Familiar's Calling - The Bond

Chase and Sylas

The Forest Clearing

Chase sat anxiously on one of the rickety old chairs from Krista’s childhood fort, nervously tapping his fingers against his thigh. Sylas, meanwhile, was staring into the depths of the small pool in the middle of the clearing, his expression unreadable.

“Where are they?” Chase suddenly exclaimed, looking up and over at Sylas, his chin in his hand and his elbow resting on his knee.

Sylas turned his wrist and looked at the watch strapped to it. “Relax,” he said. “It is only eleven thirty. We are quite early.”

Then without so much as the sound of rustling bushes, a familiar male voice spoke.

*

“How long have you been here?”

Sylas was looking around and Chase stood up so quickly that the chair toppled over.

Sylas was smiling at them as he and Krista emerged from the hidden pathway. Krista stood just behind him, eyeing the other two warily.

“Not long, my young friend, not long.” Sylas strode over and extended his hand in greeting to him. “You must be Jinx, and you are Krista, I presume?” he stated as Chase hurried over to join him.

He nodded, “Indeed we are.”

Chase eyed Krista, his blue eyes finding her green ones. “Hi, I’m Chase,” he said, offering her his hand.

Krista eyed his hand nervously, Go on, it’s alright, Jinx reassured her as he extended his to shake Sylas’ hand.

The moment each of their hands grasped one another something happened which startled all of them; something amazing. As the four magickal beings, familiar to familiar and witch to witch, grasped each other’s hands, a brilliant, pure white light emitted from the point their hands touched. They were momentarily stunned, then even more so as they realised they were unable to pull their hands back.

The light enveloped them for a brief couple of seconds and then faded as quickly as it had come. It was only once the light had faded that both pairs released the other stepping back a pace or two.

“What in the name of Merlin was that?” Chase exclaimed, staring at his palm inspecting it for any physical marks.

Sylas was blinking the spots from his eyes when he answered. “I think that is what the Dozhan was worried about with us meeting. Why he didn’t want us to reveal ourselves yesterday, Chase.”

Jinx’s eyes widened in surprise. “Yesterday?” he asked.

“Ah, yes. We were hidden in the shadows during your meeting with the Dozhan yesterday,” Sylas explained.“I wanted to reveal ourselves then, quite honestly, but someone wouldn’t let me,” Chase added in earnest, as he stared into Krista’s eyes. The sincerity of his words must have been reflected there as Krista smiled softly - her cheek twitching upwards even from his angle.

Jinx noted, with some amusement, the way Chase’s eyes flickered towards Sylas as he stressed the word ‘someone’ even as he watched the little exchange.

Sylas shrugged his shoulders. “Well, now you know why I wouldn’t.”

Chase seemed to bite back a retort, simply rolling his eyes at his friend before turning back to face Krista. “So why don’t you tell me about yourself?” he asked her, a charming smile on his face.

Krista blushed and blurted out. “How old are you? You look so young!” This outburst caused her to blush further, red rising and spreading across her cheekbones; cheekbones, Jinx noted, that bore a marked resemblance to Chase’s.

Chase chuckled and smiled reassuringly. “It’s fine. I expected you to ask such a question anyway. I am three hundred and four years old. And Sylas here... well, even I don’t know his exact age, so he is just Auchyu.” He looked sideways and smirked at his friend.

Sylas rolled his eyes. “You better believe it” he paused for a moment before smirking right back. “And respect your elders, Tecyu.”

Chase looked flabbergasted, shocked even. “Did you just make a joke, Sy? A joke?” He furrowed his eyebrows seriously and ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair as if he was thinking deeply. “I don’t think I have ever heard you joke in all the time I have known you!”

Sylas rolled his eyes again but didn’t say a word.

Chase was still looking at Krista. “Revelations all over the place today.” He grinned and extended his hand to her. “Come, let’s sit and chat. Get to know each other.”

*

Krista hesitated, glancing at Jinx who again urged her on mentally before taking Chase’s outstretched hand. He held hers tightly and pulled her across the clearing to sit down in the grass near the pool of water. Jinx and Sylas remained where they were, seemingly choosing to remain chatting to one another privately.

When she glanced in the direction of their familiars, Chase waved his hand dismissively at them. “Ah, they’ll catch up. So tell me, when did your powers first manifest?” he asked her.

Krista bit her lower lip nervously, sitting with her legs in a ‘W’ shape.

He must have seen her discomfort because he smiled reassuringly. “I was five. How about you?”Krista smiled back, her courage beginning to assert itself. “I was nine. What did you do when your powers first manifested?” she asked him, curiously.

Chase squinted one eye. “Mmm... I think I -” he began, then chuckled. “Dear me, it has been a while.”

