Samlas had been working for Manuel possibly the longest of all the fey that he had hired. Though there had been countless other servants working on the same position, most eventually decided to leave the wizard’s services. After all, the work, while well-paid, was everything but ordinary, and taking care of Manuel’s requests often felt like they were being tested by a deity. However, Samlas enjoyed her work nonetheless. Granted, it turned her grumpy over the years, but compared to her current life, every other career option just seemed dull and boring. There was something appealing about the chaos that had woven itself into every moment of her daily life.

The best parts, however, were always the evenings. Everything quieted down and even the great Manuel Luzardi was sound asleep. Despite being able to rejuvenate himself with magic and essentially keep himself awake and energized all day and night, he still carried a certain fondness of the peace that sleep brought him. During this time, Samlas often floated around the tower.

She headed downstairs into the library. Nothing felt better to her than a bit of midnight reading now that there was nobody around to pester her.

“Oh, his Samlas,” Airo’s words spoken into the quiet night were like daggers stabbed into the poor fairy’s tiny heart.

“Wha– Are you short of a marble?” she growled at the Cloudfolk. “You nearly made me scream. Dear Ley-lines, what are you doing here this late in the night?”

“I needed a moment to think. Didn’t expect anyone to still be awake,” he muttered.

The fairy’s agitation quickly vanished. There was something wrong with the boy. The way he stared into nowhere with his head propped up on his arm was rather unusual for him.

“Something’s bothering you? Can’t sleep? Nightmares? Wouldn’t surprise me, given all you’ve been through yesterday,” she said and floated a bit closer.

“No. Well, yes? Not nightmares, but you’re right, I can’t sleep.”

“Want to talk about it? Or should I leave you alone? If it’s the latter, I’ll just grab my book and take it downstairs.”

“I…” he went silent for a moment to consider whether it was even something he should say out loud.

“I messed up yesterday. Badly.”

“Are you the one who knocked Manuel’s prized ancient cactus off the windowsill? Because if so, I’ll leave the cleaning to you.”

“What? No, nothing like that.”

“Damn. Guess I’ll be the one sweeping all that dirt. Then what it is, boy?”

“Well, I… I think I might have killed someone yesterday.”

Samlas sighed. “Oh dear, here we go again.”

“Again?” Airo raised his head. He watched quietly as Samlas sat down on the table in front of him.

“Let me guess. Magic went out of control?”

“How did you–“

“It’s so common it hurts. Every wizard has that phase when they think they’ve got things under control, but in reality, they don’t. And sometimes, people get hurt because of it. That’s normal.”

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Normal? How can you say that? People probably lost their lives because of me!”

She rolled her eyes. “What exactly did you do?”

“I called down a lightning strike. But a powerful one. Unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It tore right through the pirate ship. I’m not sure if it hit anyone, but if it did…”

“So you’re not even sure if you killed someone. You’re just guessing.”

“But that is a–“

“Shhhh! People are sleeping here!”

“Right, right, sorry. I’ll quiet down.” The boy sighed. “I know, it’s just a possibility, but it’s still bothering me, you know?”

“Many wizards feel the same way. Listen, those pirates were winning, as far as I’ve heard, right? And you used the magic to help the cargo ship’s crew.”

“Yeah, but I hurt others. Maybe killed some with the spell, then maybe some more as their ship went down. And then I find out their ship bumped into our engine because of my mistake and we nearly died too. And Cia had to fix that mess. Anything she’s going through right now is my fault!”

“You did the best you could. That spell was used in defence, not to attack. The fact that you messed up is probably true, but I wouldn’t judge you too harshly.”

“Hmm, easy for you to say.”

“Well, what else do you want from me? I can’t turn back time. You can only do something in the future. Do you want to give up on magic?”

“Maybe I should.”

“Then you’re an idiot.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. What did you think was gonna happen? Wizards mess up. Wizards make bad choices. But they also make good ones. They help people. By giving up because you’re afraid of making mistakes, you’ll rob the world of all the good you can do too. And in my book, that means you’ll actually never really fix the mistake you’ve made yesterday.”

“How can I fix potentially killing someone?”

“You don’t. You move on and learn from it. Take Manuel for example. That guy eradicated things like food crisis and wars. He helped hundreds of thousands of people across the centuries he’s been in this tower. Any idea how many times he messed up? And trust me, he messed up big. After all, you yourself should know just how much his mistakes can suck.”

Airo frowned. “What does that mean?”

“You don’t know?”

“Know what?”

For a moment, Samlas contemplated whether or not telling the truth would be a good idea. Concepts like her loyalty to Manuel and the impact on the boy’s relationship with his teacher were all considered. In the end though, she surrendered to one simple idea—telling the truth might lead to some fun.

She grinned and spoke. “Quite some time ago, Manuel tried to keep snakes as pets. Wanted to have an enclosure for every single species on the Grand Lane, including the ones that were going extinct. The tower looked a lot different back then and each day I feared for my own god-damn life. But then, he forgot to close the door of one terrarium. You might think that one snake can’t do that much, but that’s not true if it manages to break the artefact that holds the other species locked up in their little homes.”

“So he released a couple of snakes? Is that it?”

“Not a couple. Dozens and dozens of them. He wasn’t home for quite a while. I tried to catch them but… well, you can imagine how that went. Someone my size looks like the perfect food for most serpent species. I nearly got devoured if he hadn’t come home.”

“So his mistake almost killed you. Still doesn’t seem worse than what I did.”

“Wait for it. You see, those species eventually spread. And since there were so many of them, they began mating. New generations were born in the wilds and Manuel didn’t quite manage to capture them all. In time, those species settled down on this continent. At a place where they didn’t belong. A whole wave of new venomous creatures that offset the ecosystem like only a few natural disasters managed in the past. So many people got poisoned. Quite a few even died. And then, there was you.”

“Me? I didn’t get bitten by–” he froze for a second. “Don’t tell me.”

“Yes.”

“No, that’s not possible. Is Pecker–“

“Indeed. Whispcoils are not native to this land. They came here because of Manuel. The serpent you carry with you is a descendant of Manuel’s little experiment.”

A scaly head emerged from the boy’s back. They exchanged shocked expressions, before Airo finally spoke again.

“That bastard.” He stood up from his chair. “I’m gonna test if that aura of his will protect him if I try to suffocate him with a pillow!” he grumbled and stormed off.

Samlas smiled and took to the air, slowly hovering deeper into the library to grab her book.

“Well, guess he isn’t feeling down anymore. Points to me.”