Relentless (17 page)

32. BABY’S FIRST WORD

ON HIS FIRST BIRTHDAY,
Ralin decided it was time to begin talking. Unlike most children, his first word was not “Ma-ma” or “Da-da.” Instead, it was a word he had heard his parents use often.

Friends and relatives gathered in the back yard to celebrate the occasion. Judy and Bradley were there, of course, as were Aunt Janet and Uncle Roger. Cali showed up wearing a rainbow clown wig and a bright blue sweatshirt festooned with big yellow polka dots. Where she had found the psychedelic garment, Leesa had no idea. She was just glad Cali hadn’t added clown-face makeup to her getup—potentially saving Ralin from being scarred for life by a fear of clowns.

Balin, Bain, Dral and Kaila came from the volkaane settlement, and Jenna had happily responded to Leesa’s invitation as well. Ralin watched excitedly when a big brown and white owl descended slowly into the yard and then, with a bright silver flash, transformed into a person. He laughed delightedly and clapped his hands. Jenna rewarded his obvious appreciation by turning herself into an otter, a silver fox and a large tortoise in rapid succession. Ralin joyfully applauded each change. Even after Jenna ceased her shifting and Ralin moved on to other pleasures, such as swinging on the wooden swing Rave had hung from a thick branch of one of the oaks behind the house, he kept glancing back at Jenna just in case she transformed herself again.

Leesa stayed close to her son, keeping a protective shield around him the entire time, except for brief instances when she let people hug him. Even then, she remained alert and ready to cast a shield in an instant if necessary.

She couldn’t have dialed up a better afternoon for the party. The early spring sun shone in a crystal blue sky speckled with high, wispy white clouds, and the temperature hovered around sixty degrees. A week earlier, rows of beautiful crocus flowers had poked up from the ground in the garden lining the back of the house, and the beautiful yellow, white and lavender blossoms still bloomed brightly. Spring rains had produced a lush green lawn.

The hit of the party, naturally, was the birthday boy. His rapid growth had continued—the top of his head now reached almost to Leesa’s waist. His agility and coordination were equally impressive. Anyone who didn’t know Ralin would have wondered why there was but a single candle atop his cake. From his size, they would have expected to see two, or perhaps even three. They would also probably be surprised to learn that a boy as big as he was had not begun talking yet.

Uncle Roger had baked the rectangular cake at his bakery. Both the cake and the icing were light green in honor of Ralin’s magic. No one there could remember ever seeing a cake of that particular color before, but it certainly seemed fitting. It sat in the center of the dining table, which Rave had carried out into the yard from inside. He’d brought out one chair as well, for Ralin to sit on when it came time to serve the cake.

Leesa decided the time to do that was now. She took Ralin’s hand and led him over to the table.

“Cake time, everyone,” she called.

Ralin hopped up onto his chair while his guests gathered around. Rave slid the cake closer to the edge of the table and lit the lone candle with fire from his fingertip. The blue flame burned brightly, flickering in the weak breeze that wafted through the yard.

Leesa dissolved the shield encasing Ralin. While air passed through her barriers relatively freely, she wasn’t certain a breath strong enough to extinguish the candle would penetrate the shield without being diluted.

She kissed Ralin on the cheek. “Time to blow your candle out, birthday boy.”

For the last month or so, she had been pretty sure Ralin understood everything she said, even though he never spoke back. She seldom had to tell him to do anything twice, and now was no exception. Sucking in a deep breath, he leaned forward and blew out the flame with great gusto. The crowd of onlookers applauded, and Ralin smiled proudly.

Leesa picked up a knife to start cutting the cake. Before she could begin, twin beams of curling green energy emerged from Ralin’s mouth. They corkscrewed slowly forward over the table. Since the magic wasn’t heading toward anyone, Leesa held off on casting a shield, curious to see what this new display might do. The left beam struck the wick of the candle, reigniting it with a tiny green flame. As soon as the flame flashed into view, the two beams abruptly vanished.

Leesa stared at the burning candle for a moment, then her eyes swung from the green fire to her son’s face. Ralin was gazing at the flickering flame, his expression giving away nothing about what might be going on inside his head. Finally, he turned toward Leesa.

“Magic,” he said as a wide smile lit up his face.

Leesa stared at Ralin, dumbstruck. That her son had finally spoken was a surprise, but not nearly as big a shock as his choice for his first word. Did he really comprehend what he was doing? Did he realize he possessed magic?

For several seconds, no one said anything.

Finally, Jenna broke the silence. “He didn’t do that on purpose, did he? You never said Ralin could do such things.”

Leesa shook her head. “No, I don’t think he did. Not consciously, anyhow.” She thought back to the green smoothie. “I think it was just a happy accident.”

Jenna grinned. “I believe it—the double corkscrew effect seemed a bit much for lighting a simple candle. But his saying ‘magic’ as his first word had me wondering.”

Leesa looked from Jenna to her son. “Believe me, I’m at least as surprised as you. I don’t know if it means anything—it’s a word he’s heard Rave and me use hundreds of times. Still, the timing is interesting, for sure.”

Ralin extended his arm toward the candle. Leesa reached out protectively to stop him before he could burn himself on the flame, but Rave grabbed her wrist.