Krista giggled in response. “At three hundred and four, I have no doubt. I remember vividly what I did,” she said, with a small smirk.

Chase tilted his head to the side. “Oh? Go on.”Laughing she tried to start telling her story, “I...” she stopped as a fit of giggles overwhelmed her for a moment.

Once she had composed herself, and taken a deep breath she started again, “I got really frustrated at my math homework, and when I slammed my hands down on the desk in frustration, instead of just sore hands my homework went flying.” She paused, smiling at the memory. “It went across the room and out the window into a mud puddle.”

Chase howled with laughter. “I don’t blame you. I never liked math either, cursed subject.”

Krista giggled and shook her head. “So do you remember what you did?”

Chase squinted an eye again. “I vaguely recall something to do with broccoli and it being flung at my father like a puckle gun.” He put his head in his hands and shook it.

Krista looked confused. “What’s a puckle gun?”

Chase stopped laughing and looked up. “Ah, right. I forget what century we are in occasionally. It’s basically like a modern day machine gun, but it holds less ammunition and fires slower.”

Krista nodded in understanding. “Interesting,” was all she could think of to reply.

Chase smiled. “So you’re telekinetic too then?” he asked her, levitating the moon shaped necklace off her chest for a moment before allowing it to fall back down lightly.

She nodded and, her brow furrowing slightly in concentration, she made him rise just above the ground about half a foot before allowing him to fall back to the ground with a light fump sound.

Chase seemed slightly surprised as he landed. “You have great control already! Wow! I don’t think I got that much control so quick.”

She blushed slightly. “I didn’t get this control until after Jinx and I came out here the first time and the Malaonus Nor changed,” she replied, carefully pronouncing the special marks name.

Chase nodded. “Yes, that change does seem to allow the power to flow easier, freer, doesn’t it?”

Nodding again, and feeling like a bobble-head doll by now, she agreed with him. “It really does. Easy enough to develop more powers suddenly and without warning.”

It was Chase’s turn to have his eyebrows knit together in confusion. “New powers?” he asked her, looking lost.“Well... not new as in different, but new as in related to telekinesis. At least that’s what it was according to Jinx,” she explained to him.

“Ah! Yes, that can happen. So tell me, or show me if you can, what have you developed?”

She pursed her lips together and held out her hand towards the nearby dilapidated fort, concentrating hard.

“Remember the key when learning to control a new advancement is to use the emotion you felt the first time it happened,” he advised.

She nodded, summoning up the annoyance she had felt for Jinx that morning. Taking a deep breath she felt the power rise within her and, as she let it out, a bolt of telekinetic energy shot out of her hand and struck the wall of the fort creating a small bullet-like hole.

Chase looked impressed. “Telekinetic Bullet Projection. Interesting.”

*

The release of energy caused Jinx and Sylas to look up from their own conversation and wander over to the two witches to sit down. “Power advancing, Krista?” Sylas asked her.

Krista nodded as Jinx replied, “Yeah, she nearly took my head off this morning.”

Krista blushed. “I didn’t mean to! It just... slipped out,” she lowered her head, looking ashamed of herself.

Chase, who had slid over beside her so Sylas and Jinx could sit, swung an arm around her shoulders. “It’s fine, Tecyu, controlling a new part to a power takes time.”

Krista nodded in response, staying silent. He cleared his throat and swung his arm off of Krista’s shoulders and rested his hands in the grass behind him, leaning back on them.

“So Krista mentioned that your Malaonus Nors have changed, too?”

Jinx nodded and folded his right ear over to show the silver, slightly glowing mark; as he did so his own necklace shifted around his neck. “Yeah, it happened when we came out here on our own to train and the moon rose.”

Sylas nodded, briefly showing his own. “Yes, We... well Chase more than myself, felt it happen. It happened to us under the same circumstances. We felt it happen to you.” He explained and then added, “Go on, Chase, show them.”

Jinx looked at Krista. Go on. You may as well show them too, he urged her privately.

Nodding to him, and as Chase pulled his own coat off casting it aside in a messy pile a few feet away, Krista shrugged her right shoulder out of her jacket, and in one movement showed her mark as Chase turned slightly to show his on his left shoulder blade. Sylas’ eyebrows knitted together as he looked at both matching marks, on opposite sides of the two witches bodies.

“What is is, Sy?” Chase asked his friend as he pulled his shirt back over his shoulder and re-buttoned it. “I know that look. You’re theorising,” he continued, looking at his friend seriously.

“Hmm,” was all Sylas replied at first. All three of them sat and stared at the elder familiar for several long minutes before he finally spoke. “I just find it... interesting that Jinx and Krista’s Malaonus Nor is on their right side while ours is on the left. It’s almost like it’s deliberate.”

