The Chronicles of a Young Fyora: The Beginning

     “Fyora… You’re the next Queen of Faerieland,” Taelia said with a tear in her eye.

     “No. I can’t be,” she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

     “Let’s take it one step at a time,” Professor Beltane said, placing a reassuring arm on Fyora’s shoulder. “How about you two finish lunch in my office? Follow me.”

     As Taelia and Fyora followed their professor into the academy, faeries of all different elements waved and greeted them adoringly as if they were celebrities.

     “I don’t know what would've been worse. Losing to Elida and fearing her torment for the rest of our time here… or being treated like a pariah…” Fyora mumbled to her Snow Faerie counterpart under her breath as she gave meek smiles to the crowd.

     ***

     “Your training will be… different from that of your peers,” Professor Beltane said through a bite of her Dark Faerie Apple.

     Fyora nodded along, trying to absorb all of the information that her teacher had been prattling on about through their lunch.

     “Yours will be too, but that’s a different story entirely,” Beltane said to Taelia as an aside.

     “What will my training consist of?” Fyora asked, finishing her mouthful of Faerie Crisps.

     “You’ll be trained in every element, both in harnessing it yourself and in controlling it within other faeries, much like you did with Elida,” the Light Faerie explained.

     “That sounds… overwhelming,” Fyora said with a sigh, inundated with concern already.

     “We’ll take it one element at a time. I promise,” Beltane reassured the young Queen-to-be.

     “Let’s start with snow and ice!” Taelia said with her mouth full of a Veggie Faerie Burger.

     “Let’s at least finish lunch first,” Fyora laughed.

     ***

     In the afternoon, the academy didn’t hold class in a traditional sense where students sat in lecture halls with pens and notepads. Instead, afternoons were reserved for training, combat, and spell casting.

     For Fyora, the next Queen of Faerieland, there was no exception.

     Professor Beltane led Taelia and Fyora to the ice rink, a training ring for the element of snow and ice.

     “I want to start your training with someone you’re most comfortable with, Fyora,” Beltane explained, motioning towards the frozen over lake. Juxtaposed against the sunny autumn skies and the pleasantly moderate temperatures, the ice rink felt magically out of place. “That’s why you and Taelia will train together first. You trust each other and can help to bolster each other’s powers before you move onto a new element with a faerie you might not know.”

     “I think that’s a great idea, Professor Beltane,” Taelia said with a nod, her ebony bob bouncing at her shoulders.

     “I do too,” Fyora said with a smile.

     “Alright, ladies! It’s time to spar. As Taelia illustrates her powers, I want you to try to control them, Fyora,” their professor called from the sidelines. “In learning to control her powers of snow and ice, you can learn to wield them yourself!”

     Taelia gracefully made her way to the center of the ice as Fyora slid and fumbled like a newborn Ixi.

     “Let’s start by getting proper footing,” the young Queen griped with a huff.

     “Use your magic to feel the interaction between my feet and the ice,” Taelia suggested, moving gracefully around the rink. She twirled like a figure skater without blades on her feet, her icy magic making her glide with ease.

     Wisps of lilac power emanated from Fyora’s hands and twirled up Taelia’s legs.

     “Hey, that tickles!” Taelia said with a giggle.

     “This is for the sake of your next Queen’s credentials, Taelia,” Fyora reminded her friend coquettishly, clicking her tongue.

     “As you say, my Lady,” Taelia shot back with a wink.

     Fyora’s magic faltered for a second as a hot flush rose to her cheeks.

     “Focus, girls!” Professor Beltane chided, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

     With a shake of her head to refocus her endeavors, Fyora felt Taelia’s powers mixing with the top layers of the ice, coaxing it to melt and freeze at her whim. This is what allowed her to traverse the ice with utter agility and control. With her own magic, she transferred the ability to her own feet, causing them to skate and spiral as Taelia’s did.

     “You’re doing it!” Taelia announced with wonder.

     “I am!” Fyora agreed gleefully, gaining enough confidence to twirl like her friend. Soon the pair were spinning around each other like true rink runners.

