“Ughhh!”

Anna’s scream reverberated off of the hardwood walls of the workshop. In her hand, just moments before, had been a seed that had sprouted a root and began to grow a stem. Now, though, there was only a pile of black ash and a rather painful burn. She stood up abruptly, causing the chair she had been sitting in to topple over. There was a small crack as one of the legs seemed to break off of the seat. Anna was too angry to really care about it at the moment.

“This is so stupid!” She yelled, “this is never going to work, Broderick.”

Broderick, for his part, had stood up and made his way over to her fallen chair. As Anna fumed, he inspected the chair before tapping the leg with the end of his staff. It glowed faintly, wobbled a bit, then jumped up as if it were alive and reattached itself to its recently departed other half. He then approached Anna and tried to take her hand in his. She jerked back from him angrily.

“I don’t want healed, I want to be able to do this. We’ve been at this for nearly three weeks now and I’ve made zero progress,” she told him heatedly.

“Your seeds have been exploding with a little more vigor,” Nelson called, in what he clearly believed was an encouraging manner, from over by the shelf he was busy dusting.

Anna turned to him and opened her mouth, ready to call him a few choice names, but Broderick cut in first.

“I think maybe we should take a break for a bit,” he said.

He reached for Anna’s hand again. This time, she allowed him to take it and he set to healing her wound.

“Why don’t you go upstairs and grab a bite to eat Anna,” he recommended, “I am in need of supplies and need to make a list for Nelson to pick up from the marketplace anyways. Misaada, can you bring me a quill, some parchment, and some ink.”

There was a flapping sound, accompanied by the sound of a branch bending and leaves swishing around as Misaada departed from her perch. She landed near a desk on the other side of the room and began rummaging around the various items on it with her beak and opening drawers with her talons.

“I just don’t understand,” Anna bemoaned in frustration, “we’ve been at this for weeks and nothing’s changed.”

At hearing Broderick mention sending him to town, Nelson had stopped dusting and come over to join them.

“You’re trying too hard,” he said simply.

“That doesn’t help,” she replied, “Broderick tells me to just try harder, you tell me I’m trying too hard. This is stupid,” she repeated.

“Anna dear,” Broderick began, “there’s nothing to get upset about. The ease with which you’ve already managed to manipulate your magical energies is phenomenal. I would’ve thought it would have taken weeks, maybe even months before we got to a point where anything happened at all. You managed to do something on your first try. You weren’t born of this world, none of this is natural to you.”

“Nothing has happened, I just keep blowing my hand up,” she replied.

“But that is something,” Broderick reassured her, “you are already able to summon your own inner magic and bring it outside your body. That is a remarkable success in and of itself.”

Anna must have been giving him a dirty look because he hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“Er, what I mean is, as I told you before, we start our young on their path of training at an extremely infantile age. Some children take years before they are able to complete this task. We have jump-started your training a bit in an attempt to catch you up. If you would like, perhaps we should consider working with some more basic techniques to help you get a better grasp of the fundamentals. There would be no shame in-”

“No!” Anna said vehemently before he could finish.

Broderick looked a bit taken aback by the forcefulness of her answer.

“Anna, I meant no disrespect, I only meant to say that we are attempting to start off far from a point where normal training would commence. It would not hurt to take a few steps back and work on something a little easier.”

At this point, Misaada walked up to him with a rolled up piece of parchment in her beak. She dropped it on the table and it unrolled to reveal a long black stick.

“I couldn’t find a quill so charcoal will have to do,” she told Broderick.

“We could use one of your feathers,” Nelson told her, grinning.

“Why you disrespectful little-” she said, before attempting to nip him as she so often did.

Nelson jumped backwards and Broderick quickly interrupted them before their spat could escalate.

“Charcoal will do just fine,” he said before picking up the utensil and beginning to write up a list, “I am in need of a few herbs and potion ingredients, Nelson. They should all be available at the apothecary. I also need some amber dust. You should be able to find that at the apothecary as well, but you may have to visit Bardis and Facetia for it.”

Nelson nodded and took the list. Upon it, he seemed to have an idea as his face lit up with excitement

“How about I take Anna with me?” he asked enthusiastically.

