Illuminated Embers

by Jasmine Flowerday

  Michael squealed with excitement. He had never flown in his Human form before, and it tickled his tummy. He could see his mom splashing in the water. He called down to her and waved. Johnna responded by speaking in dolphin chatter and tail-walking backward. Looking to his left, he saw his brother with dark purple-red hair and bright purple eyes coming up next to them. Samuel had a big smile on his face, and suddenly, Michael couldn't wait to try it out for himself.

  Flying in on what looked like a magic carpet with a silver metallic trail that disappeared as quickly as it formed, Thalia landed on a risen stone platform in the center of the large room. "Everyone gather," she said, using her wand to magnify her voice somehow.

  Everyone made their way to the middle and stood in a circle, waiting for her to speak. The Dwarves used big metal-wheeled motorcycles that Savannah was sure they had created to make their way down the mountainside and across the desert to join them.

  "As we all know, the kids' training is alarmingly underdeveloped. We have --," Thalia began, but was interrupted by Samuel.

  "What do you mean? Michael and I have been training our whole lives as Morphlings!" Samuel said.

  "Yeah, Wizard! What do you know about being a Werewolf?" Harry chimed in.

  "Samuel! Harry!" Johnna said; her tone warned them not to continue.

  Giving Johnna a hard stare, Thalia said, "Ladies? I know that you both have been trained in the Arc. Would you care to give your offspring a demonstration of what I am referring to?"

  "Gladly!" Lanie exclaimed. "I may be a little rusty, but I'm sure I can think of something. This should be fun! What do you think, Johnna?"

  "Oh, it'll be my pleasure!" she smiled, thinking of how nice it was going to be to knock the 'know-it-all' kids down a few pegs.

  As Johnna took Thalia's place on the platform, Savannah seemed to be the only one bothered by her nudity.

  Using the speed and agility of a Vampire, Johnna became a blur as she ran in a circle around her audience, then flipped her body high towards the ceiling. Twisting her body in midair, she began a dive to the ground. A split second before hitting the platform, she morphed into a raven and flew back up. Turning and twisting as she flew, she changed into various different flying creatures seamlessly. Before landing, she transformed into a mountain lion. Running at full speed, she flipped and spun. It looked like a beautiful dance, and with each movement, she would become a different creature that could perform that movement-- a monkey, a tiger, a kangaroo, a snake, and even a butterfly.

  The different colors of feathers and skin combined with her lithe movements was truly beautiful to behold. Savannah lost track of how many different creatures Johnna had turned into. Some of them she didn't even recognize. She had the head of one, the body of another, and the tail of yet another; utilizing every aspect of her choices. It was better than a trapeze show. At one point, she appeared to have disappeared entirely from view, only to reappear as a giant lemur with branches for arms. She waved her arms, continuing her dance, letting the colors change in the leaves as the wind fluttered through them. Becoming her regular size and self again, only this time with tiger skin covering her body, she did a backflip in midair, and landed with a giant thud that shook the building. She was as tall as the room itself! Savannah stared up, feeling like the tiniest ant.

  Johnna shrunk back down and took a bow. Everyone whistled and clapped at her beautiful performance. Looking at Lanie, she said, "Your turn!"

  "Thank you, Johnna! It's going to be difficult to follow your act," Lanie said. "Everyone needs to get a safe distance away." She took her place on the stage as Johnna descended to join the audience. They all backed up, and Savannah found it unnerving how the two women were getting along so well now.

  Taking a deep breath, Lanie scanned the elements around her. The Dwarves had done a good job in bringing everything together. Starting with wind, she lifted herself into the air spinning as she rose. After she was about ten feet off the ground, the wind had become a tornado and began drawing water from the pool. It spun and spun but didn't move across the land. Hues of purple and blue wrapped themselves into the tornado. When it grew to about twenty feet, it drew in thousands of vines that had begun to sprout all around their feet and added a green hue to the spinning mass. The taller and wider it became, the more everyone else backed up. Light seemed to begin burning from the inside out, and then earth was drawn in and fire enveloped the whole thing.

