The Ragnix Circle

“Tyler,” I heard her whisper behind my door. “Tyler, you awake?”

I got out of bed trying to put on my fake sleepy face as I went to open the door for Ashlan. Truth be told, I was just lying there, mauling over all the half truths my parents had told me earlier. Dinner had ended long time ago. Ashlan was supposed to be in the bedroom next to mine, but here she was whispering from behind my door.

“Tyler,” she whispered again.

“Coming.” I pulled on one of my T-shirts before unbolting the door.

“For a minute there I thought you were sleeping,” Ash smiled.

“I was Ash,” I feigned annoyance.

“Sorry,” she said lowering her head. “I could not sleep. I’m so sorry I woke you.”

“Its fine,” I smiled. “Since you’re here now, might as well come in.”

“Thanks.”

She walked into the darkened room. I flipped on the switch as I closed the door behind me. I waited until she had settled on my bed, throwing the blanket to the floor. I gave her a confused look which she returned with a shrug. She sat with her back to the head board, propping one of the pillows on her laps.

“There’s a bed next door you could have done all that to,” I said.

“I know.”

“Is the room to big and scary?” I mocked.

“Nah,” Ash said. “I am what you’d call an insomniac.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah.”

I looked at her clearly for the first time. How could I have ever missed all this time? The dark shadows under her eyes were visible as she looked back at me. I nearly got lost in her brown almond eyes, as if I was sinking in quicksand. Her sand blonde hair hung chaotically round her face.

“Show me,” she said suddenly.

“Show you what exactly Ash?”

“What you can do pure blood,” she said rolling her eyes at me. “I’ve pretty much read everything there is about magic, thanks to that school. I know it’s all about the mind Tyler. So, show me how great your mind is.”

“Alright Ash.” I turned back to the switch, turning the lights off. I expected a gasp of surprise but none came. I turned and made out the outline of Ash’s figure sitting patiently waiting on my bed. I crossed the space between myself and the bed, stopping only when I was about two feet away. “Don’t be frightened,” I whispered.

“I’m not Tyler.”

I took a deep breath, clenched my fists and let my mind work. I had to find something mind-blowing to do with my magic and I guess that was what made my mind up for me. I opened my palms and let my imagination free.

I looked at her glowing eyes in the dark and decided to make something like her eyes. Eyes that ask you to read deeper than the cover you glimpse. In the space between us, silver light blossomed. Shinning dimly before us, it brightened until it was blinding. For the first time I ignored the gnawing of the power inside of me and the thread of her mind, and let my mind work. The light dimmed and thin tendrils, like the spider plant sprouted from its core. I let the tendrils extend to touch her face stopping them a few inches away.

I could see her face clearly in the light of my magically created silver light. I could see the slow smile spreading across her face as I let the tendrils touch her face one by one, and everywhere they touched a shinning brown diamond floated up towards the high ceiling of my room. Ash reached for one of the brown diamonds, but I made it disintegrate into a million stars that highlighted the room in their color.

She turned to look at me and reached for the silver light, ignoring the tendrils and that was when I made my finale. I made it burst into a thousand white Middlemist flowers; flowers I knew only grew in the zone of Bricore.

Ashlan gasped as one of the little white flowers settled on her open palm. I saw one small tear trace its way down her cheek as she brought the floor to her eye level.

“How did you know?” she asked in a small voice.

“They only grow in Bricore and I thought you’d love to see a piece of home,” I answered.

“Thank you Tyler,” she choked.

“You wanted to see,” I said.

“It’s really cool when you use it like that,” she rubbed her cheeks with her free hand.

“You sound like my mum when you put it that way,” I laughed to trying to lighten the mood.

“This flower reminds me of home,” she said. “The beautiful orchards and flower beds, everything about Bricore was flowery. That’s why we are such great herbalists. My mum was the best I ever knew and she always wore one of these in her hair as we gathered up supplies in the green houses, forests and gardens.” Ash stopped speaking and held the flower closer to her heart closing her eyes.

She looked so far away as she sat there. I could not help using magic again and trying to make an actual copy of the flower, one that would not disappear after a short while. It appeared and I placed it in her messy hair.

“There just like her,” I whispered. Ashlan acted like she had not heard a thing I said as her eyes remained shut. She swayed gently holding the flower closer to her heart.

“You miss your mum,” I said sitting down next to her.

“I do.” Ashlan opened her eyes and smiled at me. “I really do, but you’ve reminded me she’s always with me.”

“You’ll get to see her tomorrow,” I said.

“If we do go to our villages,” she said, “then maybe we will.”

“I hope you do Ash.”

“She was all we had,” Ash said touching the flower in her hair. “We never had a father and she never told us why. I guess that’s why I get so emo when I think of her and Xander. I don’t even know if they told her about his death. Did they tell her about the way he died?”

“You’ll find out tomorrow Ash,” I said.

“You smell like a rainforest,” she said suddenly. “One where it has just rained and all the flowers beautiful fragrances are in the air.”

I had noticed how close we had become. My shoulder was barely avoiding touching hers. I lowered my eyes afraid to look at her. To my horror her hand snaked up and held mine.

“Thank you Tyler,” she said.

“For what?”

“Everything,” she said. “You’ve showed me that magic is not all that bad.”

“I wish it…”

“It is not that bad after what you’ve shown me.” She forced me to look at her, forcing my eyes to stare deep into hers. “You and your old people are really nice, much nicer than all the rest of the magic users.”

I could not stop myself from reacting. I kissed her at that point. To my utter dismay, she responded to the kiss. As the moment grew longer, the power in me awoke and almost tore me to shreds inside as it battled to come out. This was the first time I had actually kissed a girl like this, meaning to do it and hoping she saw it the way I did. But before my heart could finish its back flip, she pulled away.

“This can’t happen, Ty,” she breathed.

“I know,” I murmured.

“It does not mean I don’t want it to,” she opened her eyes. I saw the struggle as she looked at me. “I should go try and sleep, we have to get to the dorm early.”

“We do,” my voice sounded awkward.

“Then I guess I’ll say goodnight Tyler.”

“Goodnight Ashlan.”

“Thanks for the show,” Ash said, rising from her position. She walked out leaving me there, wondering what my feelings were. I fell flat on my bed, swinging my legs onto the pillow she had tossed aside. I looked up at the stars which I had conjured up. Their light was still bright enough for me to see that the white flowers were still littered all over my floor.

Sighing in frustration I waved the magic into oblivion, but one of the flowers remained along with Ash’s sweet vanilla and chocolate scent. Why her? Why couldn’t it be any other girl Tyler? She’s a pleb and you’re a pure blood. The questions I asked myself almost overwhelmed me and the sight of the lingering Middlemist made me realize, if I was to remain safe, I had to bury my feelings for Ash. Bury them deep down and far away from the surface.