     “Beautiful skating, ballerinas. Now, it’s time to spar!” Beltane cried, waving her lithe arms in frustration. “Wield an ice storm like you did against Elida!”

     “Are you ready?” Taelia asked her queenly counterpart.

     “As I’ll ever be!” Fyora said, completing her last turn gracefully.

     With a rush of power, Taelia summoned another cyclone of ice and snow flurries. In a show of her magic, she shot it up into the air, tunnelling like a torpedo before sending it Fyora’s way.

     As if it were in slow motion, Fyora used her own abilities to decipher the nature of the glacial cyclone. The young Faerie Queen could feel Taelia pulling the moisture from the air and using her own magic to cool and shape the water molecules, bending them to her freezing whim.

     In retort, Fyora did the same. She created her own ice crystals and took the opening of the blizzard under her own control, bending it and twisting it back to Taelia.

     “Fyora! That’s incredible! Just like that!” Professor Beltane cheered, her effervescently yellow wings flapping happily behind her.

     Taelia braced herself for an impact that never happened. Moments before the cyclone of snow and ice made contact with Taelia, Fyora released her magic, allowing it to melt back into the ice rink and dissipate back into the air.

     The Snow Faerie slowly blinked her eyes open, relaxing as she realized what Fyora had done.

     “The next Queen of Faerieland is a fast learner,” Taelia said, outstretching her hand.

     “Thanks for the help, Snowager Junior,” Fyora chortled, shaking her worthy opponent’s hand.

     “Ha, ha. Very funny.” Taelia rolled her eyes and bumped shoulders with Fyora playfully.

     “Let’s call it a day, Fyora and Taelia,” the Light Faerie professor said as she grabbed her things. “We’ll try a new element tomorrow!”

     The trio headed into the academy with tired smiles on their faces.

     ***

     Over the next few days, Fyora took her usual lectures in the mornings and practiced sparring in the afternoons, learning the elements of earth, light, dark, water, fire, and air.

     Fortunately for Fyora, Taelia joined her on the sidelines both as her cheerleader and scribe. Professor Beltane insisted she take notes for the future Queen, but Fyora knew that the real reason she had asked Taelia to stick around was for her own comfort and confidence. It was one of the many reasons she was growing quite fond of her elemental powers professor. Beltane the Light Faerie was not only a great teacher, but also a kind and thoughtful soul.

     “Thank you, Psellia. That was… a great match and I… learned so much about how to wield… the element of air,” Fyora gushed with a pant, catching her breath after the match.

     She was grateful for her most recent opponent’s abilities, patience, and prowess. Fyora had moments throughout the match that she wasn’t quite sure if this was a faerie whose powers she could control. In the end, Fyora triumphed, but only by a hair.

     “Anything to help our future Queen, Fyora,” Psellia said with a bow.

     “Oh, no need to bow,” Fyora chuckled awkwardly, grabbing her arm. “I’m not the Queen yet.”

     Psellia was an Air Faerie adorned in lavender gowns and gossamer silk. She had blonde hair that cascaded down her back and floated out around her on every wisp of the breeze. Fyora couldn’t quite tell if that was Psellia’s own magical doing or if the air that surrounded her blessed her unwittingly.

     “But you will be,” Psellia said with an assuring nod. She bowed to Fyora, Taelia, and Professor Beltane. “Thank you for your time and trust in this training session. Good day.”

     “Thank you as well, Psellia,” the professor articulated, returning the nod in courtesy. They all watched as the Air Faerie floated gracefully from the clouded air rink and back into the walls of the academy.

     “What’s next? We seem to have time for one more match today,” Taelia asked, checking her notes.

     “Should we go back to the ice rink? We’ve already practiced one round with all of the elements,” Fyora suggested, thinking through the haze of all of the training she had done over the last few days. Admittedly, she was feeling relieved at the thought of going back to an opponent as familiar as Taelia.

     “Not… All of the elements,” Professor Beltane responded coyly, tapping a pencil to her lips.

     “What did we miss?” Taelia asked, flipping through her notepad.

     “Follow me…” their professor announced, leaving the air rink and walking the dirt path that led away from the academy.

     To be continued…