Bonds

Chapter 7: Bonds

“Let’s continue your training, Nelle.” Pausing, I give Edon a pointed look. “That is, of course, if it’s okay with you, Edon?”

He shrugs, and I am suddenly grateful for his attachment to Nelle. Without his help, I’ll have no way of being heard—and accepted—by the other “Deranged”.

“Edon, would you do us the favor of plucking this bird?” He shrugs again, and I pass him the dead bird. At least now, he’ll have something useful to do. As he starts plucking, I turn back to Nelle, who is still holding Liara and looking more than a little doubtful.

“Nelle, let’s try trading wands.”

She hands me back Liara and a strange feeling of relief, as if I’d missed her, pushes me off-balance. What is going on with this wand?

Reluctantly, I hand Diago over to Nelle, who watches me curiously.

“Now, reach out to the wand. Open your mind to it. Let the wand—”

“I feel it!” She beams with pride.

Odd. Why hadn’t she felt Liara if she had such potential?

“Nelle, a favor. Can we switch wands again? I want to see if you can connect with Liara.”

She hands Diago back to me, and I feel a slight tearing as I pass Liara to her.

“Do you feel anything? Anything at all?”

An impossible suspicion is rising in my mind, but I need to be sure.

She squints, focusing her whole energy on Liara. Shaking her head regretfully, she hands Liara back to me.

“Nothing, Pel. I’m sorry. What does this mean? Am I not a wizard?”

I give Diago back to her, and her face instantly brightens.

“You are a wizard, Nelle. Now, just give me a moment…”

I allow myself to connect with Liara and find myself nearly overwhelmed by a sense of joy at our connection. But this, this is impossible. Liara has more energy now than she had earlier. Her power is growing. And Nelle, who connected so easily with Diago, felt nothing with Liara.

“We’re bonded,” I whisper, staring at Liara in awe.

Edon raises his head from his task of plucking the bird and cuts in with, “Speak up, Wizard,” blatant suspicion strewn over his face.

“I said, we’re bonded. And please, Edon, try to relax. If I were going to cast an ill-intentioned spell at you or Nelle, I certainly wouldn’t bother voicing it.” I can’t help smirking in amusement at the look of concern on his face. “That was a joke, Edon. I have no intention of harming either one or you.”

“Who’s bonded? What are you talking about, Wizard?”

“Edon, look, my name is Capella, okay? Not ‘Wizard’. Capella. Keep it up, and I’m going to start calling you Soldier. Understand?”

“All right, Wi—Capella,” Edon nods in agreement, but I still see both distrust and suspicion on his face. “You going to answer my question or not?”

“I was talking about this wand, Liara. It appears—though this should be an impossibility, really—that we’re bonded. As to what that means, in the most general terms, it means that no other wizard can use this wand.”

Nelle’s face registers comprehension as she replies, “So that’s why I couldn’t connect with that wand?”

“That seems to be the case, Nelle. But we can talk more about bonding later. I’m starting to get pretty hungry, and it looks like Edon is almost done plucking our meal.” Remembering how easily she connected with Diago, I take a chance and add, “And we are not going to eat until you can cast fire on this bird. Are you ready to learn how to cast your first spell?”

She nods eagerly, and I pause before continuing. The easiest way to teach someone how to use a wand is to use a wand, but I don’t want to waste Liara on this. Even though her strength is growing—how can that even be possible?—it would still drain a significant amount of her energy to use her right now.

My only choice is to cast this spell without a wand. Motioning to her and Edon, we walk over to the rock in the center of the camp. I sit on it, trying to find the most comfortable, restful position possible. To cast a spell without a wand requires a lot of energy; and to cast a spell without a wand while standing up is idiocy.

“Nelle, you don’t need to sit. I don’t want to use up Liara while teaching you how to cast your first spell, so I’m going to be casting this spell without a wand.” She opens her mouth, but I continue talking.

“It’s not important how I can do that.” I extend my right hand, turn the palm up.

“Hold the wand in your dominant hand. Let the energy course through you, but let it stay centered on Diago.” I close my eyes, feel the flicker of power drum in my veins, pull that power into my right hand, ignore the burning.

“The fire will come out of the tip of your wand, so be careful where you’re pointing it.” Nodding, she points Diago up to the sky.

“Now, you’re still connected with Diago, right?” She nods. “When you’re ready, I want you to say the word ‘Fire’ as if it were a command. Like this…” I curl my fingers upwards and firmly say, “Fire.”

A small flame, no larger than the palm of my hand, rises from my curled fingers. I feel the energy drain from me, watch it evaporate in this flame.

Nelle cheers enthusiastically, and even Edon looks up from the nearly-plucked bird to stare at me in wonder. I want to hold this flame for longer, to relish the power and the admiration I see on their faces, but blackness is starting to infiltrate my eyes.

“To stop the spell, say ‘Out’, like this: Out!” The flame vanishes; I begin to catch my breath.

“Whenever you’re ready, Nelle.”

She pulls her lips into an apprehensive smile and nods.

“Fire!” A wisp of smoke from Diago and a look of disappointment on her face that she tries to hide with a sheepish grin. “Who gets it on the first try, right?”

“You’re doing very well, Nelle. Some wizards take hours just learning how to connect to their first wand. This time, try visualizing the fire as you say it. Wands sometimes need extra explanations when you’re learning. So, this time, picture the fire, smell the smoke, hear its crackle, as you give the command. Try again when you’re ready.”

I smile encouragingly at her, hoping she gets it this time. I’m starting to think that casting a wandless spell when I was already hungry and tired was, perhaps, an unfortunate decision.

She closes her eyes; her lips part in concentration. As she opens them, “Fire!” And this time, there it is: a ball of flame burning in the air above Diago. Edon is so shocked that he drops the dead bird onto the sand. I can’t help but beam with pride as my friend, my former Military partner, jumps up and down underneath the flame that she just summoned.