Magic Tricks 🔮 Book 2 || gxg

She's a Dungeons & Dragons Character

As Ada hit yet another gaping pothole in the dirt road, she shifted her suspended arm to try to keep her coffee within the flimsy plastic lid. Perhaps she should have taken Sam's car instead. This was exactly the sort of wear and tear she wanted to avoid just yet. It was too late to go back and swap cars. Ada licked hot coffee from the back of her hand, grumbling all the while.

The woods relented all at once and a vast, barren stretch of land extended before her. An old silver Buick flecked with mud was already waiting there. As she pulled up beside, the driver door opened and Maggie unfolded herself. She wore a heavy mariner's coat over a layered skirt that ended mid-shin, and sensible boots for the terrain. Her hair—a deep evergreen, Ada now saw—was pulled up into a high ponytail that blew on the breeze.

Ada's leather jacket creaked as she got out and stretched. Sam had liked the jacket so much, Ada couldn't bear to put it away again. Besides, the smell and feel of it was both nostalgic and comforting. Other than that, Ada was dressed much the same as she always did. Loose jeans, tee shirt, a hoodie, and Docs.

The gravel pit was, like many things out here, old and abandoned. They were far from any homes or businesses that could get caught up if Ada lost control. At least, that's what Maggie had told her over the phone that morning.

"Find it all right?" she asked as Ada approached. Her hands were deep in her pockets, and her nose was rosy.

"Well enough. Thanks for doing this." Ada clutched with both hands the violently red paper cup to steal its warmth. Winter would be upon them in no time at all.

"No problem, it sounded like you were pretty stressed." She shrugged lightly as the wind picked up to a low moan. "What's going on?"

Ada hesitated. "I need you to swear to keep this a secret. If this gets out ... well, I'll have done it for nothing."

"Of course," she said in earnest. Ada found nothing in her face to give her pause.

"I have to burn down a grow-op."

She grinned. "Are you some sort of vigilante arsonist, or something?"

"I guess you could say that." Except it wasn't the public she was serving, it was a drug dealer, and herself. "This is the last time, but it's serious. I need to be able to make that fire again, intentionally."

"Sure, but it's not going to be easy. Accidents are one thing, but deliberately touching your mana takes practise. I'll do my best, but I might not be able to help enough, you know?"

Ada didn't want to think about that. "Anything you can teach me will be helpful."

Maggie shrugged, gazing around the space. "You shouldn't be able to cause any serious damage out here. Just to be safe, though, we're going to start with something simple. I need to teach you how to access your mana, and to cut off that access. Otherwise you might burn down half of Québec."

"Has that happened before?" Ada asked, brows raised.

"Not to that scale, but with your potential for catastrophic bad luck, I wouldn't put it past you."

"Great ..."

"That reminds me." Maggie perked up, the darkness fading from her features. "Have you been to the astral plane lately?"

"I ... don't even know when I have before. How do I know?"

"It's sort of ... I guess it's like being in the clouds. Not in the way that they are, but in the way we imagine them to be. Soft, wispy, full of colour. At least, that's one layer of it. I can't go beyond that one." Maggie gave a longing sigh, gazing toward the woods. "I overheard my mom once, telling my aunt about a plane she had reached. She described it as a foggy, sparse forest where the trees whisper but you have no voice of your own. A thousand questions, and no way to respond."