She watched him begin with a small sip, as if testing it to make certain the drink met his lofty standards. He licked a bit of stray smoothie off his upper lip and then smiled again. Apparently, the drink met with his approval, because he took a much bigger swallow next. At first, Leesa had worried about letting him drink such a cold beverage in this manner, thinking that swallowing too much freezing liquid too fast might hurt his mouth or throat. It didn’t seem to affect him, however, no matter how quickly he drank the icy concoction. She guessed his latent volkaane heat probably warmed the smoothie in his mouth and stomach before it could cause him any discomfort.

  When Ralin was almost halfway done with his drink, Leesa had barely finished a quarter of hers. Without using her magic to warm her drink, she knew she would get a headache if she drank any faster. And what was the point of making a delicious frozen drink if she was just going to warm it up with magic? So she sipped her smoothie and watched her son while he swallowed larger gulps.

  Out of nowhere, as usual, Ralin’s fingers began to glow green. Leesa set her glass down on the counter, ready to cast a shield if necessary. Rave backed up a step—he well remembered what had happened to Stefan the last time Ralin’s magic had appeared. He was ready to leap aside should the need arise.

  Ralin kept both hands wrapped around the glass, his face showing delight and surprise at what was occurring on his fingers. He watched closely as twisting bands of pale green energy climbed the sides of the plastic like ivy climbing a wall, then curled over the edge and crept slowly down the inside of the glass. From the intensely interested expression on his face, he seemed to have no idea that he was the cause of the strange and beautiful magic.

  Leesa and Rave watched with equal interest. When the green bands reached the slushy juice inside the glass, they seemed to pause for a moment, as though the thick liquid provided resistance to the magic light. They then continued down into the drink, moving more slowly now. Tendrils of pale green appeared in the dark smoothie, spreading slowly through the drink until the whole thing had turned green, making it look almost like some kind of lime smoothie.

  When the change was complete, the green glow winked out from Ralin’s hands.

  Leesa and Rave exchanged relieved glances, happy that Ralin’s magical outburst had ended up doing something so innocuous. Ralin appeared disappointed that the show was over. He wore what Leesa could best describe as a studious frown on his face.

  She reached out toward his glass, wanting to make sure his drink was indeed harmless before he drank any more of it.

  “Let Mommy have your smoothie for a moment, honey” she said softly, not wanting to alarm him.

  Ralin stared at his drink for another second or two, as if disappointed that the magic had ended, then handed it to Leesa. She took a small sip. It still tasted exactly the same as hers. Except for the new color, it seemed to have remained a berry smoothie. The difference between the drink’s appearance and taste was slightly disconcerting, but she didn’t think Ralin would mind. She smiled and gave him back his glass. Ralin accepted it happily and took a big swallow, totally unfazed by the change in color.

  Leesa turned to Rave. “It looks like we got away easy this time.”

  Rave nodded. “Let’s hope all of Ralin’s magic outbursts are this simple and harmless.”

  Leesa smiled. “Yeah, for sure.”

  Somehow, though, she doubted they were going to be that lucky.

  31. A SIMPLE TEST

  NOW THAT RALIN’S MAGIC had spontaneously reappeared without the stimulus of a nearby vampire to trigger it, Leesa immediately became more careful about where she took him. She knew she might be overreacting—other than blasting at Stefan, all he had done so far was harmlessly turn a smoothie green—but she thought excess caution to be the wiser choice, given the total unpredictability of Ralin’s power. Gone were the visits to her mom’s or aunt and uncle’s that she used to make with Ralin. She didn’t want to take the chance his magic might damage their homes or be witnessed by neighbors. When his relatives wanted to see Ralin, they now had to come to Leesa’s house.

  Worse, she grew increasingly anxious about leaving Ralin alone with Rave while she went out on errands like shopping. She wasn’t worried that Ralin would hurt his father—Rave was still much too quick, as long as he remained alert, which was pretty much his natural state. Her concern was that Ralin might cause noticeable damage to their carefully selected home if she were not around to conjure up a shield in time. She didn’t relish the thought of trying to find another secluded house with a landlord who would leave them as completely alone as their current one did.

