Helpless (Blue Fire Saga)

by Scott Prussing

  “I know. It just seems like it’s always two steps forward and then one step back. I wish I could skip the one step back part.”

  Dominic smiled. “I know it feels that way, but it really isn’t, not most of time, anyway. As the difficulty of your tasks increase, you must expect some failure.” He pushed the rock Leesa had been trying to move back out onto the grass with his foot. “A few weeks ago, the only things you could move were a tennis ball and small pieces of paper, and only if they were delicately balanced. Now you are moving rocks along the ground. And you are able to keep yourself warm for ten and fifteen minutes at a time. You’ve come a remarkably long way already.”

  Leesa knew that what the wizard was saying was true. She thought back to the beginning of her training, when she had struggled just to achieve the everywhere/nowhere state of mind. Now, that was second nature to her. She merely had to think her trigger word and she was there. Still, she wished she could learn faster. She sighed.

  “I’ll try to be more patient.”

  “I think you’ve worked enough on moving things, for now,” Dominic said. “Let’s go to something different.”

  The wizard led Leesa and Rave a short way up one of the trails until they reached a clump of mountain laurels. A light drizzle started up again, but neither Dominic nor Rave paid any attention to it, so Leesa was determined not to let it bother her, either.

  “Do you remember your growing spell?” Dominic asked. “Don’t say the words until you are ready to do it, though.”

  Leesa nodded. Of course she remembered the words for the spell—it was the only spell Dominic had taught her so far. “Yeah, I remember.”

  “Good. The leaves here should give you a perfect visual. Let’s see if you can grow one.”

  Leesa stared at the pointy, jagged-edged leaves, taking in every detail of their waxy, dark green surface.

  “Blitha egras sumuss,” she said slowly, fixing her gaze on a spot near the end of one of the closest branches.

  A light green bud appeared. “Blitha egras sumuss,” she repeated. The bud continued to grow. Before long it darkened and took on the shape of a leaf. When it finally stopped growing, it was slightly smaller than the other leaves, but was otherwise indistinguishable from them.

  Dominic put his finger under the new leaf and gently lifted it so it was easier to see.

  “Well done,” he said. “Well done, indeed.”

  “That’s amazing,” Rave said, his voice filled with genuine wonder. “I can’t believe you can do that.”

  Leesa took his hand and smiled. “I’ve got great motivation.” She turned to Dominic. “Can I try it again?”

  Dominic smiled. “By all means.”

  Leesa practiced the growing spell for another hour. By the time she was done, she had actually caused a completely new branch to grow. It was only about four inches long, but it bore two leaves—and the whole thing was created by her magic!

  “Truly excellent,” Dominic said, admiring Leesa’s handi-work. He turned back to Leesa and Rave. “It’s getting late. I think we should call it a day.”

  Leesa hadn’t noticed, but twilight had fallen upon the woods. The low damp clouds made it seem even dimmer. Still, she did not want to quit.

  “Can I do just a little bit more?” she pleaded.

  Dominic thought for a moment. There was a spell he wanted Leesa to learn, but he had not yet figured out how to teach it to her because there was no visual she could use. He wished he could use his own magic to demonstrate it, but of course that was out of the question. Finally, he decided to give her the spell now so it would be in her head, and figure out how to teach it to her later.

  “We can do a little more,” he said. “But not of the growing spell. I’m going to give you something new, though I’m not sure what we will be able to do with it just yet.”

  Leesa rubbed her palms together in anticipation. She loved it when Dominic gave her anything new.

  “This is a defensive spell,” Dominic said. “It hardens the air around you, turning it into a shield. To be of use, it must usually be done very quickly, so the spell is only one word. I cannot say it—or even write it—without invoking the spell.” He picked up a twig. “I’m going to write the first part of the spell in the dirt and then I will tell you the final letter. After that, we’ll see what you can do with it.”

  The wizard squatted down and carefully scratched “BONDUU” into the dirt with the twig. He stood up and let Leesa study it for a moment, then wiped the letters away with his foot.

