September 20th

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Me and Kevin are better. He was being stupid about what happened the other day. Though I have to say, it was kind of sweet. In a stupid white knight kind of way. He flipped out when he saw the scratches on my arm, he thought someone had hurt me, and that’s why he started talking to me again. Which I don’t get. I think the scratches look more like I got them from running through some bushes. If I was keeping Razor, I’d look into a leather glove, but he’s gone as soon as he heals. My parents have made that clear.

            The sky was the pale grey of high clouds when Leah ran outside. Having been trapped by her guidance counsellor in a useless future plans meeting, she’d made it clear from the beginning that she was going to university for English, she hadn’t been able to leave until well after the bell rang. Already the front lawn was deserted of other students. They had all gone home, to their part-time jobs, or to their sports practices. Only Kevin was left.

           He was standing beside the flagpole, staring up at the gently flapping square of cloth. It had once been a rectangle but too many windy and rainy days had made it shrink into something halfway between the two shapes. “Sorry I’m late!” she called, running up the grassy incline to him. “Mr. Costa wouldn’t let me go until we’d talked about every single university I want to apply to.”

            He nodded. “It is fine. I was enjoying the air. Unfortunately there will be no rain, at least not for the next two days, but I enjoy the weather nonetheless. Shall we go now?”

            She frowned as she fell into step beside him. “What do you mean it’s not going to rain? The weather channel said it’s going to pour tomorrow.”

           Kevin cocked his head. “Weather channel? I do not know what that is but it is wrong. I can taste the water in the air. There is not enough to create rain. It will take at least two days for the air to be heavy enough with water for that to happen.”

            “How do you know…wait. Is this a magic thing?” She asked, staring at him.

            He considered it for a moment. “It more a side-effect of my affinity for water based magics.”

            She opened her mouth then closed it and shook her head. “No. I’ll wait to ask after your explanation. You might tell me what I want to know then, so I’ll hold my questions until afterwards.”

            They were passing the park a block from school, the one most often used by students to get high in before class, when some kids shoved past as they chased one another. Leah stumbled but Kevin caught her elbow before she fell, steadying her as the children’s shrieks dimmed with distance.

            She straightened, taking her hand off his shoulder. “Thanks,” she said, looking in the direction the children had disappeared in. “Some kids are bloody menaces.”

            He nodded, releasing her once she was steady on her feet. “It is no problem.”

            A scream overhead, sounding high and piercing before slowly becoming wheezing, sent both their heads snapping upwards. A brown blur dropped out of the sky, rocketing straight at Kevin. He dove to the ground, only just missing being struck in the head. As it was, talons raked one shoulder, drawing a hiss from him.

            Wings buffeted his heads as his attacker swooped back up, flapping hard for height. Until he heard the shouts. “Razor! What are you doing? Leave Kevin alone! He’s a friend,” Leah cried, running to stand over him as she glared at the hawk.

            Razor glided down to a nearby branch, settling his wings and flicking his tail as he watched her. She crossed her arms over her chest, eyes still on him. “You stay there until I’m sure Kevin’s alright. You hear me?”

            The hawk bobbed his whole body and she nodded sharply back before kneeling beside Kevin. “I am so sorry! I had no idea he’d do that. He’s not even supposed to be outside. I was going to let him go tonight but I guess my parents thought I wouldn’t do it myself. I have no idea how he found me! Are you alright?” She asked, hands fluttering over him, afraid to hurt him.

            He dug his face out of the grass and sat up slowly, one hand pressed against the shoulder that was turning his white shirt blue. He stared at the hawk, eyes wide and lips parted. “That creature is yours?”

            Leah nodded, staring at the spreading blue patch. “Kevin? Is your blood…blue?”

            He looked at her, it taking a few moments for her question to register. “Yes. Yes it is. I had forgotten I was bleeding.” He pulled his hand off the wound then slowly lowered his hand towards it. As she watched, the blue stains shrank back, pulling in, until his shirt was clean and the flesh she could see through the tears was unbroken.

            “How did…?”

            “Blood is liquid and has some water in it. I am able to perform some small healings with my power. Now,” he said, eyes losing their softness as the pupils contracted into narrow slits. “How did you come by that bird?”

            “You’re not going to hurt him are you?” She asked, face twisting with anxiety. “He just doesn’t know any better. He’s stayed in the tree since I yelled at him.”

            Kevin looked at the tree, one hand flexing. “No. I will not harm him if it is not necessary. But there is magic in him. Two kinds of magic to be more precise.”

            “Magic? But he’s just a hawk I found on the way home. He was hurt and I patched him up. I mean yeah, he healed faster than I thought he would and he’s quite attached to me but he can’t be magic. Can he?” She whispered the last bit, staring at Razor.

            “If it were any other combination…You say you found him injured?” Kevin saw her nod and tapped on finger against his knee as he thought. “There is air magic in him. I believe it was the original spell. It is keyed to you. I believe he was part of the trace spell the dreigun from the other day was attempting to place on you. It may have even been completed but I can no longer tell. It has deteriorated and merged too much. I am merely guessing, but I believe he was charged with finding you and keeping you within sight. When he was injured, the spell would have weakened, even more with the…weakening of its caster. When you approached him, the spell on you merged with fading one, making him into a hybrid of the two. He seems to have combined the impels of both spells.”

            Leah took a deep breath, letting it out as a sigh. She guessed it sort of made sense, at least when Kevin explained it. “Wait. What spell on me?”

            He coughed slightly. “I placed a protective spell on you shortly after we met. You were too close to me for me to feel safe with you otherwise.”

            “So basically, Razor has a combination spell to find and protect me? I have a hawk bodyguard?” She asked, eyebrows rising rapidly.

            “You could look at it that way,” he said, bowing his head.

            She sighed again. “Okay. Okay. I…I think I’m going to need to have a talk with Razor over what is and what isn’t acceptable. At least now I know he really does understand me. He does, doesn’t he?”

            He nodded. “I believe so. I would assume the original spell helped improve his intelligence to report back on you.”

            She dropped her forehead into her palm. “Alright. That’s…good to know. Look, can we reschedule for tomorrow? I think it’s going to take a while to explain things to him and I don’t want to risk you being attacked again.”

“That may be for the best. For all of us,” Kevin replied as he stood.

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