Chase rested his arms on his crossed legs and rolled his eyes. ”More prophecy junk?”

Sylas nodded. “In a way. I think more just a further - deeper, connection between the four of us than anyone could have anticipated. Nothing such as this has ever happened, in my memory,” he explained, eyebrows still knitted together. He stared at the center of their small circle looking perplexed.

For a while none of them spoke digesting this new information. Jinx broke the silence after a good ten minutes. “What do you mean, a deeper connection? What sort of connection do we have?” he asked, slightly confused. Krista nodded at his question as she swung her legs around to sit sideways, leaning on her right hand at an angle away from Chase.

Sylas stroked his chin for a moment obviously thinking hard. “It’s…” he began, “a connection that transcends time and space.” He began cryptically. “It is quite obvious by the age gap between Chase and myself and you and Krista. However, this connection... it seems to link the four of us, both magickally and emotionally - physically, while our individual pairings,” he nodded at Chase, then at Krista and finally at Jinx who all nodded back in turn. “Will always be the strongest when coming together to fight or resist a foe. It seems as though to combine the four of us into one united force multiplies our capabilities further. We would have to test it, but it seems like individually our pairings are yin and yang to one another - two halves to a whole - and that whole grows when you consider the four of us together. We are each a fourth, a half of a half, and each pair forms half of the greater whole.” Sylas shook his head astonished. “Just what we are capable of as a group I will be interested to see.”

Chase and Jinx nodded as Krista asked, “So… our powers, when used together as a group, that is, might have an effect greater, or at least different, than when used individually or in our separate pairings?”

Sylas nodded excitedly, which must have surprised Chase because his elbow gave way, and he punched himself in the jaw. “Yes! Exactly!” Sylas exclaimed, adding, “You okay, Chase?” with a smirk and subconsciously rubbing his own jaw as Chase grumbled and sat back upright, hands resting in his lap.

Chase shot Sylas a look before saying through gritted teeth, “Yes, I’m fine.”

Sylas, Krista and Jinx rolled with laughter at this reaction; Krista actually rolled over backwards in a tumbling manoeuvre.

Chase blushed deeply, the tips of his ears reddening and a flush rising in his cheeks. “You threw me off guard being all... excited like that, Sy!” He pouted at his friend.

Sylas laughed so hard it came out as a hoarse, rough chuckle. He threw his head backward clutching at his stomach. “Well, I am glad I can still surprise you after all these years, Tecyu.” He smirked at Chase.

Chase playfully shoved Sylas over with a simple jerk of his head, glowering at him. Krista giggled furiously, slapping a hand across her mouth in an attempt to stop.

Chase glowered around at all of them. “Oh, sure, laugh it up.”

Sylas clapped him on the shoulder. “Oh, relax, my friend. Is that not what you are always telling me to do?” he inquired.

Chase scrunched up his face in annoyance. “And you only now take my advice? Talk about delayed reaction.” He smirked at his friend, clearly enjoying the banter as evident by the constant smile in between smirks on his face.

Sylas rolled his eyes and shoved Chase back over before sitting back upright. “There was never an opportunity before now. What with you getting yourself into trou- ahh!” he cried in alarm as Chase launched himself on top of him, wrestling him to the ground.

Sylas rolled Chase off of him easily pinning him to the ground, panting slightly like the wolf he was. “Every time… do you never learn?”

Chase glared up at him, arms pinned to the ground. “No,” he replied defiantly.

Krista giggled at the two older men behaving like children which broke them out of their silent staring contest. As Sylas sat back on his heels extending a hand to help Chase back up, she giggled at them “You two are so funny!”

Sylas looked disgruntled, almost insulted by the comment, which Chase picked up on and smiled clapping his friend on the back. “Ah, Sy! That’s a good thing, and you know it!”

Krista nodded. “I was so nervous about meeting you two given both the age difference and the stories about you guys. I thought you would be all stuffy and boring,” she explained. “But you guys are similar to how Jinx and I are. You’re friends, and I am glad.”

Chase smiled at Krista. “Well I don’t know about Sy here, but I try not to be all stuffy and boring myself. I mean what’s life without a little fun; am I right?” He grinned and winked at her.

Krista nodded. “I agree. I do have one question however,” she said, her expression turning somewhat serious, and Jinx scratched at his nose as he watched her.

“Shoot,” Chase replied, leaning back on his hands, his legs stretched out in front of him.

“Why - or rather, how - is it that Jinx and I, when he is in human form, look like we could be siblings? I was going to chalk it up to coincidence, but you and Sylas look similar as well.”Chase rolled his head to look at Sylas. “That is actually an excellent question, and something I have always wondered myself. Anything you can enlighten us on, Sy?” he asked his companion.

