“What?” Zane could not say anything else. It took him a while to even reply to her absurd exclamation. It was not something he expected to hear in the current moment. So he asked Maria if she could repeat what she said.

“I said that I am going to help you pass the entrance exam.” She answered as determined as before and just as calm, “Whatever it takes, I will help you get through it.”

Still, he could not say anything. All he could do was stare at her in confusion and disbelief. He had dismissed the first time as delusion from pain and medicine, but when she confirmed what she said he knew that it was not so. Right now, while he is in bed, she pledged her determination to help him. His heart became filled with hope, yet it felt different somehow. It was not a hope he brought onto himself, but rather one given to him from someone else. Similar to the same hope he felt years ago. It delighted him to feel it again so he slowly started to smile and laugh out of purest joy.

She watched him laugh until he coughed with pain. She asked him once he calmed down, “Why did you laugh? I don’t understand.”

He looked straight into her hazel eyes and answered, “I’m sorry. It’s just… I’m so glad!” He nearly burst into laughter again, but he kept it suppressed for now. He lay back into the bed looking up to the ceiling. His imagination started to go wild what lay ahead in his new future of magic, spells, fire, books, and learning. He could almost see it, red and orange flames shooting from his fingertips dancing as they went. Flames… from my hands, he thought. This single thought repeated itself in his mind over and over again, and the same problem kept rising, “How are you going to help me? I don’t have any magic.”

She was caught off guard by his question. It took her a moment before she could answer, “We’ll figure something out. Perhaps you’re a late bloomer, who knows?”

He could tell through the tone of her voice that she too was concerned about his lack of magic. Their hope in this mission already presented a problem before they could even begin it. Yet it was not enough to sway them from the course they have set for themselves. Her fierce determination to see its end ignited his own, and with a nod of his head, Zane announced his agreement, “Alright. We’ll do this! Thank you.”

She smiled warmly and left his bedside to return downstairs.

Outside, the sandstorm continued to rage in the surrounding lands. Sand, rocks, and tree stumps flew around bashing into everything in their path. Window panels rattled on their hinges trying to keep those inside sheltered from the sand, but dust still swept under doors and in between windows. The wind roared around the city walls in anger, trying to scratch the stone away with sand. Its roar mingled with the bellows of thunder creating a new type of beast. Hearing it was common when a sandstorm blew across the desert. There were always dark clouds above when a sandstorm arrived. Zane never knew why, but one time he asked his parents why. They were not too sure of it either, and guessed that it was because the wind and lightning elementals had come to visit Phyrior, the elemental Lord of Fire, and that is why sandstorms lasted for a while.

He listened to the thunder and wind outside, waiting for it to disappear so he could return home. Normally, someone would feel afraid waiting in a small, dusty room while thunder and wind fought outside, but not Zane. He felt calm just sitting around while the skies shouted an anthem. When he saw flashes of light peek through creaks and gaps for a quick moment, it did not bother him one bit because he knew that he was safe inside.

Eventually, the ruckus died down and the sandstorm left. He felt his bed and went downstairs to thank the person who let him stay inside. It turns out that the building belonged to Sister Istra, the caretaker of the orphanage Maria lived in. She thanked him deeply for saving Little Tin, and offered him a small purse of what little money she had which he could not accept. He had to leave before she insisted further that he take it.

People were out in the streets once again sweeping their houses, porches, and steps clean of dust and sand. Nobody was bothered by the extra work. Since the sun was beginning to set, the sweeping would exhaust them and let them sleep a lot easier.

When he arrived home, he found his mother and aunt busy emptying pans of dust out into the street, and then sweeping them off to the side. He announced his presence to them both causing his mother to run to embrace him. She hugged him tight, stated how concerned she was when he did not come home before the storm, and then asked him where he was. He felt that she did not need to know the whole story. He knew that she would freak out if she knew that he trudged through the storm. So he told her how he stayed inside the orphanage to which she sighed in relief. They all went inside for a cup of cactus milk with dinner, and then retired for the day.

The next day, he met Maria in front of the orphanage to begin helping him. They walked together to the river. She seemed a bit hesitant to go back there despite it being her idea, but she brushed it aside and composed herself. Zane asked her a question, “So, what are we doing here?”

She swung around to look at him and then answered, “I figure we should go somewhere private so that you don’t have anything to distract you.”

He nodded in agreement and then asked another question, “What are we going to start with first?”

“Well, first I think we should see if you really are a late bloomer.” She looked around the oasis and then picked up a branch. She handed it over to him and instructed him what to do next, “Just try to light that branch on fire. Sounds easy right?”

He did not think too much about how she might be looking at this from her perspective, and just followed along with what she said. He held the branch in his hand and stared at it intensely. He waved his other hand around it to try make it burn, and even whispered nonsense hoping he would speak a spell, but none of it worked. The branch remained whole. He looked at her and spoke, “It’s not working. Could you show how to do it? Maybe I just need a visual guide.”

His optimism spread onto her, and she happily took the branch from him, “Well, I’m not too sure how magic works for other people, but for me I just imagine that the branch is on fire, and that the fire comes from my hands. If that doesn’t work, then I just close my eyes and just kind of… feel the magic to work. You get what I mean?” When he shook his head in confusion she understood why, so she demonstrated it to him. She closed her eyes and verbally described what she was feeling to Zane. Right before his eyes, the tip of the branch caught fire while the flames travelled up its length from her fingers.

