Chapter 8- Gordy #2
Lisbeth cringes, then shakes her head. Donning another friendly smile, she says, “Okay. So. Let’s start a small fire with our hands.
” She raises her palm, and I once again have to outstretch my hand.
This isn’t going to work; nothing’s changed in the last five minutes, other than now, Loxley is here to witness my failures.
At least we’re both failures together, I suppose.
When my gaze catches Loxley’s, he quickly stares back at his fingers. Huh. I look down at my hand and attempt to feel some sort of magic. Think of an ember…
Nothing happens. However, maybe it’s wishful thinking, but I feel heat on my fingertips.
“Okay, how about something simpler?” Lisbeth says after a few seconds of silence.
“A cloud of magic.” She looks at Seb, who nods.
He takes out his hand, and sure enough, a small puff of smoke dances in a circle above his palm.
After exchanging a concerned look with Loxley, I flex my fingers again.
No dice. I almost wish Loxley were successful, so as to take the attention off of me.
“Just relax, boys, it’s only day one,” Seb says.
“Maybe we can make them relax. How about a relaxation potion?” Lisbeth asks.
“Good idea!” Seb, ever the optimistic potions witch, smiles at Loxley and me. “You two take your time practicing creating little clouds of energy. We’ll be right back.”
With that, they’re gone. Once again, Loxley and I are alone.
He hasn’t said a word, but I know that’s part of the speech impediment.
Still, I have conflicted feelings about being near this dude, and I’m not sure why the universe keeps pushing us together.
I thought Seb was supposed to look out for me.
“You enjoy spending time with him, though, don’t you?” a sinister voice in my head asks. Shut up, voice.
Loxley avoids my gaze, choosing instead to study the space above his palm. Clearing my throat, I do the same. “This sucks,” I mutter. “Can you believe they’re asking us to summon clouds, like I’m gonna light the yard on fire?”
I catch Loxley staring at me, his brown eyes shining past his glasses. Before I can look away, I notice his glasses turn yellow, and his eyebrows jump. “Gordy!” he yelps.
He said my name.
There’s no time for me to revel in that because my attention is drawn to my hand in front of me. My green fingers tingle, and I gasp. A small flame floats above my palm. “What the…”
Indeed, a yellow-and-red flame glows and crackles before me.
My first solo spell! I want to jump for joy, but I’m frozen as the magical fire grows taller.
Panic begins to set in, but in an instant, the fire is quelled with a hiss.
In its place floats a bubble. Supernatural water flows in a small, rotating orb above my hand, and I feel colder.
To my left, Loxley has his fist closed. It’s clear to me that his magic interacted with mine. “Loxley, what are you…?”
“Alchemy,” he says with a satisfied grin. He spins his wrist, and I watch, fascinated as the water floats about, like a blue snake in the air.
A laugh bubbles out of my chest as Loxley bends the water around me. “You’re really good!” I exclaim as the water snake floats before me.
“I’ve…never…” he whispers with a wide grin on his face.
“Really? Well, let me try.” I rub my hands together and concentrate on the magic water before me. After putting my palms up, the water turns to fire again. A vertical spire of flame floats between us, and we laugh in delight.
When he raises his hands, it begins to spin and shift between fire and water.
It’s a magnificent dance of the elements, flame and rain circling in the small space in front of us.
Reds, yellows, and blues shine in my eyes, and I can’t help but gaze at Loxley.
On some instinct, I know he and I are connecting on a deeper, unspoken level. We’re both doing this, together.
My magic is burning bright for the first time, and it happens to be intertwined with Loxley’s. I can feel his soul, his joy, our connection.
As I laugh, the spire rises. Our magic is starting to get out of hand, so I attempt to pull it back. Concentrate as I might, the fire and water continue to expand. Judging by Loxley’s shocked face, he’s having a hard time reining it in.
Cauldrons, I knew spellcasting was too dangerous for me. Our magic is about to consume my new home!
Before I can properly panic, the swirl of elements slows down and turns white. In moments, it bursts into minuscule shards of ice. Snow rains down on us, and Loxley exchanges a confused expression with me. The sound of a throat clearing catches our attention.
It’s Seb and Lisbeth. Lisbeth is holding Seb’s hand while his other is raised.
His palm emanates with a white glow, and it’s evident they used combined magic to extinguish ours.
I turn to Loxley as the snow falls around us.
The four of us are shocked at the events that just transpired.
I have access to magic somehow? But Loxley’s magic connected with mine; that never occurred with Mama, Papa, Kai, or anyone.
Trying to level my breathing, I stride back into the house, done for the day. My magic yearns for the one guy that I don’t particularly like. But together, we lose control. This might be proof that spellcasting isn’t for me.
Still, the way Loxley’s face shined in the snowflakes has my inner turtle roaring, desperate to see him. But my turtle needs to chill. My magic is drawn to Loxley for some reason, a mystery I refuse to solve. We could have created a catastrophe, and therefore, I need to stay away from that guy.