Night comes all too quickly in the forest, the already-limited sunlight disappearing swiftly and making way to an all-encompassing, heavy darkness. Not a spot of moonlight manages to reach through the trees tight grasp, not a single star can be spotted overhead. The only light afforded to the trio coming from the bonfire that they keep lit all throughout the night.

  Emily is gently shaken awake from the realm of dreams, letting out a soft yawn as she stretches her arms out, working out the kinks. She opens her eyes and squints against the harsh glare of the campfire coming through the open flap, framing Alastair’s broad silhouette.

  “Is it my turn already?” she murmurs, as she rubs the sleep from her eyes. Alastair holds a finger up to his lips, shushing Emily quietly before pointing to a spot next to her.

  Emily glances towards where he’s pointing, spotting the dark silhouette of Nora still sleeping next to her, her chest rising and falling gently in a deep slumber. Glancing back at Alastair, she nods her head, crawling out of the tent as silently as she can.

  Closing the flap once again, Alastair gives Emily a nod of thanks, turning towards his own tent and waving goodnight to Emily. Emily smirks at his retreating form, cocking her head to the side. “Not going to share the tent with Nora?” she asks quietly. She’s rewarded with the sound of Alastair almost choking, as he missteps and almost falls onto his face. Pinwheeling hard in order to keep his balance, he turns towards Emily, the fire on his back casting a shadow that hides his facial expression and denying her the satisfaction of seeing it.

  Quickly, he raises his middle finger at her, before turning around and heading back into his tent with a huff, flicking his flap closed. Emily watches him go, holding back her laughter as best she could. Letting out a breath, she gets herself back under control and walks towards the fire.

  Looking around, she spots what she was looking for: the prone form of Blue, curled up into a tight little ball next to the fire. With a smile on her face, Emily walks up next to him, sitting down next to the fluffball and placing a hand ever-so-gently on his mottled hide.

  “Someone’s sleeping nicely.” Emily says quietly, as she runs her fingers across his feathers and listens to his quiet, heavy breathing. “You’re such a cutie when you’re asleep like this.”

  Placing her hand gently on his head, she scratches it gently, her fingers parting the feathers around it so that she can properly get to the rough, leathery skin underneath. His breathing becomes heavier and heavier as she continues to scratch, his sleep becoming deeper and deeper. He lets out a small, high-pitched snore, causing Emily’s smile to grow even wider.

  Satisfied with a job well done, Emily lets out a sigh, turning away from the fire in order to not compromise her night vision. Giving the forest a quick scan, she finds nothing to be immediately worried about. Crickets chirp in the distance, frogs croak, and all is well in the forest around her. She double-checks Blue and finds him flopped over himself and snoring deeply, not a single care in the world.

  Trusting her ostrich’s instincts, Emily makes a decision, taking a deep breath to bolster herself against the pain and closing her eyes. Moving around her mana from within her reserve, she lets out a silent hiss, as she feels all of the unsaturated spots within her react harshly to the mana she’s brushing up against them.

  “And I spent so long getting this perfect…” She bemoans to herself. Sighing, she glances at Blue, stroking his head again. “Well… Kind of perfect.”

  Staring at Blue’s unconscious form, she starts to fidget. “Okay, okay… It wasn’t even close to perfect.” Flopping down onto her back, she stares up at the canopy, trying to spot the stars through the dense covering. “But it’s been going well enough so far…”

  She glances at Blue once again, seeing him smack his beak open and closed in his dreams. He shifts to the side, his head and long neck slowly sliding off of his downy body and landing with a thump on the ground. He stretches his legs, lying completely on his side and banging up against Emily before settling once again and snoring softly.

  “You’re right.” She sighs, “I should do it right this time…”

  She closes her eyes and tries to remember just what she was supposed to be doing in the first place. It’s been many, many years since her uncle first taught her magic, her uncle having left long before Alastair even stumbled upon their farm, covered in wounds and on the brink of death. But she can still clearly remember the sound of his voice, the smell of the grass, and the cool feeling of the shade of the tree that he used to take her to whenever they were going to start their lessons.

  She pictures him in her head, trying to remember as much about him as possible. His long, platinum blonde hair that he would tie up into a ponytail that Emily always thought gave him a very wild, untamed look. The loose shirts that he would always wear, the top buttons undone until she could see his bare chest, rippling with muscles. Her uncle was a large man, and in the eyes of a child as young as she was, towered over all around him.

  “Alright, squirt.” He said, as he stood in front of her, his arms behind his back in his customary ‘Lecturing Pose’. “We’re going to go over your reservoir today.”

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  Emily remembers what it was like, that day. Clear skies and sunny, with the afternoon heat almost sweltering if it wasn’t for the cool shade of the tree. She remembers not being able to sit still that day, her legs crossed underneath her just not feeling comfortable, no matter how much she moved around. She tugged on her shirt, pulling it down so that it sat more comfortably. “My reservoir?” she asked her uncle, as she stopped fidgeting just long enough to notice the amused expression on his face. “What about it?”

