Before getting ready for bed, Hallie heads down the hall to Luke’s room. She wanted to speak to him about her concerns. She had been keeping them to herself because she trusted Luke and his trust in Warlen was enough for her, but something didn’t feel right. There were too many weird coincidences that she wanted… no she needed… an explanation for. 

Hallie knocked on his door once and Luke opened almost immediately. 

“Hey, I was just about to come see you. Come on in.” Luke said. 

“Hey. So how are you feeling about… everything that’s going on?”

“Okay, I guess. I like getting more time to spend with Warlen. He and I became quite close after my parents passed. I guess I see him like a father figure.” 

Oh, no. How could I tell him how I really thought about Warlen when he looks up to him like this? Hallie thought. “Yeah, he seems really knowledgeable and I have already learned quite a bit from him, but something feels a little off about this place.”

“It’s probably just because it is a laboratory. It wasn’t exactly designed to be comfortable and cozy.”

“Yeah you’re probably right. Anyways, I had a few questions about your magic.”

“Ask away.”

“How does it work? Do people have different power levels? Are you born with a certain type of magic? Or is magic a more general loose connection to some force? Can you use it to do anything and what can you do with your magic?”

“Well most of us just have a general connection to basic magic. We can use it to manipulate objects that have been infused with magic already. For example, My stove and oven use magic to work. They both have the capacity to be powered by magic and have a special magic stone that allows the magic I put into it to be converted into heat to cook the food. The magic we can control is great as a power source, but the crystals have to be used to direct the power to do something productive. There are also types of magic, although the use of these types are generally discouraged as they are extremely difficult to control and master. I know that I am capable of using fire magic, but there are several other types as well. I haven’t used it since I was young though, so I’m pretty rusty.”

“Wow… So the magic from the books on Earth… is real. Can you show me some of your magic?”

“I haven’t used it in a while, and I probably shouldn’t.” Luke looked down at his hands and then back up to Hallie who was making the most pitiful looking face he had ever seen. “Oh, alright. But just this once, okay?”

He looked down at his hands in concentration and a second later a small blue flame appeared in both of his hands. He brightened the flame and then dimmed it, before extinguishing them. 

Hallie watched his flames intently, captivated by their color and the likeness to real flames. After he extinguished them she asked, “Does it hurt, and are the flames actually warm?”

“Yeah, they are warm, but they don’t hurt me. That’s the difference, I think. All fire magic wielders have fire that is some color other than red. Natural fire can still burn us. It is just the flames of fire magic that we are immune to.”

“Wow, that is so cool! Can I learn?”

“Probably so, everyone here has some capacity to do magic. Even if it is only basic magic, you should probably be able to at least learn the basics. Hold on” he says as he reaches for his backpack and begins digging around inside. “Aha” he yells triumphantly as he pulls something out. “This is the book that helped me to discover my fire magic. Sometimes things come easily and sometimes they don’t and this book has the solution for both scenarios. Which type of magic would you like to look at first?” He asked, while flipping through the pages. 

“What are all of the types?”

“There is obviously general magic but the actual types of magic are Fire, water, wind, and earth and they are the basic and easiest types to learn. Then comes lightning, sound, magnetics, and control of matter. The last four are the most dangerous and are primarily the reason that our magic use is so restricted now. The last one especially proved to be incredibly dangerous as mages were so powerful that they could look at you and you would explode into a pile of dust. There are rumors of others as well although they have yet to be officially acknowledged by the King.”

“Wow, that sounds crazy and kinda terrifying. Let’s stick to something a little bit safer. How about water?”

“Okay. So the book says to close your eyes… Your eyes aren’t closed”

“That’s because I am waiting for the other part of the instructions”

“You have to imagine having control of the water… We don't have any water in here, but the book says that if you imagine the water in the air, you can get the magic to work.”

Hallie closed her eyes and imagined little water droplets, floating unseen in the air surrounding her. “What am I supposed to do next?”

“The book says to try to move the water to one spot”

Hallie concentrated and thought about how all of the little droplets could move together and form one big ball of water above her hands.

“Woah, you figured that out fast” Luke said with amazement in his voice. 

Hallie opened her eyes to find that the water she had collected was floating above her hands. Holding it up didn’t take too much effort so she tried moving it. She made it swirl around floating through the room, like some sort of water serpent. “This is really fun,” she said to Luke. 

“You are a natural at this. It took me almost two weeks to replicate my first puff of smoke and you have created a water serpent in less than 5 minutes.” Luke said. He then went silent before once again digging through his bag. 

Hallie dropped the water she was holding abruptly when she saw the urgent look on Luke’s face as he flicked through the pages in search of a particular passage. She watched his face as he read aloud, “There will be a special one, one of alien descent who will find themselves stranded in our land. Despite their unassuming appearance, they will develop into one of the world’s most feared and respected warriors. They will hold the key to our continued existence. The magics will be theirs to use at will with the knowledge that they will make the decisions necessary to recognize and correct the problems within.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Do you not understand? This was a prophecy, made a few thousand years ago. You are of alien descent, are you not? No offence, but you also look completely harmless, however your ease with controlling magic is crazy. You can’t deny that it feels like you were sent here to do something.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about. Luke, I don’t want to be here. I want to go home.”

“I understand. It’s probably nothing, it just seemed like a cool possibility. Anyway, I think we should both get some sleep. It has been a long day and I am pretty tired.”

Hallie walked over to the door and on her way out whispered, “Good night”