Annie Hayden's Arc

Chapter 6 of 27

Aelindor set the fireflower in a sealed jar and turned back to Annie. "Borrowed magic still needs a channel," she said. "You cannot hold raw power in bare hands. You need a focus object, something crafted to filter the fox's fire through you." She looked Annie over, from the ripped jeans to the wet boots. "You own nothing suited to it." Annie's stomach dropped. "So I can't even start." "You can." The mage pulled a strip of leather from a drawer. "A focus must be made from something living and touched by moonlight. There is a field deep in the woods where moon petal roses grow. Bring me a full handful. I will shape them into what you need." She pressed the leather into Annie's palm. "Tie the stems with this. Cut, do not tear. The petals bruise." Annie went. The fox trotted beside her, tail throwing warm light on the path. The trees thinned into a wide clearing. Roses covered the ground in a thick carpet, their petals shimmering blue and silver and pale violet, glowing soft in the fading day. She knelt and reached for the nearest bloom. "Careful. They stain." She spun. A man stood at the field's far edge, a basket of the same roses on his arm. Dark hair, tan skin, eyes the cold blue of deep ice. A dark crystal hung on his forehead from a fine chain. She knew him. He was the one who had struck the panther down on the mountain and ridden off without a word. "You," she said. "You saved me and then vanished." He stepped closer, moving light over the roses. "You lived. That was the point." His mouth curved. "You bleed warmth like an open fire. The whole wood can taste it." "And yet here you are, picking flowers." She cut a stem clean, the way Aelindor said. "What does a man like you need roses for?" "That," he said, "is my business." But he crouched beside her and pointed. "Take those. The tight buds hold more light. The open ones fade by morning." She followed his hand and cut where he showed her. The fox sniffed his boots and did not growl. That surprised her. "So can I know the name of the man who saved me?" she asked. He was quiet a moment. "Kaelen. Kaelen Frostwyn." He stood and lifted his basket. "Bind them fast, Annie. Warmth like yours draws worse than panthers after dark." Then he walked into the trees and was gone. She stared after him. He had known her name. She never gave it. Annie tied her handful with the leather strip and hurried back. Aelindor took the roses, turned them in the lamplight, and nodded once. "These will serve." She began stripping thorns. "Come at dawn. Your focus will be ready, and your training begins." Annie held her empty hands. For the first time, she had a way in.