wallwalker

Celine never forgot the first time she'd called fire on her own.

She was ten years old, because no right-minded magician in Marze or anywhere else would give a younger child the Symbols to create even a spark. Even a girl so young was pushing the boundaries of good sense, but Celine was an extraordinarily strong-minded and intelligent girl, and her parents were both capable of keeping her in check, or so the Elder had judged.

The first fire-elemental mark that they made was on the back of her right index finger; they would tattoo the others in kind when she was older, then connect the marks with a stronger Symbol on her hand to amplify her powers. She knew little of that at the time, though. She only knew that it burned when they touched her skin with the enchanted needle, and she had bitten her lip and tried not to cry out even once.

Later her father had taken her to the Forest of Symbols, and he had allowed her to practice using her new power. It seemed so ridiculous to her as an adult, but when she had been so young it had seemed so new and so fascinating, calling a flame that burned around her finger without touching it, making it leap as high as she could manage. (She had never managed to reach the tops of the trees, but she had certainly tried.)

Of course, she'd also learned quickly that the rest of her wasn't yet resistant to the fire, during one game where her other hand had come a bit too close. Her father had bandaged the small burn quickly so that it would not leave a scar, but his expression had been so serious and grave, and the injury had hurt for days. She would never forget that lesson, either.