I felt my worries flow away in the calmness that surrounded the shrine. The peace and quiet, and my family here in this holy place made it all the more clear what I’d have to fight for, but also that things would be okay in the end.

The people that surrounded me, I’d met them all thanks to Elysa.

We remained there for a good while. I couldn’t tell how long exactly, as I slowly felt time become more meaningless. Eventually, my parents stood up, much to the delight of Elira, who I could tell was getting bored by how she was shifting her position.

I grinned softly as I turned and prepared to leave the premises. Just then, when the braziers were on either side of me, they very briefly burned with roaring, bright blue flames before settling back into normal ones.

“Woah.” I heard Elira call from behind me. “Did you see that?”

“Yep,” I said. “That’s Elysa. She and I have a bit of a special connection, but I don’t know why she did that.”

To me, it felt like a sign of recognition, like a blink in my direction. I didn’t know what the meaning behind it was, and it left me guessing to find one. Perhaps she just wanted to make clear that she’d not forgotten about me.

“Think it’s still because you had those two rituals within a relatively short time?” Cellestra asked.

“I don’t see any other reason, but I did have something in mind I’d like to talk with you about later.”

“Alright.”

“It’s the first time I’ve seen that,” Lilinia said. “Do you think Elysa is watching?”

“She definitely is,” I replied. “Or she was back then. I think and I hope she doesn’t watch everything. That’d be weird.”

“What is Elysa like?” A curious Elira ran up to me and asked the question.

“Hmmm,” I let out with a finger on my lips as I thought. “She’s really beautiful and kind. I haven’t been able to talk to her in a more casual conversation. There’s very little time to talk to her when doing the ritual, but I feel like she’s helping me out as best she can.”

“Does she like cats?”

I giggled at the odd question.

“I’m not sure. Why do you ask?”

“Someone at school said she did. I wanted to know if it was true.”

“I’m sure she does, but maybe I’ll ask her when next I see her,” I said as I patted the girl on her head.

“Anyway,” I continued. “Now that we’re here, I think I’ll work a bit on my home in the forest. That okay with you Cellestra?”

The brunette nodded in reply. “That’s fine.”

“I want to see if I can get it finished today, so when it does rain sooner or later, it will keep us dry.”

“And we’ll go home for a bit and then do our shopping. Will you join us for dinner again?”

“Sure, why not?”

Elira’s face showed me she was sad about splitting up, but I still had an ace up my sleeve. Or rather, in Cellestra’s backpack.

“By the way, we got you something,” I said, prompting Cellestra to put down her backpack as she started digging.

The elven girl immediately fixated her eyes on it as my parents watched in anticipation. They knew, or at least should know, what we’d gotten her. To add to the surprise factor, I took the little girl between my pedipalps and covered her eyes with my hands while looking at each of my parents, who nodded. I took that as confirmation that they knew and that they were okay with it.

Cellestra found the scroll and held it in front of Elira’s covered eyes. The young girl was practically squealing with excitement.

“You ready?” I asked slyly.

“Yeeeess! What is it? Can I see?”

I grinned as I removed my hands. She laid eyes on the scroll and cocked her head.

“What’s that?”

I chuckled and then started grinning, then laughing. It was an odd feeling to have put so much time in this surprise, only for Elira to not know what it was. I covered my face with my palm before sighing with a smile still plastered on my face.

“It’s a spell scroll,” I said. “It teaches you a spell.”

“Woah. Really?” her eyes grew wide as she spoke.

“Yes, but before you read it, I think our parents will agree on this, NEVER use this spell without them looking, okay? And never aim this at anyone. Magic is dangerous, and we’ve been careful with what we have chosen, but if you want to learn magic, you need to learn about how to use it safely, first and foremost.”

I made sure to speak in a stern voice and to look at her with the most sincere and serious expression.

“I... we don’t want you to get hurt. Promise us you’ll do those things and you can have it.”

Elira seemed taken aback by how I spoke about this, but she nodded slowly and spoke with a soft voice. “I promise.”

I could tell my parents appreciated me informing Elira about all this. Perhaps it had been a good thing I said all this instead of them, seeing as I could use plenty of different magic spells. I’d also personally seen the dangers it could bring. It allowed me to add a certain weight to my words, and I had the feeling I had made it all the more clear to both the little girl and our parents.

“Okay then,” I said, patting her head again. “Make sure to read the entire scroll, and please be careful.”

She then nodded, turned around, slowly took the scroll from Cellestra’s hands, and opened it.

“Sparkstorm,” She whispered as she read. Out of curiosity, I looked over her shoulder but found that I was still unable to read a single word that was on the paper. The letters, or perhaps they were symbols, kept dancing before my eyes and didn’t make any sense. Elira didn’t seem to have that issue.

As she read, I noticed the paper emit a faint red glow, which grew stronger over time. Elira seemed to notice it as well as she was startled, but she continued nonetheless.

Then, at some point, the scroll turned red entirely and within the blink of an eye, went up in flames. The odd thing was that I saw no change in temperature with my thermal vision. The flames, short as they may have been, were strangely cold.

Several sparks remained and danced in the air, before coagulating and expanding into a transparent, red stream that flowed from where the sheet had been into the young elf’s head. The process was strange to me, but Elira didn’t seem to be bothered. In fact, she didn’t seem to feel any of what had just happened.

A few seconds passed wherein the girl remained silent. She then turned to me and exclaimed with even more amazement than usual.

“Woah. Did you see that?”

“I certainly did. Did it work?” I asked.

“I think so.”

Elira looked at Keelarin and Lilinia. Both smiled, and my father told her to go ahead, eager to see for himself what spell we’d given her, no doubt.

“Just be careful,” My mother said, adding to the emphasis once more.

At this point, I knew Elira had to be tired of all the warnings, but I hoped she would learn from all this that this was not something to mess around with or think lightly of.

She extended an arm forward and I noticed the air surrounding her hand grow hotter, just before a cone of superheated sparks erupted from it.

Elira’s eyes grew wider than they’d ever been as she channeled her first-ever spell. The range of the ability was small as we’d been told. The sparks didn’t travel further than a foot, and long before they reached that far, they’d already cooled off considerably.

I shook my head with a smile when I noticed myself looking at the combat capabilities. This spell was simply not meant for that.

What it was intended for, it did so beautifully. I was certain that at this point, for a brief moment, Elira was the happiest girl in the world.

“So pretty!” She said excitedly, just before the channel abruptly stopped. The last of the particles went cold and dark as the little girl turned around to run at and hug me around my waist. “Thank you so much, sis! You’re the best!”

“I’m happy you like it. Just remember to listen to mom and dad.”

She nodded with a bright smile.

“I will.”

“Mom, dad. Did you see that?” She asked as she ran and hugged them too.

“We did, sweetie. It was wonderful,” My mother said warmly, patting Elira’s back. “Thank you, Kealyna. It’s a wonderful gift.”

“I thought it was an excellent way for her to get familiar with magic. Learn about how to use it safely and—” I smiled and then addressed Elira. “If you do your best in school, you’ll learn more magic like this eventually.”

It sounded so cliche, but hopefully, having something to look forward to would help her get through classes.

“I’ll try,” She said softly.

“Alright,” I said. “We’ll be back for dinner later then. Take care Elira.” I waved at her as I walked past them. At the same time, my mother gave me the warmest smile of thanks, and my father nodded.

“Thank you,” He said with a whisper as I passed.

Cellestra followed and walked up to my side, a sly smile on her lips.

“Aren’t you curious in the slightest how much I paid for that scroll?”