Disclaimer: If I were good enough to create either series, then I'd be a hell of a lot better than I am now.
The first thing Will noticed when she stepped through the portal was the sheer heat that surrounded her. It made the air shimmer and threatened to knock her over with its intensity. The second thing she noticed was the complete absence of a single living thing. The oil-slicked area was devoid of any life whatsoever.
"What the hell?" she pondered aloud. She scanned the area again and again she saw nothing there but the flames. "Where is my teacher?" she asked again. Suddenly a wall of fire leapt at Will, but before it reached her it stopped and reformed into a human shape. A moment later, it assumed human features, features that Will knew very well indeed. But then again, how could she not recognise the face of her best friend for years? Looking Will in the eye was a fiery version of Taranee Cook.
"You really need to learn the difference between illusion and reality Will." The Fire-Taranee (Until she had a better name, Fire-Taranee would have to do.) chuckled. "I'm waiting for you on the other side of the flames."
"Are you nuts! Those flames would burn me away!" Will protested. The Fire Taranee smiled.
"And you are going to use your to throw them forward and aside." She told Will. "I just have to teach you."
"How?" Will asked in frustration. Why on Earth these teachers had to be so frustrating was beyond her.
The Fire Taranee pulled out a candle of fire and sat it down in front of Will. It quickly solidified into a real candle, still lit.
"You need to focus on the candle. Focus and meditate on the flame, become one with it." The fire Taranee gave Will a sympathetic smile. "You will understand everything when you master the candle."
"You know that I'm not good at meditation." Will grumbled and the Fire- Taranee shook her head.
"Well I can't help you there my friend. Just try to breath slowly and concentrate. Gently." Fire-Taranee told Will. "I cannot push the flames aside for you. Focus on the flame and become one with it."
"Taranee, you are starting to sound like a blasted priest." Will snarled slightly.
"Will, I know how frustrating this is, but if you can't master this, then the rest will be beyond you." The Fire-Taranee told her soothingly. "I complained to you about mastering it when I was learning as well, remember?"
Will nodded with a smile as she did indeed remember. Then another question immediately left Will's lips.
"It took you TWO WEEKS to master this! And you were one of the fastest to master it! How am I supposed to master this before I starve to death!"
"Time doesn't matter here Will, so that's not going to be a problem." Fire-Taranee pointed out in an annoyingly calm voice. "Besides, you have me to help you. Sort of."
"Really?"
"Will open up your hand." Fire-Taranee said in an exasperated voice. Giving her friend a puzzled look, Will did what she was asked. The flame leapt from the candle and landed on Will's hand. Will instinctively pulled away with a yelp of surprise.
"What the…"
"Will, for the love of Candracar, hold still." Fire Taranee said in exasperation. Will gave the Fire-Taranee a long stare.
"How do I know you're really Taranee?" Will challenged. Fire Taranee rolled her eyes in a way that only Taranee really could.
"Will, in case you haven't noticed, I can't exactly kill you here and if I was here to hurt you, then all I'd have to do is leave you here." Fire-Taranee pointed out. Will gave her friend a rueful smile and opened her hand once more.
"So how come you're able to do this stuff anyway?" Will asked curiously. "I know you've never had the aptitude for magic."
"It's not magic. The flames are basically chi given physical form." Fire-Taranee replied. "Now hold still."
Will sat deadly still and allowed the candle flame to float onto her hand. She could feel the heat from the flame, the way it wanted to burn her hand. But she felt completely safe from the flames.
"Try putting the flame back." Fire-Taranee said and Will narrowed her eyes in concentration. She focused all of her chi on the small dancing flame, but try as she might, she couldn't even make it move so much as an inch. Sweat poured down her brow and eventually Will was forced to blink. This broke her concentration and Fire-Taranee sighed.
"That's why you need to become one with the flame Will." Fire-Taranee told Will in an exasperated voice. With a little effort, Taranee sent the candle flame back onto the candle. "Perhaps I should leave you alone to focus." She finally said, and with a flash of flames, Fire-Taranee was absorbed by flames once more. Will stared after her for a moment, before returning her concentration to the candle in front of her.
W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.
"We don't have any horses for sale at all." The barkeeper said with a shake of his head.
"None at all. Not one in this entire village?" Nerissa demanded angrily. The barkeep, an elderly man with glasses shook his head.
"Well you could try asking one of our patrons to sell you one of theirs, but I doubt that they'd agree. Horses and carriages are pretty vital around here, doubt you could get them to part with them for love or money."
"We'll wait. I'm sure I can be…persuasive." Nerissa replied in a cold voice that sent shivers up the barkeeper's spine.
W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.
Will stared resentfully at the candle flame with some resentment. Despite giving the candle her full attention and focus for the past two days and was still no closer to becoming one with the flame than she was when she had started.
"Stupid thing, why can't I get it?" she pondered aloud.
"Well show me what you're doing and perhaps I can help."
Will snapped her head around and saw the figure of Fire-Taranee standing there. Will resumed her meditation and the Fire-Taranee shook her head. Gradually, Will continued to increase her focus until she could focus no more.
"I see the problem. You're focusing too hard." Fire-Taranee told her and she started to massage Will's shoulders and Will slowly felt herself relax. Suddenly, without warning, Will suddenly felt it.
"I got it!" Will exclaimed in surprise. "I actually felt one with the flame!"
"Can you return to that point? On your own?" Fire-Taranee asked curiously. Will turned her attention to the candle flame and once more tried to bring herself to that point. After a while, she shook her head.
