005

They didn’t have far to go as it turned out.  Hardly an hour of walking had passed before Celine lead Kat off the trail and past some trees.  They stepped into a clearing at the foot of a grassy hill.  The wind flowed lightly over the soft bed of long, green grass and gently rustled the skirts of their dresses as the wind carried the stillness of the night to their ears.  Silver light from the nearly full moon bathed the whole area in a white glow.  Kat took a step forward as her eyes took in the sight for a moment.

Atop the hill they could see the crumbling stone walls of what was once a cottage.  In another light Kat would have found the ruins to be foreboding, but in the bright silver glow it seemed actually cozy and inviting.

“Come,” Celine said, starting to walk up the hill.  Kat hurried her steps to match stride with Celine.

At the top of the hill the wind blew a little more intently, bringing more of the night’s chill to them.  But the walls, despite no longer supporting a roof, were still rather tall in most places and made an effective wind break.  Kat pulled her cloak around her tighter regardless.

“Still rather cold,” Kat said.  “Looks like people have made campfires here before.  It will get colder.”

“It won’t bother me much, but then I’m a little less affected by things like that than you.  It will be hard to get a fire going, the wind pierces in here just enough to be a problem even with the walls around us,” Celine pondered.

“Oh!  You could do that trick you showed me once,” Kat said suddenly.

“It’s not really a trick…”

“But we could use the fire.  I’m sure it’s okay to use it for that.”

“Well, I can handle magic as simple as that,” Celine said.  “Let’s gather some sticks.”

It wasn’t long before the two were able to get a sizable pile of kindling together.  As Kat had pointed out there had been campfires there before so they made a small pile in the center of the shallow depression that someone else had dug long before.  Celine then sat cross-legged in front of the pile and closed her eyes to focus her mind for a moment.  She sat still for a long time before her eyes suddenly popped open and she exhaled sharply.  A spark popped in the middle of the small firepit and the stick caught a blaze.

Kat gave a little clap.  “See?  It wasn’t a big deal,” she said cheerfully.

Celine relaxed a little and took a few deep breaths, as if recovering from a sudden jog.  “Well, what good is magic if it can’t help now and then?” she said smiling at Kat.

“Nice trick,” came a voice behind Celine, causing her to jump to her feet and whirl around.  When she saw who it was she cursed herself inwardly.

The elf man from the inn earlier sat crouched on his haunches atop one of the ruined walls, his cloak gently flapping without any noise at all in the breeze.  He was looking sideways down at her.  Kat stood up as well and came to stand just behind Celine.  The two eyed him suspiciously.

“I didn’t even hear you,” Celine said.

“I know,” he responded.

“So?  What do you want?”

He jumped down from the wall.  “Who trained you?”

“What is it to you?”

“City elves don’t learn magic anymore, not that kind at least.”

“So I learned from a human, what is it to you?”

“I doubt that.  And it means plenty to me.  Found an old book, did you?”

“I was apprenticed.”

“Liar.  You’re breathing was wrong.  You barely had control.”

“I did so,” Celine said, her anger rising.

“That wasn’t control.  This is,” he said as the campfire behind her exploded into a column of fire that shot upwards of around twenty feet into the air.  Kat gave a little scream and clung tight to Celine as she she watched the spectacle silent but with wide eyes.  Despite the incredible heat, the violence of the flame, and how close they were to it they were unharmed by it, not even the slightest bit singed.  The inferno ended as soon as it began.