"Oh... yeah, of course. Sorry... I was thinking about something else and I got distracted for a minute there. Of course I'll be there. The circle at 6. I'll see you there."

Tiffany hoped that would ease her friend's concern. As for herself, she could hardly wait until 6. The day was going to drag on until then. She couldn't exactly remember what was supposed to happen, but she knew she was excited about it. She had wanted to meet with the other girls in the circle. And Azalea had helped convince them...

Her mind was starting to become more immersed in the dream, filling in details that were missing in the images that flashed through her head... completely unaware of that other presence influencing her thoughts.

“Great! See you then.” Azalea departed though like many dreams time didn't drag as she expected.

Time flowed without any real recollection of having done much between then and six. There was knowledge that stuff happened, but no details as to what. Just that there was nothing remarkable that stood out. If she tried to recall what happened there were memories of a typical day.

She showed up in that clearing behind the field with five other girls, one being Azalea. All of them wore black hooded robes and moved about her surrounding her and reciting some chant that wasn't in English. Some were in English and she could tell that this was some sort of initiation.

It concluded with one of the girls instructing Azalea to read from the book, a thick tome written in another tongue, probably Latin though she wasn't sure. When she had finished another gave her a black robe.

“It is done, Sister of the Summer Flame. Now I bestow upon you your wand, Cinder.”

She was presented with a piece of gnarled ash wood that was as long as her forearm and thin though thick enough where it would take considerable effort on her part to brake it. It was otherwise unremarkable.

“Felicia, the Sister of Spring Renewal will assist you in it's use.”

Other girls got out a few objects setting each on rocks some distance away while a tall thin girl moved toward her presenting her own wand, a smaller piece of white wood that she pointed toward a stuffed animal set on one of the rocks. A flame sprung forth, small but efficient enough to set the thing on fire. Before long another girl dosed it with a stream of water from her wand.

“Focus on that picture there,” Felicia began pointing out a small picture frame that was leaning against a few rocks. The picture she recognized as one of the professors that she did not have a class with. “Picture in your mind the after effects of what you wish to do. Hold that in your mind then focus on your wand, feel that feeling flow to your wand and project it outward.”

“That's a bit advanced to be starting off with. Maybe you should go with something simple to start with, Azalea chimed in.

(Sorry for the long lapse...)

"Actually, I did something similar to this without a wand once... I'd like to give it a try." Tiffany told Azalea. "I mean what's the worst that could happen, right?"

Tiffany focused on the picture and imagined it engulfed by flame. She thought about the way it felt hearing the voices from her own book whispering in her mind when she had set the leaf on fire and tried to harness that same energy. After a moment of preparation, she concentrated all of her thought and pointed her wand at the picture, willing it to ignite....

(no worries)

The book linked the situation in her mind to the time when it first brushed against her subconscious mind. It allowed her to tap into the same feelings as she made those connections between the two situations.

In such a way it made it easier for her to draw upon the potential harnessed within her. It took a moment to concentrate those areas of her brain stimulated where this talent was locked away until it was activated now.

The book also suppressed this talent at the same time from activating in the waking world least she burn down the dorm while she slept. But in the dream it was another matter as flame erupted from her hand making short work of the portrait to the shocked look of her peers.

“Amazing!”

“Such strength … this place dampens abilities from what I've found. If yours are being dampened then ...” The last of that had been unspoken.

The leader of the group turned to her. “Just how did you do that? Have you attempted that against -” a series of looks were exchanged among her before the question was dismissed as if it were not asked at all.

“What else do we have that we can set alight? Have you tried incinerating anything that wasn't flammable?”

Tiffany was quite happy with herself. She felt a rush of euphoria as the picture frame burst into bright flames. As proud of herself as she was, the praise of the other girls made the sensation all that much sweeter.

"Umm... no. I've never tried it on something that doesn't easily burn. Is that even possible?"

Tiffany thought for a moment, then added, " I wonder if it's just fire... I mean, is that my thing or can I do other stuff too? What else do we have for targets??? And why we look, what did you mean when you said that this place dampens magic? How does that work? And is it something WE can learn to do? Sorry... this is just so new to me... I have like a million questions!"

While one of them busied herself with getting out an assortment of targets the leader went on to explain some of her questions.

“Well we expect that there is some sort of dampener, probably something natural to the island. None of us are at our full potential here and there are things that we use to do that we barely can do now to a limited degree.

“Setting fire to nonflammable objects is possible … well the effects tend to be different, usually melting or charring if you can burn hot enough.”

She nodded to one of the other girls who set up another target, a stone, in addition to all the other targets that were set into place. A deck of playing cards, a few melons, a hair pin and other mundane objects for the most part.

“As for magic itself it depends. Most people can learn different types. Some only can use one type or one ability. Most of these are people that don't train and can only manifest one type. Often if you put in the work you can do more than the one thing. A lot of people just specialize in what they are good at and never challenge themselves in learning new things. You can give it a whirl but don't get discouraged if nothing happens or there's a small effect.

