Daniel's Early Days: A Young Wizard's Story

Ch. 30 Fire & Air-Before Daniel became a powerful Mage, he was just a boy. Follow Daniel from the beginning as he receives his powers, embarks on many adventures, and learns what true power really is.

“I still think you should wait for your parents,” Pearl warned.

“Why? The flames do not burn me,” Daniel countered happily.

“True.” She was silent a moment in quiet consideration. “Fire may be your Element, and therefore no real danger…to you. However, without proper control or training, you could still burn everything and everyone around you.”

“Woah,” A heavy feeling settled over Daniel. He glanced back at his family’s home, and fiery images flashed unbidden before his eyes. He closed his eyes, but the fire was still there. Turning away, he shook his head back and forth and managed to banish the images of consuming fire. Guilt and trepidation washed through him in bilious waves.

Something that Pearl said echoed in his mind. “What do you mean my Element?”

“Some of the more powerful witches and wizards have an unusual affinity to control certain Elements. Your mother’s Element is Earth, your father and grandmother have the ability to control the Elements of Air. After the way you picked up on levitating so quickly yesterday I assumed your Element was Air, but there is no other explanation for why the fire does not burn you.”

“Hmm,” Daniel murmured. A thought occurred to him. “Is it possible to have power over more than one Element?”

            Pearl cocked her head to the side, but didn’t answer. Although her metal face couldn’t reveal what she was thinking, somehow her metallic eyes had a scrutinizing glare to them. Daniel had the very distinct feeling that she was sizing him up. He suddenly felt severely exposed.

Although he had a psychosomatic connection with the dragon spirit that had agreed to be his personal talisman, he was still trying to get a hang of it. Besides the telepathic abilities they shared with each other, the only things he knew for sure was what he experienced on his end; he knew feeling her emotions was part of the bargain. However, she seemed to be able to read him like a book. He wasn’t sure how she was able to do it, yet. Was she reading his mind this very moment?

            “Possible, yes. Likely, no. However, given the circumstances and the strength of your newly emerging powers…perhaps there is a chance.” She moved a little closer, her metal claws clacking against the stone wall. She nudged the book toward him. “Look some more,” she encouraged.

            Daniel flicked through the pages quickly, keeping a sharp eye out for anything that might catch his attention. When he passed the fire spell he had the uncontrollable urge to stop and gaze at the swirling fire symbol again. The fiery magic pulled him in, and he stared at the image longer than he intended.

The symbol came to life once more. It climbed up the page; licking its way along the words that melted into English for Daniel yet again. A sizzling tingle spread through Daniel, and he relished in the feeling. But, the image of Pearl’s superheated snout flashed across his vision, and he quickly tore his eyes away.

            “Well done, Little One,” Pearl’s voice sounded soft but proud in his mind. “Magic is like an alluring drug. The rush one gets is extremely addicting. Self-control is the toughest lesson to learn.” A sense of pride rushed through Daniel and he couldn’t tell if it was his own or Pearl’s, but he enjoyed it either way.

            He quickly flipped the page, and continued through the book. Now, he was looking at pages that he hadn’t previously seen so he slowed down giving each page more than a cursory glance. Without warning, a gust of wind rushed across the yard and blew through the pages before Daniel could stop them.

The strange wind was there and gone in an instant. The gentle breeze that had cooled the morning sun was all that remained. Daniel looked around to see if he could identify the cause for this unnatural wind, but except for him and Pearl, the yard was empty and everything was calm.

Daniel turned his attention back to the spell book, and was not entirely surprised when the symbol at the bottom of the exposed page was an angry looking cloud shooting out rows of straight lines that could only signify wind.

The cloud symbol began to swirl and shift and the lines representing wind slowly crawled off the page. The summer breeze that had gently caressed him began to pick up again, whipping around the dark curls on his head. This time, the wind didn’t seem to affect the pages; they didn’t even flutter. However, when the lines representing wind picked up speed and spread across the text, the words of magic appeared to get shaken up and rearranged in English. A delighted grin spread across Daniel’s face as the words became legible to him.

“Fire and Air; two Elements that call to you,” Pearl mused. “I guess I should not be surprised by the potentials of your power. For a novice, you continue to impress me. Calling forth two elements as a beginner is impressive. Impressive, but also dangerous.”

“How so?” Daniel wanted to know.

“What fuels Fire better than Air?”