My name is Hazel Michelli and on days like today, I don't want to adult anymore.
Alis, my magical mentor and surrogate grandmother when I reside in Darag-Realm, touched my forehead with cool fingertips. She came to Rosen Manor twice a week to teach me how to wield the Earthforce magical ability I'd inherited from my mother. Her grey-blue eyes bore into me, as if trying to read my mind. "Are you accessing the fire energy, Hazel?"
"I'm trying. I keep listening for Garron and Meara, though. It's about time for them to wake up."
"Then you are having a good test of how well you can calm your mind under stress." What she didn't say, but her expression made clear, was that today's lessons weren't going so well.
We each sat on a wooden stool, the only furniture left in the drawing room of my recently acquired three-story, gray brick manor home. At the start of our lesson, she had insisted we remove everything that could catch fire. Out went the rough cut wooden table and chairs, the oil lanterns and candles, rich woven tapestries and the heavy woolen curtains that shut out the drafts in the winter and the hot sun in the summer. Without the fabric to run interference, afternoon sunlight dazzled along the bare white walls and warmed the hard wood floors in front of the windows.
I was a transplant from Adven-Realm, or what I called the "real" world, which includes Colorado, my adoptive parents, electricity, and technology. None of those things were available here, as the magic of this world renders any technology ineffective, and to see my parents in Colorado I must travel through a portal leading from this world to theirs. I've lived here almost a year, with my ten-month-old son and five-year-old half-sister. The learning curve has been steep, and there were many times I'd considered giving up and going home to Colorado.
Before I'd been kidnapped and dragged into the Realm I was the go-to fun person on a Friday night, knew exactly who I was and where I was going in life. Now I went to bed early, measured a good day by how long of a nap Garron and Meara took, and felt like my glitter had gone. I was ashamed of my whiny inner voice that often asked "Is this it?"
I shook my head and attempted to refocus. Such thoughts only hindered my magical abilities and Alis was waiting. Squinching my eyes shut, I searched my awareness for the heat of fire magic.
"Relax, you look like you're in pain."
I made a conscious effort to unclench the muscles in my neck and jaw. The moment they softened the fire energy I'd located surged past, a toasty current down my spine."Okay, it's moving."
"Use an image to block the energy from going places in your body you don't want it to."
I erected an image of the Hoover Dam from my left shoulder to my right armpit. The energy tumbled along the dam before flowing down my arm into my upturned hand. "My fingers feel prickly, almost feverish. Is that normal?"
"Yes, but you need to release the energy soon. Once the energy is outside of your body, it can't harm you. But trapped inside, it could burn you from the inside-out."
"What?" My eyes jerked open and I shoved the energy out from my palm. A spray of golden flames sizzled upward several feet into the air.
Alis flinched and threw a hand up to protect her face, then felt across her sharp cheekbones and nose for any damage. Finding none, she gently said, "With control, dear."
"Shoot! I'm so sorry." I searched the ceiling for any scorch marks, but the flames hadn't reached that high. "Good call on stripping the room. Maybe we should have started with water energy."
"Water is harder to will into shape. Fire, while it can be more dangerous if you aren't careful,"—she gave me a pointed look—"is easier to control."
"What does that mean for me, then? I just about barbecued your face."
"It means nothing." She shrugged and adjusted the red handkerchief holding back her silvery hair before noticing my frown. She lightly touched my arm. "Hazel, it's okay. You still are learning at an astonishing rate. Today is just an off day. We all have those."
That may be true, but I seemed to be having more of them than I used to.
A tap sounded on the door, followed by a small voice. "Hazel?"
Meara was up.
Dressed in a simple maroon tunic, she sidled around the door and padded barefoot over to me, dragging a stuffed panda bear my parents had recently bought her in Colorado. The nap had turned her black hair into a messy halo of curls. She leaned into me for a hug, and I wrapped my arm around her slight body.
"Still sleepy?"
She shook her head hard enough the curls bounced wildly. "I want you to play with me."
"Grandma Alis and I aren't done yet. Can you play by yourself in the nursery for a little bit? Or you could go to the stables and watch the farrier shoe the Suntaria. I think Quinn is there." Quinn was our thirteen-year-old half-brother. We all had different mothers who were murdered by our shared father. To say our family relationships are complicated is an understatement.
Brilliant blue eyes met mine. "And then can we play in the garden?"
"For a little bit."
"What about me?" Alis tugged on Meara's sleeve. "I can call out the birds as well as Hazel."
She blinked at Alis, like she'd only just noticed she was in the room. "Okay, you can play too. I'll go to the nursery. Come soon."