  “The final letter is R,” Dominic said.

  “Bonduur,” Leesa said, drawing out the “u” sound. “Did I say that right?”

  “Yes. Perfect. Now try imagining the air in front of you hardening when you say it, like a sheet of thick glass, or maybe ice, perhaps.”

  Leesa took a moment to try to visualize some kind of image, but found it difficult. Ordinary glass seemed too breakable and ice did not seem clear enough. She decided to go with very thick glass.

  “Bonduur,” she said, trying to visualize the air turning to glass in front of her.

  Dominic poked at her stomach with the twig. It reached her parka without resistance. Leesa frowned.

  “I told you this would be difficult,” the wizard said. “Try it again.”

  Leesa repeated her effort, with the same lack of results.

  “I’m not sure what to do,” she admitted.

  “Do not worry about it,” Dominic said. “I would have been very surprised had you been even a little bit successful.” He dropped the twig to the ground. “I think that’s enough for today. The spell is now in your mind—that’s a start. Let’s go get some food into you. We’ll work on all this stuff again tomorrow.”

  Leesa hadn’t thought about it until Dominic mentioned food, but she really was quite hungry.

  “I won’t argue with you about the food part,” she said, smiling.

  Rave came over and put his arm around Leesa’s waist and they all walked back toward the Blazer. He let go of Leesa when they were still five feet from the car, not wanting to risk shorting out any of its circuits. Dominic told him where they were going and Rave said he would meet them there. He kissed Leesa on the forehead and then strode off toward the road.

  Leesa pulled the driver’s side door open.

  “Let’s go eat,” she said.

  39. growing grass

  Despite her frustration with some of her magic and with the lumpy motel mattress, Leesa slept peacefully through the entire night, wrapped up in Rave’s loving arms. When she opened her eyes, his face was only inches from hers. His eyes were open, and he was smiling at her.

  “Good morning, beautiful,” he said.

  “Mmmmm…Good morning.” Leesa snuggled even closer to him. “I could get used to this.”

  “What? Sleeping on a lumpy mattress in a rundown motel?”

  Leesa smiled. “No, sleeping in your arms, you dope.” She reached up and brushed her hair back from across her face. “Did you sleep at all?” she asked, knowing how little sleep Rave required.

  Rave shook his head. “No.” He grinned. “I couldn’t take the chance I might have a bad dream and end up burning you to a crisp.”

  “Ha! Very funny.” Leesa stretched her arms out above her head. “Even if I manage to become a full-fledged wizard like Dominic and don’t need much sleep anymore, I’m still going to do this. It’s much too nice to pass up.”

  She became aware of a ticking sound coming through the ceiling. It took a moment before she realized what it was.

  “I hope that’s rain, and not mice running around up there,” she joked.

  Rave grinned. “It’s not mice. I would know if it was.”

  “Don’t tell me volkaanes have a special affinity with mice, too,” Leesa teased.

  “No, not too special, anyway,” Rave replied with a straight face.

  Leesa laughed. “This is fun. Did I mention I could get used to this?”

  Rave laughed,
too. “I believe you did.”

  Half an hour later, after Leesa had reluctantly torn herself from Rave’s arms and taken a shower, Dominic knocked on their door. The wizard was soaking wet. His salt and pepper hair was matted against his head and water dripped slowly from the point of his goatee like drops from a leaky faucet. He was carrying a white paper bag, which he had protected from the rain with his jacket. Behind him, raindrops splashed hard upon the asphalt parking area. The rain didn’t seem to bother him at all.

  “Breakfast,” he said, handing the bag to Leesa. “Bagels and orange juice from the place down the street.”

  As Leesa watched, Dominic’s hair and beard began to dry right before her eyes, almost as if someone was using an invisible blow dryer on it. No wonder he wasn’t bothered by the rain, Leesa thought. Magic sure was handy stuff.

