CH 32 - The Lesson

Lily closes her eyes as she takes a deep breath. She holds a deep breath as Gabriella taught her to do her best to still her mind. She knows that the lessons are critical to her survival.

A moment of pure quiet is needed to regain her composure and remember the words. The foreign dialect is strange as the spoken words make her feel embarrassed, as it almost sounds like gibberish.

Taking a deep breath, she opens her eyes and looks before her as Gabriella is there, quiet and present. It is hard to explain, but Lily's heart is strengthened seeing Gabriella with her.

Holding out her hand Lily recites a soft prayer, and a spark of flame appears in the palm of her hand. Crackling and shifting, it is quite a beautiful spectacle of color.

"Good," Gabriella says, holding her palm up a hand, "Now, pass it to me."

"What?" Lily asks, perplexed as the light flickers out, her concentration broken. Lily flinches in a sad, aching sorrow seeing the red flame disappearing.

"When you bring the light up again, pass it to me."

"Why?"

"If you focus on the why, you will put too much pressure on yourself."

"But, it helps me to know."

"No, it doesn't. Now remember when you knelt at my feet. You were blindfolded and felt my fingers moving through your hair?"

"Yes," Lily says with a soft genuine smile.

"Focus on that moment. Focus on something that holds your attention as you speak the spell."

"What?"

"Obey Lily."

"Yes, Mistress," Lily says with a deep sigh as she closes her eyes. She remembers the softness of Gabriella's touch and how the soft caress moved her fingers away from her face. The way that the soft breath she inhaled filled her mind with the scent of lavender.

Opening her eyes but focusing on the calm of her mind. Speaking the words softly, a beautifully cast deep purple orb of fiber dances above her hand.

Even the subtle scent of floral notes emits from the flame as Lily focuses on Gabriella's hand. With quiet focus, she lifts the fire from her hand and passes it carefully, hesitantly, to Gabriella. The subtle pride builds inside her heart as the purple orb hovers over Gabriella's hand.

"Good, Lily. I am proud of you. Keep focusing on the flame."

"Yes, Mistress," Lily says as the flame dances harmlessly above Gabriella's fingers.

"Can you make it hotter?"

"What1?" Lily exclaims as the flame flickers, becoming unstable once more.

"Increase the power of it, focus on the center, and try to make it glow white hot."

"Mistress? Please..."

"Lily, obey me."

Lily swallows hard as she trembles in fear. She is barely at the point of controlling the magic herself. What if it hurts Gabriella? She couldn't bear the heartache of causing someone she loves so much pain.

Focusing hard on the flame, she remembers the passion of Gabriella in bed and the feeling of being held. The way it felt to submit, the form of life's pain, was lifted from her. That there was a purity in knowing in her heart that she was completely free.

She is trying to focus on a moment of pure passion and desire. A moment when her mind was almost completely overwhelmed with a passionate moment.

As Lily searches her mind there, a few soft moments of sweet tenderness arise. The moment that strikes her as the most intense is in the first pinch. The moment Gabriella took control and did not relent, no matter how much Lily begged and pleaded with her.

The moment that she had no choice but to submit, and it was in her submission that she finally escaped the nightmares that haunted her. In her request, she felt free from the terrors that struck fear into her heart every day.

In her surrender, she felt a peace that she had never realized was possible. Focusing on this feeling, the pain in her flesh as she twists under Gabriella's firm grasp.

Lily is surprised at the power of the pulsing white orb floating above Gabriella's hand as she opens her eyes. A soft gasp escapes her lips as she notices the light flickering out for a moment. Recapturing the moment of pained anguish, Lily finds the power to strengthen the fire once more.

"Good, now return the orb to your hand."

"Please... I am afraid."

"Obey, Lily."

"Yes, Mistress." Lily focuses on Gabriella's hand, trying to see if the fire has burned her. Not catching fire burning or harming her Mistress, Lily pulls the ball of fire back to her hand softly as it floats on the edge of the focus, returning to her as it softly balances at the edge of her grasp. Flickering softly between the lavender purple and the white flames, terrified of being burned.

