Sparks by RS McCoy

alone to mention the real purpose I would have in the world after. Besides, I had made new memories, too , I reminded myself. I learned to read and, though I was driven from the library by the other students’ thoughts, it was an accomplishment that I couldn’t deny. I’d also met Micha, and he was the only true friend I’d ever had.
    Jhoma helped me pass Round One before he quickly advanced through the rounds. The last I’d seen him, he had six stripes on his sleeve. Khea seemed as far from my friend as anyone could be. She refused to talk to me or even see me–unless it was to humiliate me in combat. No; there was only Micha, the talented Tracker with a big heart for lost animals and gifted boys with secrets.
    No one stopped to pay attention, but Rhada and Iseut instinctively paired together, just as Micha and I did. We’d tracked down eighteen of the required animals within a week while the girls found only five. I noticed that one night, as we sat around a fire in an attempt to thaw our extremities and shared a pair of squirrels between us. Micha wondered where to find the last animal, the girls sulked about their lack of success, and Jhurian–of course–had no thoughts that I could detect.
    “I’d like to go with Rhada and Iseut tomorrow,” I announced to the group.
    “You still have one left.” Jhurian said, as if I didn’t know.
    “There’s still time to find it. Besides–it’s too easy with Micha.” His Spark allowed him to sense the animals, even at long distances, and as long as I was near enough to Micha, I could sense him as he sensed them. Not to mention I had my own mild ability to detect animals. It hardly seemed fair that the girls had to flounder together while Micha and I made it look easy.
    “Alright then, but you can only go with one of them at a time. I don’t need anyone going out alone and getting lost in the snow. Switch off between them for all I care.” It was hard to tell if he was worried about his position in the school, or if he really cared about our well-being.
    I started with Iseut the next day, following behind her only to point out the signs she missed: a broken stem, a trampled leaf. She was eager to learn, and once she knew to look for something, she didn’t need anything more to find them on her own. By the end of the day, she’d found six new animals–one of which was the tiny wood vole–using the skills I had shown her. I felt how Jhoma had when he helped me learn to read: satisfied that I could help someone who was virtually helpless. She might have never learned to track properly, even If she fumbled around in the woods for years.
    Rhada took longer to get the hang of it, if only because she was more timid. She was nervous to be around me, which was a surprise to me. From her perspective, I was much older and taller–a concept that I knew all too well, just not when applied to me. My infrequent participation in conversation made her feel that I couldn’t be trusted, and the bow on my back didn’t help much either. She watched me out of the corner of her eyes, rather than focusing on the trails, even after I explained that my bow was only for protection.
    To calm her, and earn her trust, I led her along trails for most of the morning. I described some of the signs I saw, and we stopped some ways ahead when I noticed the markings of a deer that had come by rather recently. When we glimpsed the broad antlers and careful gaze of the buck in the clearing ahead of us, her fears all but diminished completely; she looked at it with awe, the same way Micha would have.
    After that, Rhada wanted to try it herself, so I gave her the lead. She was nervous and unsure, but she stayed put at any given marking she found until I confirmed them for her. When we returned to camp, frozen and tired, she had three new animals to proudly report.
    I went out to track with Rhada every day after that and her confidence grew by the day. When it came time to move on, each one of us