  Her mom and brother picked up much of the shopping slack, bringing groceries whenever Leesa had the need. Both were happy to help, in part because it meant bonus time with Ralin when they brought the groceries by—not that either of them ever really needed an excuse to visit. They were welcome anytime.

  If Leesa simply HAD to go somewhere, she wrapped Ralin in a shield and had Rave carry her and Ralin out into the woods, where any magical eruption would occur out of sight and cause no damage that might have to be explained. Once they were a safe distance into the trees, Leesa would walk back and hop into the car, leaving father and son to play in the woods. Her shield would disappear as soon as she was out of sight of her son, but with Ralin isolated out in the forest that was not a problem. She had been working on creating a barrier that would remain in place even without her presence, but so far had been unsuccessful in figuring out how to accomplish that task.

  Today, Cali had volunteered to help Leesa test the volkaane aspects of Ralin’s magic. The sporadic nature of his powers provided more than enough unpredictability for Leesa—she could at least learn whether Ralin shared his father’s penchant for shorting out electrical circuits.

  To test whether he did or not, Cali had generously brought along her old cell phone. She switched it on and handed it to Leesa.

  “I can’t think of a better use for this old thing now that I’ve upgraded to the latest and greatest.”

  Leesa looked down at the screen, smiling to see that Cali’s background picture was one of Leesa holding Ralin when he was just a few months old.

  “Thanks. You sure you don’t mind?”

  “Not at all. I was just going to recycle it anyhow. I’m happy to donate it to the cause of magic. It’s got no service, but it still has plenty of pictures and stuff on it that’ll show us whether Ralin messes the thing up.”

  “You’ve already transferred the stuff you want, right? And left your new cell out in the car, I hope? Out of danger?”

  Cali grinned. “You bet. That baby set me back three hundred big ones. Ralin’s not getting anywhere near it—at least not until we know how lethal he is.”

  The object of their discussion sat at the table across the room, engaged in a rare moment of quiet leafing through a picture book his grandmother had given him. The book was filled with colorful illustrations of magical creatures like dragons and unicorns, as well as wizards and warriors. Looking at the book was one of the few stationary activities capable of holding Ralin’s attention for more than five or ten minutes. Leesa supposed the book provided as good an early education into the world of magic as could be expected for a toddler. Now it was time to glean a little learning for herself.

  “Ralin, come here, sweetheart. Mommy has something for you.”

  Ralin twisted his head around at the sound of her voice. She very much doubted he understood what she said, but he recognized his name. When his eyes fell upon the small glowing object she held out toward him, he hopped down off his chair and hurried over.

  Leesa handed him the cell phone. His smile widened as he stared down at the illuminated screen and saw a picture of himself.

  Leesa and Cali watched the screen closely. After just a few seconds, the image began to flicker and break up. A moment later, the screen went dark.

  Ralin looked at the phone for a bit longer, as if expecting it to light up again. When it didn’t, he shook it a couple of times and then checked the screen again. When it remained dark, he simply dropped the phone to the floor and returned to the table and his book.

  “Well, I guess that answers your question,” Cali said as she bent down and picked up the cell. She tried to switch it back on, but nothing happened. “It’s fried, for sure. Looks like you’ve got a second volkaane on your hands. No phones or cars in his future.” She grinned. “Good luck with that as he gets older.”

  Leesa smiled. “Thanks—I think.”

  For the next few months, Ralin’s magic continued to appear sporadically and unpredictably. Sometimes as much as three weeks passed between outbursts, while twice they occurred within the same week. Most were completely harmless—displays of light and energy more than anything. Some were quite intricate, like a repeat of the spiraling pattern Leesa had still been unable to duplicate despite many tries.

  In between the magical occurrences, Ralin behaved pretty much like an ordinary, very active and very happy young boy—although far more advanced physically than other children his age. He particularly enjoyed running and jumping, which he did so quickly and powerfully that his parents never even considered taking him to a playground where his abilities could be witnessed. Until he was old enough to understand how he needed to behave in public, the yard and woods behind their home would serve as his playground.