“Easter Zephyr,” Azalea came forward. “Care to instruct her on a little wind magic?”

“Ummm … well the easiest way I've learned control is by changing my breathing method and trying to relax. Feeling the flow of air around me, watching the effects on natural. Gather that calmness and just breath. Deep breath in, then out. Now focus ...”

One of the girls moved opening up the deck of playing cards and fanning them out. Azalea turned her slightly so that she could see the cards but waited on her to regulate her breathing first before continuing on.

“Deep breath in, now out, in, out, hold it … feel that wind on your face. Feel it flowing over you. Now gather it up and direct it towards one of those cards encircling it, moving it ...”

Tiffany closed her eyes and tried to control her excitement. The rush of adrenalin that had dumped into her system from her first success was making it hard to slow her breathing and settle her heart rate.

She took slow, steady breaths and focused her mind. She concentrated on the way the air here in the clearing felt on her face, caressing her skin with its cool, soft touch. She imagined sending a gust of that wind towards the cards, encircling one and holding it aloft. The same way she had imagined the picture frame bursting into flames. When the picture was clear in her mind, she opened her eyes and thrust her hand forward, pointing the wooden wand at the cards...

There was a ripple in the air... a kind of shimmer... like when heat rises up from hot pavement on a summer day. But what Tiffany projected forward wasn't wind. A wave of psychokinetic energy rushed forward from her outstretched hand... invisible, without mass or matter, a wave of pure force. It struck the cards and the girl holding them and sent them both flying. The cards scattered into the air and came fluttering back down like leaves falling from the trees. The girl holding them had been pushed off her feet and had landed flat on her back a few feet from her orginal position.

Tiffany's eyes widened in horrified shock.

"Oh my God! I'm... I'm so sorry! Are you ok??"

Tiffany dropped her wand and rushed forward to help the poor girl up.

“Emily! Are you OK?!”

The girls rushed forward helping Emily up who was alright not expecting what had happened.

“That wasn't wind … I would have sensed it if it were. That was something else, something that looked chaotic.”

“Not chaotic. Telekinesis. I can do some basic things with it but nothing to practical,” the coven leader confessed. Emily was standing by this point dusting herself off.

There were some whispers among them, exchanged looks between them.

“Have you tried using these gifts, using them against those things?” The leader gazed at her for a moment and seemed to be sizing her up. “With the limits imposed on us sadly it hasn't done much. But your powers seem to be stronger at least against other humans.”

Once she was sure Emily was ok and she had apologized several times to the poor girl, Tiffany answered the Coven Matron's question.

"Used it against any of those things? No... I don't know how to control it yet. The first time, I tried to light a candle and set a leaf on fire. It wasn't even really that close to the candle. And just now, knocking poor Em over like that... I don't know what I'm doing, really. I'm trying to channel something I have very little understanding of. If one of those things knew about it... I mean, so far at least, they haven't seemed interested in killing anyone or eating people or antything like that. They just mostly... well, you know...

But if they thought I might be dangerous... who knows what they might do? And besides... I'm just not good enough or strong enough to really think I would stand a chance anyway.

Do you... do you think I could get to be good enough? If you helped me?"

Tiffany paused for a moment, considering this new possibility.

"I mean, I accidentally knocked Emily down, but I didn't really hurt her. So, if I didn't really hurt a teenage girl, how much stronger of a blast would I have to make to hurt one of those things? A hundred times stronger? A thousand? It doesn't seem all that likely, does it?"

The excitement and euphoria Tiffany had felt at that rush of energy sweeping through her was suddenly swallowed by the sad realization that she was, in all probability, never going to be strong enough to defend herself from any of the denizens of the island. She would try to get better... but, it didn't really seem very likely that she would ever rise to the level necessary to challege a demon...

“You weren't trying to hurt her. At least I don't think you were,” she gazed at Tiffany to determine her motives before continuing. “Just trying to move those cards. You lack control, that much is true. Your much better at flame but this only proves that you can weld different sorts of magic.

“We will teach you control. Sit, cross legged.” She gestured to a spot. Nodding toward another girl she was blindfolded.

“Envision a dark room with unlit candles. Concentrate on lighting each one at a time, then extinguish them. Repeat the process. Slow breathing.” After she did that for several minutes the instructions changed.

“Now turn them all out except one. Focus on it, calming breaths, increase that brightness. Diminish it, increase it. Brighter, brighter, until it illuminates the room as brightly as all the lit candles. Now scale it down until it is just a dull glow, a sliver of light in the darkness ...”

Then the blindfold was removed and she could see a candle sitting on one of the rocks before her. “Now the real test. Just as you imagined. Focus on the candle.”

All eyes were upon her just as they had for the last few minutes.

