Magic 101

"It may not have seemed it, but I was severely wounded before our encounter and will sleep for some time, but I'll leave Rose a portion of my power for you while I slumber." Before I could object, the sound of soft purring and snoring filled my head before fading softly.

"I got a cat?!" I say out loud to Kairo, glad to be using the voice outside of my head for once.

"Right... that was more than a bloody cat love that was a Helion an abyssal native-

Before Kairo could finish his thoughts a bright ball of light zipped out of the forest line beaming me in the center of my forehead, sending me prone I felt no pain though a low vibrant hum filled my ears and a second magical saturation overtook me but before it could hit full force that voice at the back of my head calling herself by my first name whispered in my ears.

"I'll take that." The voice was clearer, less muffled somewhere in my mind. My body felt heavy like I was glued to the grass. I stared at a sky that was a mesmerizing otherworldly tinge of green.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I was startled out of my awestruck and straight into discomfort. Did she hear what I was thinking?

"I did and have been since that dinky little shop." My mind snapped to the voice I heard climbing the stairs of tricksters trinks.

"No, not her, and I would rather you kept her far from mind." I felt the memory be yanked way out of my reach. The discomfort evolved into a panic.

"Calm yourself your teeth, and claws weren't stolen now, were they?" The tone of the voice was condescending and far from hostile, which did help ease my concerns.

"I'll be borrowing the gifts of that little birdie and clever kitty to fashion new ones, though." An image of a golden hummingbird fluttered in my mind it zipped back and forth before changing into a bunny and then a fox all with golden fur before shifting into an egg of the same color a devious flick of tales caught my attention as Rugosa appeared from behind it curling its body around it to keep it warm as it naps.

"Seeing as the bird needs a name and you are at your limit, I'll be naming him, Digey." The image of Rugosa and Digey faded into the background of my mind, but I felt them nestled safely within me. This Rose in my head grew clearer. An image of myself appeared looming over me, analyzing my face, and I couldn't help but do the same. Her face was mine it was as if a mirror was being held in front of me except for her hair and eyes both running deep with red.

"Are you going to lie there forever?" I watched my doppelganger's lips move, and my voice formed words I wasn't saying. My body was still heavy. I tried to do anything, but it felt like trying to move lumps of lead.

"I can't move." I finally say, realizing it wasn't difficult to speak.

"Right... you did just go through essentially two summoning rituals." Her tone still not hostile was less filled with disdain she looked over me as if she was trying to gather a list of symptoms for a diagnosis.

"You will be unable to move for the next three hours or so." Her matter-of-fact tone annoyed me, but trying to sit up to defy her was out of the question.

"So what am I supposed to do?" I asked, frustration seeping into my words.

"Well, I would advise you lied here for the three hours so your body can acclimate to such power, but..." My mirror image turns her gaze towards Kairo. I used all the energy I had to turn my head and put him in view when a pit grew in my stomach at what I saw. A pair of silver wings flapped violently, and a razor-sharp beak lined with teeth dug deep into Kairo's arm. What made the scene even more horrifying was the speed it was in all of it moved in slow motion like a bad dream.

"What's happening?! What is that?!" I screamed.

"The creature is referred to as an Owldile it's a symbiotic predator that renders its victims paralyzed with its bite, allowing the Shear Bak to feast on stronger prey." Rose seemed to become more mechanical in behavior. Its answers were clinical.

"I need to help Kario. What can I do?!" I pleaded.

"You can't do anything." A devious smile and devilish tone made all my hair stand on end.

"But if you allow me to have your body for those three hours, I'll make sure you live." I finally realized her detached demeanor came from the fact that she was more occupied with making a deal. From the corner of my eye, I could see something slowly breaking the treeline. Another bird was diving at me, its eyes trained on my chest, and another two figures behind following its trajectory.

"No deal." I firmly say, staring down at the birds slowly closing the gap.

"Are you a fool? if you don't get help, you'll die, and your babysitter has already been bitten, so he won't be of any use soon. You're out of options..." Rose hissed through her teeth.

"And so are you if I die you die you have to help me so I don't need to bargain with my life." Rose's eyes narrowed, and I swore a growl seemed to ring in my head.

"One wish I'll grant it for those three hours in return fair?" She knelt closer to me, her head now hovering over mine.

"Fair." I say without hesitation, eyes darting from Kairo to the birds who seem to be multiplying in number and emerging from the shadows.

"Speak your wish then!" She barks at me, and my mind spun in turmoil, trying to avoid the obvious monkey's paw.

"I wish to keep Kario unharmed." I say, peering into the crimson pools of my shadow eyes, a concerning amount of time passes as Rose seems to contemplate my wish.

"No." She says before standing back up and facing the tree line.

"No? You can't say no, you'll die!" I scream.

"Yes, and I could also perish trying to protect a total stranger." I couldn't believe what I'd heard the memories of the day ran through my head, and at this point, Kairo was beginning to feel more like a friend.

"To you maybe, but he means nothing to me. I'll risk my life to save yours or even my own, but for not him." A callousness that I'd never known came from my lips, but I knew it was how she really felt. All of a sudden, time seemed to speed back to its appropriate speed.

"Things are starting to speed back up." A smile formed on Rose's face as she watched the onslaught gain speed.

"You just gained a level of magical sense that most magicians would massacre for and you'll have full access to it in three hours and you're experiencing the acclimation process without any baseline magical sense or abilities of course the world seems to be moving in point five-speed, but really it's all business as usual so if I gave you what most magical infants are born with then you'll catch right up." I felt a stirring in my mind that seemed to speed everything up more and more until the birds were dive bombing and the hum had changed into precise separate tones coming from the trees and grass and even though the wings of the talon terrors were silent a sound came from them as well unique and distinct from all the others. The birds closed in quick beaks like lawn darts aimed for my center mass. I close my eyes tight, waiting for sharp pains and gnashing teeth.

Instead, a warm liquid drip slowly poured from above. I slowly opened my eyes to see Kairo holding himself over me. Blood dripped from his mouth to my cheeks and forehead.

"Sorry, I only could manage another there, and I used the rest for stop." He coughs up more blood between each word, trying his best to act as my shield, but I see his arms buckle.

"Soon my spells will end, but before that, if you could manage another blast like earlier, it'll scare them off." His eyes weren't focusing, but he swayed, fighting the urge to fall unconscious.

"Okay, you have a deal. I will protect this stranger." Rose grunted spitefully.

"Thank you, Rose." I say out loud. Kairo hearing this while barely conscious still seemed confused.

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"You're welcome Willow enjoy your rest." I slipped into sleep, finally letting the weight my body was feeling drag me deep into a state of unconsciousness. The last words I heard from Rose reassured me to rest.

"Sweet dreams."

~End of Chapter 4