  The most serious of these magical incidents occurred late at night when Ralin was about nine months old. While he was fast asleep, a green beam shot up from his snoring mouth that left char marks on the ceiling above his crib. Ralin never even woke up, but Rave had seen the bolt as soon as it began and promptly awakened Leesa, who blocked the beam with a shield before it could do any further damage to the house.

  Following that nocturnal incident, Leesa wrapped a shield around Ralin’s crib every night before she went to bed—she didn’t need to be awake for the barrier to remain intact, she merely needed to be in the same room. Ralin’s crib had shared their bedroom ever since he was born, so this presented no problem.

  32. BABY’S FIRST WORD

  ON HIS FIRST BIRTHDAY, Ralin decided it was time to begin talking. Unlike most children, his first word was not “Ma-ma” or “Da-da.” Instead, it was a word he had heard his parents use often.

  Friends and relatives gathered in the back yard to celebrate the occasion. Judy and Bradley were there, of course, as were Aunt Janet and Uncle Roger. Cali showed up wearing a rainbow clown wig and a bright blue sweatshirt festooned with big yellow polka dots. Where she had found the psychedelic garment, Leesa had no idea. She was just glad Cali hadn’t added clown-face makeup to her getup—potentially saving Ralin from being scarred for life by a fear of clowns.

  Balin, Bain, Dral and Kaila came from the volkaane settlement, and Jenna had happily responded to Leesa’s invitation as well. Ralin watched excitedly when a big brown and white owl descended slowly into the yard and then, with a bright silver flash, transformed into a person. He laughed delightedly and clapped his hands. Jenna rewarded his obvious appreciation by turning herself into an otter, a silver fox and a large tortoise in rapid succession. Ralin joyfully applauded each change. Even after Jenna ceased her shifting and Ralin moved on to other pleasures, such as swinging on the wooden swing Rave had hung from a thick branch of one of the oaks behind the house, he kept glancing back at Jenna just in case she transformed herself again.

  Leesa stayed close to her son, keeping a protective shield around him the entire time, except for brief instances when she let people hug him. Even then, she remained alert and ready to cast a shield in an instant if necessary.

  She couldn’t have dialed up a better afternoon for the party. The early spring sun shone in a crystal blue sky speckled with high, wispy white clouds, and the temperature hovered around sixty degrees. A week earlier, rows of beautiful crocus flowers had poked up from the ground in the garden lining the back of the house, and the beautiful yellow, white and lavender blossoms still bloomed brightly. Spring rains had produced a lush green lawn.

  The hit of the party, naturally, was the birthday boy. His rapid growth had continued—the top of his head now reached almost to Leesa’s waist. His agility and coordination were equally impressive. Anyone who didn’t know Ralin would have wondered why there was but a single candle atop his cake. From his size, they would have expected to see two, or perhaps even three. They would also probably be surprised to learn that a boy as big as he was had not begun talking yet.

  Uncle Roger had baked the rectangular cake at his bakery. Both the cake and the icing were light green in honor of Ralin’s magic. No one there could remember ever seeing a cake of that particular color before, but it certainly seemed fitting. It sat in the center of the dining table, which Rave had carried out into the yard from inside. He’d brought out one chair as well, for Ralin to sit on when it came time to serve the cake.

  Leesa decided the time to do that was now. She took Ralin’s hand and led him over to the table.

  “Cake time, everyone,” she called.

  Ralin hopped up onto his chair while his guests gathered around. Rave slid the cake closer to the edge of the table and lit the lone candle with fire from his fingertip. The blue flame burned brightly, flickering in the weak breeze that wafted through the yard.

  Leesa dissolved the shield encasing Ralin. While air passed through her barriers relatively freely, she wasn’t certain a breath strong enough to extinguish the candle would penetrate the shield without being diluted.

  She kissed Ralin on the cheek. “Time to blow your candle out, birthday boy.”

  For the last month or so, she had been pretty sure Ralin understood everything she said, even though he never spoke back. She seldom had to tell him to do anything twice, and now was no exception. Sucking in a deep breath, he leaned forward and blew out the flame with great gusto. The crowd of onlookers applauded, and Ralin smiled proudly.

