Page 31 of Forgotten Arcane

All of their eyes widen, and it’s then that I realize that I fell asleep naked. This is not the way that I wanted them to see me naked for the first time, but it really is the least of my worries right now.

As the thought of having something to cover myself crosses my mind, my whole body gets engulfed in flames, and I screech again, trying to put them out and end up spinning in mid-air.

I must look absolutely ridiculous, like a fiery disco ball.

“Neith!” Doc shouts, and I stop panicking for a moment. “It’s not burning you, it’s your magic!”

I stop, “Oh.” As soon as his words sink in properly, I get mad, “That’s not what I meant when I thought that I wanted to be covered. Obviously I didn’t mean that I wanted to be covered be fucking fire.”

My rant has absolutely no effect on the fire, it’s still burning, I’m still naked, and still floating in the air.

I’m also still panicking.

“She’s going to set the room on fire,” Reed mutters, and I know that I wasn’t supposed to hear that.

“Fuck!” I yell, my panic making the fire flare even brighter, “How do I stop it?”

Before anyone can answer me, and probably tell me to calm the fuck down, because even I know that me panicking right now is not helping things, the fox spirit guide suddenly appears, floating in front of me.

Chapter Nine

Neith

It seems to quickly assess the situation before leaping into my flaming arms, and causing me to panic for a second that it’s going to burn, but my fire doesn’t seem to affect it at all, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

“Was that the fox spirit guide?” I hear Doc ask.

As I’m about to answer, magic that isn’t mine builds in the air, and with a pop, I suddenly find myself outside, still on fire, and it takes me a moment to realize where my little fox friend has taken me.

Looking around, I realize that I’m floating above the kelpie lake, and that Mael is obviously tuned into my presence because I can see him bobbing in the water below me.

I’m still on fire. Have I mentioned that, it seems like an important thing to keep reminding myself, even though it’s pretty fucking obvious that I am on fire, and I’m not likely to forget it any time soon.

I’m going to call it a weird coping mechanism, along with my rambling thoughts.

Looking at the fox in my arms, I say, “I thought if I calmed down, I wouldn’t still be on fire. I thought controlling my emotions would help?”

The fox nods, moving out of my arms so that she’s floating in front of me instead, and I’m shocked when she speaks, “Yes, that does usually help, but you have to put thought and intention behind what you want your magic to do. Simply calming down won’t help, not in a situation like this where you were so panicked to begin with.”

I just stare at her for a moment, and then ask somewhat indignantly, and slightly offendedly, “You’ve been able to talk this whole time but instead chose to just eyeroll at me whenever I spoke to you?”

Amusement fills her eyes, “No, it’s only since you’ve had your magic unlocked that I’ve been able to speak to you. As I am sure you are aware of by now, all of us spirit guides work differently, and we’re all helping you with different things.”

“Oh,” I reply and then smile. “I guess that’s not too bad then. What’s your name?”

“Senka,” the fox replies.

I smile, “That’s a beautiful name.”

“Thank you,” she replies. “Now, do you want to know how to get down?”

My eyes widen slightly, “Shit. How the fuck did I forget that I was on fire and floating several feet above the ground?”

Senka gives me a look, “I’m not entirely sure, but you do seem to have a,” she pauses for a moment, “let’s call it a gift for being able to distract yourself in pretty much any situation that you find yourself in.”

I shrug my fiery shoulders, “Fair point. I’m not even offended by that, it’s a very true statement. Alright, how do I do this?”

“It’s pretty simple actually. You just need to think of your magic and the fire it’s creating, and then pull it back,” she explains.

---