A Wizard's Tale (Undecided)

"Col! It's nearly time to eat." His mother called from another room, her voice muffled by the log walls of the cottage in which they lived. Col Bremmin sat in his favorite corner, cross legged in the shadows as he watched his upturned palm. He never really knew why he chose the corner, but ever since he'd been born it had been his favorite.
His little eyebrows perked up as the tiniest light formed in his hand, just like it always did at first. He concentrated, ignoring the grumbling in his young stomach, as he watched the light. He smiled as it grew, forming itself at first into a larger ball of light, and then igniting into a tiny flame, flickering and dancing about in the air. He concentrated harder, remembering what his mother had told him about picturing the flame in his mind, growing larger and larger. The flame slowly grew, as it had in his mind, it's core taking on a shape similar to a marble; the single flame splitting down the middle like the blossom of a flower, opening into several other flames that all met at the bottom of the sphere-like Core. The dark orange core twisted and rotated as its finger-like flames danced across its surface.

As he focused on the newly conjured fireball, he ignored his mother's lessons, giving the flame more detail. He knew the depth of her teachings, that the magic he conjured never needed to be pretty to do its work, but he pushed them aside for just this once. He drew his energy into the ball, watching as it rotated just above his palm. He closed his eyes, focusing on an image in his mind of what he wanted the fireball to do. He envisioned it reshaping itself, taking on the features of a face as it turned to stare at him. He smiled and opened his eyes, nearly losing his grip on the ball when he saw the face carved into its surface, its slit, evil looking eyes staring back at him, its mouth turned up in a menacing grin. And then it was gone, returned to its previous state, just like his shapes always did after he'd formed them. It was something his Mother had been working with him on in recent days. He admitted that he really was getting better, but he hated studying, hated being cooped up inside for hours on end trying the same thing over and over again. He watched his fireball as it swirled and spat, letting his mind wander on into the realm of nothingness, wishing the moment would never end.

He was drawn suddenly from his thoughts when he felt a shift in the structure of magic making up the fireball. He searched his links trying to find what was wrong, but to no avail. Suddenly the fireball changed, both elementally and magically, unexplainably changing its habits and nature. He watched in confusion as a sprout of plant life emerged from the fireball's core, branching into several different sprouts, consuming the fireball. He watched as the flames sizzled out, replaced by vines and small leaves, its core a neatly wound ball of root-like branches, young and springy. The now heavy mass, no longer controlled by his magic, plopped into the center of his palm. He became aware of a figure standing in the doorway beyond, past his former fireball and across the wooden floor. His eyes flicked up to meet the smiling face of his Mother, her soft lips pursed into that close lipped smile she gave only him. She held her hand out to him, beckoning him to her. "Supper's Ready."

He quickly rose to his feet, hurrying into the dining room where he plopped down in the nearest chair with stew in front of it. He watched as his mother took the seat across from him. She watched as he ate, her lips still pursed into that special smile.

"How would you like to take a break from Magic and go out and play with Christine tomorrow?" She asked with a devious smile, watching as his little eyebrows perked up in interest. "Would you like that?" She continued. He nodded excitedly as he ate.

He loved playing with Christine, or Chris, as all the other kids knew her. Christine was the girl that lived not far from Col's home, down the trail and into the little village beyond the edge of the forest. She was an exciting girl, all tough and intimidating, yet girly in every nature. She liked flowers and plants, and exploring. She liked the sun, and the rivers, even the sunset. But who didn't like a sunset? She'd been Col's best friend ever since he'd grown old enough to talk. Before he started practicing Magic, she'd always take him into the woods with her when she went on her explorations, showing him the wonderful sights and secret places she'd found while looking for rare plants, or gathering common ones for her father. That was before the Magic, before he even knew what Magic was.

"Mom?" His eyes flicked up to meet hers. "What about Practice?"

"I thought you could use a break from it, you've been cooped up inside for weeks now. Tomorrow you'll have the whole day to play." She smiled at him, the way she did when she meant something.

"All day?" He asked tentatively.

"All day." She smiled again. "Come now, finish your supper and I'll show you how to change your Magic before bed." She pressed with a smile, watching him eat the rest of his stew.