  “Well, you know how it takes you a long time to channel a spell, while for me, it takes nearly an instant?” He asks her, as he demonstrates just that, snapping his fingers and causing the air around it to expand outwards rapidly and disrupt his wild hair.

  Emily nods her head, as she channels a spell of her own, concentrating hard as her hand slowly flickers white, before growing brighter and more solid. She sticks out her tongue, feeling the mana slowly reach her hand piece by piece, until with a satisfied sigh, she forms it into a wind bolt that blasts up into the sky.

  “Very good!” Her uncle exclaims, clapping at the display. “But you felt that, didn’t you? The resistance? How long it took for your mana to gather?”

  Emily pouts, crossing her arms and turning away from him. “But that’s because you’re older!”

  Her uncle chuckles, shaking his head as he crouches down in front of Emily. “No… Try again.”

  She turns to look at him, her eyebrow cocked. “It’s because… You went to that fancy mage college?”

  Her uncle shakes his head. “Once again, I didn’t go to a college… It was a club. With all of my friends.”

  “But you guys learned magic? Isn’t that what a college is?” she asks, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

  Her uncle sighs, sitting down heavily in front of her and leaning back on his arms. “No, it’s not the same thing. We had to figure it all out by ourselves.”

  Emily looks down at the ground, furrowing her brows as she tries to imagine what a club of mages would be like. “That sounds hard.”

  He snaps his fingers in front of Emily’s face, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Hey, come on now. We’re getting off track! The real reason why I can cast quickly and you can’t… Is because you still need to saturate your reservoir.”

  Emily cocks her head at her uncle, “Saturate it?”

  Her uncle nods his head. “Yes. Saturate it.” He points towards his own stomach, where his reservoir sits. “Most people only ever absorb a tiny amount of mana passively, which sits in their reservoir, doing largely nothing. Some may tap into it passively without realizing they’re doing it, having a natural talent or a natural affinity that they were born with. Over time, if they keep tapping into this mana supply and using their talent or affinity, they might grow in strength and gain the ability to tap into it purposefully instead of accidentally.”

  “And that’s how you become a mage!” Emily shouts, excited to finally be able to contribute to the discussion.

  Her uncle chuckles, rubbing her head affectionately. “That’s how you become a natural mage. Do you remember those weeks that we spent turning you into a mage? How you had to cycle your mana?”

  Emily’s face falls into a haunted look. “Yeah. I’ll never forget it as long as I live.”

  “I know it was painful, squirt.” Her uncle says calmly. “But it was necessary. We needed to saturate your body with mana, setting up pathways for it to travel easier, so that you could do magic.”

  Emily looks up at her uncle, a suspicious look on her face. “So… We have to do that again?”

  Her uncle sighs, nodding his head. “Yeah. But you don’t have to do it as much, or as quickly. Think of it as… Carving channels in stone, by using water. You need to slowly break away parts of the rock, so the water can flow more easily.”

  Emily’s eyes widen in realization. “So… I can do it slowly?”

  Her uncle chuckles, nodding his head. “Yeah. You can take your time with it. Just cycle your mana, just like you did when you first became a mage. Do a little bit every day, and one day, you’ll cast better than I can.”

  With a cocky smile, her uncle places his hands underneath him, sending out a burst of wind to propel him up to stand smoothly on his feet. He holds out his hand to Emily. “Now, come on. Lesson’s over for today. Let’s see if your mom and dad have some sweets in the pantry.”

  Emily grabs his hand, letting out a gleeful giggle as he pulls her up swiftly to her feet. “But we’re not allowed those ones! They’re for special occasions!”

  Her uncle places a finger on his lips, giving her a wink. “I won’t tell if you don’t.”

  Emily remembers the taste of those sweets, melting on her tongue. And the lecture her and her uncle got from her mom afterwards. With a deep, satisfied sigh, she returns to the present, the happy memory fading into the background once again. Reaching out her arm, she searches for Blue’s soft and fluffy body to run her hand through again, finding the spot where he was pressed against her empty and cold.

  Confused, Emily sits up, looking around and spotting the ostrich standing up a little away, staring into the canopy.

  “Blue?”, She asks quietly, standing up and walking towards him. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

  She gets near him, placing a hand on his side and getting no reaction whatsoever. Looking closer, she sees his beak chattering excitedly, as he stares up at something in the canopy intently.

  Following his gaze, Emily looks into the canopy herself, spotting hundreds of glowing eyes staring right back at her. Blue lets out an excited cheep, as he starts hopping from foot to foot.

  “Ah, dang it…” Emily says quietly to herself, as she slowly starts to prepare her spells. “Guys! We’ve got company!”