Sylas sat up and replied stiffly, seriously, almost as if he was hiding something “It is tied to the idea we discussed earlier, of being one half of the whole, from what I understand.”

Jinx didn’t think that was the whole story but he didn’t have the evidence he needed yet, so he remained silent.

Krista nodded thoughtfully. “I suppose that makes sense in the grand scheme of things.” Chase was watching her thoughtfully. “I do find it interesting that you are the only female out of the four of us. I wonder if there is something special about that - about you.”

“Actually,” Sylas started, making all eyes land on him again. “It does, and there is.”

“How so?” Jinx asked, now curious about the same thing, and his other thoughts driven temporarily from his mind.

“Well, typically female witches have always had greater control over powers in both a group setting and individually. That is to say, when witches have come together and combine their powers for some greater good or cause, it has been the female witch or witches that keep the male witches in check. I believe it is linked to the idea of too much testosterone being detrimental to magickal cooperation.”

Jinx furrowed his brow, glancing at Krista. “So Krista is-” he began.

“Krista will be our anchor, I suppose you could say, keeping us in check so we do not get out of control, yes,” Sylas finished his sentence for him.

Krista gulped obviously and noisily. “Pressure much?” Her eyes widened for a moment before she smirked. “I’m sure I can keep you boys from getting out of hand,” she replied, crossing her arms across her chest in a mock supervisory pose before giggling and dropping her arms.

Chase roared with laughter. “Krista, I think you and I will get along well.” He smiled at her.

She smiled back at Chase. “I agree, Chase. I think we will all get along really well.” She looked around at Sylas and Jinx as well, smiling at the latter, who smiled back.

Jinx cleared his throat. “I’ve never felt so close to anyone before Krista. And now Chase and Sylas. Not even Jessie.” He forced his voice to remain steady as he said Jessie’s name.

“Who’s Jessie?” Chase asked, totally oblivious as both Krista and Sylas stiffened. “Jessie was… my charge before I was matched with Krista,” Jinx started. “I… he-” he faltered, eyes welling up with tears.

“Jessie had an accident on their last quest together,” Krista finished, taking pity on her friend and hugging him so he could hide his eyes which were threatening tears spilling over.

“Ah, I see.” Chase replied as Jinx dried his eyes with the heel of his hand. “I’ve only ever been matched with Sy, so I’m not sure what it feels like to be mismatched.”

Krista shook her head. “Me neither. Jinx is my first and final match.”Jinx cleared his throat to steady his voice. “It took so long for them to locate you to match us that the Familiars’ Council decided it best to assign me to any witch who needed a familiar for a quest or task. They aren’t very up on familiars sitting around just waiting for a true match to appear.” He glanced up at Sylas at this, who nodded.

“Jinx is correct. I myself had several mismatched witches under my care before I met you, Chase,” he confirmed.

Chase’s eyes widened in shock, he looked almost innocent. “Really? How many?”

Sylas laughed. “I don’t remember., Too many to count, my young friend.”

Jinx replied simply. “Three.”

Both Chase and Krista’s eyes widened at both of their familiars’ answers, then they looked at one another. “Well that’s interesting,” Chase remarked finally.

Krista nodded. “I have to agree. I wonder why the Witches’ Council allows mismatches for some witches, but not others?”

Sylas shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. “I do not believe it happens very often. The Witches’ Council would much rather a true match happen than a mismatch. Of course, I could be in error,” he replied seriously.

Chase’s mouth was a line, his eyebrows knitted together. “Interesting,” was all he could reply. “It is why guardians such as myself exist, Master Chase,” came a charming male voice from the treeline, which made both Jinx and Krista look around in alarm.

Chase and Sylas looked up and around and spotted Geoffrey standing at the treeline.

“Is that so, Geoffrey?” Chase replied casually.

The young looking gentleman dressed in a crisp grey suit and standing at approximately Sylas’ height nodded. “Indeed, Master Chase, indeed.”

Krista and Jinx looked so utterly confused by this new arrival that Sylas cleared his throat. “Ah, yes. Geoffrey, since you’re here perhaps you would come forward? There are a couple of people we should formally introduce you to.”

The younger gentleman nodded curtly again. “Yes, Master Sylas.” He strode forward head held high and stopped next to Sylas.

“This,” Sylas gestured up to Geoffrey, “is Geoffrey. He is a familiar-witch guardian. He was Chase and my guardian back when we were first matched since Chase was so young.”Jinx’s eyebrows furrowed. “He is still your guardian?” he asked, perplexed. “I thought guardians were only assigned for brief spells during the bonding process?”

Sylas gave one of his rare smiles. “Indeed, usually they are.” Here he looked up at Geoffrey who was looking straight ahead, his small eyes darting this way and that looking for potential threats. “However it appears both the councils decided to assign Geoffrey to the four of us this time. For how long, I am not certain.”

