The Lightning Jar

(8)

As the man steered me through the streets, Lira ran behind us.

"Please sir, let her go," she begged, but he didn't let go of my shoulders.

Yet despite Lira's anxiety, I felt a sense of calm. The man's grip on my shoulders was light, and I knew that if I wanted to, I could easily escape his grasp. Plus, I didn't want to run away from him. He had saved me from that butcher, and he was the first person in this town who hadn't looked at me like I was a monster. I wanted to know more about him.

He took us out of the busy town center until we reached a small cottage-style house with weeds in the front. I saw a sign on the door for a split second—Master Avery, healer—and then we were led inside to a cramped kitchen.

It was here that he finally let go of me and gestured to a small wooden table. I sat down and Lira took the chair next to me.

"So," the man—Master Avery I assumed—said once he had taken a spot across from me. "What did you mean when you said you couldn't control the lightning? Are you a mage in training? Or did you turn rogue? I don't see an association pendant around your neck."

I had rested my arms on his table, but noticed a few papers scattered on its surface. Concerned about setting them on fire, I pulled my arms back so that only my wrists touched the wood. "It's because I'm not a mage," I said, trying to explain. "I was out in the woods, working as an illustrator, trying to draw field plants, when this creature—an Elder, I thought—gave me a jar of lightning and told me to deliver it to a faerie. I ran into Lira," I gestured to my right, "and this other guy, Nathan, who had also been given jars. A jar of magic water—"

"And a jar of magic earth," Lira finished for me.

Master Avery stared at us with a look of confusion, so I hurried to finish the story. "We delivered the jars to this faerie, Athia, except she wasn't a faerie. She was a shape shifter. And she was about to kill us, so I opened the jar and... well, got this." I twitched my finger and the lightning cackled. "This was all one giant mistake. I don't want this power. I just want it gone."

Master Avery laced his fingers and stayed quiet for a long time. I shifted in the seat, uncomfortable in the silence. Finally he said, "You cannot will this power away. It was a gift. You must learn to control it."

"But I can't—"

He reach out and grabbed my arm.

I gasped. I tried to pull my arm away, worried that I would hurt him, but he wasn't flinching in pain. In fact, he was looking down at my arm in amusement. I glanced down as well and saw that my lightning was dancing across his hand, leaving his skin unharmed.

"I am a mage myself," he said, using his other hand to pull a talisman out from under his robe. The insignia was of three wavy lines: a healer. "And I think I can help you learn to control this power. That is, if you'll have me as a teacher."

For a moment, I was speechless. Here I was, in a foreign town, a stranger—a mage nonetheless—holding my hand and looking me in the eye, offering me something I hadn't even thought of. He didn't want to rip the lightning from my body. He wanted to nurture it, make me stronger, teach me control.

Then I felt wetness on my cheeks. The tears that had threaten to spill all day had finally fallen. I didn't realize it, but I had been holding my breath, and I hiccuped with relief. "Thank you," I said between gasps. "Thank you."

- - -

Master Avery didn't know exactly where my power had come from, which meant we were going to have to do a bit of trial and error to get my lightning under control. And that meant I was going to have to stay in Middleboro a while. I was okay with that—I lived on my own and was in no big rush to enter the woods anytime soon.

Nathan on the other hand needed to get back to his family, which we discussed when we found him later that afternoon. He showed up at Master Avery's after having heard gossip in the town center about a girl with lightning for arms.

"I can help you get home safely," Master Avery told him. "I can assemble a few mages to escort you through the woods. That way, if you run into any shape shifters, you'll be protected."

Nathan grinned and gestured to the quiver on his back. "I got these, but the extra manpower is appreciated."

Master Avery gathered the mages over the next several hours and then made a simple dinner for us at his place. His home was small, but the fire blazed merrily. It was warmest I had been in a while. And the safest, no doubt. We spent the night sleeping on his floor, wrapped in a few spare blankets, though we didn't sleep much. Nathan, Lira, and I shared stories throughout most of the night, relishing each other's company, knowing that the three of us might never be together again. And at the crack of dawn, Nathan was ready to set out.

He gave Lira a tight hug, and then grasped my shoulder firmly. "Thanks for everything, Krista. Without you, I don't think I'd have ever made it back to my family."

I tried to protest, but he shook off my modesty. Then he gave me a single arrow. "To remember me by." And before any of us could get teary, he had disappeared into the distance.

The sky was streaked with pink and orange in the wee hours, and Lira was staring into the rising sun, deep in thought. I don't think I can say goodbye to one more person, I thought, wondering how I would act when she too disappeared into the sun. However, she turned away from me at that moment and glanced back at Master Avery who had started to tug at some weeds growing in the patchy grass around his house.

"Master Avery, is there work in this town?"

Master Avery looked up from the ground. "Depends on the type. What are you looking for?"

She shrugged. "Anything. I'm a cartographer. I was tasked to chart out the woods, but with current circumstances, I think it might be better to stay in a town for a bit. At least until this stuff with the shape shifters blows over."

"That could be a while," he said.

She glanced at me and smiled. "That's all right with me."

My heart soared, but I tried to be practical. "What about your current employer? In Manos? Won't he be expecting you back there?"

Lira shook her head. "Not for at least a year, if ever. Cartographers go missing in the woods all the time. If it takes me a bit longer to get back there, then so be it."

Master Avery looked up at us with a small smile brewing between his lips, then stood up. "Very well. I'll keep my ears open, though I have a neighbor with a newborn who might need someone to help with her housework. I'm not sure how much she can pay, but I'm sure she'd provide you with some lodging and perhaps some meals."

"I'd like that very much."

"So, you're really going to stay?" I asked, the joy in my voice clear.

Lira nodded, her curly hair rippling in the wind, like waves in a great sea. "I'll need to return to the woods one day, and eventually to Manos. But for now..." She shrugged. "A new adventure here might be nice."

Without thinking, I gave her a hug. As our bodies touched, I felt so warm and happy that it took me a minute to realize that the lightning wasn't hurting her; instead, it swirled around us like a ring of fireflies.

I pressed my head into the crevice of her neck. I knew the road ahead would be long. Controlling this power would not be easy. But I was happy and I was ready for this new future, and that was all I could ask for.

THE END