Page 240 of Sigils & Spells

My magic itself was wild and unpredictable, different from the powers of the few priestesses that had some. The High Priestess herself ranked top of the power scale in the temple. Her gifts were bestowed upon her by the goddess herself. The goddess controlled magical abilities in the majority of her followers. Natural magic wasn't unheard of, but rare.

Acolytes were not “allowed” magical powers of any kind. Even the priestesses themselves rarely manifested any until at least their fortieth year, and even then only if they had been in service for more than twenty years.

Then I came along and all bets were off. My thirteenth birthday heralded the arrival of abilities we had never saw coming. No hints appeared prior to that day, except my ability to ask the Reflection pool to show me the world. I just had to know what to ask for. Many times I viewed the Las Vegas Strip. Unsure of what made it so appealing to me, I listened to its call.

Perhaps because it existed so close to the temple. Maybe because some lingering memory from my life before arriving at the compound hung around in my brain. In my mind, something existed there that I needed to discover.

The roar of the falls reached our ears before the sight met our eyes. Evie turned back toward me.

“Close your eyes.”

“Excuse me?” I trusted my mount, of course, but that didn't make me comfortable not being able to see what was right in front of me.

“Just for a minute. Come on, Annie, be a good sport!”

She sounded so excited I couldn't deny her. “Okay, fine.”

Squeezing them closed, I let the horse follow Evie obediently as the sound of the water got louder. Our pitch changed as the horse plodded down the final descent to the river bed and it took a lot for me not to peek. I heard Evie drop to the ground as she dismounted and walked over to turn mine around.

“Okay. Open your eyes and get down, but don't turn around and don't look.”

Instructions obeyed. I stood still as she clapped her hands over my eyes and turned me around like we were about to beat a pinata. She pushed me forward gently.

“Keep going. I promise not to push you into the river.”

My shoulders shook as I laughed, almost dislodging her hands. “Only because you know darn well you'd find yourself in there with me!”

She tugged me to a stop. “Ta-da! Happy birthday!” She pulled her hands from my eyes.

On the beach in front of us lay a colorful beach blanket and stacks of containers with a cooler. For a minute, I didn't know how to respond.

“Do you like it?” She sounded unsure of herself. “It's a birthday picnic.”

A tear slipped from the corner of my eye and I threw my arms around her. “Iloveit so much! Nobody haseverdone something so nice for me. Ever.”

Returning my hug, she did a little wiggle dance. “Oh good. I'm glad. For a second, I thought you might hate it.”

“No. Never. How could I hate it?”

She led me to the blanket. “Sit. Sit.”

I settled myself as she began unpacking the goodies. A fantastic picnic lunch, complete with soda (which we almost never got) and a birthday cake, lay before me. She handed me a note from Diana that came with it all.

“Thank you Evie. Thank you. This is probably the best birthday I have ever had.”

Together we kicked off our shoes and rolled up our pant legs, then headed for the water's edge. Dipping our toes in, we shivered. Somewhere deep in the mountains, glaciers must feed the waterfall at its source because that water was always freezing.

Evie laughed and leaned over and splashed me with handfuls of water. Focusing hard, I pulled at the water and doused her with a wave. Everywhere from her hips down got soaked.

“No fair! Cheater!” She lunged at me, threatening to throw me in.

She towered over me by a good four or five inches and I knew if she got her hands on me, I'd be getting wet whether I wanted to or not. With a shriek, I back-peddled, landing on my butt in the sand. Grabbing my ankle, she began dragging me towards the water.

Looking into the sky, I wriggled and kicked, attempting to dislodge her grip from my leg, unsuccessfully. As soon as my butt hit the waterline and became soaked, she stopped and wagged her finger at me.

“Serves you right. Now we're both soaked.”

“I feel like I peed my pants, but it's cold! Did you pack towels?”

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