THE APPLE OF SNAKES

xxxi. frostbitten peach

There was a fluidity to the fire that Aristide controlled. It moved differently than Nerluce's fire usually did and both of theirs moved differently than Taayir's.

Nerluce had never really noticed that before. However, when he saw it, he couldn't stop seeing it. Aristide took control of the flame with barely more than the flick of two fingers. Like a conductor, he guided the fire effortlessly through the air. It almost looked like a stream of water. There was definitely a liquid quality to the flame. Some of it even dripped down to the floor - stone, thankfully - and disappeared with a sizzle or puff of smoke.

It was amazing to watch. Nerluce had never seen fire magick performed like that. He was sure that if any of his old masters saw it, they'd throw a fit and say that Aristide was doing it wrong. Only, Aristide wasn't doing it wrong. He was doing fire magick his way and according to Taayir that was the only right way to do it.

When the transfer of flame came, Nerluce braced himself. With all of his muscles tensed he watched the fire and Aristide all at once. He reached out to the fire in his mind, waiting, waiting, waiting until... Aristide exhaled and his control of the fire was loosened into nonexistence. Nerluce caught the fire and started moving his arms, reeling the flame closer to him with all the effort in his mind and body.

The transition was, too, fluid. When fire changed masters, it didn't change forms right away. The flame dripped a bit more before it became more solid and spindly and quite a bit slower. Nerluce didn't know how to describe the way the flame looked like when he controlled it. It wasn't as fluid as Aristide's fire and it wasn't as free as Taayir's and it wasn't as controlled as Coam's.

Nerluce felt as though his magick was flexible. It changed directions with even the slightest gesture. It wasn't controlled but at the same time, it was. It was chaotic but it had rules it needed to follow. And the only one that knew those rules was the flame itself. Of course, all of this was an illusion. The way fire looked didn't change it from what it was.

Fire was fire and it burned no matter if it looked like a stream or a vine.

Nerluce pushed and Aristide was there, waiting to catch the flame and it morphed back into the more liquid fire. Aristide took the fire to about the center of his chest before his face contorted into something akin to a glare.

"Stop doing that," Aristide said.

"Doing what?" Nerluce asked, bracing his body to catch the fire when Aristide... there. The fire became his again.

"That," Aristide said. "You're waiting for it."

Nerluce frowned and pushed the fire back to Aristide. "What does that even mean?" he asked. "Of course I'm waiting for it. If I wasn't then it would die out."

"I haven't improved at all," Aristide said. "You're..." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "You're being too flexible. Stop."

"Too flexible?" Nerluce echoed.

Aristide nodded and released the fire. Nerluce was there to catch it. "I should be learning to hold the fire. You shouldn't have to be waiting for me."

Well... sure. The first couple of rounds they'd made quite a few mistakes getting used to one another but now the transfer was seamless. They'd been passing this flame around at least a hundred times. Nerluce didn't know why Aristide would be complaining about the fact that they were succeeding.

"It's normal to adapt to different partners," Nerluce said.

"Normal for you," Aristide said. "Less for me. Impossible for those with a primary fire Affinity."

"What do you mean?"

Aristide closed his eyes. It was rather impressive, considering he managed to take the flame from Nerluce when doing so and then hand it back to him. His entire turn... without being able to see the fire at all... Nerluce's heart spiked with envy. He wanted to be able to do that. Maybe he could get Aristide to teach him? Later. After they finished with this. Even the most experienced magickians struggled to keep their control without a direct line of sight.