Page 32 of Missiletoe
“It’s the animal thing, right? My family has always been eerily good with them. Oh, and I’m guessing it’s the shadow thing too. I see them all the time.”
:The animal thing and the shadow thing, he says.: Trixie muttered. Could someone mutter in another person’s mind? I guess Trixie could. :It’s more complicated than that, Paris, but I suppose it’s good that you have an awareness of it. That makes this easier.:
“Makes what easier?”
:Rescuing our human. I’m going to teach you how to use your magic so we can rescue Vix.:
* * *
It had taken a surprisingly short amount of time for Trixie to teach me magic. There was no '80s training montage, no cool synthesizer music, and zero standing on an old tree stump by the ocean while doing karate. I was only a little sad about that last one.
It turned out that magic was just the center of inside myself that I always tapped into when I needed that extra something to get me through a tough time, and all Trixie had to do was talk me through tapping into it with full knowledge of what it was and what it could do.
:Exactly, Paris.: Trixie said, as she guided me through the process. :Go right to your center. You’ve already built up a nice, strong core without even realizing it. You really are a truly speci-ahem, I mean amazing human to have gotten this far on your own.:
I nodded happily and gave her ear scritches. She was a very good girl for noticing my distaste for that word. “It just seemed like common sense. Do all humans not have that?”
Trixie sat on her haunches and rolled her eyes. :The ones without access to magic can do a mild version of it. All living creatures have a spark of creation, but only ones born with or granted the ability to tap into the well of creation can use it. Regular humans who have been taught, can use their spark to protect themselves from harmful magics to a certain degree, but the old ways have been lost, and those who know the rituals are few in number.
:You are different than them, though. You were born with access to a specific kind of magic. I don’t know how you got it, but it saturates you down to your bones. It was just a flicker when I met you, but over time I’ve watched it grow. If you practice with intention, you’ll have the ability to turn it into a raging bonfire.:
My eyebrows flew up in alarm. “I don’t want to make bonfires, Trixie.”
Fire scares me. It’s not a debilitating fear, but something deep inside me, something primal, tells me that fire is to be respected and avoided if possible. Anything more than a hearth fire triggers this response.
The idea that I could be capable of creating a raging bonfire had me in a cold sweat.
:Not a literal one. I’m speaking in metaphor. You don’t have fire magic. I wouldn’t be with you if you did. Magic is nothing but raw energy, and it’s shaped by its user. Wielders of fire magic tend to be wild, chaotic beings. Their lives are often short because few of them can control it, and most of them don’t even try. Without something to ground them, they quickly spiral out of control and destroy themselves. That is not you, Paris.:
It certainly didn’t sound like me. Until today, I’d always been a chill person. Animals didn’t respond well to people who weren’t.
“So I have, what, animal magic?”
:Yes. Your personality and the flavor of magic running through you has given you power over beasts and feral energy.:
“Flavor? I thought you said magic was whatever the wielder was like.”
:It is, but over time, pockets of magic can develop sentience. And while it can be used for any kind of magic, it will be much stronger when used according to its personality. However, your family got their magic, it was from a source that aligned with nature. With your personality and this flavor of magic, you have the capability of doing great things.:
“What did you mean when you spoke of feral energy earlier?” The way she’d phrased it made it seem like it was something more than an animal magic thing, but I’d been distracted by what she’d been telling me about Vix.
:Feral energy happens when a creature is lost to their baser instincts. They can be driven there under dire circumstances, and if not tamed, they will create heart shadows. When you learn enough control, you should be powerful enough to calm a rhino mid-charge. Even if an animal was blind with rage, they would fall under your magic. Some humans contain this energy as well. In theory, you should be able to calm them too. This is why Vix needs you.:
“I appreciate the lesson, Trixie, but I don’t see how animal magic is going to help me get to Vix right now.”
:You of all people should know better, Paris. Animal magic is one of the oldest forms of magic. The possibilities are endless as long as you are creative.:
“So how do I use it?”
:You do what you’ve always done instinctively, only you do it with purpose. Tap into your center, Paris, and tell it what you want. After that, you just have to believe. The power of belief is incalculable. And you have it more than any human I’ve ever met. Your inner knowing and belief in yourself is your greatest strength. You don’t get lost in self-doubt like most humans, and that makes your magic next to unstoppable.:
Huh.
If what Trixie was saying was true, I owed my mom an enormous gift basket for teaching me to be proud of who I was.
My mom is totally the best, by the way, so you should probably send her one too, so she’ll adopt you.
Being told I was super awesome by a magic dog was a great boost to my ego, so I was riding pretty high until I realized that everything Trixie had told me made sense except for one small issue.
