ordinar: (♛ 007)
Crown Prince Wilhelm ♛ ([personal profile] ordinar) wrote 2023-02-05 08:35 pm (UTC)

He breathes in, deep and slow and steady, trying to sharpen his focus and dispel his nerves. Over and over again, he reminds himself that he can't hurt anyone or wreck anything in here. If he fucks up, the worst that can happen is that Istredd will make him try again. The man's unshakeable serenity once irritated Wilhelm, but now he finds it to be a reservoir he can tap.

"It's hard to imagine you messing anything up so badly," he says, shaking his head. But that's reassuring too. Everyone here was already gifted with magic and skills they'd honed to perfection before they were ever summoned. That made it easy to forget that they all once had to have been beginners like him.

Watching the fire flare into a wall, he keeps pulling in breath and pushing it out. He grounds himself like Kyle taught him to. When he's ready, he tries calling the fire to him. A tongue stretches away and breaks off, forming a ball that tumbles toward his outstretched hand. It takes a few tries, but eventually the flame puffs out. And through the failed attempts, though he can feels its warmth fanning out over his palms, the flame doesn't burn him.

The next flame he culls from the wall dies in fewer attempts. After about a dozen extinguished fireballs, Wilhelm can snuff it in one.

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