Spellbinders Secret

I get invited to the Flower Dance

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I ask.

"Yeah, 'cause Ella kicks serious butt," Kat chimes in. Callum chuckles softly. He and Kat had become fast friends in the last two days. I guess it made sense, considering they were very much alike.

"Yes, I'm sure. And... no kidding, Kat. I saw her the other day, and when she beat my Dad in a sword fight. It was amazing!" Callum exclaims. Kat nods.

"She is pretty cool, just not as cool as me," Kat says proudly. I shake my head, but a wide smile has already opened up on my face.

"Can you two refrain from talking about me like I'm not here?" I ask.

"Yeah, I guess we could, but that doesn't mean we will," Callum replies. As we continue walking, the training field comes into view. It's still early morning, so the sun is just beginning to rise in the east. Callum doesn't know what he's in for, though I must admit, I was surprised to find him wide eyed and bushy tailed for this mornings training session. He suggested it to me yesterday in Alchemy.

"What if you taught me how to fight?" He'd asked, while he was trying to transmute iron into cobalt. It wasn't really working.

"Callum, concentrate! This particular isotope of Iron is a little unstable," I'd reminded him for the hundredth time.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. What am I even supposed to be doing? Alpha decay?" he asked blankly.

"Not unless you want to end up with Chromium instead of Cobalt."

"Oh. What's the other one called?" He wondered, forgetting after only learning it several minutes ago.

"Think, what's the second letter in the Greek alphabet?" I hinted.

"Ah, right. Beta decay. So that's when you split a neutron into a proton and an electron?"

"Yes, and that should allow the charges to balance out, while also changing iron into cobalt because the number of protons has changed," I explained.

"Ok, so how do I do that?"

I groaned and picked up his alchemy textbook, banging it against my forehead.

"The same way we do everything in magic. It starts with your energy. Magic is an energy like any other. The only real difference is that it can manipulate or completely break the laws of science. To transmute a chemical element, you must focus your energy into splitting one of the neutrons," I'd said, spoon feeding him the answers.

"Well that seems easy," he muttered. He points a tentative finger at the iron, his brow furrowed in concentration. Surprisingly, I'd noticed a change in the lustre of the iron. It was no longer a dull grey, but had a slight shine to it. I smiled. Cobalt.

"Good," I said to him, satisfied.

"Now, to the really important question, will you teach me how to fight?" He asked firmly. I regarded him for a moment. He seemed serious.

"Are you sure you're up to it?" I challenged. He grinned. If there's one thing that I have in common with Callum, it's that we both like to prove ourselves.

"You bet."

***

"Again!" I shout at him. Callum picks himself up from the ground and regains his fighting stance. I lunge at him. I see his fist advancing towards my face. I grab his fist and use my hold on it to drag his body to the ground.

"Ouch! That hurt!" Callum complains.

"Life hurts, get over it," I bark.

"Sheesh, that's tough," He remarks. I just shake my head at him.