Alis and I watched Meara, dragging panda behind her, shuffle toward the door and then close it behind her.
"Are you sure she was awake?" Alis laughed.
"Probably not, at least not completely. It's good she's not going to the stables. She'd probably get stepped on." I adjusted my posture on the stool. My back was starting to hurt from sitting so long. "Let's finish, before Garron wakes up. He's usually not far behind Meara."
"Do you want to wait to try again? Our time has been rather fragmented, and maybe taking a break would be best."
We'd already been interrupted twice before now. Once when the farrier, whom I'd forgot was coming, arrived and once when a lost traveler asked for directions.
"Let me try once more. Last time seemed a lot easier, like I was getting the hang of it."
"I believe you can as well."
Sitting up a little straighter, I scanned the magic gliding through my mental awareness and siphoned off energy that had a warm timbre to it. Earthmagic was a full sensory experience. A magical energy might be identified by sound, by texture, by temperature, by color—or by several presentations at once. Alis said how we experienced the energy shifted on a day-by-day basis, depending on our own experiences, emotions and openness to our senses.
I drew the energy down into my arm. When my hand prickled, I allowed the fire energy to swell from my hand and form into the image of a crown Meara had been playing with in the morning. My whole body heated with the effort, and beads of sweat lined my upper lip.
"That's good, Hazel. Open your eyes."
I did as Alis said, and then laughed in amazement. A fiery crown hovered above my hand. Lighter shades of orange flames formed the base of the crown, while brilliant reds formed bristly thistles at even intervals around the circlet.
"I did it!" The crown wavered because of my lack of concentration. "How do I turn it off?"
"When you are ready, let the energy dissipate and the crown will disappear." Her mouth twitched with a mischievous smile. "Do you want to put it on?"
"It won't burn me?"
"As the magic wielder, you are safe from the effect of the fire, but depending on the heat of the energy you're using, it can seriously wound others. You can form formidable weapons from fire, but as with any other magic, you can also accidentally do great harm."
I hesitated for a second, but then threw fear out the bare window. I shifted the crown so I held it in my fingers and placed it on on my head. A toasty pressure encircled my skull. "This is incredible! I wish I had a mirror."
Another knock sounded on the door, this time stronger and higher up on the wooden planks.
Seriously?
Since no one entered, it had to be Vika, one of the village woman I'd hired to help keep Rosen Manor running smoothly. Quinn would have come right in. I let the magic run through my fingers, off my hand, and tried not to sound as irritated as I felt. "You can enter."
Dressed in a simple blue tunic and white apron, she curtsied to me. Such deferential actions always made me feel awkward, but it came with the territory of being both a magician in the Realm and the resident adult of Rosen Manor.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, miss. Lan is here with your meat, and needs to be paid."
"It's alright. We were about to finish, anyway." I offered her a smile. It wasn't her fault the day had been one big interruption after another.
"Yes, miss. Also, would you like me to prepare something for tonight?"
"I'm attending a dinner party in the village, but Alis might like something. She'll be staying with the children."
"We'll be fine," Alis said. "I promised Quinn and Meara we'd make dinner together."
Vika nodded and turned to leave. Alis and I followed her into the hallway. "Did Lan say how much I owe him?"
"No, miss. He's waiting in the Great Hall to speak to you. I was wondering if I might leave when he does, so I can get home before dark. There's a creature in the woods, killing livestock and pets. I'd feel better going back to the village with someone else."
My eyebrows arched with surprise. "Of course. How long has this animal been around?"
"A couple of weeks, miss.
"Why didn't I hear about this before?"
"I...I don't know. Everyone I know in the village has been worried about it. No one goes out after dark alone. Have you been to the village?"
I hadn't. That was part of why Arden—the Daragward—insisted I attend the party tonight. Other local leaders had begun to speak ill of me, saying I hadn't accepted my responsibilities to Darag-Leigh society.
"You'll be careful tonight, right miss, going to the party?"
"I'll be fine." At Vika's doubtful expression I added, "I'll take Frederick." The firecat would be more than a match for any single animal.
To be honest, I was less scared of meeting some pet-eating animal on the way to the dinner party than the party itself. All the high muckety-mucks who live in Darag-Leigh were going to be there, including the village mayor, Arden, and the King of the Fairies.
People of authority generally intimidate me and I try to avoid spending time in their presence. I'd already decided the safest course of action would be to smile politely, listen intently and speak as little as possible. Surely I could stay out of trouble if I followed the plan. Right?