“Interesting…” Jinx replied, surveying Geoffrey with his serious green eyes.

“Yes, quite. So let me introduce you. Krista, Jinx, this is Geoffrey. Geoffrey, this is Krista Braddock and her familiar, Jinx.” He gestured between the duo as he spoke each of their names.

Krista stood up and, after dusting herself off, extended her hand. “Nice to meet you, Geoffrey.”

Geoffrey nodded curtly, bowing briefly to both of them. “And you as well, Miss Krista. Master Jinx.”

Krista blushed as she sat back down. “It’s just -“ she began, before Chase cut her off with a nudge and a mutter at her behind his hand.

“There’s no use trying to stop him. He is very formal and serious all of the time.”

Krista swallowed looking up at Geoffrey, a tad intimidated by his demeanour, and nodded her understanding. “If I have permission, I do have one question for you, Master Jinx,” Geoffrey suddenly said rather sharply, looking down at Jinx.

Jinx nodded his assent. “What is it, sir?”

“What species of familiar are you?” he asked, sharply.

Jinx was slightly taken aback. “Erm… Feline. A black cat,” he replied a touch nervously.

Geoffrey swiftly withdrew a small notebook from his breast pocket and made a note before returning it to the pocket. “Thank you, Master Jinx. I require detailed notations on my charges in order to effectively do my job.”

Jinx nodded. “I understand.” He turned back to Krista and Chase. “So why don’t we see what you each can do individually?”

Chase nodded. “I will start - if Krista has no objections?” Krista shook her head rapidly from side to side in response. Chase chuckled. “All right then.” He looked around the clearing with narrowed eyes. “Ah!” he exclaimed, slowly raising his right hand, a look of focused determination on his face. A good ten feet away a large boulder slowly raised into the air.

Krista watched with mild fascination mingled with boredom. “I can do that.” She giggled.

Chase smirked. “Oh, ya? But can you do this?” he retorted, clenching his hand into a fist. The boulder compressed into a pile of levitating dust before he relaxed his hand and dropped his arm. They watched the dust to slowly fall to the ground.

Krista’s eyes grew wide in surprise. “You can combine powers?” she asked him, looking at the settling dust with fascination.

Chase nodded. “You will be able to as well with practice.” He paused then added, “Show me something that you can do. Show Sy your telekinetic energy projection.”

Krista bit her lower lip. “I’m not sure I can control that one…” she trailed off.

“Nonsense. That’s why we are practising, so that you can learn,” he replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Krista nodded, and taking a deep breath made three small pebbles leftover from Chase’s broken boulder raise into the air with a gentle upward wave of her hand. As she kept them levitating in mid-air, hand laying palm up and open, both Jinx and Sylas watched with interest. She drew her breath in, and as she quickly exhaled, sparks of energy shot out of her fingertips as she made the pebbles shoot forward at an alarming speed into the door of her old fort. They broke through the old, brittle wood with little to no resistance and formed three, perfect, pebble-sized holes in a triangular formation.

Chase and Jinx clapped enthusiastically at Krista’s success while Sylas clapped slowly and deliberately. “You show excellent mastery of your powers so far, Krista,” was all he would say, and stiffly at that.

Chase rolled his eyes and clapped his friend on the back, making him pitch forward and catch himself before his nose hit the ground. “Aw, come on, Sy! That was beyond mastery. That was bloody brilliant. For someone her age? Of her experience?” He turned to Krista. “Ignore him. He has difficulty expressing himself at times.”

Jinx snickered. “It’s too bad you couldn’t have done that when we were in the Hall of Records yesterday, Krista.”

Krista giggled in response. “Yeah, that would have shut them up for sure!”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “Shut who up?” he asked puzzled, eyes darting between Krista and Jinx.

Jinx snickered. “Bruno and Charles; that big oaf of a dog familiar and his equally dense witch partner.”

Chase replied. “Ah, yes. Them.” Then his face split into wide, ear-to-ear grin before he burst out laughing. Sylas eyed his companion with mingled confusion and disappointment.

“What are you laughing at, Chase?” he asked.

Chase, resting his hands on his knees as he knelt on the ground, attempted to stop himself laughing and simply waved at Jinx to explain.

Jinx snickered and turned to Sylas attempting to keep a straight face. “I believe he is referring to Bruno and Charles’ propensity to taunt fellow witches, particularly newly matched witches like Krista and I about being weak. Of course my recent accident didn’t help that. But Krista very nearly attacked them over it,” he explained as Chase continued to roar with laughter.

Sylas nodded. “Ah, yes. Bruno. I am aware of him.” He turned to Krista. “I can say with certainty, simply based on what I have seen so far, you have nothing to fear from those two. They are - all talk,” he explained, with a slight nod.

