bottom.”

  “Hahahaha, probably.”

  “I think I’ll keep you around for a while,” she added, giving me an appreciative squeeze.

  Gratitude rose inside me for my roommate, and I meant every word that I told her. If I had to petition the Luminary Witch herself, I was going to make sure that Itzel never had to use her powers unwillingly.

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  Leaving Itzel to go to Spell Writing was not easy, but she assured me that she was alright. Out of breath, I reached the classroom just as the elaborate wall clock announced midday. It was one of the many spelled objects in the room. A female voice announced from the clock, “12:00- First Year Spell Creation Class with Professor Tryllestav.” Noticing that the classroom was empty, I walked over to my workstation. It was still getting to know me and was a bit different every time I came. Today, it was a large kidney shaped table with an organizer for my tools (ingredients scale, mortar and pestle, chalice, mixing bowls, candle holders of various sizes) on the left-hand side and a book holder on my right. As the only student in the class, I wasn’t surprised by the quiet that clung to the classroom.

  In fact, I was greatly appreciative of the one-on-one time I typically got with Professor Tryllestav, who was devoted to helping me figure out how much my elemental magic was playing a role in my spell casting. Seeing that she was missing struck me as odd, however. The Spell Writing Witch was as traditional and hardnose as they came. She did not tolerate lateness or sloppy work. Growing up with my mother had trained me well for the class. Looking down, I noticed a note on my workstation.

  Khlorie- Here are some spells created by my students. Please try to cast them and take notes on the results. Come get me from my office when you are done.

  Underneath th
e note was a folio filled with red spell sheets. Spell writing witches always wrote spells put forth for testing on red paper. My teacher at Gables Academy told me it was because testing new spells could be dangerous, and we wouldn’t want anyone to mistake a new spell for an established one. I read through each of the spells carefully and collected the materials listed on their ingredient charts. Luckily, all four spells were classified as “every day,” meaning that they did not require a specific moon phase to be successful. The first spell was called “Speed Reader” and was designed to allow a person to read an entire book in minutes, while retaining the information. I had seen this attempted by students many times without any success and I was skeptical that this one would work any better. However, I tried my best to keep an open mind. After making sure that I understood the intended spell from start to finish, I walked into the center of the casting circle with a book that Perry had assigned me- Witchcraft with Water: Advanced. If this spell worked, I wanted to reap the benefits right away. I rubbed sage essential oil on the front cover and the back, waved an eagle’s feather to represent the power of the wind, set my desire through visualization and then said the incantation:

  “Exanagignōskō .”

  With the incantation called and my intention set, the pages started flipping quickly before me and the room became aglow with words floating out of the book and towards me. I held on to my intention to read and retain the information. As the words reached me, it was like my brain was processing them at a million times the speed at which I normally read. When it was over and the entire contents of Witchcraft with Water: Advanced was now in my memory, I gasped and ran for my Spell Creation Notebook. Hurriedly, I wrote down everything that had happened: how I followed the directions, what time I had cast it, what I had visualized, and the way the wind carried the words right to me.

  As I finished my first assessment, Professor Tryllestav came out of her office. Even to someone who grew up surrounded by powerful witches, she was an intimidating sight with her bold silver eyes, blood red blouse, pale skin and perfect posture. She was the kind of witch who radiated intelligence because she was constantly assessing every situation in which she found herself. This was no different.

  “Should I assume from the words that were flying around the room a moment ago that you got the speed-reading spell to work?” She asked as she walked towards my workstation.

  “Yes, what an incredible spell! I not only understood the book, but I know where I want to go back in and take notes. I don’t understand why it isn’t already in use by every student!”

  Professor Tryllestav gave me a knowing glance. “Don’t you Khlorie?”

  I hung my head. “No one else has been able to cast it, have they?” Looking at the stack of red sheets, I suspected all of the spells that Professor Tryllestav had given me had also already been tested.

  “It is fascinating that you were successful with this one. It is a spell that students have been trying unsuccessfully to craft for as long as I can remember. This was one of the better attempts, but never produced anything. I wondered if you would be more successful since it featured the air element so prominently.” She motioned over to me and collected my notes. The professor tapped her fingers while she read, but other than the occasional “hmm” said nothing.

  “You wrote that your body just absorbed the words as they flew towards you on the wind…”

  “Yes,” I replied after she trailed off.

  “I wonder.” Professor Tryllestav walked out onto the patio which overlooked the hill in front of Coventry Hall. “Do you see those two students sitting on the blanket?” She pointed to a couple of first years, one of whom I recognized as Neasa from gardening and the other I had seen but did not know. “I wonder if you could ask the wind to bring you their conversation.”

  “What? Like spying?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Khlorie, I am sure they are talking about something trivial. Not state secrets.”

  “Still, it doesn’t seem right to listen in…”

  Professor Tryllestav leaned in, clasped each of my upper arms in her hands, and looked me right in the eyes. “Don’t you want to see what you can do? You have been so worried about not causing destruction that you are not letting yourself be curious about your powers.”