  Savannah became scared. Maybe it had been too long since her mother had been able to use her powers properly. How could she control so many elements at one time and something so massive and scary? Why wasn't the tornado sucking them in as much as it was everything else? She began to move towards the spinning monster as it gathered a wave of new materials, but a hand stopped her. Turning, she saw Eamon holding her back. He had a smile of wonder and shook his head at her to tell her that it was fine.

  Suddenly the tornado dissipated, and her mother sat atop a forty-foot-high beautiful sculpture that looked like Savannah. Cascading down were the remnants of magical residue, creating a perfect rainbow. The hair was made of vines that floated in the wind. The body was some combination of earth, ice, and metals. Her outfit was a long, flowing dress made of light pink rose petals with a green sash made of millions of grass leaves. Savannah couldn't tell what the jewelry was made of on the statue, but she thought it looked stunning. She saw her mother move her hands slowly, and the forty-foot Savannah took a bow. The small crowd broke into applause and more whistles. Lanie floated off the top of her statue and turned to face it. After blowing the statue a kiss, she manipulated the energy to return all of the materials to their origins in the room.

  Savannah watched her mother, dumbstruck that she was able to manipulate that many different energies simultaneously. She could only manage three at a time, and that took great concentration. Even then, what she was able to do with those powers was minimal in comparison. Suddenly, she felt incompetent, and the pressure for her to save the world from Siphons weighed on her more than ever. How in the world was she going to be able to learn so much in so little time? After Johnna's show, she was impressed and intimidated, but now after watching both women, she felt powerless and helpless.

  Chapter 14

  The rest of the day was filled with training. Lanie worked with her daughter and the three Morphlings on how to use Kite powers, while the two Werewolves worked on honing their tracking skills. Mal, Chert, and Al hid all over the grounds waiting for the Werewolves to find them, and then they began hiding objects. It was training that Harry and Chrystal were used to but hadn't been able to practice for awhile, and after a time, they found that picking up the freshest trail was more difficult than they anticipated. Tory, Opal, and Amethy created fun obstacles of sand, glass, silver, and jewels for Savannah to try her Kite powers on while the others were tripping out on the new colors that clouded their vision. It took awhile to talk Johnna into trying it, but Thalia reminded her that her duty as a Morphling was to help the Wizards defeat the Siphons. In the end, she embraced it with fervor.

  Savannah enjoyed taking a break to watch her mother practice the old Kite tradition on Johnna and Michael. She had never been able to witness it before, but her mother had told her about it throughout her life. The adult Kite doing the ceremony swirls various colored flora over the newly born Kiteling's head. Slowly, they lower the swirling mass, until one touches the infant and the infant's hair takes on the new hue. She had been told that her Aunt Sylvia had the honors with her. The difference this time was that none of them were actually Kites, nor were they infants. Johnna could be heard above the rest, shouting at Lanie to make sure it looked good. In the end, Michael ended up with dark blue and Johnna with lavender. Samuel glared between Michael and Savannah. She knew that they had cheated him out of the ceremony, but when all was said and done, she figured that the accident had the same effect.

  Shortly after training started, Eamon left. He said that he had business to attend to and would be goi
ng hunting after dark. When Lanie and Savannah protested, he calmed them by reminding them that the Siphons were no longer in the nearby forest and that it would be a good idea to keep an eye on it to make sure they didn't return. Savannah offered to go with him, but he insisted that she stay and continue her training.

