Ember From A Forgotten Flame

Chapter 16- Hundreds of Ribbons

Mr. Ahimoth stared for a while, eyebrows scrunched together. Finally he said, "I have never heard it described like that."

"How do you sense it?"

"It feels similar to the wind or like water, but nothing is clearly defined. It's like a stream of water dyed different colors. Using the essence is like dipping a bucket into that stream and collecting water."

I shook my head. "It kinda felt like that in the beginning. Things were muddier and not as defined, but they sharpened over time."

"When did you figure out that Life and Death moved together?"

"Like a month ago. The essence was particularly frantic one night. So much that I was having a hard time falling asleep. So I gave in and just observed. That was when I noticed ribbons of Life and Death tend to pair up together. I figured out later that they only separate when someone uses one, but they immediately snap back together once the sorcerer is done." As I talked, Mr. Ahimoth's face became more and more confused.

"The essence kept you awake?" The question threw me off. That was the detail he picked up on?

"Yeah. I feel the essence all the time. It happened after our first lesson together. There was one time I reached out for it during the lesson, and it never faded away." I hadn't realized it could be a problem until it kept me awake that night. It's happened again a couple of times since then.

"Fascinating. I've never heard of that happening before." Mr. Ahimoth was in awe. It was slightly off putting to see his normally stern face filled with wonder.

"Never? Like never ever?" I asked.

Mr. Ahimoth shook his head. "Never. Even the most experienced sorcerers describe the essence fading away once they are no longer focusing on it."

I wasn't sure if I should be excited or concerned.

Mr. Ahimoth seemed to be deep in thought until he walked closer to me. "I know it feels like you have no chance at getting the apprenticeship, but I think you do have a chance. It is going to take a lot of work, but it seems like you are up to the task." I nodded. "In that case, we have work to do."

We spent the next two hours on control exercises. Mr. Ahimoth took my comment about control being my biggest obstacle to heart. Afterwards, I was drained. I almost collapsed when I arrived at the dining hall, and ended up eating two and a half plates of food.

"What did you do?" Hayden asked as I devoured plate number two.

"Two hours containing the ocean." It was the only way I could explain it.

Once I was no longer inhaling my food, I gave a more detailed explanation. When I recounted what we talked about the essence, my friends gave me the same awed and confused expression that Mr. Ahimoth had.

"That is not how I perceive the essence at all. And you feel it all the time?" Sirena asked, leaning over the table.

"All the time," I confirmed.

"This could be a huge advantage for you. Your biggest advantage. We just need to figure out how to use it," Azalea said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

As exciting as that was, I was too tired to care. I got out of our practice session at the arena. While the rest of them went over, I beelined my way to the dorms. I flopped onto my bed and relished in not moving.

I couldn't spend the whole day like this, so I eventually sat up. My eyes landed on my bedside table where I had set down Masteria Morozova's autobiography. Finally with time to read it, I grabbed it. The book was clearly old. The pages were yellow and the leather cover was covered in small cracks. The spine had dozens of fold lines and was fully broken in some places. Delicately, I opened the cover and began to read.