Rising Heat by Amanda Clover

Author:Amanda Clover [Clover, Amanda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-04-25T21:00:00+00:00

Spellcasting 101

The basement is lit by candles and otherwise almost empty. We’ve moved the vacuum cleaner, boxes, mops, Christmas tree, and old books into the furnace room. Cody and Brandon have turned the big dining room table on its side against the wall. Amira and Mrs. Davenport are sitting on the dining chairs up against the painted wall of the basement. My dad once had aspirations to turn this into a man cave, but the money and his free time ran out simultaneously, dooming the basement to remain partially finished.

Morgana, still in her teenage form to conserve her power, helps me chalk a basic sorcerer’s circle onto the bare concrete floor.

“The last time I did this I was summoning Runk,” I say, recalling the seeker demon that sacrificed his existence on earth to save me.

“He was a good seeker,” says Morgan. “Do not feel guilty for losing him. Once the time is right, you can summon him again.”

“Not tonight,” I say. “Tonight I learn how to fight.”

“Your power has been sapped by Shaelyn,” says Morgan. “I can sense it. So we will begin small while your essence regenerates.”

She picks up the Septagrammaton Codex and opens it to a page near the back of the book.

“Startle Spark,” she says. “It uses very little of your power. It is more of a cantrip to scare off dangerous animals. Something you can cast without much thought.”

The finger positioning on the spell seems complex, but the chant is a single word. I look at Morgan and ask, “Brillisting?”

There is a flash of light from my fingertips and a crack like the firing of a small-caliber pistol that causes everyone but Morgan to flinch in surprise. I look at my hand, half expecting my fingers to be missing the first knuckle. There isn’t a mark on them. I wiggle them just to be sure.

“That easy?” I laugh.

“For you, Faith,” says Morgan. “It takes many sorcerers weeks to learn that spell. Here, try something more challenging.”

She pages through the Codex and hands it back to me. The spell is called Bend Flesh and is accompanied by a crude drawing of a bearded man changing his face to a woman’s.

“Do not try to change the shape of your face,” she says. “Not your first time. Try something very simple. Make your fingers longer or change the color of your hair. Focus clearly on what you want to appear differently. The larger the detail, the easier it is to change.”

I position my fingers as indicated by the diagram and begin the chant, “Corpus durana, isolatus mutanda…”

There are several more words and as I speak each I feel the power building like an electric charge in the air. I try to think of a simple detail, but instead I look at Morgan standing outside the circle. The change is much more sudden than I am expecting, as if sand is giving way beneath my feet, only all over my body instead.

I become slightly taller, much more slender, my breasts

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