Lily takes a sharp breath as the fire floats softly across her hand but surprisingly doesn't burn. Lifting her eyes to Gabriella's for the first time since the color shift, she sees the purity of the moment. There is an intense pride in her Mistress's eyes as she finds her genuinely smiling in such a way that catches Lily by surprise.

"Now, close your hand over the orb and extinguish it," Gabriella commands.

"Wait? You want me to let it blow out?" Lily asks, confused.

"No, squeeze it tightly in your hands and suffocate the flame."

Lily chews on her lip as the flame flickers in her hand. She is feeling unsure. How can a fire burn so hot that it radiates white, and she would still be asked to touch it?

To move her hands across an orb and smother it beneath her grasp. As a single tear slips from Lily's eyes, she hovers her hands on opposing sides of the sphere in blind faith alone.

Slowing, closing her hand against the fire, she feels almost nothing. There is no pain as the thickened liquid contained substance compresses inside her hands.

Focusing on the moment, she presses into the orb as it squeezes and vanishes, popping with a single spark of light as it bathes them in darkness.

"How?" Lily asks in quiet confusion.

"How, what, my dear?"

"How did it not hurt me?"

"Your magic won't hurt you if you use the spells I teach you."

"Wait? Why didn't you tell me this? I was so scared, Gabriella," Lily trembles as tears slip from her eyes easily.

"If I told you, would you have believed me?"

"I might have."

"That wouldn't be enough. I need you to know in your heart that your magic wouldn't hurt you. I needed you to know in a moment of true fear that your magic cannot cause you harm. So if you are ever attacked, you can use this spell to hurt someone. You can protect yourself with it."

"Why didn't you show me how to do that now?"

"To do what?" Gabriella asks.

"To protect myself with a ball of fire?"

Gabriella laughs easily, "You think it is that easy? That you simply a spell, and you can send a ball of flame toward someone?"

"Why not? That is what it is like in all the stories I have heard about."

"Stories? You read stories about magic?"

"I used to," Lily sighs and pouts, "But the magic spell could be maintained. I was able to make it grow strongest and even hold it in my hand."

"Yes, Lily, you were. But on your first attempt, it flickered out."

"Why did you have to remind me of that?" Lily whines.

"Because it is so important that you realize that something like this. Magic, spells, or even physical attacks must be practiced relentlessly to be effective. You can't just memorize a line and have it work every time. It takes work and dedication to become great at anything."

"Wait, spells or magic?"

"Yes?" Gabriella asks.

"They are different?"

"Yes, they are."

"How?"

"Magic is cast based on an emotional desire and need. It is a visceral response to a moment and is always done out of a response. It is violent, destructive, and dark with intention. Magic cannot be controlled, and too many people die as they try to harness the strength of their emotions. Magic can kill even the caster; therefore, it is the most dangerous method."

"So magic could kill me?" Lily asks, trembling in Gabriella's arms as she is closely held. Feeling the protection of her Mistress before her.

"Yes, that is why we never practice magic. What we practice is spell-spoke from a clear state of mind. A point in your life that you felt safe, treasured, and knew in your heart that you are loved."

"I am loved?" Lily whispers.

"You are...."

"How? You have only known me for a few weeks."

"I have known you for centuries."

"How?"

"How many lives do you think you have lived?"

"Lives?"

Gabriella shakes her head and fingers through Lily's hair, "Don't worry about it. One day I will teach you something extraordinary."

"What is that, Mistress?"

"How to live a lifetime in a single moment."

"What?" Lily asks, confused, but relents. Abandoning her curiosity and worries, she falls deep into the tenderness of Gabriella's kiss as they hold one another close. It seems almost magical, well maybe not magic, but spiritual to be here with someone who knows you so well.

Lily yearns to know Gabriella as well as she is known. There has to be a way to... Lily loses all sense of time and thoughts as the kiss captures her soul.