Her Broken Spell

Chapter 22

They were back in the basement. After a few days and many failed attempts at unlocking her magic, she finally did it.

Mateo was now teaching him how to channel it out and wield it. They collected a pail of water, a sack of dirt and some seeds, and some candles.

"Alright. This is just party tricks for us but since you're just starting, let's take it slow."

He took a handful of dirt and placed it in front of them. Then he put a seed on it and sprinkled it with little water.

"Remember your bottle?"

She nodded.

"Mine's a huge ship with stacks of crates. I will open one of the crates that connects with the soil element."

As he said this, she could feel a little ripple in the air. It was not a heavy magic, rather it was like a hum.

She could see that the tiny seed slowly sprouted. A stem and two leaves appeared. It grew a little taller and the roots grew longer until she could see them creeping on the floor. Finally, a yellow flower bloomed.

She gasped and stared wide eyed at it.

"For you," Mateo said as he scooped the flower and placed it in a pot. He even put some more dirt to bury the roots.

"Thank you. I do not think I can do this," she said as she accepted the pot.

"We'll start slow. I'll guide you," he encouraged.

She looked for her bottle again. She slowly opened it and felt a hum of power go through her and into her fingertips. The connection between the seed and her magic was established.

The seed moved and a stem appeared. Slowly, two tiny leaves rolled out and that was it.

"It is not as beautiful as yours," she mumbled.

"Everything that's beautiful starts with something small. I'll just have to take care of it and it'll bloom," he said as he stared right into her eyes.

Why does she feel like he was not talking about the seedling anymore?

"You'll give this to me, right?" he asked, referring to the tiny seedling. She nodded and put it in a pot like he did with the flower.

Then Mateo placed a candle before them. "To light this one on fire, there should be oxygen around. You have to channel your magic to make this candle produce its own heat and then..."

The candle was lit.

"Now it's your turn."

She closed her eyes once more. But she was surprised when a wine rack appeared and instead of only one bottle, there were now two.

"I do not understand. There is a rack in here," she told him.

She could hear the smile in his voice. "Your magic's branching out. In no time, you'll have a whole cellar full of wine bottles!"

She smiled at the thought. Her concentration focused on creating another magic source, one that could set something alight.

She conjured another bottle but its shape was not yet solid. Despite its instability, she tried to release magic from it. There was a shoot of magic from her and she thought that it was directed towards the candle.

"Blast it!" he exclaimed and she immediately opened her eyes.

His shirt was on fire so she helped him get rid of it. He removed his shirt and exhausted the fire with his magic.

She was speechless as she looked at the half-naked man in front of him. Never had she seen a man's torso before and surely not this up close.

She could see his pale skin and well-built body. She never thought that he was this muscular underneath his shirt. There was a long scar across his chest and several small ones all over his trunk.