First Year Read Online Free Page A

for the last couple of minutes. Now he was watching me curiously.
    I stared at the grassy plains ahead of us, wondering if I should say the last thought aloud. It seemed too much to hope, and I would be aghast if it weren’t. There had been a couple of times since Alex had found his own powers… but each time I had been wrong, and the disappointment had been crippling.
    No. It was better left unsaid.
    And then Alex said it anyway: “You think it was magic, don’t you?”
    Am I really so obvious?
I flushed. “I know how it sounds mad.”
    “But it makes more sense than the others.”
    “It does!”
    He was quiet. Then: “Are you sure about this?”
    I played with the reins in my lap. “No. But the man didn’t roll. Or fall. And he wasn’t close enough to the pit for the flames to reach him.”
    “But didn’t you lose sight when he hit you?” my brother asked gently. “He could have lost balance when you were unconscious.”
    “But I didn’t the second time,” I countered. “I’m not sure exactly how… but instead of darkness I saw light.
Lots of it.
I—I think it was from the fire, and then he was screaming and running around the camp in flames.”
    “Did anything feel different?” my brother pressed. “Were you unusually hot or lightheaded? Did you think of fire?”
    “My hand burned, and just about everything hurt…I wasn’t lightheaded exactly, but my head did really ache afterward.” I paused. “And no, I was too angry and afraid to be thinking of anything except what was happening.”
    Alex frowned. “That doesn’t sound like a casting, or at least what it’s like for me.”
    An idea hit me. “Do you think my pain released the magic?”
    Alex appeared thoughtful. “Maybe… but then how is it that it only worked once? He hurt you several times before it occurred.”
    That was true, but then nothing about magic made sense. Maybe there was an answer, and I would find out at the Academy. Groping around in my bags, I eagerly pulled out my father’s hunting knife.
    “Ryiah,” my brother yelped, “what are you—”
    Ignoring Alex’s cry of alarm, I dug the blade into the center of my good palm, reopening freshly sealed wounds as blood dripped down past my wrist.
    At the same time I observed a yellowish-green mass that clung to a nearby tree. The moss looked like a perfect target, a furry patch of flammable tendrils.
    Almost immediately the moss began to shrivel and smoke. As I pushed down with the blade, tiny flames sprouted forth, engulfing the plant.
    “ALEX!”
    My brother’s jaw dropped as he followed my gaze.
    I continued to add pressure, hardly conscious of pain in light of my new discovery. Blood continued to puddle below me.
“Alex, I have magic!”
 
    Breaking free from his initial shock, my twin rode over and snatched the knife away, giving me a dark look as he brandished the weapon.
    The fire ceased immediately as what remained of the moss crumbled to the ground in a withered heap.
    “Ryiah!” Alex scolded. “You shouldn’t have to maim yourself to perform a casting!” Any joy he’d felt at my revelation had been lost in wake of my blood.
    “I wasn’t even sure I had it,” I murmured. “But now…”
    Now that I
knew
I had magic
…
    Staring determinedly at a nearby trunk, I willed my magic to take flight naturally. Without inflicting pain.
    Nothing.
    I squinted harder, ignoring the throbbing of my hand and the pounding in my head as I ogled the yellow-green mound. Every thought, every part of me strained as I attempted to project my magic onto the patch.
    Still, it remained unchanged.
    I tried, again and again. And again.
    Eventually we had passed a whole forest of moss-lined trees with not so much as the slightest hint of fire or casting of any nature.
    By the time we made camp for the evening, I was frustrated beyond measure.
    “What is wrong with me?” I griped, tossing a handful of wood into our fire. “Why can’t things ever come