“You too?” I manage to blurt, still staring at where the two tiny racing cyclones have settled into nothing.
“Me too, what?”
“You’re— you— you’re a…”
Betsy lets out a burst of laughter. “You can just consider me your fairy godmother.” She winks.
I feel like the rug has disappeared from underneath my feet. Everything in my life has gone ass up and the people in my life are beingreallyfucking nonchalant about it.
I’m beginning to find the idea of a grippy sock vacay very appealing.
“But you knew…”
“I knew you were special, pumpkin. You always have been. Now you’ve just got extra… pow.” She laughs again.
“Is there anyone else like… this?”
“Not that I know of.” Flint answers.
“Wait — you knew?”
He shrugs. “I could feel your power. How else could you talk to a dragon in your mind?”
“And… what? Neither of you thought to mention this? Like, this wasn’t an important fact? Seriously?”
Flint stares at me for a few long seconds before saying “Would you have believed me? If I had said you had magick before you had any evidence of it?”
I don’t want to concede that point. “But I was supposed to readily believe that Goira was real? Not to mention you? Calida?”
He has the decency to look sheepish.
“You can touch me. Youtalkto Calida. Fuck — she sleeps at your feet! But would you have believed this? Really A– Cas? With no evidence?”
He’s like a dog with a bone. “Fine. Your point.”
“So, now what?”
“Now,” Betsy chimes in, “we work on getting youtrained so you don’t accidentally bulldoze the town the next time you get overstimulated.”
“Oh.”
As the shock begins to wear off, the excitement starts building. I mean,come on.I have fuckingmagick!
My excitement is short lived as I learn that magick is not going to be quick, nor easy.
“You want me to what now?”
Betsy gestures to where I’ve set up the rocks. “I want you to learn to work with Earth.”
She takes my hand and leads me to the circle of stones. “Take a deep breath. Feel the Earth under your feet. Solid. Steady. That’s your anchor. Now, reach down, into the ground. Earth is stubborn, like you. Ask it to move with you.”
I close my eyes and… nothing happens. I feel the smallest of vibrations and open my eyes to see one stone give a tiny… was that a hop?
“Did you see?— ?”
“I saw,” Flint says, smiling.
“You need to stop trying to force it. The harder you try to muscle it, the more it will keep slipping away.”
