That Thing Called Magic

"Ok so I suppose I should just like stare at this until it combusts instantaneously." she told the Faey warrior as she heard glasses breaking again.

The small mirror reflected nearly invisible freckles that adorned her tiny face.

"Practice shot. Once you get the hang of it, we can go to the real stuff." Ari said as he stood near the glass windows. "Feel the magic from your inner being. Like blood, it flows to every single part of your body."

Red was skeptical but even so she closed her eyes in an attempt to concentrate.

"Breathe slowly. Inhale and exhale in a steady pattern and command your magic to manifest." Ari said. "Imagine yourself holding on to something physical. Animate what you see in your mind."

She tried to remember what happened back at the rooftop. There was a slight sizzle in the air and buzzing sound was increasing in volume.

"Turn something imperceptible into reality."

She felt the slightest tingling of heat coming off of her. It was a different sensation from before. She could feel a whole new universe beneath her skin that could burst into being the minute she calls for it.

"Words have power. Say your spell Red. Your magic, your rules." Ari encouraged.

Red opened her eyes and looked straight into the tiny mirror in front of her. She pointed at it and whispered softly,

'Enbrazea'

A slight gush of wind formed around her and lifted the baby hairs on hear head. Seconds passed and both of them had started to think her attempt to use magic for the first time was a failure.

"I knew this was not going to work." Red sighed. She felt dejected to have failed on her first try.

Who was she fooling anyway?

She turned her back from the mirror, and then just a tiny fire flickered at the mirror's base. Ari was the first to notice and eagerly anticipated what could happen next.

"Red, you need to see this." He called out. "Fire."

Just as quickly as the flicker started, it extinguished as soon as Red turned around. It lasted just enough for her to see a small light burning in the darkness.

"You see? Try one more time." Ari encouraged her. "I know it'll work this time."

"Can't you do this so that we can get over the consecrating part?" she asked him.

The Faey warrior only shook his head in disagreement.

"You are the one being tested here. It should be you who does the consecrating. I trust in you, so please trust yourself also."

Red made a deep sigh and tried again.

This time around she tried to lessen her tension and thought of something to make her calm and become one with the magic in her.

Slowly but surely, she felt the same tingly sensation beneath her skin and once more looked into the mirror directly.

Repeating the same spell she chanted, they instantaneously smelled something burning and the piece of glass that was in front of her burst into flames.

Red couldn't believe what she saw and Ari didn't even try to hide his smile as they saw the mirror engulfed in flames yet had stayed totally intact.

Burning a special item had long been practiced as a way to purify anything of importance. Humans had learned this from ancient Faey and due to changes in time, have completely forgotten where the knowledge came from and the tradition slowly integrated into various modern religious rites.

"Now look at what we have here." A woman interrupted Red and Ari's little bubble of triumph.

Red didn't recognize who it was. "Who are you? Are you one of the candidates?"

Red had been wrong. It was not even a woman, but a small teenager who had slanted cat-eyes and a large forehead. She wore her dead rose hair in twin tails that matched her frilly outfit. Granny glasses made a subtle contrast to her youth.

"Hello fellow crown aspirant. Who's this handsome pretty-pretty man?" she turned her gaze towards Ari.

The Faey warrior was quick to put himself between Red and this potential enemy. He stretched out his arms and a silver bow manifested from thin air. As he drew the string towards his body, arrows fashioned from wind took form, ready to be launched at whoever would pose as a threat to his queen.

"Not so fast bud." A gnarling voice said. "We only came to say hello that's all."

From the dark corner of the room, a tall bulky man emerged. He only wore tattered trousers and was barefoot. When the moonlight struck his face, Red was shocked to see that his body was full of hair and that his face was that of a monster she hasn't seen before.

"Shapeshifter." Ari hissed.

"You and I have it the complete opposite and I kind of envy you." The girl said as she started to walk towards them slowly. The shapeshifter sauntered alongside her. "The heralds really had to be so specific with our first trial!"

"What do you want?" Red asked her. She quickly realized how right Ari had been. You would never know if someone was a friend or a foe. With this girl and her hairy guy? They were definitely a danger to both of them.

"Oh, so simple actually. You just have to hand that consecrated vessel over to us and no one will be harmed tonight." The tiny girl said mischievously. "That's if you really to want to be hurt, Luca could do the honor."