A look of trepidation fell upon Broderick’s face and for a moment, he looked lost for a response. Misaada and Anna both looked back and forth between the two, waiting on Broderick to respond. Finally, he spoke.

“Nelson, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said slowly.

“Oh, c’mon Broderick. She’s been locked in this house for weeks, trying the same thing over and over. She’s probably going mad from the confinement,” Nelson responded.

Anna did not interject, but she silently agreed with Nelson. She was definitely feeling a bit stir crazy.

“But Nelson, you know as well as I do what the townspeople have whispered about her presence here. I do not think it would be beneficial to expose Anna to such vicious and unfounded murmurs,” Broderick said quietly, as though Anna could not hear him.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Nelson said, “but I think Anna is perfectly capable of handling a few dirty looks. Misaada has the dirtiest looks around and Anna weathers those without flinching.”

In response, Misaada gave him an absolutely filthy look, but also seemed to agree with him in principle.

“He’s right Broderick,” she said, still staring daggers at Nelson, “the poor girl needs some fresh air. It would do her some good to get out of the house and clear her head.”

“But-” Broderick attempted to say, but Nelson interrupted him.

“Anyways, the folks in town have probably already moved past Anna’s arrival and are more than likely talking about whatever the newest gossip is,” Nelson said, “Old Man Corcoran fell asleep under an invisibility cloak earlier this week, causing an entire manhunt to find him. I guarantee you people are more interested in that than a tribel-... I mean, Anna’s coming to the kingdom.”

“But-” Broderick tried again, but growing tired of other people speaking on her behalf, Anna interrupted him this time.

“Please Broderick?” she said, attempting to sound as sweet as possible, “it really would make me feel better to get out of the house for a bit. Being confined probably isn’t good for freeing my will.”

She had no idea if this statement had any truth to it, but it was true that she was feeling a bit claustrophobic being stuck inside. Plus, she was absolutely dying to take a trip to the marketplace that had so enticed her during her first venture through the kingdom. Broderick looked between Anna, Nelson, and Misaada, who seemed to have formed a defiant semicircle around him. He looked annoyed for a moment, but finally he relinquished.

“Fine,” he said, sounding somewhat reluctant, “but Nelson, it falls to you to keep Anna out of trouble. Are you willing to accept that responsibility?”

Nelson looked Anna up and down, as if sizing her up.

“I got this,” he said finally.

Anna beamed at both of them.

“I’ll be on my best behavior,” she promised.

Broderick still looked slightly annoyed, but continued to write on his list of objects for Nelson to pick up. Fifteen minutes later, Anna was closing the front door behind them and they were setting off to the marketplace. She sported a grin on her face that felt a mile wide.

“Out for errands?” the lion’s head knocker, Freyas, said as they walked down the steps.

Anna had almost forgotten about the rather strange ornament and jumped a little at the sound of his growling voice.

“Yup,” answered Nelson, “hold the fort down while we are gone. Make sure Broderick doesn’t burn the house down.”

“Funny, he always says the same thing about you,” Freyas responded wryly.

Anna and Nelson walked to the end of the dead end road that Broderick’s home resided on and were soon snaking their way through the cobblestone streets of Monsadasia. They passed many people along the way. Almost every one of them stared at Anna, some even stopping in their tracks to do so. Their looks of distrust made her feel slightly uncomfortable, but she did her best to ignore the feeling. She chose not to mention it to Nelson, but she was sure he had to have noticed the glares they were receiving.

Before long, they arrived at the exact spot that she and Broderick had stood on her first day in Monsadasia. The side road that led to the marketplace was now much more occupied, with bustling groups of people both entering and departing the town square. Luckily, the sheer volume of people, along with their preoccupation for the things they had either bought or were discussing purchasing kept most eyes from falling on Anna.

“Are you ready?” Nelson said, looking at her with a bit of concern.

Apparently, he had indeed noticed the looks they had received during their walk. Finally, Anna addressed it herself.

“All these people keep staring at me, I feel like a freak,” she admitted.

“Don’t,” he assured her, “nothing cool ever happens around here. You’re the first exciting thing to come along in my memory.”

His words bolstered her spirit. Who cared what these people thought. She had people who both liked and cared about her now and that was more than she had ever known before.