He then knew what she meant once he saw the branch burn away into ash. He looked around for another branch and found a small twig with fresh leaves still attached. He closed his eyes and thought hard about the branch catching on fire. He imagined feeling something in his stomach that could be interpreted as magic. From there he willed that feeling to travel up his chest and into the arm that held the branch. When it reached his fingertips, he imagined it burning hotter and hotter to the point where it felt like his fingers were flickering flames. He opened his eyes expecting to be holding a burning ember, but instead the branch remained as it was before.

Neither of them could speak, for each of them did not want to be the first to mention their failure. Eventually, Zane tried doing it again. This time he pictured different ways for the branch to catch fire. He imagined himself as an elemental made of fire, breathing fire on the branch, rubbing his hands across the branch, and even pulling a column of sun-fire from the sun itself, but none of them worked. He dropped the branch to the ground and went to sit by on the river bank. He fell back to lay on the ground, staring up at the sky disappointed in himself. The academy was his only way for redemption in his eyes, but now even he could not redeem himself.

Maria sat down next to him and did not say anything for a while. Instead she watched the river flow and listen to the trees rustle in the wind. It was him who broke the silence between them, “Is there any other way?”

She looked over to him and replied, “You could try asking an elemental for help?”

“I’ve already tried that, and it didn’t work. It said I smelt funny. Maybe it means my lack of magic smell? Anyways, I don’t think we could find another one before tomorrow morning.”:

She sighed and then lay beside him. They watched the sun rise into the middle of the sky, and then dip behind the tree leaves ahead of them. They enjoyed the peace and quiet of the river oasis especially since this time did not have screaming children splashing in the water, or a raging sandstorm coming to bury them alive. It gave Zane a moment to think about possible solutions to their problem, as well as how his future was starting to look. It was grey and dull compared to the warm and colourful past he grew up in.

She spoke giving one final suggestion, “There’s one more thing we could try. I could give you my magic during the exam.”

He sat up in shock. He knew what she meant, and he was not aside cheating his way through the exam. He did not have it within him to cheat on anything. He voiced his contention, “No way! I don’t want to cheat!”

She raised her voice to try to defend her reasoning, “There is no other way! You don’t have any magic, I swore to help you pass, so we might as well cheat our way through!” She watched him battle with the decision inside, so she continued speaking before he could contest again, “You want to get into the academy, right? Well, I also want you to join it. This is my way of fulfilling my debt to you. I am being selfish too, because if you don’t come with me into the academy… I won’t become a stronger person like you.”

He thought about what she said. She was right after all, he did want to join the academy so that he could repay his own debt to his parents. He understood how she felt because he felt the same way. He thought about whether or not he should prevent her from fulfilling her debt. In the end, he had no other choice but to agree with her, and abandon his own principles for just one event. He gave her his answer, “Alright. But just know that I don’t like this.”

She took a breath before answering, “I know. I don’t like it that much either, but if it will get the job done, then I don’t care. Just stick close to me tomorrow.”

That was it for their day. After she spoke her final words, they left the river oasis and returned to the city. Once they were past the gates, they separated. No words were spoken on the way, and no goodbyes were given.

Zane thought about a few things on his way home, mainly on his agreement to cheat, and how his mother would probably act if she found out that he was joining the academy. He still needed to tell her, but he was worried that if he did he might need to also tell her about the farm. When he reached his aunt’s door, he stopped and did not enter just yet. He heard something unusual. It sounded like soft snivelling coming from inside the house. He quickly opened the door concerned about what could be causing the sound. He discovered his mother sitting alone at the table crying into her hands. His heart sank just as low as hers just at the sight of her. He closed the door and walked over to comfort his mother. She heard him approach and quickly tried to wipe away her tears. She spoke as if nothing happened, “Oh, I didn’t hear you come in. How are you? Where did you go? Have fun?”

He knew that she was just trying to make him feel a lot less concerned. He did not say anything, instead he knelt in front of her and wrapped his arms around her hugging her tight. Perhaps it was not the right time to tell her his plan. He did not wish to give her another reason to be concerned for she probably had a few already. He kept hugging her even after she tried convincing him that she was fine. Eventually she broke into tears again, and as she did she returned his embrace and hugged him back. He held her there until the tears stopped, and when they did, he helped his mother to her bed.

He could not sleep. His nerves were too excited to be calmed down by sleep. All he could manage was to stare up at the ceiling dripping dust down to the floor. He did not know how long he stayed awake, but the morning sun started to peek through the blinders. The day had arrived. The day he was part dreading and part looking forward to. He searched all over his aunt’s house for clothes that both fit his size, and looked presentable for an audience. He found an old red turban that crossed around his neck and torso. 

He was just about to leave the house when he realised that he still needed to tell his mother where and what he was going to do. He took a parchment of leather and wrote a message on it with some ink that was waiting on the table to be used. His letter ended up looking a little messy since he wrote several messages and then crossed them out believing they were not good enough. He struggled to write the perfect message, and in the end he found the simplest way to tell her was the easiest. His message told her where he was going and what he was going to do. Now satisfied with his letter, he left the house and made his way to the arena to fulfil his destiny.