  Henry showed up about an hour after Eamon left and joined his family in learning to become a Kite. He found it fascinating and wondered why more Morphlings didn't do it. He knew why very few tried changing into Wizards. Their magic took years to accomplish even the tiniest spell, and you had to have a wand. The effort never seemed worth it. Becoming a Kite was different; the ability to see what everything was made of and manipulate it with a thought was intoxicating. After only a short time, the Kites and Morphlings had created a thick haze of color. They could barely see the person next to them, and they were feeling drained from the effort it took to concentrate. All of them had learned how to use Kite speed, and Johnna had even managed a small ball of fire in her palm. Savannah had successfully manipulated three energies at the same time for five consecutive seconds and was feeling pretty happy with herself. It still wasn't very powerful, but it was an improvement. By the time they left for dinner and bed, everyone was smiling, laughing, and chattering about the Four Corners and how much fun they had.

  The week went by fast, in much of the same way. At school, everyone was talking about prom and the great theme that had been planned this year. Most of the kids around Savannah were heartbroken that Jen wasn't eligible for Prom Queen this year, but praised her about her choice of theme and dress. When they weren't talking about Jen, they were making fun of Savannah and Samuel, who in turn tried their best to ignore them. They knew that it was Jen's influence that was making the school go crazy. Savannah hoped that it would stop there. Knowing that Jen had wanted to go to prom with Samuel, Savannah was sure that it was retribution for her being his date.

  She still wasn't sure that it was a good idea, but Samuel, Chrystal, and Harry seemed excited about it. Harry was talking about tricking out the limo, and Chrystal loved talking to her about dresses and double dating. Samuel had already rented a tux and even tried to hold her hand in the hallway. Eamon had even asked her mother on a formal date for the night of the prom, and Lanie was glowing over it.

  After school every day, Savannah would race through her homework, not even bothering with snacks. Then she would run up the stairs to the Wizard's portal to try to get some alone time in the training area and try to clear her head. Everything seemed to be constantly changing in her life lately, and she seemed to barely be able to keep up. People would ask her questions, but she wasn't sure how to answer with her own opinion. Her favorite place had become Four Corners. There she could be herself, not Joleen Thomson. On Friday, Johnna was already there waiting for her.

  "You seem very distant lately," she called out to the girl. Johnna had noticed that Savannah hadn't really talked to anyone in days. Samuel had even told her that she had been very quiet in school as well. Not that it was really her business, but Lanie seemed preoccupied with her upcoming date and planning her daughter's prom night. In fact, everyone seemed to be talking about prom except for Savannah.

  "I'm fine," Savannah said. She vibrated her hair color back to its natural shade of green before getting into her stance. She liked to practice martial arts. No one ever seemed to understand why she did it since she had other ways of defending herself. But her lack of magic use over the years had forced her to improvise, and she found that she enjoyed it. It was a great way to relieve tension. She manipulated the water energy to create a sparring dummy. Turning the dummy to ice, she began her attack.

  "You have good form," Johnna said, walking around the girl.

  "Thank you," Savannah replied, using a back spin kick that broke the dummy's head off. Pausing, she manipulated the water again and repaired the dummy.

  "How about sparring with a real partner?" Johnna asked.

  "You?" Savannah asked confused. She pulled back from attacking the dummy and relaxed her body. She was breathing heavily, so she melted the ear of the dummy into a ball of water and brought it to her lips for a drink before splashing the rest of it on her head.

  Johnna turned to her side and raised her arms in a defensive stance. "Unless you don't think you can handle it. I promise to be gentle."

  Stretching her body and shaking it out, Savannah said, "You're on!" She turned to her side to mirror Johnna and started with a roundhouse. Her opponent blocked and returned with a sidekick/ backhand combo. After dodging and blocking that, Savannah did a sweep with her foot while spinning around, grabbing Johnna's shoulders and tossing her to the ground. Johnna swung her legs up, grabbing Savannah around the middle and flipping her over on her shoulder blades.

  "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" she asked the teen girl between her thighs.

  Savannah, feeling the strain on her back and the breath getting squeezed out of her, concentrated on becoming a mountain lion.

  Johnna smiled as her legs were forced to loosen, and she ended up on Savannah's back. Turning herself into an orangutan, she wrapped her limbs around Savannah's neck and middle and shifted her weight to bring down the young Morphling on her side.

