It is the beginning of the month of cold and sadness.
Okay, it isn’t THAT bad, but walking around campus has been cold. My new classes have been good. I always miss a few classes from the previous semester, but I think this semester will be good.
The new semester for fall just dropped and I’m not sure how that will go. 18 credits of meh! Okay, maybe I can see the future. That’s it, I need my books and author career to TAKE OFF so that I don’t have to teach that schedule!
I have a friend I talk with most mornings and she teased me that in her neck of the woods it was 55 degrees F (so about 10C) So much warmer than it’s been. A veritable heat wave. For most of this week we’ve been in the 20s (just below zero C), which is better than the negatives of last week, especially with the wind. (The translation to C is just too painful!)
I’m only in the second week of classes, but I’m already behind in grading. Wish me luck everyone!
So, in this newsletter, I’ve decided to switch my focus from Jade to Ember. If you remember, the last book ends with Ember and Fotia heading to classes in their twelfth year. This short story picks up on that very same day!
Enjoy!
Huckle
If you’re behind in any of these books and want to know what they hay is going on, don’t forget, you can get any of the books here, on my website! No Amazon involved! And I’ll even sign them!
New short story … spoilers if you haven’t read: Veiled Phoenix, Moonstone Phoenix, and Battle Phoenix.
In The Hot Seat
Ember
Ember loved their champagne robe with its gold fire shaped embellishments along the bottom. Walking out to the east field made them feel important. Mr. Tine, the fire magic instructor, requested they arrive early so that the former Ring of Fire members could speak with them. He also wanted them there as part of the visual spectacle the new hopefuls would see as they left the building and approached the testing field.
This testing was so important that Mr. Tine secured a pass from Ember’s last class of the day, so they could spend time for the meet and greet. Speaking with the magical fire leaders of the community was a bit intimidating, but their time helping Ambrose restructure INFINITE Wisdom helped.
The testing would begin directly at the end of classes.
As the meet and greet came to an end, Ember thought about the afternoon. Twenty fourth-year fire magic students had been invited to show something beyond what they’d learned in class. If what they showed was impressive enough, they may be invited into the Ring of Fire club, one of the most prestigious clubs in the school. The members often went on to win scholarships to colleges as well as afterwards becoming leaders in the community.
As much as it excited Ember to witness the twenty potential members coming out to show everyone their fancy magic, they didn’t realize how lonely it would be to sit alone. They weren’t sitting with the spectators or the judging panel. Moreover, they were the only returning member of Ring of Fire. Eleventh year students didn’t often make it into the club.
Shortly after the school day ended, students began flowing from the building. Ember smiled wide as they saw Olivia, one of their best friends and Fotia, their cousin. Though Ember knew all the twelfth-year students, there were several eleventh-year potentials who had been invited to observe the testing. It was during Ember’s observation of the testing that they ended up earning a robe of their own.
“Welcome!” Mr. Tine’s voice boomed out. “If you’ll all come and sit to my left, testers and hopefuls both .” Once everyone sat, he nodded. “As many of you know, the audience is filled with former Ring of Fire members, some as recent as our latest graduates and other members who graduated—”
“You don’t have to age us, Cyrus!” An older woman in the back shook her fist in the air, but she smiled at Mr. Tine, taking the heat from her words.
“Right. Very well. Let me introduce our hopefuls.” It took several minutes, but he went through and listed off all twenty students. “We’ll begin with Zigmund.”
A thicker student with unruly brown curls stood. In the back row, Ambrose rolled her eyes, as if nothing this student could do would impress her.
I bet she wanted to go first.
Zigmund stepped away from the others, lifted his hand, palm up, then rotated his hand to make a circle. Between the students and spectators, a literal ring of fire appeared. The ring floated a few feet above everyone’s heads and maybe two feet in diameter.
The ring was okay, but nothing too flashy.
Zigmund nodded slowly, then sat.
Mr. Tine looked at the ring, then the first hopeful. “Are you done?”
“Well, I’m not doing more with the ring, sir, but I’d like to let it remain while you continue.”
Mr. Tine’s eyes narrowed. “Is this why you requested to go first? A minor test of complexity, but then couple that with time?”
One of Zigmund’s brows rose and he bobbed a shoulder, as if to say, ‘duh.’
“Very well, Ambrose, you are next.”
A smirk spread across the bully’s face. She slowly stood and rolled her shoulders back, settling her body into a perfect position. Her hands rolled out from palms down to facing the sky. Then she snapped them to face each other as if they held a small pillow.
When her hands snapped up, an oblong ball of fire formed in the center of the testing area. Ambrose began pulsing her hands in and out, and the fire moved with her.
Curious, Ember switched her vision to watch. The magic flowed well from Ambrose to the ball of fire, being manipulated like a ball of goo, but it wasn’t smooth. Ember had offered to help, but Ambrose declined.
Not wanting to tire her vision out, Ember went back to normal vision as Ambrose rotated her hands up, thumbs pointing down, as if she were cracking a large egg. The blob of fire formed a heart. Once there, Ambrose wiggled her middle fingers, and the heart pulsated out, like a Valentine’s heart emoji.
Then the fire dissipated and Ambrose sat. Her smile said she knew no one could out do her.
The next student threw a fire ball so far it was hard to see the speck of light, then he pulled it back.
Ember wanted to be impressed with everyone, but that wasn’t that great, and the next few got worse. The only thing that was interesting was watching the audience watch Zigmund’s ring, which hadn’t moved, or shrunk, at all.
“Our next student is Olivia.”
Ember jerked, suddenly giddy.
“Hi, everyone. If you’ll give me a second.”
Behind her, Ambrose rolled her eyes.
“Zigmund, I was wondering if you could move your ring to the center. I was hoping to utilize it for my bit.”
The boy, once again, just lifted a shoulder. His hand waved and the ring moved a few feet to take center stage. He barely seemed to notice his magic at all.
Olivia smiled wide. “Thank you.”
She created a fireball. Then, lifting one hand, slightly clasped, she rotated a quarter turn with her palm moving towards the sky. The ball flew towards the ring’s center. Just as it reached the ring, Olivia squeezed her bottom two fingers while flicking her pointer finger.
The ball morphed into a bird, wings flapping and flew over the audience. Once it reached the top of the school it disappeared.
When everyone turned back to the stage, the ring had returned to its starting place and Olivia sat in her seat.
Mr. Tine stood. “Next we have Fotia. I’ll remind all of you that we do allow phoenixes into the Ring of Fire. This time we can see the testing from the beginning.”
Fotia blushed more red than her hair. She stood. Ember had worked with her. Though the others didn’t know it, she wanted to learn something new. She held out a hand and created three roses, one red, one pink, and the last one purple. She pulled out the purple rose, walked over to Ember and handed it over. “For our resident Ring of Fire member.”
Ember smiled. “Thank you.”
In a blink, all three roses disappeared.
There were four more students. Ember was tired and tried to focus. It was more fun to watch Ambrose who had to know her show wasn’t the best.
At the end, Mr. Tine stood. “We thank all of you for joining us. The judging panel will meet and decide who will make it in over the next few days.”
As he finished his words, the Ring of Fire finally blinked out.
Huckleberry Rahr - Author 