//There are other types of creatures in our environment, for example spirits and demons. They are beings that possess an excess amount of lifeessence that, if you are an magician, can form a contract with. That means that the more lifeessence an individual possess, the more contracts are that individual able to form. Spirits and demons have no physical vessel, they are a form of life force that have gained a consciousness by the combined force of excess amount of lifeessence and a strong desire of another being. Take a water spirit as an example; they can be created by an individual's strong desire to quench their thirst. Even if this desire sound inconsequential in the aspect of other desires, so does this desire grant the water spirit with mastery of water in a certain amount of radius from the contractor. Take note that though spirits may be equal in power before a contract, it is dependent on the individual contractor on the spirit's power after a contract. Spirits take the excess lifeessence that the contracting magician have, to power their powers. This applies to all types of spirits and demons.//

- The encyclopedia of magical myths and dangers, chapter 13, page 600

Cealine woke up from the sun’s rays warming her face and the light making her see red behind her eyelids. She stretched and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. That’s strange? I have no recollection of guarding the fire yesterday. She thought tiredly. Could it be that I was so tired I did it while sleepwalking? She rose from her chosen sleeping spot and brushed of some errant leaves that had stuck to her clothing.

She looked around the camp, but there was nothing of interest there except a barely alive cooled fire. She reflected on the events of the past 24 hours and felt a sense of wonder. So much had happened! And everything was new and exciting. The thought of sleeping outdoors was a novel and exciting thing, however the stiffness in the back and neck area, not so much. Not to mention all the insects that had crawled all over her. Nowhere had that been mentioned when she had read about camping under the stars. Cealine assumed now that there had been a reason for that, if it was mentioned, other people’s interest in secret missions and explorations would’ve probably drastically decreased. This would’ve led to fewer explorations of new places, which would have resulted in no new groundbreaking discoveries. Yes, it was probably for the best that the less pleasant side of sleeping under the stars wasn’t mentioned in the easy accessible litterature.

Where could Cal be? She wondered. Cealine was completely alone at the campsite. She walked closer to the fire and put a hand out over it. Oh, well it’s still warm så Cal shouldn’t be far away. She’s probably taking a morning bath and didn’t want to wake me up. She’s so thoughtful. Cealine thought.

Cealine realized that it would probably be a good idea to get the fire going, to increase the chances of getting a warm breakfast. Besides, it would be nice to surprise Cal with a warm meal when she returns, Cealine mused. However, how do you go about getting a dying fire back to life? She had only a vague memory of Cal explaining the fire maintenance last night. Something about fuel and proper air supply? Cealine sighed. Why couldn’t she have a bit better memory? Oh, well, it’s better to try her best. The worst thing that could happen would be that the fire goes out and it’s that process that it’s undergoing right now anyway. So in conclusion, she can’t make it worse than it already is, so it’s worth a try.

Cealine started to walk around the camp to examine her options in the way of fuel for the fire. She collected an assortment of things and went back to spread everything out in front of the fire. Alright, let’s see what I found. Five leaves that I plucked from that bush over there because of the lovely purple color they have, a handful of dried grass, three pinecone-looking things, the small stones and a handful of sticks that I found on the ground. Hm. After inspecting her collection could Cealine state that out of everything it was the stones that would be the least effective things to put on the fire. She knew that, since stones wasn’t normally flammable and she thought that wouldn't happen even though she was in a forest due to a wish. However the stones were a lovely shade of black and smooth and soft to the touch so she decided to keep them instead. She would’ve use of them sometime...Surely? Oh, well. Cealine chose to put the stones in her pocket and looked over what she had left to choose from. The drier something is, the easier it will catch on fire, so I should start with that. Cealine picked up the dried grass and threw it onto the coal. Nothing happened. Cealine sat there and just stared at the fire in the hope that it was only a delayed effect, but there was still no reaction after waiting for quite a while. This is harder than I thought. What am I doing wrong? Cealine pondered for a while. Dried and fragile grass plus heat should in theory equal fire. Cealine inspected the fire a little more closely and realised her mistake. She hadn’t put the grass on the glowy parts of the coals. She corrected her mistake quickly and the grass started to immediately catch on fire. Then it was only to put on her collected items and voila! She had a fire. Now that that was out of the way, the only thing left was to procure something to cook for breakfast. As she contemplated on how to find something to cook, while also not get lost or leave the fire for to long, did she hear a couple of twigs breaking and footsteps that was coming closer. Cal stepped out of the foliage and her hair shimmered in the sunlight as a waterfall made out of liquid silver. Their eyes met and Cal stiffend momentarily before looking away. She walked toward Cealine and sat down next to her and smiled a slightly strained smile, still not looking directly at Cealine.

