Page 15 of Home Is Where the Witch Is
Whatever it was Aata was trying to say, he’d better spit it out. They had seconds.
“Whatever happens next, it’s not my fault.” The young man grimaced, as Rosie felt ice water trickle ominously down her spine. Whateverthatmeant, it didn’t sound good.
“And now our first candidate for this Ordeal, Aata Taylor, will take the stage.”
Aata gave Rosie one last venomous look before he disappeared in front of the curtain to get to the podium. Suddenly having lost her appetite, Rosie laid her plate back on the snacks table and went out to join Declan and Hella.
“You will first show us your mastery of the earth,” Chaoxiang commanded, earning him a terse nod from Aata. The witch held both hands out, palm down. The air beneath them began to shimmer with unspent energy, and a moment later the concrete floor of the main election area began to buckle and lift. Huge seedlings began to sprout in the gaps, tendrils of bright green shooting up through the cracks to produce first one leaf and then another. These grew with each passing moment, swirling up through the air as though shown in triple-speed, documentary style.
They resembled Jack’s beanstalk, Rosie noticed with wonder. She watched each of the vines surge upwards, marveling at them as they grew to be as thick as Declan’s arms. When the leaves brushed the roof of the cavernous mill floor, Aata let his hands fall back to his sides. It was a simple spell in theory, one that, as an earth-favored witch herself, Rosie would have been able to master given the time required to do so. But it relied on him being able to search through the earth to find the seeds, encouraging them to magnify, tothrive.
The room applauded Aata’s display, and the vines began to slowly retreat back into the soil from whence they had come. Once they were again fully immersed in the earth, the concrete repaired itself and it was as though the magic had never been expended at all.
“Very good,” Chaoxiang approved. “We will now see your mastery of water.”
The candidate didn’t waste any time getting down to business on this one. A now-familiar pull of energy around Aata told Rosie he was gathering his magic inward. He lifted his large hands up on either side of him, seemingly whispering under his breath. He took a deep breath, as though preparing to dive head first into deep water, and then he released his spell. Twin streams of water jettisoned from his palms in the shape of matching eels, curving like watery ribbons as they wound their way through the room.
Rosie was lucky enough that she simply copped a face full of ocean spray, but others were caught in the spell’s crossfire. Some simply got drenched from head to toe, while the sheer pressure of the blast knocked others clear off their feet. The crowd shifted, people trying to avoid the twin snakes of magical water as they continued to wreak havoc. After another moment or two, Aata clapped his hands together. It sounded like thunder, but the spell was broken. The water splashed to the ground, creating rather large puddles all over the room.
“Well done, Aata,” Chaoxiang saluted him, sounding impressed. “Now you will display your mastery of the air.”
Aata took in another deep breath, filling his lungs with the very element he was supposed to display. When he exhaled, though, it was through his mouth. He channeled the breath through puckered lips like he was trying to blow out a birthday cake with only one candle. Where the water had been big, this was small. Where the water had been chaotic and turbulent, this was subtle and simple.
But that was where the beauty and true mastery lie. The breeze caressed the floor of the sugar mill, sweeping in long, soft motions. It began to dry up the water he had left there, carrying the salt particles up into the air so no trace of the seawater would remain. He had demonstrated his power, and now he was demonstrating his control. As much as Rosie didn’t like him—and never would, after the stunt he’d just pulled backstage—she could admire the tactic he’d employed.
A glance at the crowd and the other members of the Council showed Rosie that Aata had a large seal of approval heading his way. Chaoxiang nodded.
“Well done. Now we will see your mastery of fire.”
Rosie bristled. Fire was, in her opinion, something that ought not to be played with. She’d seen firsthand the kind of devastation it could cause, and she wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of being in a room where four people she barely knew were going to be conducting dangerous fire spells. Declan’s hand found hers and gave it a squeeze, and she huddled closer to him as they waited for Aata to make his move.
It was clear that of the three elements he had shown them so far his natural talent lay with water. With fire being the opposite to water, Rosie wondered what sort of display he’d produce. She didn’t have to wait much longer to find out. Aata produced an ordinary candle-stub from his pocket. It was plain white wax, the cheap kind you might find in a junk drawer in the middle of a blackout. There was hardly any of it left, either. But Aata heated the underside of it with one quick spell and anchored it to the candidate podium in short order.
