At the end of a long day Ro changed into something something comfortable and padded through to the sitting area of her flat. She placed a sacred candle in the centre of her table, and lit it, thinking to herself “No reason to waste energy on this first one!” She then settled down to sit on a cushion and watch the flame.
Closing her eyes, she steadied her breath, fingers heading instinctively to the amulet around her neck. She kept the image of the flame in her mind’s eye, but used it to seek the glow of power burning at her core. It was now this deeper flame which she pictured, allowing it to grow with each intake of breath, then recede as she exhaled.
With her eyes still closed, the young Phral let her mind wander back to the flame on the candle, burning on the table. It was now this flame which she imagined growing and shrinking. She imagined it’s light and height increase as she filled her lungs with air, then slowly contract as she let each slow breath escape her lips. Opening her eyes, she smiled to see that the flame was indeed responding to her, burning far taller than any plain candle flame ought to.
Ro took a few moments to manipulate and shape the flame on the central candle on her table, before letting her eyes flicker to the unlit one at the edge of it. She then took a deep breath, and used the tendrils of her mind to allow the flame to jump to this new one. She could of course have used her will to light this one afresh, but this was not her intention. She was challenging herself, and wished to know if she could multiply and move flame, as well as grow it.
Exhaling slowly Ro focused on this second candle, smiling as she saw a thin trail of smoke emanate from the wick. This smile faded though as nothing more happened, no actual flame appeared. The young Phral was not downhearted though. To Ro, all in life was a process of learning and practice. Once again she focused her will and breathing patterns to channel her magic. A brief look back to the original candle brought a smile as she saw how tall that flame was burning, almost like a torch.
Ro slowly moved her eyes back to the unlit candle, and felt her spirits buoyed to spy a small spark of flame floating through the air, following the arc of her gaze. This floating light caught the as-yet-unlit wick and sent a curl of smoke upwards as it grew and engulfed it. A quick flick of her eyes back to the original candle satisfied Ro that it also was still alight.
She spent a few slow minutes letting both flames grow and shrink, shaping them with the will of her magic. Closing her eyes, Ro inhaled sharply, light flooding the room as both flames surged upwards. Gasping, she opened her eyes and saw both candles consumed by their flames, wax pouring down the candle sticks and pooling onto the table. “Shit!” the Phral exclaimed, throwing a vase of water over the flames and table. “Damn! What a mess!”
Ro surveyed the result of her evening’s work, her flat filled with the smell of smoke, water dripping from the table’s surface. She managed a small smile. “Ah well… something to work on for next time!”
