stepped into the open area just beyond. Marica scanned the ground carefully and then decisively moved toward a spot in the center of the grass.
“Go over there, on the far side,” she instructed me, pointing to the trees directly opposite me. “Find three large rocks.” With her hands, she indicated the size the rocks should be. “Bring them right here and lay them down.”
A little confused, I did as she directed and found three rocks that seemed to be right. I carried them one at a time and lay them at her feet.
“Perfect.” Marica leaned down and adjusted the rocks so that they formed a sort of triangle, each about five inches from the other. She stepped back several paces and beckoned for me to join her.
“Now… open your mind. Feel me here, establish the connection.” I stood next to Marica and closed my eyes. Lowering all the boundaries, I reached until I felt the familiar edges of her mind. I relaxed into the joining, hearing the quiet Romanian chanting that was almost comforting to me now.
Fire, Tasmyn. Think of its power, its energy. Envision it. Feel it.
I pictured fire, remembering at once the day that Reverend Pryce had taken me from this very clearing and Marica had erected a wall of flames meant to protect us. I remembered too the fire that Nell had called forth the day she had me bound in this same spot, the fire that was meant to refine the athame in preparation for the sacrifice. The sacrifice of my blood…
“Focus, Tasmyn!” Marica’s voice sharpened, pulling me back to concentrate on the image of fire. I could see it in my mind, could feel the heat, could hear the crackling.
“Now… cast that energy to the triangulation. To the rocks. Do it, Tasmyn!”
I could feel what she wanted me to do even more clearly than I heard her spoken words. With every bit of strength I possessed, I mentally threw the image of the fire toward the rocks, and then opened my eyes just a little to see what had happened.
A thin wisp of smoke rose from the rocks. Nothing like what I had pictured in my mind, and certainly nothing like Nell’s or Marica’s work. I scowled.
“Keep your concentration, Tasmyn! Close your eyes. Try again. See it… feel it… join yourself to the elemental magic, and to me…”
This time I could even smell the fire. As I mustered all my energy to cast the fire into the stones, I felt Marica join me, giving me just that little extra push.
A familiar burst of power swept over me, and I gasped. I was suddenly back on that day when Nell had tried to kill me, and I felt all over again the sensation her own fire casting, even as I tried to block the memory.
“Open your eyes, Tasmyn. See what you’ve done.” Marica’s voice was so full of satisfaction and triumph that I didn’t need to hear her thoughts, and I wasn’t at all surprised to see the roaring fire in the center of the three rocks.
“How do you feel?” she inquired, as she had back at her house.
“Fine. Wonderful. Full of… I don’t know. It didn’t feel so much that the power left me as that it… multiplied.” I turned a reproving look her way. “But you cheated. You helped me. I felt it. How much did I do on my own, really?”
“Plenty. I only… steadied you.” She drew in her eyebrows, thinking. “Did you learn to ride a bicycle? And did your father run alongside you, holding the seat until you could keep balance on your own?” When I nodded, she smiled. “There. That’s what I did. It was still completely your own accomplishment. I only ran alongside for a time.”
“But will I be able to do it on my own? Eventually?”
Marica smiled. “So much of the power is driven by our emotions, by how we channel them and control them. If you were under attack or in danger, you would be able now to cast fire—as large as you needed. You were remembering the last time we were here, weren’t you? I called forth that wall of flames because I was angry. I used it as protection.”
I smothered the
“Go over there, on the far side,” she instructed me, pointing to the trees directly opposite me. “Find three large rocks.” With her hands, she indicated the size the rocks should be. “Bring them right here and lay them down.”
A little confused, I did as she directed and found three rocks that seemed to be right. I carried them one at a time and lay them at her feet.
“Perfect.” Marica leaned down and adjusted the rocks so that they formed a sort of triangle, each about five inches from the other. She stepped back several paces and beckoned for me to join her.
“Now… open your mind. Feel me here, establish the connection.” I stood next to Marica and closed my eyes. Lowering all the boundaries, I reached until I felt the familiar edges of her mind. I relaxed into the joining, hearing the quiet Romanian chanting that was almost comforting to me now.
Fire, Tasmyn. Think of its power, its energy. Envision it. Feel it.
I pictured fire, remembering at once the day that Reverend Pryce had taken me from this very clearing and Marica had erected a wall of flames meant to protect us. I remembered too the fire that Nell had called forth the day she had me bound in this same spot, the fire that was meant to refine the athame in preparation for the sacrifice. The sacrifice of my blood…
“Focus, Tasmyn!” Marica’s voice sharpened, pulling me back to concentrate on the image of fire. I could see it in my mind, could feel the heat, could hear the crackling.
“Now… cast that energy to the triangulation. To the rocks. Do it, Tasmyn!”
I could feel what she wanted me to do even more clearly than I heard her spoken words. With every bit of strength I possessed, I mentally threw the image of the fire toward the rocks, and then opened my eyes just a little to see what had happened.
A thin wisp of smoke rose from the rocks. Nothing like what I had pictured in my mind, and certainly nothing like Nell’s or Marica’s work. I scowled.
“Keep your concentration, Tasmyn! Close your eyes. Try again. See it… feel it… join yourself to the elemental magic, and to me…”
This time I could even smell the fire. As I mustered all my energy to cast the fire into the stones, I felt Marica join me, giving me just that little extra push.
A familiar burst of power swept over me, and I gasped. I was suddenly back on that day when Nell had tried to kill me, and I felt all over again the sensation her own fire casting, even as I tried to block the memory.
“Open your eyes, Tasmyn. See what you’ve done.” Marica’s voice was so full of satisfaction and triumph that I didn’t need to hear her thoughts, and I wasn’t at all surprised to see the roaring fire in the center of the three rocks.
“How do you feel?” she inquired, as she had back at her house.
“Fine. Wonderful. Full of… I don’t know. It didn’t feel so much that the power left me as that it… multiplied.” I turned a reproving look her way. “But you cheated. You helped me. I felt it. How much did I do on my own, really?”
“Plenty. I only… steadied you.” She drew in her eyebrows, thinking. “Did you learn to ride a bicycle? And did your father run alongside you, holding the seat until you could keep balance on your own?” When I nodded, she smiled. “There. That’s what I did. It was still completely your own accomplishment. I only ran alongside for a time.”
“But will I be able to do it on my own? Eventually?”
Marica smiled. “So much of the power is driven by our emotions, by how we channel them and control them. If you were under attack or in danger, you would be able now to cast fire—as large as you needed. You were remembering the last time we were here, weren’t you? I called forth that wall of flames because I was angry. I used it as protection.”
I smothered the
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