“Let’s go,” she said, with a smile on her face.

She followed closely behind Nelson, so as to not get lost in the thick crowd of people surging in and out of the market. As they came to the end of the alley, the full scale of the square came into view and took Anna’s breath away. The Sol Regnum seemed to be positioned directly above the center of the marketplace, casting its warm orange glow among all of the shops and citizens. The square itself was absolutely chock full of people engaging in all manners of business.

There were children running around playing, with concerned parents chasing after them. A street performer had a booth set up near where Anna and Nelson had entered the market. People watched in awe and splendor as he performed what seemed to be simple sleight-of-hand magic tricks. A sign hung on the booth that sat in front of him reading ‘Non-Magic Magic’. Upon his wrists seemed to be a pair of spellbinders to keep him from using his actual magic. Anna was thoroughly impressed that the performer seemed to have trained himself to ignore the inherent adverse effects that came along with wearing the cuffs. The crowd “ooh’d” and “ahh’d” as he performed complex card tricks and made balls move between cups on a table without ever touching them.

Many people seemed to be in a hurry, rushing around from shop to shop, pushing past the crowds gathered at various booths. They carried cloth bags full of items in their arms and Anna found herself wondering what could possibly be inside of them. As her and Nelson slowly pushed their way through crowds of people, she stopped multiple times to look at the kiosks scattered throughout the market. One particularly interesting one was manned by a person who did not look like a person at all. Their skin was covered in orange fur with black stripes and their cheeks seemed to be sporting whiskers. They looked to be some half-human half-tiger hybrid. The tiger-person had set up a booth that was selling miniature magical beasts. There was a sign attached to the front of their table that read 'No Permit Required'.

Upon their table sat small cages filled with a various assortment of creatures that Anna had never seen before. One cage had a lizard-looking creature that seemed to only have two muscular front legs and a long tail. The inside of it’s cage seemed to be lined with glass and the creature occasionally would spit a liquid onto the glass that would smoke and bubble before evaporating. Another cage had what was clearly a miniature dragon inside of it, while yet another cage had a rather strange looking monster made up of one large central eye surrounded by a mess of other smaller eyes attached by creepy looking tentacles. It had a sign in front of it that read ‘Beholder.” The booth also had several wooden stables behind it filled with miniature unicorns, an animal that sported the body of a lion and the head of an eagle with a sign indicating it was called a griffin, and a pig like creature with a nameplate calling it a calydonian boar. Next to these stables was a large tank of water with a few different tiny creatures mulling about in the water, some looking like strange fish and others looking like some kind of seahorse. Though Anna didn’t know their names, a sign affixed to the front of the tank told her that it contained hippocamps, abaia, and isonades. These words meant nothing to Anna, but the tank captured her interest anyways.

The tiger-man selling these creatures growled through a megaphone to the crowd gathered around him, “come one, come all, feast your eyes on wares straight from the Kretcher Kingdom. Need a pet to guard your wares, but don’t want a full grown dragon eating you as soon as you step outside? Look no further, we have miniature dragons, drakes and wyverns that will scare off the bravest of looters.”

Anna watched with fascination as he removed one of the small dragons from a cage. It climbed onto a leather glove that the man wore and looked at him expectantly. He grabbed a piece of raw bacon from his table and tossed it high into the air. The dragon leapt from his glove and spread it’s tiny wings to take flight. It shot a burst of fire at the strip of bacon, instantly turning it crispy and filling the surrounding air with its scent, before swiftly grabbing the meat in its mouth. The dragon returned to the man’s glove before gulping down the entire piece of food.

“I have no interest in dragons, but it would be cool to own a miniature griffin,” Nelson said from Anna’s side.

She jumped in surprise. In her reverie, she had quite forgotten that Nelson was with her.

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“They are beautiful,” she responded in awe, “what is that man, the one selling the creatures?” she asked.

She realized that her query might come off rather rude, but her curiosity had gotten the better of her.

“He’s from Kretcher, another of the five kingdoms. They are called the animal kingdom, I’m sure you can see why,” Nelson told her.

“Do they all look like tiger-people?” Anna asked him.