  "I'm fine!" Savannah growled, struggling to get up.

  "I don't know you very well yet, but even I can tell that you are NOT fine!" Johnna said, doing a backflip off Savannah and bowing.

  Feeling the overwhelming confusion of emotions spill out of her, Savannah broke into a huge roar and felt her body heat up enough that she felt as if she would explode. Flames licked all over her mountain lion body. She could smell the sweet scent of the hot sand beneath her paws growing more potent as her fire continued.

  "Feel better?" Johnna asked, stepping towards the blazing cub.

  Savannah's flames dissipated, and she turned back into her Kite form, sobs retching out of her little body. "I'm sorry," she sobbed. "Sometimes, I don't know why this happens."

  Changing back, Johnna wrapped her arms around the girl and rocked her. "A lot has happened," she said, "and sometimes we just need a little breakdown before we can pull ourselves back up."

  Nodding, Savannah sniffled and wiped away her tears before realizing that she was naked. Quickly, she used her arms to cover herself up and concentrated on changing her skin to create her outfit.

  "I've never met a Morphling with such modesty," Johnna said, sitting next to her in the buff.

  Savannah shrugged her shoulders, "I wasn't really raised a Morphling. It still makes me uncomfortable."

  "You weren't really raised a Kite, either, but if you're uncomfortable, then--" Johnna changed her skin to look like she was wearing a leopard leotard. "So? What's going on?"

  Crossing her legs and getting more comfortable, Savannah decided to open up to Johnna, "For starters, everyone thinks I'm supposed to be this great Siphon Slayer! I'm not even very good at being me! I feel like all of these decisions are being made about me without me even knowing about it. And even if I did know about it, I'm not sure what to think or what I would choose! I finally have this great life, but it feels like a prison! This is the only place where I get to let loose and be whoever me is."

  "Savannah! We all feel that way! That's what makes this place so special. I know that the pressure on you doesn't seem fair, but life isn't fair. You know that better than anyone. And we wouldn't be putting pressure on you if we didn't think that you could handle it," Johnna said, taking Savannah's hand in her own. Johnna wasn't a large woman by any means, but she was surprised at how small Savannah's hand was in hers. The poor girl had to grow up so fast.

  "I feel like all of these deaths and you guys losing your house is my fault!" Tears welled up in her eyes again. "You even said so yourself! I'm the one that put you in danger," Savannah choked out.

  "Shhh...I shouldn't have said that. This whole situation has been coming to a head for years. I just didn't expect to get stuck in the middle of it. But...Thalia's right! Morphlings were cre
ated to help the Wizards figure out how to defeat the Siphons. And so far, Savannah, after a couple of millennia, you are the only one doing your job," Johnna said, using her finger to tip Savannah's chin up to look at her. "I was angry that Samuel got mixed up in all of it, but I see how it happened. You're a very special girl. Now, about prom--"

  "Ugh," Savannah rolled her eyes and tilted her head back. "Why is everyone making such a big deal about it? That's all they talk about at school, and I don't really remember how to dance!"

  Laughing, Johnna said, "Just accept that it's a big deal, and play along. Because, if you break my son's heart, you will have worse than a horde of Siphons to contend with."

  Savannah looked down. "I don't intend on breaking his heart, but I'm not even sure what's going on. I think we are just friends, but I'm not sure. I haven't read a lot of books on teenage romance. The last one I read was about adults and a cupcake hungry Vampire."

  "I've read that one!" Johnna exclaimed, breaking into a grin. "I'm not worried, Dear! Otherwise, we wouldn't be having this conversation," she said, standing. She turned to help Savannah up, and they hugged.

  "Ummm...this is scarier than you getting along with Lanie! What are you doing, Mom?" Samuel asked, coming up to them. Harry, Chrystal, and Michael were right behind him.

  Johnna gave her son 'the Mom look', and said, "The question is, what are you doing? And the answer is, taking this girl on a date!"