The next light after we had our meal, Astrea led me, Delph, Harry Two and Archie to a large room, of which the cottage seemed to have an ample number. Along one wall was a huge blackboard like the one we had used at Learning back in Wormwood. Astrea closed the door behind us and then took out her wand and pointed it at the board. In an instant, writing started sprawling across it.
“Your first lessons,” announced Astrea.
She gave her wand another flick and a small ball appeared in her hand.
“Now, Vega, remember the incantation from the last light?”
“Rejoinda,” I said eagerly, desperate to prove myself in her eyes.
She nodded. “I want you to take this ball from me, using that spell.” She held up her hand before I could do anything. “But first, we need to go over some basics so that what happened before will not repeat itself.” She pointed with her wand to a section of the blackboard. “Read that,” she instructed. “Out loud.”
I looked at the section and commenced to read.
“Proper spell work involves performing a number of things at the same time, but always employing the principle of MBS, or Mind, Body and Spirit. That is to say focusing the mind, preparing the body and engaging the spirit so that all three elements come together at the appropriate time. Merely saying the incantation does nothing if these elements are not properly combined.” I turned to Astrea. “So how do I do that?”
“Keep reading,” she replied.
A bit put off, I returned my gaze to the board. “Combining MBS with the proper incantation and the appropriate wand movement will result in the desired result. Nothing less than that will work.”
I finished reading and turned back to her. Well, okay, I got that.
She held up the ball. “You jerked your hand before. You need to be slow and deliberate in the movement. But far more importantly, you need to employ MBS appropriately for any of this to work properly.”
“Which is why I asked you how to do this MBS thing,” I said irritably.
“Becoming upset with me will not result in your mastering incanting,” she said politely. “So calm yourself, focus your mind on this ball and nothing else. When you have done that, you will next summon your physical side such that all your bodily energy is congregated in your wand hand. Lastly, your spirit should be in complete harmony with your mind and body.”
“Bloody Hel,” exclaimed Delph. “That’s not asking a lot, is it?”
Astrea turned to him. “It is asking a lot. But when you’re attempting to do something truly extraordinary, isn’t it fair to ask a lot in return?”
Delph blanched and looked at his boots. She turned back to me.
I said, “How will I know when I’ve achieved the proper balance?”
She held up the ball. “When this rests in your hand of course.”
I squared my feet and shoulders. I looked at the ball and did my best to push out all other thoughts. I looked at my wand hand, trying to force my physical side to move itself completely there. I had no idea in what part of my body the spirit resided, but in my head I told it to get comfy with my mind and body. I held my wand loosely and then, remembering my mistake from before, I gave it a slow, deliberate back sweep and said, “Rejoinda, ball,” rolling my r perfectly, or at least I thought so.
Absolutely nothing happened. The ball continued to reside firmly in Astrea’s hand. I stared openmouthed at her, but she didn’t seem surprised at all.
“It was only your first attempt.”
“But I did it before,” I said in more of a whine than I intended.
Archie said, “Well, actually, you nearly crushed us all with that bookcase, luv. Mum got the book.”
I gave him a surly look before saying, “Can I try again?”
Astrea nodded and said, “You will try many times, I daresay.”
Thirty-seven attempts later, the little ball flew to me and fit snugly into my quivering hand. I wasn’t expecting it because I had pretty much concluded by the eighteenth attempt that I was never going to be a proper sorceress and maybe Delph and I should return to Wormwood and beg for our jobs back.
It didn’t sink in that I had succeeded until Delph clapped me on the back so hard I very nearly toppled over.
“You did it, Vega Jane. You did it.”
He picked me up off the floor and crushed me in his embrace. When he made no sign of freeing me, Astrea said, “Um, Delph, it would be good if we can move on, which will require you of course TO LET HER GO.”
Blushing madly, Delph dropped me on the floor.
Astrea’s focused expression had not changed. “Let’s do it again, shall we?”
My enthusiasm faded because from her serious look, I understood exactly what she meant. Being able to retrieve a little ball on my thirty-seventh attempt was hardly going to get us through the Quag. But I couldn’t help but smile inwardly. I had performed wand magic after all. Maybe I could be this sorceress thingy!
I pursed my lips, focused my MBS, and said the incantation as I slowly and deliberately moved my wand.
The ball came to me fourteen times in a row. It was only then, when seeing it in the palm of my hand wasn’t nearly as exciting as it had been the first few times, that Astrea said, “Let’s move on, then.” She motioned to Archie. “I’ll need your help to demonstrate this one, dear.”
Archie nodded and slipped from his cloak pocket a long, thin reedlike piece of what looked to be blackened wood. He saw me eyeing it and said, “My dad gave this to me when I was far younger than you.”
“With a bit of him in it?” I said.
Archie nodded. “A tooth. If you look close, you can see just a hint of it near the handle. Family history has my mum knocking my dad’s tooth out over a wee argument, and he decided to save the tooth for passing a wand down.”
“It wasn’t like that, Archie,” said Astrea firmly, two splotches of color on her cheeks. “Your father had a toothache and wanted some relief. That is all.” Astrea cleared her throat and moved to the center of the room before pointing with her wand once more at the blackboard. “Do you recall the incantation I used when the bookcase came flying?”
Surprisingly, Delph spoke up. “Embattlemento,” he said quickly before gazing around and looking stunned that the correct answer had come out of his mouth.
“Precisely,” said Astrea, eyeing him closely. “It is a defensive blocking spell used to protect oneself from harm. We will demonstrate.”
She motioned to Archie. “On the count of three.”
“Which curse, Mum?” he asked.
“Oh, whatever you like, Archie, dear. Surprise me.”
Blimey! It was like they were discussing what tea they wanted to drink.
They simultaneously raised their wands.
She said, “One, two, three.”
Archie said, “Injurio,” and whipped his wand at her. What looked to be a skylight spear burst from its tip.
At the same instant, Astrea slashed her wand in front of her from right to left and said, “Embattlemento.”
The blast of light hit an invisible barrier conjured in front of her and ricocheted off, ripping a hole in the ceiling.
Delph, Harry Two and I had dropped flat to the floor. We looked up to see the gaping hole in the wood.
Astrea pointed her wand upward and calmly said, “Eraisio.”
The hole vanished.
We rose on trembling legs and stared at the pair.
“I’m not sure I’m ready for that one,” I said.
“Which is why we will begin with this.” She took the ball from her cloak pocket. “I will throw this at you. You conjure your barrier with the incantation. The sweep of the wand is from left to right, the movement sharp and clean. Make yourself believe that the ball will injure you.”