Page 12 of The Chaosweaver's Daughter
“Anything at all?” Adella’s eyes grew wide.
“Could you make a person?” Ataht asked.
“Almost anything,” Nesrina clarified. “And no, not flesh and blood, but perhaps a representation. It’s an illusion, an impression of what we’re imagining.”
“If we aren’t using our well of power, does that mean we can hold our creations as long as we want?” the little girl inquired.
“It does, but not without focus. And if you’re too focused on the wrong thing, our magic can get out of control. That’s why it’s incredibly important for us to learn how to release our power.”
“That’s why you taught us the breathing thing?”
“It is.” Nesrina held her hands out for the dolls and swapped them for fresh creations. “Now tell me what you know about Domossan sensory magic.”
As the lesson wound down, with their heads hat-free, the prince and princess chatted and made their own animated dolls and figurines. Their little miniature knights on horses were working against all odds to rescue a princess who was under attack by a terrifying dragon, coming to steal her away.
“It’s blue,” Atahtinsisted.
“No, it’sgreen.”
“It looks kind of blue sometimes, and green sometimes, yeah?”
“Yeah. That’s how the scales are.” The princess nodded.
Nesrina leaned back on her arms, tipping her face toward the sun, eyes closed in bliss as the children debated the qualities of their imaginary dragon. A shadow passed over, and she cracked open one lid as it reappeared overhead.
She leapt up as the creature circled again and locked eyes on them. Its jaws opened wide, revealing a mouth of sharp teeth that sparkled as it beat its wings and began its attack.
“All right, I need—” Nes was cut off by a squeaky roar and an unfurling banner, for lack of a better description. A glowing orange-red flap of not-fabric, but not fire, rolled from the dragon’s mouth. The approximation of flames seemed to burn bright, and heat flowed from it as the beast passed over their heads.
Oh, shit! How?!Could one of them produce light and heat along with their base magic? She could manage temperature, but never luminescence.
“Uh oh,” one of the twins commented nervously, yanking Nes out of her thoughts.
“I need you to stay calm, and whichever one of you created our new friend needs to tell me so we can breathe through this and let it go.”
“It wasn’t me!” Ataht shrieked, cowering beneath his hands as the dragon swooped again, this time mercifully not blasting faux flame at them.
“Wasn’t me!”
“Well, itcertainlywasn’t me!” Nesrina replied, agitated and beginning to worry that the monstrosity might hurt one of them. “It must have been one of you!”
“It wasn’t!” the twins screeched in unison.
Both.The word zipped into her mind and stuck there.They both created it. Shit.The young prince and princess were far more powerful than she imagined, on par with her, apparently, when their powers were combined.
As much as Nes wanted to coach them into releasing the magic without her interference, their safety and her job were at risk. She had no choice but to act as the creature dove again, flying straight toward them, its floppyfire-banner lolled from its mouth, long enough to crisp the green grass.
Great, now she was responsible for destruction of the palace grounds, too. Nes shot her own magic into the air, creating a golden bird to draw the dragon’s attention away.
How did this happen?The abomination flew so close to the palace she was afraid the king’s soldiers would appear on the battlements to shoot it down. When it was in hot pursuit of her golden bird, she instructed the children to scatter. “Get to the trees!”
“Miss Kiappa!” Della screamed.
“Behind you!”
Nes spun to face the illusion head on, raising her palm and coiling in as much chaos as she could manage as the dragon unfurled its flame-tongue in her direction. Heat licked her face, and she smelled the acrid scent of singed hair when the faux fire came too close for comfort. In a burst of golden birds, she released her magic, willing them to lead the horrible creature away before splitting off in a dozen directions—a distraction tactic that mercifully worked.
“Come,” she shouted, arms open. The kids launched into her, nearly knocking her over as they quivered in fear. “My friends,” she kept her voice calm, a true feat, “I want you both to close your eyes.”
