Mana Pool Snippets - Keystone

Part 2

Andrea Livingston. Katie could not believe what happened to her, and wished it was not her. It made Katie sick to think how Andrea survived, alone, without any help. How long had she been out there? What about her parents?

Strangest, Katie heard nothing from the Livingstons.

As Andrea slept, Katie stroked the little terran’s head on her lap. She ignored the dirt on her pants and hands. That excess could be that she slept on the ground, after or during the recent rain storm.

It has to be days, Katie thought.

We are unsure of that, Arana telepathically thought. The red-tailed hawk totem sat on the couch’s back, looking down at Andrea.

Scott and Keeji came back after Katie asked for two glasses of water for Andrea. Both were placed on the table after Jaruka gathered his stuff minutes ago. “Anything?”

Katie shook her head. “This just breaks my heart.” Scott and Katie were victims of so-called “terran abuse” since Area 51. She seen girls much like Andrea’s age at the base, treated like animals. “I never expected someone like her to transform this soon.” She tried not to remember those awful images before the attack.

“I tried calling Beth and Morgan,” Scott started. “I tried three times but they never answered.”

“Did you leave a message?”

Scott shook his head and said, “Can’t for some reason. Every time I hear the beep the phone cuts. I think they see the winery number and block it somehow.” He crouched down to eye level with Andrea.

The extent of her body bared more up close. Katie noticed small to big scraps on Andrea’s arms, probably from branches and bushes. Her armor pattern mildly protruded under her skin, smoother than Scott’s and Katie’s sharper kind. Andrea’s tail had more scars, which fits since new terrans tend to injure their tails a lot. Also it seemed that Andrea ripped her own pants just to accommodate her tail.

Keeji was at Andrea’s feet, free from the trashed sandals but had serious injuries on the sole, telling Katie she must’ve been crying as she walked. It would take weeks just to heal properly.

“Will she wake up soon? I wonder where her totem is,” Keeji asked them.

“I hope so too,” Katie assured the husky totem.

Keeji looked, and then laughed a little. “Wow, you really skipped that time, Scott. She must’ve been pushing all her mana into that spell.”

“Not now, Keeji,” he said.

“Oh. Sorry.”

Between Keeji and Arana, they are quite different. Katie’s totem is the intellectual type. Ever since Katie met her, she was in debt to her wisdom, besides being her own sub-conscious. On top of the mysterious spellbook she got when she transformed, both have been pouring all over the pages, studying terran magic down to the last syllable. It fits with Katie’s curiosity. In the past, Katie had a hobby for the supernatural, like witches and magic and such. Even played around with New Age rituals and spells in private. When she realized she had true magical powers, all her dreams and fantasies became real as a roller coaster ride.

Keeji the brown/white husky is Scott’s totem, but he is more like the family doofus than a teacher. He cares more about chasing animals and sleeping around the property than aid Scott. Katie helps Scott with the magic, but explaining things first, just until Scott’s damaged mana heart is healed and capable of producing mana again.

Finally, Andrea stirred and moaned. Katie sighed in relief. “Come on, wake up,” Katie said.

Andrea opened her eyes and looked up. Even though the terran transformation made little changes to Katie’s head—elf ears holding back her short brown hair—it was a friendly and familiar face.