Krista sent a small smile at him as Chase finally managed to stop laughing and sit up straight. “Yes, exactly. They are probably the most inept pair I have ever met quite honestly.”

“Chase!” Sylas admonished. “Manners!”

Chase rolled his eyes and shrugged. “What? It’s true.”

Krista and Jinx burst out laughing, rolling around in the grass. Sylas rolled his eyes at the three younger magickal beings.

“Children, please?” he said simply.

Chase smirked at Sylas as his companion stared at Jinx and Krista laughing and made a small pebble rise up from near his broken boulder and speed towards Sylas. Just in time, Sylas saw the pebble and ducked rolling his eyes. However, the pebble stopped in mid-air and shot back at him, forcing him to roll out of the way.

“Chase!” he growled, wolf-like.

Krista and Jinx stopped laughing to watch the pebble chase Sylas around. Chase, his hands at his side chuckled, “What?” As the pebble forced Sylas to leap to the side and roll to his feet. “You know how to make it stop, my friend.” He smirked as Sylas leapt into the air to avoid it.

Sylas growled, and covering his head with his arms, crouched down. As soon as the pebble struck his arm it dropped to the ground. Sylas looked up to see all three of his younger companions rolling with laughter. He smirked, scooped up the pebble, and with all his might chucked it at the trio. As the pebble neared Krista’s head, Jinx reacted instinctively despite his laughter, and holding up a hand, stopped the pebble in mid-air where it dropped harmlessly to the ground.

*

This stopped everyone from laughing as Sylas walked back over. “Good. You can work with distraction.”

Jinx narrowed his eyes annoyed and concerned for Krista. “Well, that was a low trick, Sylas.”

Sylas shrugged. “You stopped it. That is what matters, Jinx. It is a useful skill that you are able to sense when your companion is in danger and react quickly enough to protect her.”

“Still,” Jinx began, but Chase interrupted.

“Jinx, why don’t you show us what you can do?” he suggested, changing the subject.

Jinx glanced at Sylas before turning to face the small pool some distance away. In the same manner as Krista, he prepared himself by taking a deep breath. Then he slowly raised his hand in a cupping motion; behind Chase a ball of water rose out of the pool. He saw Krista glance briefly at the water and whispered to her privately, Shh.

“What are you doing?” Chase asked him, eyes casting around in front of him, trying to read Jinx’s face.

The ball of water got closer and was soon hovering over Chase’s head. Krista glanced at Sylas and saw his eyes dart upward for a second, but he did nothing to stop it. As a drop of water threatened to drip into his hair, Krista focused on holding it in place.

Jinx counted, 1... 2… 3... and on three he and Krista both released the water. At the last second, Krista brought her hands up and held the water in place in an arc over Chase’s head, just barely above his closely cut, sandy blonde hair.

“Ahh!” Chase yelped in shock at the near soaking. Then the water fell as Krista gasped, unable to hold it in place anymore.

Chase sputtered as he was drenched with the cold water.“Ahem. Sorry, Chase, I tried to hold it but I lost my grip,” Krista hurriedly explained.

Chase ran his hand through his wet hair, squeezing the water out. “It’s okay. Good elemental manipulation, Jinx - even if you did use it against me,” he added, with a nod at Jinx.

Jinx smirked and replied with a chuckle. “I had to. Sorry, Chase.”

Krista’s stomach rumbled and she clutched it. “Well, I think I could use some lunch.” She pulled the small cooler toward her with just her mind and opened the lid to show the piles of sandwiches. “Lunch anyone? My mum packed enough for all of us.”

Chase leaned forwards and plucked one from the cooler. “Don’t mind if I do,” he replied, unwrapping it to reveal roast beef. “Oh, and thank your mother for me,” he added as he bit into it and moaned. “Better yet, I’ll come thank her myself. This is heaven.”

Krista giggled. “She does make good sandwiches,” she replied, pulling cucumber out for herself and Jinx, and offered the cooler to Sylas who also pulled a roast beef out with a nod.

With Geoffrey declining a sandwich, the small group sat back and munched on their lunches often staring off into the distance as they chewed. Jinx was thinking over the morning’s revelations.

At one point, he watched as Krista levitated a couple of bottles of juice out of the cooler and set them down in the grass only to grab one and crack it open to take a sip.

Chase pointed and nodded at the other bottle silently asking if he could. When Krista smiled and nodded, taking another bite of her sandwich as she did so, he nabbed it quickly before cracking it open, taking a swig and made a fuss of making an “Ahhh” sound in his enjoyment which made Krista giggle at him.

