“Whoa whoa, calm down for a second, will ya?” Harriett said with a powerful shake of her shoulders to free herself from Kylia’s grip. “You are way too excited for this. It’s not like I’m going to use this to attack you or something.”

“One can only hope,” Kylia gleefully replied. “Show me already.”

“Alright, alright,” Harriett calmly stated as if she were talking to a child that had just been told that they were about to receive a present. “Now, what should I try to keep myself warm…” She thought about using summoning like Kylia. However, the only thing Harriett could summon right now was Kylia’s father himself. And although a fire demon such as himself would definitely be able to assist her with her warmth predicament, Harriett did not have to be reminded that they were trying to stay as far off of the parent grid as humanly/inhumanly possible. So plan A had to be shelved except for emergencies.

Plan B involved fire, and Harriett did not like the idea of carrying around unstable fire magic in the palm of her hand. With her luck, she’d melt all of Antarctica in a matter of hours. And from all of the nature documentaries she had watched over the years, she knew that she did not have a desire to assist what humanity was already accomplishing on its own.

So therefore, Plan C had to be something localized. Something that would only affect her and those around her. And to keep her magic merely on her and her surroundings, she had to be specific. Luckily, few things were more specific than spellwork. If one could keep their words and rhymes accurate enough, even a tiny bit of infused magic could create wonders for the average witch or warlock. Fortunately for Harriett, she had learned the majestic intricacies of spells from one of the greatest warlocks to ever live: Her own father. Though she had never had many attempts to test all of the spells that she wanted to (See Amazon Vacation. Better yet… don’t.), she had still paid an extensive amount of attention to her father’s lessons with her. Some would say casting spells was really in her blood (I wouldn’t. Once again, see/don’t see the Amazon Vacation.).

“Feron, I’m going to cast a spell,” Harriett uttered with confidence.

“I’d rather if you didn’t,” Feron replied, cutting Harriett’s confidence in two immediately. “It’s not that I don’t have faith in you… I have too much faith in you actually. And that’s a problem.”

“Why would you say that?” Harriett asked.

Feron made an arc with one finger in the direction of the ceiling. “We’re, what, a few thousand feet off the ground, in a metal container, flying through the sky at about a hundred miles per hour? Am I right so far?” Feron looked to Kylia at the completion of his words, to which she nodded.

“More or less,” Kylia said, “You missed the part where we are being pulled by freaking warhorses on fire, but tomato, potato.”

Both Harriett and Feron stared at Kylia, their brains attempting to understand how she had gotten such a simple saying wrong. Finally, Feron found the words to reply. “That’s not… that’s…,” he held up one finger again in Kylia’s direction, “I’ll make fun of you over that later. Anyways,” he turned his attention back on Harriett, “You have to be very specific with your wordings, Hare.”

“I know,” Harriett replied.

“You have to be extra sure of every syllable you utter,” Feron stated.

“I know,” Harriett replied with a little bit of force in her voice this time.

“You have to be extra extra---”

“Feron! If you don’t shut up, I’m just going to cast a fireball at your face,” Harriett exclaimed.

“YES!” Kylia roared.

“Please don’t,” Feron nearly whined.

“No, please do,” Kylia interjected.

“Enough from both of you,” Harriett yelled before gathering her thoughts to continue, “Just trust me on this, Feron. I can do this. Plus, I’m not stepping out of this carriage for a second without trying because it’s freaking cold, man.”

“Fair,” Feron responded with acceptance. “I’ve got faith in you, Hare.”

Harriett raised one eyebrow, but let Feron’s comment go, deciding instead to focus on her spell. “Now let’s see. It has to be concise and strong enough to keep me warm, but not as strong as to start any fires.”

“Yes, that would be good,” Feron added.

Harriett shot him a glare again, silencing him. “As I was saying, you two probably won’t need this, but I should consider you into this spell just in case something happens to one of you. Someone has to be the careful one around here.”

“I thought that was me?” Kylia asked.

“It will never be you,” Feron instantly clarified.

