The next morning was unusually lively at the Tensen household. The scent of herbs filled the air as Lila worked her naturopathic magic over bundles of plants on the kitchen table, rejuvenating the level of freshness in them.
Garrett tinkered with a broken lantern, a faint golden glow flickering from his fingertips as he nded its shattered glass.
Perched near the window, Mari humd a quiet tune to herself while crocheting strands of colourful yarn. A little animal slowly ford in her hands.
Then ca the knock at the door. Three sharp raps echoed through the house, followed by the muffled voice of their neighbour, Mrs. Errolyn.
"Lila, Garrett! I've brought sothing for you!"
Garrett opened the door to reveal Mrs. Errolyn, a stout, rosy-cheeked woman, her arms cradling a cane basket. Inside, a litter of wriggling, yapping puppies practically glowed with energy. Their little bodies shimred faintly, their fur streaked with hues of iridescent blues and greens, showing their arcane nature.
"Oh no," Lila muttered, pausing her work and eyeing Mrs. Errolyn with a wary stare. "Are those... arcane pups?"
Mrs. Errolyn smiled sheepishly, stepping into the house and placing the basket on the floor.
"Aye. Our fluffy little Nora got herself in a tangle with an arcane wolfhound from the forest. The litter ca out... well, like this. Half-breeds." She gestured to the puppies, one of whom had a tiny spark of lightning flicker across its nose as it sneezed.
Lila frowned. "You know how much trouble arcane animals can bring, Errolyn. They're unpredictable, dangerous even."
"I know, I know," Mrs. Errolyn said, holding up her hands. "But they need hos. And I thought that... well, your Mari's always had a way with animals, hasn't she? And you've got the space. Just one? You'd be doing us a favour."
Before Lila could protest, Mari was already on the floor, her hands darting eagerly toward the basket. "Look at them! Mama, they're beautiful! Can we keep one? Please?"
Kai, sitting in the corner of the room, tensing his leg muscles while making random noises, watched the scene with growing excitent. His infant body couldn't quite express the joy bubbling within him, but his mind raced. These were no ordinary dogs, they were arcane puppies!
'There's no way my parents would deny this chance.'
Garrett glanced at Lila, his expression torn. "Well... maybe just one. If we're careful."
Yes!
"Garrett!" Lila protested, but Mari was already rifling through the basket.
Mari grabbed the runt of the litter. A silver arcane pup with deep blue streaks throughout the coat.
"This one!" she declared, holding up the small, fluffy creature with fur that shimred in the sunlight that filtered through the windows. Its ears twitched, and a faint hum of mana emanated from it, as if the puppy itself were a tiny reservoir of magic.
Kai gurgled loudly, drawing everyone's attention. Mari turned to him, cradling the pup in her arms. "Kai likes it too! Don't you, Kai?"
Kai cooed in agreent, his heart pounding. This was his chance to make his first real contribution to this new life.
Kai strolled over to the pup and petted its head. He brushed its warm, colour-shifting fur and giggled.
The pup pulled away from Kai, as if the re touch from the toddler caused it pain.
'Did I do sothing wrong? Bert loved in my last life. Maybe he just has to get used to , or maybe he can tell I'm not from this world. They say that dogs can sll cancer, so maybe he can sll that my soul is different or sothing.'
The other newborn pups in the basket tried their best to climb out of the basket, but their little limbs failed to find the strength. Kai watched them tumble around, roll onto their backs, and then back onto their little feet.
'I know that pain, little doggies. Don't give up, though! You'll soon be walking and talking and casting magic. Well, maybe not talking. Can arcane creatures talk? If we get one, I will have to test that out later.'
"Buh," he babbled, trying to force the word out with all of his might. "Buh... Buuuh... Buht!"
'Yes! My first 'T'! I hope I can say everything I want, and soon. I really just want to ask everyone a bunch of questions. Maybe I should have focused less on my body and more on my voice.'
"Bert?" Mari echoed, tilting her head. "You want to na him Bert?"
Kai nodded vigorously, his tiny body wriggling with excitent.
Mari laughed. "It's Bert, then!"
Lila sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Fine. But if that dog starts setting things on fire or summoning storms, you're dealing with it, Garrett."
Garrett chuckled, kneeling down to scratch behind Bert's tiny ears. "Welco to the family, Bert."
Kai couldn't help but feel a bittersweet pang as he watched the little fluff ball stumble around.
Seeing the arcane energies fizzle around Bert's fur lit a fire inside of Kai.
'Ti to practice so magic!'
While everyone was entertaining Mrs. Errolyn and Bert, Kai snuck away to his room.
For the last month, Kai trained his senses to feel the magic in the air without soone else channeling it first. In the beginning, he strained so hard he emptied his bowels in his pants, but got the hang of it after three failed attempts and Lila cleaning up after his first attempt. Now he needed to channel that magic.
Once again, Kai felt for the magic in the air. He opened his eyes wide, and gripped it with invisible hands. The magic moved with Kai's intent, and he focused that intent into sothing else, sothing restorative.
Instead of the green or gold light that Lila or Mari create when channeling magic, or the brown that ca from Garrett's magic, Kai changed the ambient magic in the air to a deep shade of purple. It hung heavier in the air than any magic he'd witnessed from his family or the townsfolk when out and about.
On top of that, rather than a feeling of a single stream of magic, like he'd experienced before, his magic tapped into several different streams of magic, originating from places far beyond what he could see.
Like a fire, the magic consud him. His thoughts grew unfocused as sweat pooled across his body like a torrent.
'I... I can't stop it...'
The density of the streams increased, and an explosion of force expelled itself from Kai's body. Kai slumped to the ground while it continued to drain him physically, magically, and emotionally.
His limbs refused to move, and he struggled to breathe, as though soone was standing on his chest. Ringing filled his ears like those scenes in movies after an explosion went off near one of the characters.
A distant, muffled voice cut through the haze. "Kai!"
Footsteps pounded against the wooden floorboards, and strong hands lifting him up, shaking him gently.
'Garrett.'
"What happened to Kai?!" Mari's panicked voice was high-pitched and trembling.
"Magic is still in the air!" Lila's voice carried an edge of fear. "It's thick and unstable. What in the gods' nas did he do?"
"I'm sorry, mum! Kai watched practice magic and this is all my fault!"
"This is nobody's fault, Mari..."
Kai barely felt a couple of cool fingers brushing against his forehead.
"He's burning up," Mrs. Errolyn murmured. "Lila, this magic—this is not normal. No child should be able to draw this much at his age! Not without training—not without..." She trailed off, the horror in her tone unspoken but heavy.
Garrett's grip on him tightened. "This isn't natural." His voice wavered, the usual steady calm slipping away into sothing closer to dread. "Did soone tamper with him? Is he cursed?"
Mari sniffled, her hands clenching into fists. "He was just playing! He wouldn't do... he couldn't have done sothing bad!"
Lila let out a shuddering breath. "I don't care how, or why—just don't die, Kai. Please, just stay with us." Her voice cracked at the end, and that, more than anything, made Kai's fading heart lurch.
His mother never begged.
Ever. For anything in her life.
'I'm sorry...'
He tried to answer his mother's pleas. He attempted to reassure her that he'd be okay, but his eyelids fluttered several tis before darkness swallowed his consciousness.
'Did I push it too hard? Am I dying again? Maybe I was too hasty.'
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