"No, I don't think so." She said and Fire-Taranee gave her a small smile.
"But you did get there for a moment. Call me when you get back to it." Fire-Taranee said with a small smile. "Now you've actually gotton it back. It shouldn't take long."
"But-"
"Goodbye Will." And with that, Fire-Taranee whispered back into the flames. Will glared at the flames once more.
"Why are all of my 'teachers' so flaming cryptic all of the time? Would it kill them to explain clearly for once." She grumbled under her breath.
W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.
"Hello Mr Olsen!" Anna Lair called over to the barkeeper. "I've got this weeks delivery out at the back."
Nerissa stood up and walked over to her.
"Where are you from?" she asked and Anna Lair shrugged.
"Place called Heatherfield, not far from here. I could give you a lift if you like."
"No, I think we'll just take your cart." Nerissa replied calmly. As Anna turned to look at Nerissa angrily, Tridart stabbed downwards into her neck and a look of astonishment came over her face as she fell to the ground. Anna was dead before she hit the ground. The barkeeper's cry of protest was cut short as Nerissa sliced her sword through his neck.
"What shall we do with the bodies Mistress?" Tridart asked coldly.
"Leave them here and prepare to burn this place to the ground." Nerissa commanded coldly. "I don't want any chance of my old friend catching a chance to escape."
"I shall do as you command Mistress." Ember replied, her wings expanding to ignite the timbers in the roof. "It shall be done."
As the bar burned, Nerissa and her henchmen rode out of the village towards the town of Heatherfield.
W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.
Will let out a shriek of shock as she suddenly felt herself connect to the flame.
"I did it!" she exclaimed. "Taranee, I actually did it!"
"I knew you would master it Will." Fire-Taranee said with a smile. "Are you still connected to it?" Will nodded and Fire-Taranee grinned. "Maintain it!"
"Maintain it? Bu-"
Without warning, Fire-Taranee threw a series of fast moving attacks at Will with a fire sword. Instantly, Will leapt into a defensive stance and tried to parry each blow as it came and she lost her connection to the flame. Fire-Taranee caught Will on the shoulder and Will yelped out in pain. Fire-Taranee instantly stopped her attacks and shook her head.
"You lost it Will." Fire-Taranee told Will in a disappointed voice. "You lost your connection to the flame."
"It's a little hard to do while you're under attack!" Will spat out angrily and Fire-Taranee shook her head once more.
"And will you ask your opponents to allow you to make that connection?" she asked. "You must be able to use your chi aggressively without warning. Now reassert your connection and prepare to defend yourself!"
Will reasserted her connection and Fire-Taranee attacked once more.
W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.
"Their chances are not good Mistress Orube." A young healer monk told Orube grimly. "If they manage to recover then it will be many weeks before they are even fit to travel, much less fight."
"I see." Orube said with a frown on her face. "In that case, I must go to Meridian myself."
"Mistress Orube, are you sure that is wise? Su-"
"It will be many weeks before they recover." Orube said, cutting across the healer's words. "We don't have weeks and Caleb there is not suitable when he's like this." Orube pointed to Caleb, who was sitting beside Will's bed looking forlorn.
"At least take a few monks with you!" the healer protested and Orube shook her head.
"I'm not looking for a fight. If possible, I want to be in and out with the stone without drawing a weapon."
"Then may the peace of Zamballa bless your journey." The young healer said gravely and Orube nodded grimly. It went without saying that Orube was going to need all the luck she could muster.
W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C..W.I.T.C.
Will stood up and glared at her opponent. This had been the seventh time she had lost her connection to the flame and she was angry. She reconnected herself to the flame once more.
"I'm ready." She growled and Fire-Taranee swept in once more with a volley of fast strikes. But for once, Will didn't lose the connection to the flame. Instead, Will could feel the power of the flame grow stronger as she felt the flame feed on her anger and aggression. As Fire-Taranee swung at Will's leg, her sword suddenly vanished. Both girls smiled.
"Will, you got it!" Fire-Taranee exclaimed excitedly and Will nodded.
"Yep. Now all I need to do is figure out how to push the flames surrounding me away."
"Indeed." Fire-Taranee agreed. "Remember how you felt with the flame?" Will nodded and Fire-Taranee continued. "Link yourself in the same way to the flames surrounding us."
"Okay, I'm linked." Will said as she allowed herself to join with the flames around them.
"Good. Now push them away." Fire-Taranee said and Will felt herself slip into the flames and push them back. Much to her surprise, it worked on her first attempt. As the flames receded, they slowly vanished to reveal the real Taranee sitting in front of her.
"Congratulations Will, you did it!" she exclaimed happily as she embraced her friend.
"Yeah, I did." Will said and with a smirk, she punched her friend on the arm. "And that's for all the times you knocked me over as Fire-Taranee."
"How else would you learn?" Taranee shot back, but there was no venom in her voice.
Another portal appeared and Will gave her friend one last look and hugged her goodbye.
"I'll see you later." She said and Taranee nodded.
"See you later."
"You have done well, Taranee Cook." A voice told Taranee as she watched the portal close. Taranee turned and bowed.
"Thank you Swordmistress Halinor." Taranee said with a bow. Halinor pulled out her double-ended sword and presented it to Taranee.
"Swordmistress Taranee Cook, I present to you, the heart of your discipline. Use it well."
"I will." Taranee promised. "I will."