“I don’t think so,” Nelson replied, “from what I know, some of them choose to undergo some kind of magical transformation to become closer to the animals that they revere. But many from their kingdom are content to just love and bond with creatures, rather than full out altering their DNA. Now come on, there’s plenty more to see.”

Somewhat reluctantly, Anna followed him away from the show. They passed several more kiosks and stalls along the way. A flamboyantly dressed vendor was selling pieces of jewelry and clothing advertised as being enchanted with various wards and charms. One booth was selling ‘one-use wands’ while another had a sign that exclaimed you could have your future read there. Anna was very interested in this one, but Nelson scoffed at her.

“Fortune-telling is a load of nonsense,” he said dismissively.

“You can shoot fireballs from your hands and make pearls that explode upon impact, but you’re calling that nonsense?” she asked him.

“There is no such thing as clairvoyance, Anna. We all have our own free will. You make your decisions, I make mine. No silly fortune-teller can tell either of us where those choices will lead,” he responded.

Finally, they arrived at a store that lined the market with a large sign that read ‘Apothecary’ above the entrance. On either side of the sign sat an oversized cauldron, one blue and the other purple, with wisps of smoke erupting out of their tops. Each of them seemed to have a massive spoon going into the cauldron which looked to be stirring whatever was inside of them.

“Finally, we made it. I hate coming into the market when it’s this busy. At least I have some company this time though,” Nelson said.

The doors to the shop reminded Anna of the old saloon doors she saw in buildings in the old western movies that Ms. Whitney sometimes watched. A multicolor of smoke and haze poured out from the space above the batwing doors. Nelson pushed them apart and Anna followed him into the store. Upon entering, a huddled old witch with a blue bonnet on her head greeted them sweetly. Nelson exchanged pleasantries with her before grabbing a small shopping basket and leading Anna into the maze of shelves and racks that littered the store.

The store itself was filled to the brim with strange objects. There were skulls of various creatures for sale, flowers that Anna had never seen or heard of, and large glass jars with different sized eyeballs floating inside. One shelf was covered in legs from different breeds of spider, while another contained small vials filled with different snakes’ venoms. There were wings from urchins and ell-maids, claws from something called snotlings, and spikes from a creature called a howler. The size and rigidness of them conjured the image of some kind of dog covered in porcupine-like spikes in Anna’s mind. Jars of bubbling liquids and trays of burning herbs released a myriad of aromas in the air. Some were pleasant, while others nearly made Anna gag.

Nelson guided her through the store, checking Broderick’s list every once in a while before grabbing objects from the shelves and placing them in the basket. They had seemingly found everything on the list, but Nelson was having trouble locating the amber dust that Broderick had requested. After a few minutes of searching, he decided to ask the store clerk.

“Excuse me,” he said politely, “do you have any amber dust for sale? Broderick told me you may have it but if not I can check with Bardis and Facetia.”

“No, no dearie,” the little witch said in a voice that sounded like dust given sound, “I keep it behind the counter here.”

She ducked down and rummaged around beneath the counter for a moment. Jars clinked together and what sounded like a cat hissed loudly before she reemerged, holding a small jar of golden dust.

“Awesome, that saves us a trip,” Nelson said excitedly.

He put the rest of their supplies on the counter. The old woman priced the objects, weighing some of them with a scale on the counter. She wrote down the price of each object in a little notebook she had. Finally she told Nelson the total.

“That’ll be five aurums and three argentums please,” she said.

Nelson pulled a small pouch from inside his robes and rummaged around inside it. He pulled out five golden coins and three silver ones and sat them on the counter. The clerk took the money and placed it in a drawer underneath the counter. She then whipped out a wand and waved it over the piece of paper she had been transcribing the sale on. A second, nearly identical piece of paper appeared from thin air next to her notepad and she handed it to Nelson. The only difference was that this one had the word ‘receipt’ transcribed along the top. Nelson thanked her for her service and led Anna back outside the store.

Upon reentering the marketplace, Nelson turned to Anna.

“You hungry?” he asked her.

Anna did not want to impose her appetite upon Nelson and quickly said, “No.”

As if in response to her denial, her belly growled loudly, audible even over the loud furor of the marketplace.