  She took two Styrofoam cups of juice out of the bag and then extracted four cinnamon raisin bagels. She laid the empty bag like a plate on the Formica table and placed the bagels on top of it.

  “I guess you’re not eating, right?” she said to Dominic, knowing how seldom the wizard seemed to eat. She wondered if she would start losing her appetite as she gained more and more control over her magic. She hoped not—she enjoyed eating too much.

  “No, I’m not hungry,” Dominic said. “You two go ahead.”

  Leesa grabbed one of the bagels and began slicing it in half with a plastic knife Dominic had brought from the diner. It wasn’t easy cutting through the dense dough with such a dull knife, but finally she succeeded. She was about to take a bite when an idea struck her.

  She held the two bagel halves out to Rave. “Toast these for me, please.”

  Rave grinned and held the palms of his hands about half an inch above each bagel. When he pulled his hands away, the tops of the bagels were toasted a golden brown.

  “That’s a very useful trick,” Leesa said as she took a bite of the now warm bagel. It wasn’t as good as stuff from Uncle Ralph’s bakery, but it was still pretty tasty. “Very useful indeed,” she repeated after she swallowed.

  “I aim to please,” Rave said as he began eating his own bagel.

  After breakfast, they began practicing Leesa’s magic in the hotel room. Although Dominic wasn’t bothered by the weather, he saw no reason to subject Leesa to the downpour outside. Rave simply sat on the bed and watched.

  They started with telekinesis, and by the time they were finished, Leesa had moved an assortment of objects, including to the amazement of everyone including herself, sliding one of the chairs a few inches across the floor. When she tried to repeat the feat she failed, but she was still thrilled to have done it once.

  “That’s enough telekinesis for now,” Dominic said. “Take a break. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  He opened the door and stepped out into the rain. When he returned he was carrying a small square of dead grass and soil he had dug up near the side of the building. He put the piece of soggy earth on top of the empty bagel bag on the counter. Leesa watched curiously, wondering what he had in mind.

  “Let’s see if you can grow some grass,” Dominic said.

  Leesa looked down at the small piece of muddy soil. The few blades of grass embedded in it were brown and stringy.

  “In that?” she asked.

  “Why not? There’s plenty of soil there for some new grass.” Dominic smiled. “Plenty of moisture, too.”

  Leesa stared down at the patch of earth, focusing her thoughts. She didn’t need any kind of actual visual to help her—she’d seen enough grass in her life to easily picture what it should look like.

  “Blitha egras sumuss,” she said.

  First one and then a second blade of new green grass began to sprout from the soil. When they reached three inches in length, Leesa couldn’t help smiling. So what if there were only two blades—it was no easy feat to grow grass in the middle of February. The dead brown blades next to her vibrant green ones were mute testimony to that.

  “If this wizard stuff doesn’t work out, I can always get a job as a gardener,” she joked.

  “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Dominic said, smiling.

  “I bet I know what’s next,” Leesa said. “That shield thing.”

  “We may as well give it a couple of tries before we leave,” Dominic said. “Rave, can you help us, please? If Leesa does manage to fashion a shield, I can’t risk touching it. I need you to test whether she creates one or not.”

  Rave got up from the bed. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Give Leesa a few moments, then try to touch her face.”

  Rave ran his finger gently down Leesa’s cheek. She shivered as a thrill ran through her.

  “Like this?” he said.

  “That should do,” Dominic said, grinning. “Leesa, are you ready.”

  “Just a moment,” Leesa said. She was still feeling the warm touch of Rave’s finger, even though he had pulled it away. “I’m not sure I want to build a shield if it’s going to keep Rave from touching me like that.”

  Dominic’s eyes narrowed. “That’s actually a good point,” he said after a moment of thought. “Subconsciously, you might sabotage yourself. Rave, how about if you just touch her shoulder, okay?”

  Rave poked his finger lightly against Leesa’s shoulder.

  “Like this?”

  Leesa smiled. “That’s better,” she said. “It doesn’t feel nearly as delicious.”

  “Okay,” Dominic said. “Go ahead.”

