---

Charlotte shrugged, "If you mean with that rod, I don't know. Hopefully, you've destroyed whatever magic it had. We'd better be careful about using that glyph again until we have a better idea of what it does, I think."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. I just thought it would block spells, like a shield or something. That definitely wasn't a shield!" Tina agreed.

Charlotte went to the phone and Tina, feeling much hungrier after casting the spell, decided to finish her meal. By the time she was done Charlotte was just coming back into the kitchen.

"Looks like Nathaniel was busy today." Charlotte said as she grabbed her plate and put it in the microwave. "Kerry said he attacked two members of her coven before coming over here. One of them got burned a little on her arm, but that was the worst of it, thankfully. We're both hoping that your spell destroyed that rod permanently. He'll still be dangerous without it, but not nearly as dangerous as he was with it!"

"But what if he makes another one?" Tina asked worriedly.

Charlotte shook her head, "He said he didn't know how. It's possible he might manage to figure it out, but I doubt it. He's not thinking clearly enough for that."

"I hope you're right." Tina said.

After cleaning up they returned to work. "How are you feeling, Tina?" Charlotte asked.

"Fine, why?" Tina replied.

"Well, I thought you'd like to do some trance work today, but I wanted to make sure casting that spell didn't take too much out of you." Charlotte said.

Tina shrugged, "I was hungrier afterward, but that's it. I'm fine."

With some reluctance, Charlotte agreed to let Tina work in trance again. She woke her after only a couple of hours. "How are you feeling now?" she asked.

Tina rolled her eyes, "I'm fine, Grandma!"

"I'm sorry if I seem overprotective, but the work we're doing hasn't been done for centuries. Maybe even millenia!" Charlotte said.

Sighing, Tina nodded, "I know. I'm being careful, really! We must have done a good job with that spell, because it really didn't take much out of me at all. And a couple hours of trance work isn't that much. But I'll stop for tonight if it'll make you feel better."

"Thank you." Charlotte said gratefully.

"So, what do you want to do?" Tina asked.

"Well..." Charlotte said hesitantly. "Your parents and I are a little worried that your entire life is revolving around magic. Don't you have any friends?"

"I should have known!" Tina sighed. "Grandma, it's kind of hard to have friends when I can't talk to them about the most important part of my life. I tried in high school, but they could never understand why I wanted to spend so much time alone. They seemed to think I owed them all this time that I just didn't have!"

Charlotte nodded, "I know. I've dealt with the same problem all my life. That's a big part of the reason I started my store, in fact."

"What do you mean?" Tina asked.

"What better way to meet people who would understand my passion for magic than by opening a magic store?" Charlotte replied.

Tina gaped at her grandmother a moment before saying, "That's why you opened the store?!"

Charlotte nodded, "That, and my love of magic, yes. That's how I met Kerry, among others."

"Huh, I just assumed you opened the store because it was a way of making a living with magic, more or less. But that doesn't do me any good, I'm at work all day." Tina said thoughtfully.

"True, but you could go to one of Kerry's coven meetings. They're always at night anyway." Charlotte said.

"I'm not a witch; I don't believe in that stuff!" Tina protested.

"I know, but at least there you can talk about magic all you want without people thinking you're crazy." Charlotte said.

"I'll think about it." Tina said grudgingly.

"That's all I'm asking. Why don't we call it a night, alright?" Charlotte suggested.

"Okay." Tina agreed.

---

Tina was awakened abruptly early in the morning when Charlotte threw her covers off of her and said, "Get up!" The urgency in her grandmother's voice convinced her to cooperate. Once she'd dragged herself out of bed she let her grandmother drag her down to the kitchen where she had the news on.

What she saw caused her to drop bonelessly into the nearest chair as she stared in shock at the man-shaped flame attacking some firefighters. "What is that?!" she said softly.

Charlotte shook her head, "It's impossible! I've read descriptions of things like this, but one hasn't been seen on Earth for millenia!"

"What are you talking about?" Tina asked without taking her eyes from the TV screen.

"A fire elemental. That's what it looks like. But it has to be a hoax! No one knows how to summon elementals anymore! Let alone has the power!" Charlotte replied.

As she spoke the image went dark. The reporters went on about how they couldn't see anything, but even they were blocked by the darkness. "What happened?" Tina asked.

"I have no idea!" Charlotte said. A few moments later the picture returned, but there was no sign of the living flame anymore. The cameras panned to show the damage to the street and the fire engine that had been torched by the creature. They also interviewed a few firefighters, but they all said 'no comment'.

The entire recording was replayed a few times, but no new information was forthcoming. "That was weird." Tina said. "Do you think it was for real?"

Charlotte shook her head, "I don't see how it could be. Even if there's somebody else out there with as much talent for magic as you, they couldn't do that without detailed instructions. Which don't exist anywhere. There just isn't that much magical knowledge left in the world, and there hasn't been enough power available to do something like that for so long that such knowledge wasn't a priority to preserve."

Tina had to hurry and get ready for work. She barely made it in time, but lots of people were late. At lunch everyone stayed in to talk. "Did you two see the news this morning?" Tina asked Sarah and Tiffany, who were seated opposite her at the table.

Before they could say anything Kris walked in and said, "I did! Do you think it's some kind of publicity stunt or something? It must have been CG, right?"

"No way!" a guy Tina hadn't ever heard talk before said. "My dad's a fireman and he saw that thing with his own eyes!"

"Besides, would they have blanked out the coverage if it were fake?" Tina said, remembering the darkness obscuring the image shortly after she got to the TV.

"Oh please!" Kris whined, "Fire doesn't act like that! It had to be fake!"

Tina couldn't help but say, "Maybe it's magic?"

The response was about what she expected. Kris snorted and the other guy said, "There's no such thing as magic. But it was a really good trick! I think it had to be a holograph."

"But what about the firetruck? It caught on fire, didn't it?" Tina said.

He dismissed that with a wave, "It was probably rigged."

Tina shut her mouth after that, but she was surprised that Sarah and Tiffany never did say anything about it.

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To Be Continued…

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