Lola Smith's Arc

Chapter 4 of 6

The bigger shape in the woods came closer. Lola raised her wand, but the fire only steadied one part of her. Her demon side still leaked, still sang into the dark. She braced for a monster. Instead a woman stepped out of the trees. She wore red silk that caught the tower's glow. Her skin shimmered faint gold, and two curved horns rose from her hair. A thin tail flicked behind her, just like Lola's own. "Your call reached the road," the woman said. "I followed it here." She did not sound afraid. She sounded annoyed. "That kind of leak brings worse than me." Verdantus stepped in front of Lola. "You teach at the Arcane Maiden Tower," he said. "The demon side." "Lilly," she said. She looked at Lola's horns, then her tail. "You're leaking because no one taught you to hold it. Human hands won't. Dragon claws won't." She tipped her head toward Verdantus. "He can't." "I know," Lola said. Her fingers still sparked. "I've been trying all night. It won't stop." "It won't stop because you're pushing it down," Lilly said. "Demon magic isn't fire. You don't trap it. You trade with it." She stepped closer, unafraid of the sparks. "It gives you nothing without taking something back. That's the first lesson. The hardest one." Lola thought of the wand, warm in her hand. "Show me," she said. Lilly held out her palm. "Give me your fear," she said. "Right now. The fear that you'll burn someone. Push it into your hand and offer it up." Lola did not understand. But she stopped clamping down. She thought of the kitchen table she had burned through. She thought of the hurt creature. She let the fear rise up her arm instead of fighting it. Heat gathered in her fingers, then flowed toward Lilly's open hand. The leak on Lola's other fingers thinned. The smoke stopped sliding down her skin. For the first time all night, the song went quiet. In the woods, the big shape stopped moving. Then it turned and crashed away through the trees. Lola stared at her hands. "It's gone. The pull is gone." "For now," Lilly said. She closed her fist around the fear she'd taken. "You gave something up to buy that quiet. You'll pay for every spell the same way." She reached into her sleeve and drew out a small crystal ball on a cord. It glowed faint blue. "One artifact. I give each student one. This one shows what you offer before you offer it. So you never trade blind." Lola took it. The crystal was cold and heavy. "What did I just give up?" Lilly studied her. "Come to the tower and find out. I only teach where I can watch the cost." She turned back toward the trees. "Bring the dragon's wand. You'll need both hands full." Lola closed her fingers around the crystal. She had a second teacher now. And a debt she could not yet count.