“Let’s get something to eat,” Nelson said, laughing.

He led her through the various crowds of people to a booth that was emanating an absolutely wonderful smell. It had a big, red, sparkling sign indicating it sold something called dragonears. There was quite a large queue lined up for these dragonears. Anna and Nelson waited patiently until it was their turn to order.

“Two, please,” Nelson said, handing over another golden coin for the food.

After a moment, they were handed two warm plates with some kind of fried pastry atop them. Back in Darjeary, the state fair had come through once before. The lights, sounds, and smells of the place had of course attracted Anna when this occurred. On one of her trips, she had unceremoniously been digging through the trash for food when she had come across something called a funnel cake. The pastry that she now held in her hands reminded her somewhat of that. Two big differences were that this one was not half-eaten, and also that it was covered in some kind of glowing red powder. She and Nelson made their way over to where a group of tables were arranged, eventually finding an empty, albeit slightly messy, one on which they could enjoy their food.

“Well, go on then,” Nelson said expectantly.

Anna had the impression that he wanted her to take a bite of hers first. She felt a bit of distrust at this, afraid he was playing some kind of joke on her.

“No, you first,” she responded.

“Oh, come on, don’t be scared. They’re delicious, and carry a real kick with them,” he told her, “I dare you.”

Something about those three words did it. Anna was not the kind of person to turn down a dare, and she wasn’t about to let anyone think she wasn’t doing something because she was too scared to. Without any more hesitation, she ripped off a piece of the dragonear, forgoing her fork altogether, and shoved it in her mouth. It was delicious and sweet and warm. In fact, as she swallowed, the warmth seemed to run down into her belly, before coming back up her throat and filling her whole head. Suddenly, smoke began to erupt from her ears and nose and small jets of flames shot from her nostrils. At first, Anna was terrified, but she quickly realized that the flames did not seem to burn or harm her at all. Across the table, Nelson had eaten a piece as well and was now having the same fiery reaction as Anna. The flames and smoke stopped. Anna burped loudly and another small spout of flame shot from her nose. She made eye contact with Nelson, a moment of silence passed between them, and suddenly they were both erupting with laughter at the effects of the dragonears.

They took turns eating bites of the pastries, seeing how big of a flame they could get to come out of their noses. With each jet of flames and smoke, more fits of laughter filled the air between them. It was the most fun Anna could remember having in a long time, possibly ever in her life.

“Well, if it isn’t Nelson Porker,” a voice called from the crowd, “and he’s hanging out with the filthy tribeless too.”

A teenaged boy with a strangely familiar angular face and piercing dark eyes pushed his way discourteously through a crowd of people nearby. He was followed by a few other boys and one girl. Anna immediately remarked internally on how pretty the girl was. She had arctic blue eyes and shoulder length blonde hair. She reminded Anna of another blonde haired, blue eyed girl she knew. One she did not like very much. The gaggle of teenagers approached Anna and Nelson’s table, each walking with a haughty sense of self-importance that immediately put a bad taste in Anna’s mouth.

“Ya know, Porker, I would never think a sorcerer could overeat, but that pig belly of yours really proves me wrong,” the boy with dark eyes said maliciously.

“What do you want Lucar?” Nelson said, not looking up from his dragonear.

“For the Source’s sake, you can’t even look up from your plate to have a conversation,” the boy called Lucar replied.

Anna felt a great sense of deja vu at the entire situation. The group of kids walking up while she and Nelson were minding their own business. The demeaning comments meant to belittle Nelson. She quickly realized that this Lucar boy was Nelson’s own personal Alexis. She did not need to see any more to immediately decide she didn’t care for Lucar one bit.

“I know you don’t have any friends, Porker, but hanging out with a tribeless is low, even for you,” the girl of the group said.

“Come now, Mikel,” Lucar said to her, “it must get lonely only having a neurotic bird and a crazy old nutjob like Broderick to talk to all day. It makes sense that he would befriend this freak considering the usual company he finds himself in.”

The group of kids all chuckled in amusement. Anna had heard enough. She didn’t much care that they had called her a freak; it barely ranked on the top ten list of insults that had been lobbed at her before, but they had now talked bad about Nelson, Misaada, and Broderick. She stood up from the table and balled her fists. Nelson gave her a pleading look, but she paid him little attention.