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“Oh, good, you are awake. I have been around to collect some breakfast, so let us cook it and be on our way, if you do not mind?”

Cal said while looking down at the ground and dumped a small package in Cealines lap. Cealine had been so distracted by the shininess of Cals hair and wondering how to get her own so well maintained that she had completely missed that Cal had been carrying something.

“Wonderful! This was so nice of you, Cal. I hadn’t gotten that far in my preparations, I just started the fire.”

Cealine picked up the package and opened it. It was found to contain a couple of mushrooms and a small pile of berries. This will make a great breakfast. The mushrooms can be grilled over the fire and the berries will be a lovely side dish. So incredibly nice of Cal to pick them for us. I have no experience with collecting mushrooms and would’ve probably gotten us food poisoning if it would’ve been up to me to go foraging in the forest. Cealine thought happily and started to prepare the food. Cealine was so focused on what she was doing that she completely missed the strange silence between them that hadn’t been there yesterday.

When she deemed the mushrooms to be finished did she reach to hand over half of them to Cal.

“Here you go. I believe they are done now. Thank you again for collecting them.”

Cal shook her head and meade no attempt to take the food from Cealine.

“No, thank you. I do not consume mushrooms.”

“Oh? You’re allergic? You should’ve said something. Here take all the berries. Luckily I haven’t eaten any of them yet.”

Cealine tried to give Cal the berries instead and admired Cal for her selflessness, for picking something she couldn’t eat so that her companion wouldn’t go hungry. Cal shook her head and yet again made no attempt to take the food that was offered.

“No, I don’t eat berries either. Thank you, anyway.”

“Well then, what’re you going to eat for breakfast in that case?”

Cal smiled a smile that Cealine couldn’t really tell what it meant. It didn’t look very happy.

“Do you really want to give me what I need for sustenance?”

Cal asked formally while still smiling that weird smile. Cealine felt a bit speechless. Why would Cal ask something like that so suddenly? Of course I want her to eat breakfast. If she doesn’t and have no energy later in the day, then how will I get a guide to that village we’re going to?

“Of course I want to do that. What do you want me to do? Should I try to catch some fish by the river?”

Cal smiled a extremely happy smile and shuffled closer towards Cealine and whispered something under her breath.

“Permission granted.”

Cealine was just about to ask Cal to speak a little louder when her eyes widened in shock. Every thought in her head ceased to exist and her only focus were the smooth, cool lips on hers. She blinked when she felt something wet on her lips and took a surprised breath. The wet thing turned out to be Cals tongue, as it now had been granted entrance to mer mouth. Cealine felt how warmth started to spread inside her body. The warmth started in her chest and it almost felt as it flowed towards her mouth and out of her. almost as if drinking something warm and exhaling a warm breath of air. Cealine figured that she liked this warmth and could imagine herself getting lost in its comforting embrace. She abruptly came back to herself when she realised what was going on. Cal is kissing me! This is completely unexpected. Cealine felt a bit unsure it she should break the kiss or not. On one hand had she never been interested in girls before, but on the other hand was this a very comfortable kiss. She realised that kisses probably shouldn’t feel just comfortable, so she should break the kiss as not to hurt Cals feelings too much by giving her false hope. Just as she was going to gently push Cal away from her, did Cal break the kiss and took a step back. Her cheeks were flushed and a bit out of breath. Her eyes glowed as if they were made out of silver fire and she looked surprised at Cealine, as if wondering what she was doing standing in front of her.

“What? How come you have not fainted yet?”

She exclaimed with shock. Cealine felt confused. Faint? That’s not an usual reaction for a kiss, right? She gave Cal a look filled with sympathy. Oh, poor Cal. It’s not enough that she’s so inexperienced that she believes that fainting happens after kissing, but she can’t just kiss people like that. We’re practically strangers. How has she not been exploited before? How can someone that look this good be so naive?

“I’m sorry Cal. You’re a very beautiful person but unfortunately you’re not my type. It could never work between us.”