Leira Berens

TLC 01/1

At Lavender Rock: “Okay, I get it. I have a tribe. That’s what the Huffington Post calls it these days, right? They’re more of a team than a tribe. I take care of myself. It’s been that way, more or less, since I was ten years old. I’m an independent spirit who kicks ass, motherfuckers!” She spit the words out, feeling the anger growing inside of her. She felt it before she saw it. The magic was taking over her body. She looked down and saw the symbols blossoming under her skin, crawling up her arm. She clenched her fists but that only made the color deepen and the symbols spread to her neck. The tall grass around them bent away from her and a nearby tree rattled as a flock of starlings shook loose and rose to the sky, turning north and flying away. The troll stirred in her pocket. Correk thought about saying something but instead held out his hand and waited. “I can take care of myself.” “No doubt of that at all. You are very independent. That doesn’t mean you have to be alone. It just means you get to choose to let people help you. It’s a choice.” His hand was still extended. “It takes courage to ask people for help, even when you can do it yourself.” He looked into her eyes, lit from within, and the angry set of her jaw, and he waited. Leira slowly opened her hands. It was taking all her willpower to harness the magic flowing through her. Part of her wanted to let it have its way and flow out from her, just to see what it could do. What she could do. The troll trembled in her pocket and burrowed deeper, curling up in a ball. “You have a choice right now,” Correk said gently. His hair was flowing out behind him from the blast of energy coming from Leira. The nearby pines were starting to bend in the direction of the flow of magic. He was using his own magic to steady his heart rate and center the energy within himself. The harder she pushed, the calmer he became. A calm in the middle of a storm. Leira felt like she could hold the pulse forever. It was like a runner’s high. Just there, and endless. She pulled her shoulders back, standing up straighter, lifting her chin. A familiar defiance came back to her. It’s easier to just do it alone, she thought. Thin streams of lightning within the energy flow crackled and popped and suddenly started to reverse themselves. Correk watched with some concern but he did nothing to interrupt the flow. The sharp blue tendrils of magic continued to find their way through Leira’s wide open surge, traveling back to the source. To Leira. The opposing energy was now pulsing blue and white, climbing up the outside of Leira’s body until it reached her chest and disappeared into her body in tiny spirals. An ache appeared inside of her as she felt the connection of the other energy meeting hers. Something familiar that she recognized, but it had been too long. She did her best to ignore it, wanting to hold on to the feeling of power, but it kept spiraling inside of her, tapping away at her consciousness. “Mom,” she whispered, shocked. Her mother was making contact, again. The energy surged forward, doubling its strength and weaving in on itself. Leira could hear the sounds within the energy. Like the singing speech of Light Elves on Oriceran. Her eyes widened as she realized their music were small pulses of magic energy. She opened her mouth and the same stream flowed out of her. She knew how to do it without anyone teaching her. It was a part of her. The energy from her mother wrapped itself around her, searching for answers. Leira let go of the pulse she created and the energy abruptly reversed itself, flowing back into Leira with a whomp that made her stagger backward a few steps. Leira reached out for Correk’s hand, still open in front of her. He closed his fingers around hers and held tight, pulling until he could wrap his arms around her. Leira held on as a shudder moved through her. Her knees buckled and she felt her legs give way but Correk held her up until she could find her feet again. There were tears streaming down her face The air around them settled and the grass stopped moving. Leira pushed away from Correk and turned away as her stomach lurched. “What the hell was that?” she asked Correk. The world seemed to be spinning in front of her. Correk reached out to grab hold of her again but she took a step back. He looked pained but dropped his arms and stepped back. “That was an amazing display of magic, Cousin. You are a natural channel of energy. A rare being. I have never seen a display of magic like that. I’ve only heard about something like this from hundreds of years ago at the time of the defeat of Rhazdon.” “My mother…” Leira gasped, trying to catch her breath. Another wave of nausea threatened to overtake her. She pressed her palm into her stomach. This time Correk insisted and steadied her, holding her arm. His eyes glowed dimly for just a minute and he sang in a low voice, letting the small pulses of magic vibrate around her, steadying the stream. Slowly, Leira began to feel normal again. She held her hands out in front of her to check, but they were rock steady. “One more time. What the fuck was that?” “Basically, a pure stream of energy, of magic. You were able to channel the energy coming off of the nearby rock, straight through you. You were a part of the kemana for a little while.” “But my mother. She was here! I could feel her!” “Yes, I saw what happened. Your magic is so strong it reached out to her. She felt your pulse of energy and responded to you. That doesn’t entirely surprise me. After all, you share the same DNA. But I can clearly see from the varying strength of your energy flow not all of your powers came from your mother. Your father must have had some magic as well.” “Yes, well, he’s a big question mark. My mother would never talk about him.” Leira shook out her arms and blinked a few times. “I don’t feel tired or worn out from that,” she said, surprised. “I would have thought that would take something from you. You said you have to recharge when you perform magic.” “It can and I do. That’s what I mean. You are a very special being. A natural channel. You can use the magic flowing through you and pull in even more.