“Anyways,” Harriett interjected, “It should probably be an aura of some sorts.” She gathered the words in her head and pieced them into a sentence that she thought sounded coherent enough. “Okay, I’m ready.”

“You sure?” Feron asked.

“Definitely sure,” Harriett replied.

“You are abso---.”

“The woman said she’s sure, wolfboy! Sheesh,” Kylia roared, silencing Feron where he sat. Once the floor was completely hers, Kylia dawned a smile and shined it upon Harriett. “Human, if you would be so kind.”

“Could you please stop calling me ‘human’? I’m definitely not a dog,” Harriett said.

“Fine,” Kylia replied, “but only because I like you more than the hybrid over here.”

“Gee, thanks,” Feron sarcastically stated.

“You are welcome,” Kylia said as her smile turned into a snotty grin. “So let’s see some magic!”

Harriett had to admit that she had never been cheered on to perform magic. If she were being honest, it actually felt a bit nice, to say the least. With her confidence restored to full, she knew that the spell would go off without a hitch. Taking in a large breath and uttering one “Here I go” before continuing, she began her spell as her mind and body began to gather the necessary magic she felt she needed, “Utter thy name, your warmth I desire. Keep it contained, my friends and I, your pyre. Surround us, bind us, protect us from all. Light our path, darkness, be our fall. I beseech you, nature’s flame.” And with that, Harriett released her magic and intent into the air and waited. And after a few more seconds, she waited even longer.

“Is that it?” Kylia asked after a full minute had gone by. She turned around and opened the window behind her, then looked outside. “I don’t see anything happening outside. Was it supposed to happen outside?”

“I’m not sure,” Harriett replied.

“Wait, Hare… what did you just say?” Feron asked with concern.

“Just what I said,” Harriett calmly replied. “I had the intent and the magic, and I put my will behind it.”

“And that’s it?” Feron questioned.

Harriett nodded. “I thought what I said was coherent enough. Was it not?”

“I thought it was,” Kylia retorted.

“Thank you, Kylia,” Harriett stated towards the demon princess, which caused her to get a thumbs up back in response. But Feron’s facial expression had soon grown from concerned to worried.

“Hare, I’m serious for once. What did you picture?”

“Picture?” Harriett repeated back.

“Yes, what did you picture happening?”

“Well I…,” Harriett stopped for a moment to gather her thoughts, “I guess I didn’t really. I just wanted to be warm when we got out there.”

“And… that’s it? That’s really it?” Feron’s words were now overflowing with worry.

“Yes, Feron. Why are you getting so worked up?” Harriett asked in agitation.

“Hare, this is one of the problems I always try to help you with that you never take to heart. You’re too concerned with your father’s magical motto: Concentration, Intent and Power. His trifecta of control. But you always forget about the overarching principle: You have to picture what you want it to do.”

“I don’t understand,” Harriett truthfully admitted, “My father’s magic always works without a hitch. Why would mine be any different?”

“Because your father is a Master Warlock who has been at this his whole life. He has been picturing what his magic could do for his whole life. Honestly, it’s not that he forgot to tell you this. Picturing his magic is just part of him so much that he probably never thought to tell you this. This isn’t like some book where the laws of magical physics just know what to do based on what you say. Here, in this world of ours, your magic needs a conduit; a road to take so to speak. Do you understand?”

“I understand, I think,” Harriett truthfully admitted. Her heart started to ache in response as agitation was replaced with the same concern that she knew Feron was still feeling. Although she wanted to be mad at her father for forgetting such an important lesson, she knew that he truly wasn’t at fault. Her father had enough work in his life to keep him busy for several lifetimes. The fact that he was able to sit down at all with Harriett over the years and even attempt to help her with her magic had been wonderful beyond belief. But how Harriett had missed such an obvious lesson over all these years truly hurt her pride more than anything. For being so gifted in terms of human intelligence in relation to the regular world of physics and technology, she cursed at her natural inaptitude to grasp the basic concepts of magic until it was always too late. And so, she feared what her lack of focus would bring about next.