She let out an ecstatic moan as another shiver rattled down her spine, and she looked around the clearing with wide, frantic eyes. “This is incredible!” she yelled between heavy, panting breaths. “I feel amazing. Amazing!” As I withdrew my mana from her body, I was satisfied to see that the subdued pink embers in her core had become a crackling fire that radiated brightly throughout her body. When our connection severed, I felt a fleeting sensation of emptiness, which I saw echoed in her face. “Ooh, now I feel...less, uhm, good, I think,” she mumbled as she began to sway back and forth.
I tugged gently on her hands and, with Lia’s help, guided her down into my lap. She stared up at me and blinked slowly. “Are you...me?”
“No, you’re you, Marin,” I laughed.
A wide, carefree smile spread across her face. “Good,” she answered, a moment before falling unconscious. Her head lolled to the side as her body went limp, and I gathered her up delicately into my arms.
“I believe this is yours,” I chuckled, holding the sleeping girl out to Lia.
“Right,” she grinned as she gathered Marin into a bridal carry against her chest. “I’ll take her home.”
“Tell your parents they’ll probably have a hard time waking her up tomorrow. And to make sure she eats a big breakfast.”
“I know, I know,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Anything else?”
“Oh, grab us something to eat while you’re there,” I added. “I’m sure your mother cooked up something lovely for dinner.”
It looked as though she wanted to complain, but she paused mid-turn and considered the prospect of freshly cooked food. “That’s a good idea, actually. I’ll make sure to find something.” She turned and dashed to the edge of the clearing. “Maybe I’ll even bring something back for you!”
I shook my head and laughed as she disappeared into the trees. Without the company of a normal person, her sprint through the dark forest only took a few minutes in each direction, and she soon returned with a large pot of stew. We ate it together directly out of the pot with a pair of freshly crafted wooden spoons, fighting each other for the largest chunks of meat and vegetables as they appeared from the dark broth. When the pot was emptied, we retired to the bedroom and climbed into our newly supported bed, which sat on a large, unornamented wooden frame.
“So,” Lia started as she slid under the covers beside me, “how did I do today?”
“Honestly? I think you were amazing,” I answered. “You were patient and helpful, but firm when you needed to be. Even though she complains a lot, Marin clearly respects you and wants to learn everything you have to teach her.”
She blushed and pulled the blankets up to cover her face, peeking out at me through a small crack by her eye. “Thanks, Lux. It really means a lot to hear you say that.”
I slipped my head under the blanket, invading her hiding spot. “You deserve it,” I said, smiling. I reached out a finger and tapped her lightly on the nose. “But don’t think that means you get to slack off now! You’ve got to keep up the effort every day, no matter how tired you get or how loud Marin whines.”
She giggled. “I can do that.” We stayed beneath the covers, hiding from the rest of the world in our private sanctuary of blankets and pillows. She wiggled her way closer to me and spun around, dragging my arm tightly across her chest as she snuggled further into the covers. “Goodnight, Lux. I love you.”
“I love you too, Lia,” I answered. Sleep came quickly, but I awoke a few minutes later when Lia tapped her finger insistently on my hand.
“Lux?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you think every day is going to be like this?”
“Like what?”
“Like this one. Amazing.”
“I don’t think so. I’m sure we’ll have some hard days too, but that doesn’t matter.”
“Why not?”
“Because we’ll be together.”
“Together, forever.”
“Forever.”
***
10. ADVANCEMENTS
The following days were by far the most productive of all my lives. Every morning, Lia and I awoke at dawn and picked a topic from the board to study. We sat together and discussed the various facets of each particular strain of magic: what it was meant to do, how it could relate to our existing knowledge, and how best to approach testing it. When the topic was a more mundane magic like Detection advancements or enchantments, we sat together in our living room and meditated, constantly sharing notes about our successes, failures, and new ideas. The study of more dynamic magics in the elemental school was done outside, well away from our newly constructed home.
On our first real day of testing, it quickly became apparent that a detailed discussion of our proposed topics was necessary before any hands-on study could be done. “Water magic,” I pondered out loud after Lia had made her first choice. “What does that actually mean?”
“You know,” she said, gesturing vaguely with her hands, “water magic. Controlling it to put out a fire, making a still pool of water flow, throwing it at an opponent. That sort of thing.”
“I don’t know if that’s really water magic,” I mused, suddenly confused about what had seemed like a simple topic when we first added it to the board. “It sounds like you just want the ability to move water around.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “How is that not water magic?”
“It’s just...throwing magic,” I answered, chuckling at the words as I heard them out loud. “If you could find magic that would let you pick up and control water, why wouldn’t it work on other things? If magic can throw water, it could throw rocks and wood and metal too, right? Why would it be specific to just water?” My train of thought brought me to my feet and carried me to our noteboard. “No, I think what you want is just telekinesis,” I