  I nodded. She was right. More than anything I wanted to experience the potential that everyone was talking about. It felt great this morning to practice. Now, I had the chance again. So, despite the fact that I liked Neasa, and I knew it was wrong to invade her privacy, I looked inside myself and called upon air. I visualized the gray thread inside me vibrating and slowly the wind picked up. Focusing on Neasa and her friend, I commanded my breeze down to their grassy seats. Knowing air is associated with intellect, I asked the wind what they were saying. As soon as I expressed this desire, a gentle breeze began forming into a loop between me and Neasa. When the breeze reached me again, I could hear the conversation as clearly as if I was sitting on the blanket.

  “You don’t actually think that the Council of the Harvest Moon will vote for the fairy registration, do you? It is just prejudiced, plain and simple. Gosh, we are no better than humans if we do this,” Neasa said.

  “Well, at this point it does seem like a war with the fairies is inevitable. I just wonder how all of us will be used.”

  “Used?”

  “Yeah. My Dad thinks that they don’t allow us to not conform for no reason. He says that every second we are in class we are being assessed for how best we can serve the ACC.”

  Hearing their fears so closely mirroring Itzel’s, I released the wind gently. A sinking feeling hit me in the pit of my stomach. What I was doing was wrong. People were entitled to privacy, even at Spindlewick. Stepping back off the patio, I took a minute to collect myself before facing Professor Tryllestav. When I did, she was looking at me expectedly, even excitedly. Her cold silver eyes were studying me carefully.

  “Well?” She asked, impatiently.

  “I sent a breeze down and back, but I didn’t hear anything,” I lied. There was no upside to the professor knowing I could spy on students. Anyone who would ask me to do it had morally compromised intentions. Professor Tryllestav took a beat before responding, eyeing me with suspicion.

  “It certainly seemed like something happened,” she pressed.

  “Yes, I created a kind of looped breeze. That is kind of exciting.”

  Unconvinced, the witch moved over to her notebook and started jotting a few things down.

  “Logically, listening in on a conversation should have worked if the way you described the previous spell was accurate.” She eyed me coldly. “Perhaps Professor Sager will have some ideas.” She let that linger like the threat it was. If I wasn’t going to be forthcoming, President Sager would be employed to read my mind.

  “I’ll look forward to her insights, Professor.” A pasted smile covered my face as a sickening feeling crept up the pit of my stomach. Trying to act natural under the calculating eyes of the Spell Writing witch, I collected my things, said my greetings, and walked out of the door. Hustling down to the first level of Coventry Hall, I spotted Perry chatting with Ed. Seeing me come down the stairs, he waved goodbye to the Gardening Witch and walked over.

  “So, I was out on the lawn earlier and I swear I felt,” he began casually.

  “Not here,” I responded quietly.

  He nodded and walked out of the building, motioning for me to follow. Thank goodness he didn’t require anything more to know that I needed to speak with him. Appreciation for him swelled inside me. He might be exhausting, frustrating, and confusing. However, he had a knack for always being around when I needed him. The air elemental turned behind Coventry Hall and past the gardens, taking smaller strides so that my shorter legs could keep up. His movements were casual, and he waved to people warmly as we walked, as if this was the most normal stroll in the world. No one who noticed us would register anything unusual. Eventually, we reached the woods that lined the back of the is
land. Perry navigated the uneven terrain with ease, knowing where every surfaced root and divot were. Lifting the bottom of my long skirt higher, so as not to catch the hem on ground cover, I followed him step for step. The canopy of leaves kept it dim, until we reached a circular glade overlooking the ocean. Closed in three quarters of the way around with trees, the rocky curve that led steeply down to the water felt out of place against the woody backdrop.

  “This is where I practice,” Perry said after a few moments. “No one ever seems to come back here.” He stepped closer to me. “What happened? I felt you using your Air power.” Concern was evident in his voice. This was the Perry that helped me in the gardening classroom and protected me from Brett. It was nice to have my ally back. The story poured out of me from finding the note to casting the spell to spying. I left nothing out, despite the shame it caused to share it all.

  “...And then she told me that she was going to check in with President Sager for ideas. She knew I was lying. I am a terrible liar.”

  He looked at me seriously and said nothing for what felt like an eternity. Under the weight of his scrutiny, I dropped my head ashamed of what I had done. After a beat, I felt Perry’s hand gently under my chin. The touch sent sparks throughout my body, as he tilted my head up to look at him. His blue eyes locked on to mine and my breathing hitched having him so close. “Khlorie, you made the right decision not telling Professor Tryllestav about that power.”

  “Isn’t the whole point of coming here to learn to use our powers and get help from the instructors?”

  “Did it feel like she asked you to spy to help you?” I shook my head and he sighed, still holding my chin. “I am not going to sit here and tell you that I haven’t learned things here. It is a great place to get training and to work through your powers. It’s just...The more they know about what you can do, the more they will ask you to do.”