When he had finished eating and had downed the last drop of juice, Chase began levitating his empty juice bottle in front of him making it spin in mid-air. Krista was watching this mesmerized, as the bottle spun like a top, and Chase’s eyes focused intently on it. Soon Jinx and Sylas finished eating as well, and Sylas cleared his throat at Chase causing him to tear his concentration away from the bottle which fell to the ground with a soft thud.

“Perhaps we should resume some training exercises?” Sylas posited, a slight tilt to his head.

“I was training,” Chase protested, gesturing at the bottle. “Concentration exercises,” he nodded matter-of-factly trying to convince himself as well as Sylas.

Sylas rolled his eyes. “No, Chase, you are fooling around, not training.” He paused for a moment before adding, “You can’t fool me. I do not know why you still try after all this time.”

Chase shrugged and turned to Krista. “How about it? Think you can levitate and spin the bottle?”

A determined look in her eye, Krista agreed with a nod of her blonde head. She made the fallen, empty, bottle rise back in the air where it hovered for a moment, the open end half tipped over and half standing upright. Krista’s eyes narrowed and her eyebrows knitted together as she concentrated; the bottle rocked back and forth in the air for a moment, and then very slowly it began to spin forwards, away from her, as if doing a cartwheel in place. At first, the momentum of the initial spin kept it rotating, then slowly, gradually, Krista began to make it pick up speed. Soon it was spinning like a pinwheel on a windy day, and Chase decided to add a little flair to it.

Also staring intently at the bottle, Sylas and Jinx watching curiously, Chase began to manipulate the forward spin Krista was putting on it and made it start to also spin horizontally. The effect was that as the bottle spun forwards end over end it also began to spin like a top. Jinx suddenly got an idea and hurried to find a couple of dry sticks at the edge of the clearing. As Chase and Krista kept the bottle spinning end over end, round and round like a top, he began to rapidly rub one stick into the larger one until it began to smoke. He kept spinning the stick onto the other until finally a spark caught, and a small flame erupted from the point where the sticks met. This was all he needed, and he quickly dropped the stick, and using his hands, he concentrated on holding the fire in place and making it grow slightly, being fed by the burning wood.

Once he had a sizable flame, he manipulated the fire to rise into the air, floating just before the spinning bottle; the breeze from the bottle making it flicker. Sylas, understanding what Jinx meant to do, reached out with his mind to guide the other three into perfect harmony of emotions. As Jinx slowly moved the flame closer, Chase and Krista manipulated each of their spins to be in time, and with one swift movement, Jinx forced the small flame into the narrow neck of the bottle all the way through to the closed end. As soon as the flame was nestled inside, Krista and Chase picked up the pace of their spinning. The flame within the spinning bottle made it look like a glow stick spinning round and round like a helicopter. Jinx manipulated the heat of the flame from afar and caused the small fire to heat up and turn blue. This added to the effect as the bottle seemed to glow blue; the change appearing like a kaleidoscope. The two witches concentrated, beads of sweat dripping down the sides of their faces, eyes narrowing even more until they were mere slits.

That was when it happened. The Malaonus Nor on each of their shoulders suddenly blazed a bright white. When this happened, power surged through the two witches and into the bottle causing it to spin out of control and fly forward. This caused Sylas and Jinx to throw themselves to either side to avoid it. As the bottle lay in the grass, the small ember inside slowly dying out, Krista and Chase leaned forward on their hands and knees panting slightly from the exertion. Finally when Chase was able to push himself back to a semi-kneeling position, Krista sunk down to kneeling and leaning on her forearms hunched over - looking at the ground, he was able to gasp, “What... was that?”

Krista mumbled from somewhere between her knees, her blonde hair flipped right over her head. “That was intense, is what that was.”

Chase gripped his knees tightly with his hands and nodded. “I agree,” he exhaled forcefully a couple of times, trying to steady his breathing. “I have never felt such power flow through me.”

Krista rolled her head to the side to look at Chase from her curled up position. “Never? Not once in three hundred and four years?” she asked, utterly amazed.

Chase shook his head. “Nope. Never.”

Sylas was eyeing the pair with a serious expression which Chase seemed to have caught out of the corner of his gaze. “What’s up, Sy? You look troubled.”

Sylas’ eyes darted between the two of them for a few more moments before he spoke. “That was more than just a surge of power. Your Malaonus Nor marks glowed for a moment before the bottle shot forward,” he explained.

Krista sat up slowly, and both she and Chase reached over their shoulders subconsciously to touch their matching marks. Both wincing slightly feeling the warmth emanating from them.

“Why is it so warm?” Krista asked Sylas, looking up at him as she gingerly felt her own Malaonus Nor.

