The Friend From Afar

"Draw, give it form, reshape it, recontextualize, turn it into a bright orange flame…"

With his eyes still closed, Charles imagined a streak of a mist-like light emerging from his fingertips, swirling to form a glimmering blue ball that bobbed over his palm. He then took a deep breath, letting the warm air fill his lungs as he watched the top of his sphere grow a set of tongues that licked the space above it right before it flickered with a soft crack.

"Solidify the newly added properties, maintain the form until it's stable and finally, reshape it once more…"

Charles knitted his brows as he increased the strain in his fingers. He felt a drop of cold sweat running from his temple down to his cheek and with it, came a sight of that same sphere changing its color just like what he had perceived it to be. A yellow-orange flame, crackling beyond his shut down eyelids, teasing him to open it as it brushed its playful heat against his beard. Nevertheless, he didn't give in. He parted his lips with a smile and moved on.

"Reshape its being, resonate it with my own… contain the flame, surround it with a layer of mana to contain… imagine it first as I contain it into a vessel like a bottle, then reshape it into a tube that is set to expand at points A and B away from its origin…"

"Oi, Ssharles, Sharles, Oiii…"

A familiar high pitched voice that sounded a little too hard on the tongue resounded in his ears. He fell silent for a second and with a sigh, he pretended that it was just the wind as he leaned forward and tilted his head as though he was commanding it to disappear.

"Oi, I kno' wat yoor'e doing, ye' punk. Wake da he'el up and op'n those eyes I say!"

"Recontextualize the tube, make those points adhesive to the surface… and with everything stable and less likely to go boom, set those two points to propel at my command-"

There, he took a quick breath and he held it until he got to listen to something like a hand slapping onto the wall at his side and to the ceiling above him. He then opened his eyes without much thought to let it wander to the door, to the untouched stone brick walls, then to the single glass window of their room, to the brown bed by it and the table filled with fruits next to it until finally, to the dirty and small bald bearded man staring at him.

"Sae ye finally did it, an' thank th' gods ye didn't burn our room thes time!" The man exclaimed as he waved his little arms. "An' forr wa? Thes crap?"

"Yeah Ailbert, I did all that, for a purple string... I wanted a red string dammit… So, what's up?" Charles replied with an annoyed tone and rubbed the side of his cheeks.

Ailbert raised the corner of his lips and leaned forward with his elbow resting on his thigh. "Ei maa'n… can't help tha' my majic is peak musculinithee, you shoods blam yer parents."

Charles eyed the man's height and made it painfully obvious before letting out a mischievous smile. "Looks like I'm not the only one who should blame theirs."

"Ei!" The man jumped out of his bed and looked at his body while spreading his arms to him. "I-"

"I know what you're going to say," Charles interrupted him with his voice now smug and slow. "It's not that I'm just too tall and you're not, you're a midget."

"Yer funny."

"Thanks, I know."

"Makes we wonder since all ov' us hae bin given th' permission tae wander aff an' develop our own spells, ye coold've bin wi' th' circus as a cloon... wa' ar ye still her?"

"Same reason as you…" Charles shrugged.

Ailbert stepped back and licked his lips in deep thought as though he was reliving a bittersweet memory. "You-"

"I can't walk very far."

"Fuc-"

"Just kidding, I don't have any money Ailbert." Charles surrendered with his arms in the air as he did his best to hold his breath as he watched the man stomp his feet before him. "I may have gotten a little too happy before and sold everything I have before leaving. Also, they would be more likely to take you in as a clown."

"Weel, what's yer plan 'en? After aw thes?" Ailbert replied, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "Months efter we cem hir, i've heard dat Tinora turned into a military base efter th' vanguard feel to tho' horde of those... ya kno', black beasts, an' now, efter a year, I've heard abowt dat some it's surroondin' villages an' towns ar burnin' women as a sacrifice fur some sun god. It turned pretty messy out der, and ah kno' how wars work mah friend, at some point, ev'ry one hud to be enlisted at leest fur patrols... an' I kno' how battlefields work... weel... weel mebbe, mebbe yer home is naw more jez like mein…"

"Gee, thanks for reminding me that I'm gonna go broke and homeless after this... friend," Charles smiled as he ran his fingers onto the purple string in front of him. "Well, I guess I should be worried since I left everything I had to a pair or retards at home. I can't deny them being assholes as well so they could run with what I gave them but well, they're retarded so they won't be smart enough to think that up, and if there's something I could guarantee, at least one of them won't die so that's that."

"How can ye be so sure abowt 'at?"

"Well…" Charles squinted his eyes and smiled. "I guess magic?"

"Weel, Ah cannot say much abowt 'at but, ye better dispel ' dat thin' reit der and' hed back to th' kitchen an' help me help th' others. it's th' leest we cood do fur stayin' at thes place fur free," Ailbert said as he walked to the door.

"Yeah sure… thanks, go ahead and I'll go over there once I'm done here, better tell them to give us the usual mashed potatoes and all." Charles watched him step out of their room after giving him a nod and once he's out of sight, he looked at the bright blue skies coloring the confines of his windows and there, he whispered, "yeah, I wonder how those guys are doing now too…"