Week 6
Ro released her mind from his and stretched before picturing her clear blue lake and a bit of shore. Then she pictured Kyzul standing on the shore. She looked at the water and thought about how good the water would feel on her hot body. Ro raced to it and dove in. She floated for a while, doing nothing but paying attention to the feel of the water gently lapping her skin. Her body relaxed and the fire that had coiled in the pit of her stomach from the fantasies of her and Kyzul ebbed away. Even though she was relaxing she still kept a small portion of her mind focused on the Kyzul standing on the shore.
"Ro!" she heard Kyzul call. She dropped to her feet and began walking to shore.
"Hey!" She said as she climbed out of the water. Kyzul turned to look at her and immediately his mouth fell open. He flushed and stared for a few moments as she proceeded towards him. Recovering his facilities, he turned away.
"Clothes." He choked out in a strangled voice. Ro looked down at herself and screeched. She was naked. A pillar of water rose from out of the lake and surrounded her.
"How do I get clothes?" She asked desperately.
"You just think them, and they are there." Kyzul replied with a thick voice.
"Oh, that was easy." Kyzul turned in time to see the pillar of water drop back into the lake. Ro flicked her hand and all the water on her body flew off to land in the lake. "So now what do we do?" she asked.
"We can just talk." Kyzul suggested. Ro imagined a couple of camping chairs looking out over the water. The chairs appeared instantly. They sat down in them and were silent for a minute.
"Well," Ro began, "What's your favorite color?" Kyzul was taken aback at such a random question.
"My favorite color," he mused, "Its red, I think." He said at last. Then he looked at Ro and chuckled. Ro looked at herself. Her t-shirt had turned bright red. She blushed. "Don't be embarrassed. It's becoming on you." There was an edge to the smile that Kyzul directed at Ro that reminded her of the fantasies she recently had had of him and herself. She blushed even more deeply and looked away. He laughed.
"My turn to ask a question." He said after a moment, "Why do you want to study magic so badly?" Ro's eyes widened.
"You're just jumping right in there, aren't you?" she said rhetorically. Then shaking her head, she stared out at the lake. "I never belonged anywhere because I always felt like there was something more to life than just what I experienced. I spent years reading books and hearing about life elsewhere. I yearned for more. If I know how to do magic I can travel. I can see places. I won't need to rely on my Uncle Gester for money. I can make my own way doing what I want. Passing the tests has changed everything." Ro finished. Kyzul was silent as he contemplated this with a thoughtful frown.
"You should still leave." He said quietly after a moment, "Alexi won't be the only one interested in you. The problem will only get worse as you improve. Magical creatures lust after power the same way they do beauty." He caught her eyes and held them. "If you do become more powerful, you will always have to be wary. It's not an enviable life."
"Doesn't the fact that I am human make any difference?" Ro asked remembering the derisive looks and derogatory statements her classmates gave her. It was Kyzul's turn to stare at the lake.
"You will always be looked down upon as inferior and to some it will matter, but the more powerful you become the more we will be willing to overlook it."
"The way Alexi is." Kyzul looked at Ro sharply, "It's apparent that he hates humans, but he still was going to mark me." Kyzul smiled wryly.
"Well, his behavior at this stage is abnormal, but he is young." Confusion was plain on Ro's face so Kyzul explained. "His desire to mark you is coming from something other than lust for power. It is rare that a creature would want to claim something that was so useless. Demons and other magical creatures always have ulterior motives for doing anything but in Alexi's case, it appears his motives are straight forward. He wants to claim you for no other reason than he likes you." Kyzul thought about this. "Maybe he feels that he is powerful enough on his own, so he doesn't need to worry about your strength." He mused. Ro was silent for a moment.
"I think we're all too young to be thinking about being with someone for life." She said finally. Kyzul chuckled.
"No one would have told you." He said with wry amusement. "The life span of magical creatures is much greater than that of a human. To enter this school, a student must be under a hundred which gives them enough time to practice and hone their skills. Students don't come to this school until they are ready to compete for the top spot, or unless they are approaching their hundredth birthday. The average age of the students in your class excluding you is ninety-three." Ro's mouth popped open in an oh.
"Then when you say Alexi is young…"
"He just turned fifty. They crow demons send their children here in the year following their fiftieth birthday."
"That's not young." Ro spluttered. Kyzul smiled at her kindly and she felt her cheeks heat.
"For a magical creature it is. Age is relative."
"Well then how old are you?" Ro asked suddenly curious.
"I turned one hundred and thirty-two this year." He looked at her from the corner of his eye to see her reaction. He was reward with a startled look.
"You're so old." Her voice came out softly. He smiled in amusement.
"I am still considered young by our standards." She blushed immediately.
"I am sorry. I spoke without thinking. It's rude to call people old." He shrugged
"Different things are considered rude in our cultures. My turn now," Kyzul said, "How old are you?"
"Twenty-four." Ro's blush deepened in embarrassment. "I was sick and had to miss the exam last time it was near."
"I could call you old for a human student." He told her with a smile. It was Ro's turn to ask a question again. She thought about their talk of claiming.
"Have you ever claimed anyone?" She watched his eyes go wide and a blush creep into his cheeks. He cleared his throat.
"That is a very personal question." He said at last.
"Oh, I didn't realize. Since we'd already talked about someone wanting to claim me, I thought it was fine." She looked away at the lake again. He sighed.
"Since I like your straight forwardness, I'll tell you. No, I have never claimed anyone." He could see the question why written on Ro's face. He rolled his eyes in exasperation. "I've simply never found anyone I wanted in that way." He looked towards the lake. A heavy silence followed this speech. At last Ro broke it.
"I can understand that." She began, her eyes on the horizon. Her voice took on a dreamy quality. "It's a long time to think about spending with any person. The commitment is enormous, even if it's not a monogamous relationship." Ro was unaware of Kyzul looking at her while she said this. She was envisioning the future stretching out before her for an infinite length of time. To visualize the magnitude of the commitment, she tried to picture having someone beside her as time progressed. She failed. Kyzul returned his gaze to the lake. His expression was unreadable.
"That is only part of it." He said finally. They sat in companionable silence for a while watching the rippling surface of the lake.
Kyzul looked up suddenly and said, "Time to return to class." He disappeared, and Ro shook herself out of her head.