“Warm?” Sylas asked confused, and shuffled around behind her and Chase. He held a hand over each mark about an inch away, and said, “Hmm… that is interesting. Perhaps because of the surge of raw power that went through your bodies?” Krista rolled her shoulders forwards twisting them slightly at the ache in her shoulder blade. “Well, it will take some getting used to if that is going to happen every time we combine our powers.”

Chase nodded. “I have to agree. The sensation is rather... irritating.” He twitched his shoulder to illustrate this fact. He suddenly looked at Sylas and Jinx. “Didn’t you guys feel it?” He asked, puzzled by their lack of physical response.

Jinx nodded. “I felt what Krista felt, just not as severely. Perhaps it has something to do with the size of the Malaonus Nor?” He looked to Sylas for confirmation.

Sylas nodded slowly, thinking as he did so, “That sounds like a valid theory, Jinx. Less coverage by the mark, less of a personal burning sensation.” He paused for a moment, a finger to his lips in thought. “I am curious as to why the sensation does not travel between us the same way other forms of pain, pleasure or other emotional sensations do,” he remarked, thinking out loud.

Jinx nodded in agreement. “That is strange, indeed.”

Krista lowered her hand from her shoulder, which was still stinging, though not as badly and remarked, “Perhaps it is so that at least one of each pair is clear-headed enough to keep an eye out for danger? I mean, every time it has happened, okay all two times, now - I don’t know about you, Chase, but I’ve been unable to function at my peak condition for several minutes as I recover.”

Chase nodded. “Me either.” He paused and nodded at Sylas. “Remember, Sy? The other night when these two received their Malaonus Nor in the first place? You had to help me into the house I was in so much pain.”

Sylas raised his eyebrows in assent. “Yes, indeed. I was rather worried the glow had been seen by a witch hunter to be perfectly honest.”

Chase frowned “I see. Well, I was more focussed on the pain to be perfectly honest.” He grinned wryly and turned to Krista. “Clearly there is quite the bond between us for me to have felt it just as strongly as you did.” He shook his head and bit his lower lip, bewildered.

Behind them Sylas was shifting guiltily, as if he knew something, something Jinx caught but decided to allow to pass given the circumstances.

Krista’s face twisted up in confusion. “It is quite interesting, yes,” she said thoughtfully. “It is also interesting how alike you and I look. I mean, obviously Jinx and I would look similar, or at least like siblings - he is my familiar. But why do you and I look alike?” she pondered aloud.

Chase pushed himself to his feet and stretched, his hands clasped together above his head in a stretch. “No -” he let out a loud exclamation of bliss at the stretch, “- idea. Perhaps the Dozhan knows? Unless you know, Sy?” He asked his familiar, surveying him with one eye closed as he crossed one arm across his chest and stretched it out.

Sylas shifted slightly, but cleared his throat. “I haven’t the foggiest idea why you look alike to be honest.”Chase dropped his arms to his sides. “I saw that shuffle, Sy. What do you know?” he demanded.

Sylas stared back at Chase seriously. “You will know when you are meant to know and not before,” he replied in such a final tone that even Chase did not pursue the subject.

Instead he looked up at the darkening sky. “It’s getting late. Should we call it a night and head home? I, for one, would like to make a trip to the Hall of Records to speak with the Dozhan as a group.”

Krista and Jinx nodded their assent. Krista actually yawned showing just how much the training had taken out of her.

Sylas’ eyebrows knitted together as his lips pursed in thought. “Something on your mind, Sy?” Chase asked with a tilt to his head, shadows under his own eyes.

Sylas took a deep breath letting it out slowly and closing his eyes briefly before he replied. “No, nothing. That is an excellent idea, Chase. It is a necessary step, I feel.”

Chase nodded glancing at Krista and Jinx. Both of them looked dog - Hah! Jinx thought to himself laughing internally - tired, and were having difficulty keeping their eyes open; Chase’s own eyes itched with tiredness.

“I think we should get these two home and to bed. The question is, our home or theirs?” he queried Sylas.

Lips pressed tightly together, Sylas debated the matter for a few moments, eyes darting to the sky and then between the younger two. “Well, it may make more logical sense to have them stay the night at the manor, but we will have to inform Krista’s parents on our way,” he finally remarked.

Chase stooped to help Krista to her feet. “Then let’s do that! Come on, Krista, you’re coming for a sleepover.”

“Hmm?” she mumbled sleepily. “Sleepover? Where?” she asked, rubbing at her eyes with both fists.

Chase smiled kindly. “Our place, of course. Ropes Manor,” he replied, a gentle hand on her back helping to support her so she didn’t fall over.

“I have to tell Mum and Pa where I’m going. Oh and get a change of clothes, of course,” she replied, looking up at him rather seriously.

Chase laughed as Jinx helped her to her feet, “Of course, of course!”

At that they packed the lunch goodies up and set off through the darkening woods.