Cauldrons & Curses | Teen Wolf

⎯⎯ three

"Um, you're telling me
that's your boyfriend?
What is he doing?"

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CHAPTER THREE: Performance Issues
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"Come on, focus" Melina hears her sister's voice while she was looking at the unlit candle she was trying so hard to light. "I'm trying!" Melina exasperated, blinking repeatedly and looking away for a brief moment.

Samara watches her younger sister concentrate, her gaze not shifting away from the candle wick. This was one of the basics of spell casting, and if this skill was mastered, it would make it easier for a witch to cast other spells. But it seemed like Melina could not light the candle.

Her concentration broke again, this time she groaned in frustration while knocking the candle over with her hand angrily. "Why can't I do this?" Melina tightened her fists. Samara and Melina have been working on this for about thirty minutes now, with no progress.

"You can do it. But anger will only cause things to go wrong. It is one of the worst emotional states to be in while casting spells." Samara explained gently while picking up the candle and putting it in its spot again.

"Oh yeah? What are the others?" Melina asked, almost scoffing. "Fear and sadness. If you cast spells with either of those emotions heavily present, then it is very likely for your spell to go haywire. Especially for a new witch like you." Samara answered honestly, not wanting to keep any valuable information hidden. 

"Great, I'm filled with anger and sadness half the time anyways."

"Stop overthinking it. Keep your eyes on the candle but focus your ears on one specific sound like your heartbeat or breathing. Feel your magic flow through your body, become familiar with it." Samara instructed, demonstrating it by lighting the candle easily in front of them. "Just like that."

"Are you sure there isn't a verbal spell for this?" Melina asked, almost envying how easily her sister demonstrated it. "There is, but that'll make everything too complicated. With elemental magic, it's better to use nonverbal spells because it helps you become familiar with the feeling of casting a spell. Especially with a simple task like this."

Samara nodded towards the candle, telling her sister to try again. Melina followed her sister's instructions, blocking out every sound except her heartbeat. Her mind was clear of any thoughts, and she watched as the wick lit up. Melina gasped, then looked towards her sister with a big smile on her face.

"I did it!" Melina exclaimed and her sister had a matching smile on her face as well, "Yes you did. Now blow it out." Samara instructed.

Melina knew her sister meant blowing it out using the wind, and that was a much simpler task for her as she was familiar with playing around with the wind when she was younger. It was one of the first things Melina learned because she knew that she could control the wind and use it to eavesdrop on conversations. Kind of like super hearing.

Once she completed the task, Samara brought out three more candles. "Next step, light all of these at once." Melina's jaw dropped, "are you serious? At this pace I'll never learn all the basics until I'm your age. Can we not do something else like let me read mother's grimoire?"

"We are starting with elemental magic, and since you already know a little bit about using the wind, that'll go by faster. Then after all that, we'll move on to traditional magic. You are more than welcome to read her grimoire, but don't cast any spells from it yet."