“It’s amazing that I’ve been in Monsadasia for less than a month, and yet you still somehow manage to be the most moronic person I’ve ever met, in my world or this one,” Anna said coolly.

Most of the group wore looks as if Anna had slapped them, but both Mikel and Lucar simply smiled.

“Color me surprised, the tribless can string together a sentence,” Lucar said.

“Yes, I wasn’t aware that savages could speak so well,” Mikel added.

“I would say that your repetitiveness is pathetic. But seeing as how you guys barely have a full brain between the two of you, I guess it makes sense,” Anna replied.

“It would be a shame for me to have to humiliate you in front of the entire kingdom,” Mikel responded, pulling her wand from her robes and tapping it against her leg.

“Do you always have a girl fight your battles for you?” Anna said to Lucar.

This seemed to ruffle his feathers in a way that her other insults hadn’t. He stuck his arm out to push Mikel back as he stepped in front of her.

“I think you’ve opened your mouth enough , filthy nontribus,” he said venomously.

“Don’t call her that,” Nelson said quietly from the table.

He still was not looking at Lucar, but he had moved his hand to the inside of his robes, presumably to grab his own wand. Lucar laughed mercilessly.

“You think you stand a chance against me Porker? Come on then, stand up,” Lucar chided.

Nelson remained sitting. Anna could feel her skin getting hot and tingly. Her ears seemed to be ringing as well. At first she thought it was just her anger bubbling to the surface, but she quickly realized it was something more. The image of an exploding phone and Alexis on the ground, covered in blood, quickly flashed through her mind.

“That’s what I thought,” Lucar said, looking at Nelson in disgust, “you’re a coward just like your father. It must be hard to be the son of the town drunkard.”

Nelson finally looked up at Lucar. He had fear and anguish written all over his face.

“Stop it Lucar, you’re going to make him cry,” Mikel said, though her tone showed no sign of actually wanting Lucar to relinquish.

“Well, I guess it’s understandable. I would probably drink myself to death too if my wife had-”

Whack!

Lucar did not get to finish his sentence. Anna could feel the magic inside of her rising to a crescendo. She knew that she had to do something before it erupted out of her like it had the last time. So she did the first thing that came to her mind. She took the fist that she still had balled up, and planted it as hard as she could on Lucar’s nose. He had clearly not been expecting a physical attack and did nothing to defend himself or limit the damage. His cohorts had apparently not been expecting this development either, as they all recoiled backwards in horror. Lucar stumbled back, tripping and falling over an empty table.

“Let’s go,” Anna said demandingly.

She did not wait for Nelson to comply. She snatched the burlap sack containing Broderick’s supplies from the table, then grabbed Nelson’s wrist forcefully and yanked him upwards. A few people in the marketplace had turned to see what all the commotion was about, but before anyone could really register what had happened, Anna was dragging Nelson down an empty narrow side street and into the tangled mess of roads that made up Monsadasia. The sense of deja vu she had felt earlier was now stronger than ever.

“Left,” she said decisively, “now right. We need somewhere to lay low.”

Nelson was having trouble keeping up, but Anna did not let go of his wrist. It was clear that he was not nearly as fast as she was, and his heavy panting told her that he did not quite share her physical stamina either. Every ounce of her self-preservation told Anna to let go of him, that she could run faster without his lagging weight, but she fought her instincts and kept a tight hold on him.

“Keep an eye out for a rundown door. Do you know if any of these buildings are abandoned?” Anna shouted to Nelson.

“You seem like you have experience with this,” Nelson panted.

"Maybe a bit," Anna responded.

They ran along the slightly crowded stone streets, Anna leading the way even though she had no idea where they were going.

"Outta the way, move!" Anna heard someone shout behind her.

She looked back to see Lucar and his group giving chase. Luckily, their strength in numbers was a weakness when it came to moving quickly through large swaths of people.

"See that alley up ahead," Nelson huffed.

"Yup," Anna replied.

"Turn there, I have an idea."

Anna did as he said, nearly knocking over a chatting couple as she and Nelson sped around the corner. They came screeching to a halt and Nelson gasped loudly for air.