Once it was stable, he cupped both of his hands around the wick and whispered another word as he released enough magic to light the taper. The flame danced and grew, sheltered by his hands, until it was a steady and normal-looking flame. But that was where ‘normal’ ended. Using the index finger and his thumb of his right hand, Aata pinched the flame between them. Instead of going out, though, he managed to stretch the flame upward like it was made from some kind of gravity-defying gum.
Gasps rose up from the crowd, but Aata wasn’t going to be distracted. He continued to pinch and stretch, shaping the flame as he went. It still burned brightly atop the candle, but that was simply its foundation. Before long, the candidate had managed to create a whole person out of the flame itself. The flickering of the fire made it look as though the person was alive, swaying gently as they waited for their master to be finished with the crafting.
And then something happened that no one had anticipated. The flame-person detached from the candle itself, looking for all the world like a Vegas magician’s expensive finale. It floated and grew even more life-sized, touching down on the ground so it was standing beside Aata like his fiery twin. The crowd was applauding as Chaoxiang nodded his approval.
“Lastly, please show us your mastery of spirit.”
Aata straightened, holding his hand out to his fire-twin. Their hands met, fingers entwining. Rather than shying away Aata stepped forward, letting first the rest of his hand and then his forearm melt together as one with the fire. His other hand came up to repeat the gesture, but he didn’t stop there. Piece by piece Aata took the fire into himself until nothing of the burning element remained except for a bright yellow glow around the witch himself.
His supporters in the crowd were going wild for his display, and Rosie had to begrudgingly agree that he did have a certain amount of magical talent. Her gaze slipped sideways to consider Tya. The young woman seemed unphased, and Rosie found herself silently cheering. Despite past history, her money was on Australia for the win.
Alain d’Louncrais was up next. Each of his displays possessed the same easy charm that was so very much the essence of the witch himself. Earth that produced grapes that turned ripe to bursting, water that turned into champagne, a steady control over the air that saw half the room levitating, and flames that took the shape of voluptuous women and danced a can-can. Even his command over spirit was masterful but fun, and Rosie couldn’t help but think that if he used each five elements on a date night, whoever he had set his eyes on would be hard pressed to resist him.
Where Alain had been fun and frivolous, Medea was all somber seriousness. She created a tall, bushy maze throughout the room as her earth display, before replacing its walls with crystal-clear water. She then filled the maze with a gently swirling breeze, which she used to fuel the fire that evaporated the water. Medea then showed an aptitude for spirit by calling all her ancestors forward to stand in solidarity behind her, completing her round with a clear competency that Rosie bet would be as textbook as it could get. But there was no passion—no finesse. Rosie pursed her lips as Tya took the stage, ready to undertake her Ordeal.
“You may begin with earth,” Chaoxiang told her, stepping back as she began to draw in her arcane energy. Only Tya didn’t choose to engaged the earth element alone. A thin, whippy breeze lifted up the dust in the sugar mill, sending it whirling high above everyone’s heads like a sandstorm in a hot, sunburned desert. Grains of sand stung Rosie’s skin and she was momentarily worried they would get in her eyes, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away as, high above them, a roll of thunder gave a low growl of warning.
First one drop came, then another. The patter of rain stippled the wooden floorboards inside of the sugar mill as Tya went from earth to air to water with such seamless beauty that Rosie felt goosebumps rise on her arms. The air grew dense as the storm began to build, the rain falling harder until a flash of lightning—fire—flashed with spidery elegance in the air above the crowd’s heads.
Oh, this girl was special.
Rosie took the chance to look over at Tya, who was standing on the stage in the rain with her eyes closed and her hands by her sides. There was no outside indication she was working these incredibly complex spells at all, let alone doing it seamless enough as to be able to perfectly replicate nature. Absolutely fascinated, Rosie watched on eager to see how she finished out her exceptionally strong round.
Where the room had grown dark from the dust storm, the clouds began to part. The air that had become charged with the denseness of electricity began to lighten, and pale yellow sun beams began to break through the darkness. Each beam of light seemed to banish another cloud in its path, acting like a magical laser to free the people within the sugar mill from the oppressive atmosphere. By the time the room had returned to the state it had been when Tya had taken the stage, Rosie could feel tears of awe trickling down her cheeks.