Tiffany focused on the candle. Her eyes locked onto the little white strand of the wick with such intensity that everything else around her seemed to fade away into the background. There was nothing else, just her and the candle. She imagined the candle lighting just as she had in her mind.

The wick began to smoulder. A tiny ribbon of smoke rose slowly into the air.

Tiffany concentrated, her breathing slow and deep and steady.

The ribbon of smoke grew larger and thicker, clearly noticeable now as the surface temperature of the fabric increased. But even as the wick began to grow hotter, a sudden chill shivered down Tiffany's spine. All she could see was the candle, but she knew that in the shadowy depths just outside the edges of her narrowed focus, the clearing was surrounded by nightmarish creatures. Unimaginable terrors that stalked the night and somehow found their way into our world from some other place... she could almost feel their presence, as if glowing eyes were staring at her from the darkness...

Fear flooded her mind and her concentration faltered. A tendril of swirling flame erupted from the candlewick, bathing the clearing in a flash of bright, yellow-orange firelight and turning the candle into a liquid puddle of molten wax before burning out as suddenly as it had come.

A final swirl of smoke drifted upwards from the bubbling puddle of wax where the candle had stood.

"I'm sorry... I... I can't do it. I got scared... lost my concentration..." Tiffany stammered out, tears beginning to form in her blue eyes.

There was no mistaking the raw power there even if her concentration lapsed in the end. The girls watched, their vision blinded for a moment only witnessing the aftermath of what happened.

“That's alright.”

“It's OK, you'll get it,” Azalea placed her arms around her shoulders.

Concentration was the key here and it wasn't as if she had been doing this for a while now so she had been told not to get frustrated. They wanted to see her limits and get an idea of what she was capable of before moving on.

The group continued with smaller exercises, chants mostly, then moved on to mediation techniques and focusing their concentration. For the next few days she practiced concentration. Using her gift of fire wasn't an issue after all.

Like most dreams time slipped past readily. It was just her and Azalea now at the end of one of their meetings everyone returning to the dorms.

“Now let's see if your training has improved your focus,” Azalea held up an unlit candle then set it up for her.

Even though it had only been a few days, the training was undoubtedly helping to improve Tiffany's control. She realized quickly that the more calm and focused she was the easier it was to control her powers. However, the intensity of the effects seemed to be linked to her emotional state. In other words, when she was calm and focused she could usually create the desired effect she was trying to achieve, but the results were less than awe inspiring. If she was angry, or scared or even just frustrated, the effects were on a much larger scale, but she had far less control.

Tiffany sighed, half of her wanting to see what progress she had made and the other half afraid she might set Azalea's head on fire.

"Ok. I'll give it a try."

Tiffany took a few calming breaths to center herself the way the circle had taught her. When she opened her eyes, she pointed Cinder at the candle. Immediately, the wick burst alight. Instinctively, after the candle lit, Tiffany lowered her wand and stretched her empty left hand out toward the glistening wax cylinder. The candle lifted into the air and drifted across the clearing until it settled securely into her palm.

She beamed a brilliant smile at Azalea, quite pleased with herself.

"I think I'm definitely getting better."

Tiffany knew that she was still leaps and bounds away from trying to use her abilities as a means of defense against the creatures here. But at least she was making progress, so maybe there was some small glimmer of hope in that regard.

Impressed, Azalea watched the combinations of magic from flame lighting to telekinesis using the air. “Great! You've improved. Still having problems with your manifesting your magic under duress?”

She blew the candle out then set it down. She had an idea and considered that it was time to invoke it. “Now I'm going to teach you quick release, that swift build up of energy.”

She demonstrated, knocking the candle over from the stone she set it upon with one quick blast of air. Of course that blast lacked any real power behind it able to do such a small thing but incapable of harming anyone. The blast feeling like a stiff breeze.

“It's dangerous, a little more than this, but that's not because of the training ...” Her eyes dashed to the jungle then back to her as if implying something unspoken.

Tiffany saw Azalea's nervous glance and her own eyes followed in the same direction, her mind wondering if any of those things were out there right now... watching maybe...

She realized the implied meaning of her friends nervousness as well.

"Az, can those things sense when we use our powers? Do they know it when we do?"

She paused a minute, a worried look coming over her face.

"Because I have an idea that being able to do magic at all is somehow tied to this place. Maybe even the things that live here.

Back home, I didn't believe in magic or monsters or supernatural forces. But even if I had, even if I had studied and meditated and practised, I don't think I would have been able to do the things I can do here. I can't explain why, but I just feel like something I've been exposed to since coming here is what allows us to be able to do the things we can do. Which scares me very badly. Because if those... those things... are somehow tied to the source of our abilities, no matter how good we get, it might not work on them. Has anyone ever... you know, actually fought with one of those things? I remember being told that the buffer has made it difficult to do so, but... has anyone ever tried?"