"You can breathe when we are hiding," Anna said impatiently, "where are we going?"

"Down… There," Nelson said through labored breaths.

He had one hand on his torso as if he had a stitch in his side while the other hand was pointing further down the alley. The buildings on either side of them blocked the light making it hard to see, but Anna was just able to make out a cutout in the back of one of the buildings.

"Come on," she said.

They made their way hurriedly through the cramped alley, past the old wooden crates and trash bins that made up their surroundings. As they approached the cutout, Anna finally noticed the door that sat nuzzled inside it. It was covered in dark dirt and grime which made it hard to notice amongst the shadows of the alley and the dim walls. She also noticed that the door lacked a handle.

"Great, brilliant idea Nelson," she said sarcastically, "now what?"

"Move," he said, pushing her out of the way.

He drew his wand and pointed it at the door.

"Recludo," he said.

There was a small click and the door popped open. Nelson grinned at her as if to say 'I told you so'. He grabbed the door and pulled it open all the way, pushing Anna into the dark space that greeted them before coming in himself and shutting the door behind him. The darkness swallowed them and the noise from outside quieted instantly.

"It smells funny in here," Anna said, pinching her nose in the pitch black.

"Shhhh," Nelson responded.

Anna could not see him but she had the feeling that he was pressing his ear to the door to listen. A few moments of relative silence passed, broken only by their labored breathing. Finally Anna felt Nelson move backwards, bumping into her as he did so.

"Lux," he said, and crystal fixtures along the wall immediately flooded the room with light.

Now that Anna could see properly, she was able to make out the shoddy room they now found themselves in. There were several mop buckets and brooms near the back of the room. A few shelves lined the walls, covered in sponges, rags, and different sized bottles and containers. Anna had the impression that they were filled with some kind of cleaner. That explained the funny smell that was currently permeating her nostrils. They seemed to be in some kind of custodial office. She sat the sack of supplies down and turned to Nelson.

“Is this a janitor’s office,” she asked.

“Yup,” Nelson answered, “it’s the headquarters of the kingdom’s custodian, a man named Gortimer.”

“Will he be mad that we are in here? And what’s with all the cleaning supplies; couldn’t he just clean stuff with magic?”

“Gorty’s cool, if he comes back he won’t mind that we are here. I help him out around the kingdom from time to time when he needs it, so he likes me. And o’ course he could, but Gorty’s not the type to use magic to solve all his problems,” Nelson puffed his face out in a ridiculous manner, and said in a growling voice that was clearly meant to imitate this Gortimer person, “elbow grease and bleach cleans a mess ten times better than a wand ever could, Nelson.”

At that, Nelson burst out laughing. Anna must have missed the joke.

“What’s so funny,” she asked, feeling rather stupid.

“I can’t believe you just punched Lucar Rokus right in the nose. I’ve wanted to do that for years,” he responded, still giggling hysterically, “to tell you the truth, I’m sure there’s quite a few people who’ve felt the urge to do just that. He’s a pompous prick.”

Anna felt some of the color drain from her face. She did not find Nelson’s words very humorous at all.

“Did you just say Lucar Rokus? As in a relative of the same Rokus who’s the head of the council?” Anna inquired, a slight tremble invading her tone.

“Yeah, the grandson of that old coot,” Nelson replied, but he seemed to guess what Anna was thinking, “don’t worry though. He won’t tell his grandfather. He couldn’t bear the shame of having his lights knocked out by a girl, much less a tribe- er, I mean by someone from the non-magical world.”

“Are you sure? Councilmember Rokus said that if I stepped out of line, he would come after Broderick’s head. Then Broderick will be in trouble and I’ll be kicked out of the kingdom, I’ll have to go back to the orphanage, or have to go back to court and wear those awful spellbinders and be sent to the shadow whatever,” Anna said hysterically.

She knew she was rambling, but a million dark and depressing thoughts were suddenly invading her mind all at once. A look of concern fell over Nelson’s face. He moved closer to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“I promise, it’ll be fine. Even if he did tell, his grandfather wouldn’t bring it to the court. As ashamed as Lucar would be at the whole situation, his grandfather would sooner die than admit one of his kin had been beaten up by you,” Nelson said soothingly.

