Traces Of Magic

~Chapter 11~

I follow Jarron to the training room. "Wait here." He disappears into a closet, leaving me alone. Taking the opportunity, I begin to stretch. As I'm stretching, Jarron drags a target out of the closet and to the other side of the room. "What are you doing?" I look over at Jarron. "Stretching." He props the target up against the wall before walking over to me. "That's quite unnecessary Princess." I roll my eyes at him. He claps his hands together. "Okay. First things first. I want you to make a fireball and throw it towards that target, like so." He makes a fireball and throws it. It disappears as it makes contact with the target. I rub my arm. "Okay. I'll try." I raise my hand and stare at it. Nothing happens. Jarron walks closer to me. "You're farther behind than I expected..." I look over at him, eyes wide with worry. "...but that's not a problem." He gives me a reassuring smile, making me feel better. He grabs my arm gently and brings it back down to my side. Surprised at how kind he's being, I don't say anything. "Now Mandy, I want you to close your eyes." I do as he says and close my eyes. His voice swims in my head. "As I raise your arm, I want you to imagine that your hand is on fire." I close my eyes tighter and imagine that my hand is on fire. As I do that, I feel him gently raise my arm. "Mandy. Open your eyes now." His soft voice breaks the trance I am in. Slowly, I open my eyes. When I open them, I see that my hand is indeed on fire. Just a few seconds after opening my eyes, the flames on my hand disappear into the air. I take a peek at Jarron. Still holding my arm, he is smiling happily. I clear my throat, causing him to look up at me. "Hey Jarron. You can let go of me now." "Oh. Yeah. Right." His cheeks turn red as he lets go of me. "Did you see that though? My hand was actually on fire!" A tear manages to find its way out of my eyes and rolls down my face. With a slightly worried look, he comes over and wipes the tear away. His soft hand goes across my cheek, making them turn pink. "Why are you crying? Does your hand hurt?" He takes my hand and places it in his. I giggle as I wipe away the other tear that tries to roll down my face as well. "I'm not crying Jarron. Those were tears of joy. And no, my hand does not hurt." He looks up at my face as his cheeks turn red again. "Oh. My bad." He chuckles softly as I smile. "You have a really pretty smile Mandy." I blush. "Thanks Jarron." He smiles before pulling me close and kissing me. His kiss is refreshing, like falling rain, and they taste like roses. As we kiss, I feel him run his hand through my hair. After a few minutes, he pulls away but doesn't stop hugging me. We stand there for a few moments, with our arms wrapped around each other. The most surprising thing of it is how tender and gentle Jarron is being with me. Suddenly, the door goes wide open as Sage comes in. "Okay Jarron! Your time with Mandy is up! It's my turn." He quickly lets go of me and takes a step back. Like the flip of a coin, Jarron is back to his normal self. "We're have a lot to do, and as much as you don't like it, you're going to have to work Princess." He gives me a rough pat on the back before leaving the room. I stand there and watch him leave. Right before he let go of me, I could swear that I saw just a bit of hurt in his eyes, but I'm not sure. "Ugh. My brother can be such a pain." I look over at Sage as she approaches me. "Yeah. I know what you mean." She nods her head. "So, are you ready to fly?" As she asks me, she begins to float in the air. "I guess I am." She sets herself back down on the ground. "Do you know how to do it yet?" I shake my head no. She places her hand on her chin before putting it around my shoulders and giving me a friendly squeeze. "Don't worry! It's easy!" She takes a step back. "All you have to do is picture yourself in the air and boom! You'll be floating. Why don't you give it a whirl Mandy?" She proceeds to go back into the air as I nod my head. "Wow. That does sound easy! I guess I'll try."
I close my eyes again and picture myself floating in the air. Soon, I feel my feet leave the floor. I open my eyes and look down. My feet really aren't on the floor but four feet above it. Not understanding what was happening, my brain goes into panic mode. My face turns red as I start breathing harder. Sage notices, floats over to me, and takes my hand. "Calm down Mandy. It's okay. I'm right here." "How...how do you...get back down?" I struggle to spit out my question. "All you have to do is picture yourself on the ground." I do as she says and instantly, I feel my feet land back on the ground. Sage lands right beside me, never letting go of my hand. Once both feet are on the ground, my anxiety leaves me and I am able to breathe properly again. I bend over and try to get some air back into my lungs. Right at that time, the door opens as Derrick walks in. "Are you okay Mandy? You don't look so good." Not wanting to speak, I give him a thumbs up. "Alright. If you say so." "I need to go get a drink." Sage pats him on the back before stumbling out of the room. Derrick walks over to me and bends down to look me in the eye. "Do you want to take a break?" I nod my head slowly before collapsing on the ground. Thinking I passes out, he tries to pick me up. "Derrick, I'm fine. I did that on purpose." "Oh. Sorry." He lays down beside me. We lay on the floor and stare up at the ceiling. The fan rotates slowly above us." No wonder you can't breathe. That stupid fan isn't working again." I smile. "I guess that it's not a big fan of us." I smile wider as he laughs at my joke. "I've been meaning to replace that fan. I'm surprised that it's still going. " He chuckles before taking a deep breath. I move closer to him and rest my head on his chest. He runs his hand through my hand as we lay there. "So how has training been?" "Definitely a new experience for me." He smiles. I tilt my head and look up at him. "That reminds me. Aren't we going to practice?"