The Apprentice's Apprentice

Part 17

Cora tried to feel the power flowing through her, imagining it pouring out of her chest to form a little ball in front of her, a hovering mass of heat. "Good," she heard Warren say. "That's good. Now the next two really go hand in hand. You're going to need to visualize exactly what you want the magic to do and keep your mind focused on that, and only that. Or as best you can do."

She didn't nod, only pursed her lips slightly as she did her best to form a picture of what she wanted. She imagined the witchlight looking something like a firefly or will-o'-the-wisp, a small little sphere of gentle white light. She did her best to picture it right in front of her and focused on that image, trying to ignore everything else. Which was hard, because as soon as she started to concentrate her face began to itch. She scratched at it and tried not to shift her attention.

Warren's voice slipped through her concentration, leaving it relatively intact as he continued with, "Once you feel confident in your image you need to limit the area. Think of where you want the spell to happen and keep your power in that area and that area only. Once you're sure that area is secure, you're going to want to pour the power into the image you have and release it."

Her eyes still shut tight, Cora thought of her power as contained by an invisible fence of sorts, kept tight in to the little warm circle in front of her. She wasn't sure if this is what Warren wanted, but it's what she felt was right and what she was going to go with. Once she felt the fence was secure, she let the warmth well up into her little mental picture, flooding into what she hoped was the proper effect.

Cora opened her eyes just in time to watch her little light wink out. She stared for a moment, blinking. Then she frowned and turned to Warren. "What happened? It was there wasn't it? Or did I imagine the light?"

Warren shook his head. "No, it was there. The spell broke before you were able to do it yourself. Maybe you didn't put enough power into it? Try again."

She grimaced but closed her eyes again. The steps felt easier this time, especially without Warren saying anything and distracting her. The warmth flowed up and out of her and this time she tried fencing it in right from the get-go. She brought up her little mental image of a tiny glowing sphere that looked an awful lot like a firefly and did her best to concentrate on only that. When she felt it was as set as an image as she could manage, she stuffed as much of that warm feeling as she could into the picture until it felt like it was ready to burst. Then she released it.

Warren's cry happened at the same time as the white flash that turned the inside of her eyelids red. When Cora opened her eyes all she could see was Warren frantically rubbing at his own eyes with no sign of any light in front of her. "What happened?"

"God damn it! That hurt! Why did you make it so bright?" he moaned still blinking furiously as his eyes watered.

"I wasn't trying to. You're the one who told me to try and put more power into it. I think it disappeared again too," she said, looking around and seeing no little balls of light.

"I don't get what the problem is! It's clear from the fact you practically blinded me that you're doing the steps correctly..." Warren trailed off for a minute, then jerked his head to stare at her. "Wait, when you read books do you see it like a movie in your head?"

Cora frowned. "I don't get what that has to do with anything."

Warren glared. "Just answer the question."

She rolled her eyes. "No. I don't see any movie though I know a lot of people who do. It's why I prefer manga over books actually. I like to see what's happening."

"Well that at least explains that," he said, sighing.

"Are you going to tell me what that means, or are you enjoying being Mr. Mysterious now?"