Chapter 41: Chapter Thirty-Eight – Water Works

“Okay, Eskame are you watching?”

“Yes, Big Sis!”

Smiling at the little fox before turning my attention to a large stone I began my chant. “[Pyrobolt].” 

Once my chant completed a curling arrow of fire appeared from my hand, striking the stone before me. I smiled as a ring of fire spread from the arrow’s impact, nearly twice the size it’d been when I first cast the spell.

“Alright Eskame, point your palm at the stone and imagine casting the same spell I did. You don’t have to chant or anything, just imagine the spell coming from your own body okay?”

“Yes!” Eskame held out her hand and narrowed her eyes at the stone. For a moment I thought perhaps our attempts to teach Eskame to utilize her magic were flawed. Reaching my hand out for the little girl’s head I was about to tell her she could try again later when a roaring fire appeared before her. A sphere of fire nearly as large as herself poured from Eskame’s palm before shaping itself into a lance of fire.

I watched wide-eyed as the lance soared forward shattering the stone upon impact. Leaving behind a crater nearly twice the size of the stone we’d chosen for practice. The forest around it lit ablaze by a burning vortex the spell created after impact.

“[Water Whip]”

“[Dust Storm]”

I watched the forest burn as Harriette and Eurycelia ran around putting out the fires as quickly as possible. Only realizing I’d been holding my breath after Eskame turned and gazed at me with a toothy grin. “Like dat?!”

“Let’s try not to use that spell around trees anymore, okay Eskame?”

“Is Big Sis sad dat the trees got hurt? Did Eskame do a bad ting?”

Forcing a smile I reached a hand out and mussed up Eskame’s hair. “You didn’t do anything wrong Eskame. I should’ve assumed your spell would be far more powerful than mine. That’s okay though, we’re just going to avoid [Fire Magic] while we’re around trees. Okay?”

“Okay~!”

“I could teach her how to use a little [Earth Magic] if you want.” Eurycelia panted, collapsing onto her butt beside me.

“I think [Water Magic] would be more appropriate,” Harriette added petting the back of Eskame’s head. “She needs to learn how to control her output before tackling [Earth Magic], otherwise she could create quakes that level entire villages by accident.”

“I don’t know [Water Magic],” Eurycelia pouted.

“Which is why you won’t be teaching her. I will. Does this sound agreeable to you Bernice?”

“Yeah, sounds good to me. Maybe I could pick it up at the same time? I’d love to be able to cast more than just fire.”

“It will be harder for you, though I did promise to teach you magic. So I’d be delighted.”

“What about Alchemy?” Eurycelia asked leaning her head against my leg. “I’ve brought some of your books along. While they go around soaking everything in sight you could return to the carriage with me, I’ll help you study.”

“I can study books while we travel. I want to study magic now while I have the chance.”

Eurycelia pouted and glared at Harriette. “I don’t want her to become your fourth girlfriend.”

“Ah,” I chuckled, “Do you want to be my girlfriend Harriette?”

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“I am oathbound to Lady Otrea. I’d like her approval before agreeing to such a thing.”

“There you go Euri, you don’t have any competition from Harriette.”

Eurycelia mumbled something that sounded like “not yet” however I couldn’t be certain. I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and then informed Harriette I was ready. It was time to learn [Water Magic].

“The most common spell in [Water Magic] is [Water Whip] which you’ve already seen demonstrated today. The spell summons a cylindrical rope of water that can be used to strike enemies, or as you’ve seen, put out fires. There are better spells for fire quenching, but they can often cause damage of their own.

“So, go ahead and try to copy what you saw me do before Eskame. Since you don’t need an incantation for your magic it shouldn’t take long for you to have similar if not better results to what I’ve shown. As for you Bernice, I’ll teach you the incantation now while Eskame practices. Since you don’t have the [Water Magic] skill, it might take significant effort before you produce any results.”

Harriette pulled me aside and began carefully detailing the chant for [Water Whip]. As Eskame shook her little hands and tried to get water to form.

I attempted the chant twice before Eskame finally achieved results. A violent dragon of water spiraling out of her palm, eating divots into the earth and ripping trees out of the ground. I gazed in horror as the dragon grew larger and larger, eliminating all in its path.

“Eskame!” I shouted running over to the little fox. “That’s enough, you can stop your spell.”

“H-how?” Eskame asked looking at me with teary eyes as the dragon continued to carve a path of destruction.

“Stop the flow of magic in your body,” Harriette replied watching the water dragon with a bewildered expression.

“How I do dat?!”

“Take a deep breath and let your whole body relax. Just pretend like it’s bedtime and you need to go to sleep.”

Following Harriette’s advice, Eskame closed her eyes and took several deep breaths. As tension left her shoulders, water ceased to pour forth from her palm. Slowly the water dragon vanished, leaving behind a long shallow creek in the earth. Its water sparkling under the light of the sun.

“Level one-hundred [Water Whip] is terrifying,” I mumbled taking stock of the damage.

“I don’t think that was [Water Whip],” Harriette replied. “I believe that was the spell [Draconic Spout] which is far beyond my ability to cast.”

“Well, what do we do now?”

“I believe we should have Adelita teach her [Illusion Magic]. At least then whatever horrors she conjures cannot affect the physical world.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“I will pray to your mother tonight. In hopes we do not have to bear witness to such a misfortune as an illusionary monster given physical form.”

“That sounds like a good plan.”

Please Mommy Laura, please answer Harriette’s prayers.