Rem lit the candle wick with a whisper, then reached for something bigger. She wanted a floating flame, the kind real mages made to search dark places. Her horn tingled. Pink sparks spat from her fingers instead. The flame swelled, twisted, and burst. Heat snapped past her cheek and scorched the wall. She stumbled back, breathing hard, her white robe smudged gray. Simple charms she could do all day. Anything more, and her own magic turned on her. That failure had a cost. She could not master her power like this. And she could not find her twin sister without it. Her hands still shook when she heard the chanting. Low words drifted through the trees behind her cottage, past the lotus pond. The rhythm was steady, sure, everything her own casting was not. Rem followed the sound. She needed to see how someone cast without fear of being burned. In a clearing stood a tall woman in a purple robe. Two long horns coiled from her head. Her eyes were narrow and gold, like a cat's, and her nails curved to sharp points. She traced a shape in the air. A ribbon of light held steady above her palm, calm and controlled. "You're leaking," the woman said, not turning. "Your magic. I can smell the burn on you." Rem froze. "It fights me. Every time I try anything real." The woman lowered her hand. The light winked out. She looked Rem over, from the pink hair to the single scorched sleeve. "Show me." Rem's stomach clenched. She had failed in front of no one before. But she raised her hand and reached for the floating flame again. The sparks came. The heat built. Her horn burned. "Stop pushing," the woman said. "You shove the power out. That's why it bites. Pull it instead. Let it come to you." Rem gritted her teeth and changed her grip on the feeling. Instead of forcing the flame outward, she opened her hand and waited. The sparks slowed. The heat cooled. A small flame lifted from her palm and hovered there, steady and gold. Rem stared at it. She had never held a spell past a simple charm. Her breath came out in a laugh she didn't plan. "I'm Seraphina Nighthorn," the woman said. "You have no control and too much power. That's a dangerous mix." She stepped closer, nails catching the light. "But it can be trained. If you're willing to be tested." The flame in Rem's hand held. She thought of her sister, somewhere out past these trees, waiting for a magic Rem could finally trust. "I'm willing," Rem said. Seraphina smiled, all teeth. "Good. Because that flame is easy. Tomorrow we find out what really wants to hurt you."