Kit felt a surge of relief; it was the last thing that she could offer Celeste, and while the other girl could bring both her shapechanging and hypnotism to her end of the deal Kit had been quite worried that auras would be all that Kit could give in exchange. It was a right thing to give as much as you were getting, and it was more than pleasant for Kit to realize that trade was well within her grasp. "Good! Well, not good, really, but I've something to talk about, at least."
Kit coiled her feet up into her chair, sitting with her legs crossed and nestling herself in for her sorcery. This was a good place; quiet, peaceful, nothing but the company of friends to distract her from the work. "Papa said that reimancy was the bleeding of your soul," Kit restated what she'd said before. "It's not like aurists, or morphing I think. You change yourself, and it all fall back to where it ought be."
"In reimancy, you take the coin of your soul and turn it into something different, that'll never turn back." Her father had done his best to scare her with reimancy, to lay the importance of what she was doing to herself. "It doesn't go for the important stuff first, a good meal can mend your body, a good laugh can heal your heart. But you'll reach your limits quick," she said, "and once you get there, there's lots that can go wrong, for a long time. Lots."
She held up her palm. Narrowed eyes, an effort of will and a transparent green ooze, pulsing in perfect time with the beats of her heart. "I thought that . . ." She licked her lips and blinked, once, twice, three times. "I thought there wasn't much worth to air either, not like fire, or earth, or even water. I mean, it's everywhere!" Kit held out a hand between her and the res, clenched her fist and thought of tightness, of curling herself into a ball and holding it till her body screamed its protests. As the res seeped from one hand, it spiraled into a sphere, like a ring of rock and space-dust condensing into a planet in the space of ticks. "Air . . ." Kit swallowed. "Air is a thing. Real as water, real as the earth, real as fire. There's lots of ways to use it. Like, maybe instead of just making a little, you put a bunch in one place, and transmute it all at once . . ." She turned res to air, at that precise moment.
There was a soft sound, a thum of air that took off in sudden, mild violence in all directions like a moment's wind in a storm. "Imagine all that, but in one direction." Kit smiled at Celeste, lowered her arm and tried to massage it a little further. "You don't have to just make things, either. Our res can become elements, or it can control elements. Kit held out her hands and let a slow mist of res emit from the tips of her fingers. She guided its course with one finger, making a slow spiral of a motion with her other hand.
The res turned in a slow spiral as it traveled, forming a long, spiraling line of green. She willed it cling to the air surrounding it; leaves and dust and pollen spun around as it snaked over the ground. As a finale, she guided the res around where Celeste sat, leaving her circled by the leavings of flowers and the stuff of magic before Kit felt something iron in the back of her throat, felt her hand start to shake. Kit made her will fact, and all that was left of the res was a soft breeze of loose petals.
Kit rubbed at her hand, feebly and unsuccessfully trying to clear the shakes away. "You can use res to attract air, push it away, or just make it. There's a lot of stuff you can do later too, mixing elements together to make new ones . . . Stuff like that. I saw papa make lightning, once."
Kit coiled her feet up into her chair, sitting with her legs crossed and nestling herself in for her sorcery. This was a good place; quiet, peaceful, nothing but the company of friends to distract her from the work. "Papa said that reimancy was the bleeding of your soul," Kit restated what she'd said before. "It's not like aurists, or morphing I think. You change yourself, and it all fall back to where it ought be."
"In reimancy, you take the coin of your soul and turn it into something different, that'll never turn back." Her father had done his best to scare her with reimancy, to lay the importance of what she was doing to herself. "It doesn't go for the important stuff first, a good meal can mend your body, a good laugh can heal your heart. But you'll reach your limits quick," she said, "and once you get there, there's lots that can go wrong, for a long time. Lots."
She held up her palm. Narrowed eyes, an effort of will and a transparent green ooze, pulsing in perfect time with the beats of her heart. "I thought that . . ." She licked her lips and blinked, once, twice, three times. "I thought there wasn't much worth to air either, not like fire, or earth, or even water. I mean, it's everywhere!" Kit held out a hand between her and the res, clenched her fist and thought of tightness, of curling herself into a ball and holding it till her body screamed its protests. As the res seeped from one hand, it spiraled into a sphere, like a ring of rock and space-dust condensing into a planet in the space of ticks. "Air . . ." Kit swallowed. "Air is a thing. Real as water, real as the earth, real as fire. There's lots of ways to use it. Like, maybe instead of just making a little, you put a bunch in one place, and transmute it all at once . . ." She turned res to air, at that precise moment.
There was a soft sound, a thum of air that took off in sudden, mild violence in all directions like a moment's wind in a storm. "Imagine all that, but in one direction." Kit smiled at Celeste, lowered her arm and tried to massage it a little further. "You don't have to just make things, either. Our res can become elements, or it can control elements. Kit held out her hands and let a slow mist of res emit from the tips of her fingers. She guided its course with one finger, making a slow spiral of a motion with her other hand.
The res turned in a slow spiral as it traveled, forming a long, spiraling line of green. She willed it cling to the air surrounding it; leaves and dust and pollen spun around as it snaked over the ground. As a finale, she guided the res around where Celeste sat, leaving her circled by the leavings of flowers and the stuff of magic before Kit felt something iron in the back of her throat, felt her hand start to shake. Kit made her will fact, and all that was left of the res was a soft breeze of loose petals.
Kit rubbed at her hand, feebly and unsuccessfully trying to clear the shakes away. "You can use res to attract air, push it away, or just make it. There's a lot of stuff you can do later too, mixing elements together to make new ones . . . Stuff like that. I saw papa make lightning, once."