Anna could still feel the panic beating in her chest, but Nelson’s words did a decent enough job to drive the worst of her fears away. He pulled his hand away and took a seat in one of the rickety old chairs in the office. He dug in his robes and pulled out a bag of what looked like trail mix before shoving a handful of it into his mouth.

“Want some?” He asked through a mouthful of nuts and dried fruit.

“No, thanks,” Anna replied.

She did not have much of an appetite after the ordeal they had just undergone. Silence fell between them once more, and after a moment, Anna took a seat as well. She rummaged around in the pockets of her own robes and pulled out a few of the seeds she had been using for training earlier. She sat them in her lap and took one in her hand. For what felt like the millionth time, she closed her eyes and did as Broderick had told her. She felt the wriggling in her hand that told her something was happening. She could feel the warmth again, followed by a small root sprouting. Just as she began to feel hope that she was finally getting it, the warmth grew unbearable and the sprout in her hand burst into flames once more.

“I can’t heal burns nearly as well as Broderick,” Nelson said.

“This is pointless,” she said, pressing her burnt palm into her knee to try and dull the pain, “I’m never going to get it.”

“You can be a real negative person, you know that?” Nelson said rather bluntly.

Anna gave him a piercingly dirty look but he ignored it.

“You need to try a little optimism every once in a while. And you know what else your problem is?” He asked.

“Why don’t you tell me, oh wise and all knowing Nelson,” Anna said scathingly.

“You’re trying to hard,” he said, repeating his words from earlier.

“Hah!” Anna let out a mirthless laugh before saying, “and all this time, I’ve been thinking I just haven’t been trying hard enough. You’re a real motivator, you know that?”

“I’m serious,” Nelson replied, “listen, you’re trying so hard to force your magic out. That’s not your problem. Truthfully, I’m envious at just how easily you were able to call your magic from within you. But you’re forcing so much out at once that it’s like a dam breaking and it just ends up destroying things.”

“Then what should I do?” Anna asked, a little less scathingly this time.

“Magic is inside of you now. It’s a part of you,” he explained, “bringing it out to utilize it should be more like breathing and less like blowing. You are just trying to exhale, not fan a fire. Instead of trying to force it out, to push it, just let it flow out of you just like the air in your lungs.”

“That’s stupid,” Anna said dismissively.

“Negativity,” Nelson chided, “I’m serious. Instead of trying to release as much magic as you can, just let it seep out. Look, take another seed and close your eyes again.”

Anna rolled her eyes but did as he said. She ignored the pain in her palm as she did so.

“Now breathe,” Nelson said, “In, out, in. Breathe slowly and deeply. Picture the magic inside of you moving like waves, moving with the air that enters your lungs. Then, just let it flow from within you just as easily as your breath.”

And so Anna breathed. She inhaled, then exhaled, slowly and surely. She focused on her breathing, on the cool, slightly chemical laden air that entered and exited her body. And then she felt a warmth in her hand. She felt the same wriggling as she had before, followed by the feeling of a sprout emerging from the shell of the seed. She began to get excited.

“Stay calm and breathe,” Nelson said soothingly.

Anna pushed the excitement away and continued to focus on her breathing. She felt the sprout in her hand grow and expand and fill her fist.

“Look,” Nelson said.

She opened her eyes and gasped in amazement. In her hand was now a beautiful purple flower, attached to a healthy looking green stalk.

“I can do it,” she whispered, almost unable to believe it.

“Now there’s the positivity I like to see,” Nelson said smiling.

Anna jumped from her chair and gave him a massive, rib cracking hug.

“Thank you,” she said.

“Er, it was nothing,” Nelson said, blushing a little.

Anna released him, a huge grin on her face.

“Think the coast is clear?” She asked.

“Probably not,” he replied.

“Let’s see some positivity Nelson,” Anna said, picking up their bag of supplies “I’m ready to go home and show Broderick what I can do.”

“Hah, alright then,” Nelson said, standing up himself.

They made their way to the door and back out into the bustling streets of Monsadasia. The only proof they had ever been there was a beautiful lavender flower sitting in the chair.