Alys balled her fists, digging her nails into the palms of her hands. She stepped into the stone circle. Moonlight shone on the cromlechs and lit up the faces of the members of the coven who stood in eager silence. This was the final test. Unless she could prove her mastery of the fourth element, she’d be banished from the sisterhood forever.
She raised her head and closed her eyes, centering herself. Palms back to back, she laced her fingers and took a deep breath. Muttering an incantation she opened her hands. A tongue of fire issued forth. She held her open palm aloft for all to see.
She had conjured fire.
Another word, and the fire was extinguished. Alys slowly folded her hands and clasped them gently to her chest before descending from the stone circle. ‘Thanks Sparky,’ she whispered, as the miniature dragon scurried back up her sleeve.
Written in response to Sadje’s What Do You See #13 photo prompt.
Photo credit: Pixabay
Brilliant! Couldn’t have been more perfect 😍
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Thanks Violet 🙂 Wouldn’t it be handy to have a miniature dragon up your sleeve.
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Ahh!!!
She cheated on the Kobayashi Maru Test… like James T. Kirk!!
Chris….well frackin done.
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Oh yes, I remember that. If it’s good enough for Jim… 😉
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It’s all magic as long as no one calls out your trick. Nice ending.
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But, of course… just a little sleight of hand 🙂
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Lovely twist ending! Adorable pet dragons are always a win 🐉🔥 😀
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🙂 I seem to remember you have one too?
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Sure do! Stowaway’s still one of my favourite early stories 😀
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Maybe Sparky and Stowaway should meet up sometime 😉
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the intrigue of how she’ll keep it up. beautiful writing
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Thanks, Jude 🙂 maybe we’ll hear more from Alys and Sparky…
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Yes please Chris. Fingers crossed
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[…] via The Test […]
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Love it! I want a miniature dragon now.
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Just close your eyes and wish…
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Too many rules can sometimes dismiss those with other talents. This reminds me of Star Trek and how Captain Kirk beat a computer program that he was supposed to fail, by changing the something with the test… Creative thinking out of the box needs to be rewarded 🙂
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Ha ha, Kobayashi Maru Test – see Darnell’s comment above.
I agree, initiative should be celebrated!
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Yes! That was it! It would have taken me too long to find the correct spelling – At least I can spell Kirk!
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[…] Chris Hall […]
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Cute little twist at the end.
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Thank you!
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[…] You might remember that we first met Alys and Sparky here. […]
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Fabulous! That’s how to conjure fire! Hehehe!
It seems I have a bit of catching up to do with your posts, Chris. I shall allocate an hour or so soon!
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…or treat yourself to a book..? 😉
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Hehehe – why didn’t I think of that? 😊
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Haha! Sparky to the rescue. So that’s how all of this started. I’m in love with this series 😍
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Indeed it is! We’ve come quite a long way together 🙂
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