  Leesa closed her eyes for moment, concentrating. “Bonduur,” she said when she opened her eyes. She tried to picture the air in front of her turning into thick glass.

  Rave waited a few seconds and then reached for Leesa’s shoulder. His finger encountered no resistance. He saw her features darken in disappointment. He gave her shoulder a light squeeze of encouragement.

  “This is so hard,” Leesa said.

  “It’s all hard when you are starting,” Dominic said. “Almost nothing works for the first few tries, as you have already experienced. But you are right, this one is extra difficult. I wish there was some way I could demonstrated it for you.”

  Leesa tried to create an air shield a few more times without success, then Dominic decided to call it a day and head home.

  “I think it’s been a very good weekend,” he said to Leesa. “You’ve done extremely well.”

  Leesa looked down at the patch of dirt on the counter. The two blades of grass were still green and healthy. She thought about bringing the whole thing home as a memento of her success, but decided the piece of dirt would look pretty foolish in her room.

  “I think so, too,” she said.

  40. accidents

  While Leesa was practicing magic, the storm outside had intensified. The rain was now coming down so hard it exploded back up off the pavement like a thousand miniature fountains. Leesa watched it with Rave and Dominic from the motel room doorway. It was really quite pretty.

  “Drive safely,” Rave said.

  He risked a quick peck on Leesa’s lips. The familiar thrill shot through her, rendering her momentarily speechless.

  “I’ll see you back at campus,” Rave said. He turned and began jogging away.

  Leesa watched him as he trotted out alongside the highway, to all appearances just some fool jogger in the rain. The storm didn’t seem to bother him in the least. And why should it, she thought? The rain certainly wouldn’t make him cold, and it probably dried almost as soon as it hit his skin.

  She was not quite so fortunate, however. Even the short dash to the Blazer soaked her cap and parka. As soon as she pulled the door closed behind her, she yanked her cap from her head and tossed it onto the back seat. She ran her fingers through her hair, smoothing it. The hat had managed to keep her hair dry, at least. She was glad the car had been parked right outside the door.

  She looked over at Dominic. His hair and jacket were already beginning to dry. Leesa started the car and turned the heat up to high. She woul
d have to rely on more ordinary means to dry her coat and jeans, she thought as she pulled the Blazer out of the parking lot.

  Before too long, her clothes were dry enough to turn off the heat. She drove carefully, staying five miles below the fifty mile speed limit on the state highway and even further beneath the limit when they reached the interstate. Not every driver was so careful, though. Plenty of cars sped past her, making no accommodations for the rain at all as they sprayed rooster tails up from their rear tires. The Blazer’s wipers barely kept up with the downpour.

  She wondered if the rain might change to snow after night fell and the temperature dropped. She hoped not. Even though she’d had so much fun playing in the snow after the last storm, she hated the difficulties the snow caused for Rave. She thought about searching for a forecast on the radio but didn’t want to risk lessening her concentration. Besides, she had a weatherman sitting right next to her.

  “Is this rain going to change to snow tonight, mister wizard weatherman?”

  Dominic smiled and lowered his window an inch or so. He sniffed the air.

  “No snow,” he said after a moment. “The rain will probably stop in three or four hours.”

  “That’s good to hear,” Leesa said, returning her full concentration to her driving.

  Everything was going along fine until they were about twenty miles across the Connecticut border, when she suddenly saw a parade of red brake lights ahead of them. She eased her foot off the gas and pumped the brakes lightly, bringing the Blazer to a stop in plenty of time.

  “There must be an accident up ahead somewhere,” she said, thinking of all the fools who had sped so carelessly past her, too stupid or too cocky to slow down. It would serve some of them right if they smashed themselves up, although she didn’t want anyone to be hurt. A state police car sped past them on the shoulder, lights flashing and siren screaming, confirming Leesa’s speculation.

  “I hope it’s not too far ahead,” she said as they inched for-ward one car length at a time, “or we could be stuck in this thing forever.”