  Leesa picked up a knife to start cutting the cake. Before she could begin, twin beams of curling green energy emerged from Ralin’s mouth. They corkscrewed slowly forward over the table. Since the magic wasn’t heading toward anyone, Leesa held off on casting a shield, curious to see what this new display might do. The left beam struck the wick of the candle, reigniting it with a tiny green flame. As soon as the flame flashed into view, the two beams abruptly vanished.

  Leesa stared at the burning candle for a moment, then her eyes swung from the green fire to her son’s face. Ralin was gazing at the flickering flame, his expression giving away nothing about what might be going on inside his head. Finally, he turned toward Leesa.

  “Magic,” he said as a wide smile lit up his face.

  Leesa stared at Ralin, dumbstruck. That her son had finally spoken was a surprise, but not nearly as big a shock as his choice for his first word. Did he really comprehend what he was doing? Did he realize he possessed magic?

  For several seconds, no one said anything.

  Finally, Jenna broke the silence. “He didn’t do that on purpose, did he? You never said Ralin could do such things.”

  Leesa shook her head. “No, I don’t think he did. Not consciously, anyhow.” She thought back to the green smoothie. “I think it was just a happy accident.”

  Jenna grinned. “I believe it—the double corkscrew effect seemed a bit much for lighting a simple candle. But his saying ‘magic’ as his first word had me wondering.”

  Leesa looked from Jenna to her son. “Believe me, I’m at least as surprised as you. I don’t know if it means anything—it’s a word he’s heard Rave and me use hundreds of times. Still, the timing is interesting, for sure.”

  Ralin extended his arm toward the candle. Leesa reached out protectively to stop him before he could burn himself on the flame, but Rave grabbed her wrist.

  “Wait,” he said, gently pulling her arm away.

  Leesa looked at him questioningly, but did not resist his grip.

  As it would for any mother, Leesa found it difficult to watch her child poke his hand toward a fire, no matter how small. She trusted Rave, though—he wouldn’t let any harm come to their son. Still, she found herself holding her breath when Ralin’s fingertip contacted the flame.

  The green fire curled up around both sides of Ralin’s finger. No smell of burning flesh accompanied the sight, no sizzle of skin igniting. He held his finger in the flame for several long seconds, watching the fire dance around his flesh, then seemed to grow bored with the whole thing. Instead, he slid his fingertip through the icing atop the cake, gathering a thick glob of the sticky green coating onto his finger, which he promptly stuck into his mouth, giggling delightedly the whole time.

  “Blue fire doesn’t burn volkaanes,” Rave explained. “I was pretty certain the green fire wouldn’t affect Ralin. Whether he’s immune to blue fire, or to blasts of his wizard magic, is another matter, though.”

  Leesa picked up a napkin and wiped a big smudge of icing from above Ralin’s lip.

  “Let’s hope he is. But let’s not be in any hurry to find that out, please.”

  Ralin’s birthday seemed to mark a major transition in his magic. Leesa and Rave didn’t know if it had anything to do with his turning one year old, but magical outbursts of varying sorts began to appear with increasing frequency, until they were occurring once or twice each week. It wasn’t until he was a year and a half old, however, that the magic started to become truly dangerous.

  The leaves in the two tall oaks in the yard behind the house were just beginning to turn. Most remained green, but the edges of many were now painted red and gold as the weather cooled. A few leaves had fallen to the grass below, early casualties knocked from their perch by the gentle breeze blowing through the yard. Despite a bright afternoon sun, the air bore that special crispness that signaled autumn was well underway. Leesa much preferred this weather to the sticky heat of summer.

  She and Rave sat on the soft grass, holding hands and watching Ralin play. The rope swing dangling from one of the trees had long ago ceased to be merely a swing. Ralin still swung on it now and then, but more often he used the rope as an avenue to climb up into the tree the way he was doing right now. Leesa’s heart had leaped up into her throat the first time she had seen her fearless young son hauling himself hand over hand up the rope and onto the twenty-foot high branch to which it was tied, but after watching him perch among the thick branches as easily as he sat on a chair, she began to relax a little. She hadn’t figured out how to relax completely, however—she was still a mother, after all.

 

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