“Wait,” he said, gently pulling her arm away.

Leesa looked at him questioningly, but did not resist his grip.

As it would for any mother, Leesa found it difficult to watch her child poke his hand toward a fire, no matter how small. She trusted Rave, though—he wouldn’t let any harm come to their son. Still, she found herself holding her breath when Ralin’s fingertip contacted the flame.

The green fire curled up around both sides of Ralin’s finger. No smell of burning flesh accompanied the sight, no sizzle of skin igniting. He held his finger in the flame for several long seconds, watching the fire dance around his flesh, then seemed to grow bored with the whole thing. Instead, he slid his fingertip through the icing atop the cake, gathering a thick glob of the sticky green coating onto his finger, which he promptly stuck into his mouth, giggling delightedly the whole time.

“Blue fire doesn’t burn volkaanes,” Rave explained. “I was pretty certain the green fire wouldn’t affect Ralin. Whether he’s immune to blue fire, or to blasts of his wizard magic, is another matter, though.”

Leesa picked up a napkin and wiped a big smudge of icing from above Ralin’s lip.

“Let’s hope he is. But let’s not be in any hurry to find that out, please.”

Ralin’s birthday seemed to mark a major transition in his magic. Leesa and Rave didn’t know if it had anything to do with his turning one year old, but magical outbursts of varying sorts began to appear with increasing frequency, until they were occurring once or twice each week. It wasn’t until he was a year and a half old, however, that the magic started to become truly dangerous.

The leaves in the two tall oaks in the yard behind the house were just beginning to turn. Most remained green, but the edges of many were now painted red and gold as the weather cooled. A few leaves had fallen to the grass below, early casualties knocked from their perch by the gentle breeze blowing through the yard. Despite a bright afternoon sun, the air bore that special crispness that signaled autumn was well underway. Leesa much preferred this weather to the sticky heat of summer.

She and Rave sat on the soft grass, holding hands and watching Ralin play. The rope swing dangling from one of the trees had long ago ceased to be merely a swing. Ralin still swung on it now and then, but more often he used the rope as an avenue to climb up into the tree the way he was doing right now. Leesa’s heart had leaped up into her throat the first time she had seen her fearless young son hauling himself hand over hand up the rope and onto the twenty-foot high branch to which it was tied, but after watching him perch among the thick branches as easily as he sat on a chair, she began to relax a little. She hadn’t figured out how to relax completely, however—she was still a mother, after all.

As she watched Ralin pull himself nimbly up the rope, she still found it hard to believe that someone so small could be so strong and agile. If he hadn’t been so big for his age, the sight would have been even more disconcerting.

“Did you play up in trees when you were young?” she asked Rave, all the while keeping her eyes fixed on Ralin, who had just swung himself off the rope and onto a thick branch. He stood upright on the limb, balancing easily while he decided what to try next. Leesa’s bad leg had kept her from climbing trees when she was young, so she had no idea how it felt being up there. It sure looked scary from down on the ground, though. The height did not appear to faze Ralin at all. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. A little more caution certainly couldn’t hurt, she thought.

Rave gave Leesa’s hand a gentle squeeze, pretty sure he knew what was going through her mind.

“We climbed all the time. Dral, Bain and I were like little monkeys. We were always trying to outdo each other, running and swinging through the branches, but we never fell once.” Rave decided to leave out that they were a bit older than Ralin was now before they started climbing. “Of course, we didn’t have mothers watching us and worrying. Perhaps we would have been a bit more careful if we did.”

Leesa smiled. Rave always seemed to know exactly what to say. It was just one of the million or so things she loved about him.

“Thank you for that. Does this mean you think Ralin is being extra careful up there? Because I have to say, it doesn’t really look that way to his mother right now.”

Rave shook his head. “He’s only eighteen months old. He’s smart, but I doubt that kind of consideration is part of his makeup yet. Try not to worry too much—we volkaanes are pretty gifted physically, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

Leesa smiled again and ran her hand slowly down Rave’s muscular thigh. “I have noticed that, yes, at least once or twice. But if I shouldn’t worry so much, why are YOU watching him like a hawk?”

Rave grinned. “I guess because I’m a father. That does seem to put a whole different spin on things.”

Leesa took his hand again. “I’m glad to hear you admit that. It makes me feel a little less like an old worrywart.”

She had no sooner finished her sentence when her breath caught in her throat as Ralin hoisted himself up with one hand onto an even higher branch.

“Tell me again, please, how I shouldn’t worry so much about him up there.”

“I will,” Rave replied, his eyes glued onto their son. “Just as soon as he’s got both hands on a branch again.”

“Be careful up there,” Leesa called to Ralin.

Ralin looked down at his parents with a smile. “Yes, Mommy. Ralin careful.”

What might have seemed careful to Ralin didn’t seem all that cautious to Leesa. The longer she watched him, though, the more relaxed she became with his antics. Even so, she still kept her eyes locked on him the entire time.

Finally, Ralin seemed to grow tired of playing in the tree. He grabbed onto the rope with both hands and began to lower himself. Leesa finally allowed herself to relax a little.

Suddenly, Ralin’s hands lit up with the familiar bright green glow. His magic must have manifested itself as heat, because even from her spot on the grass below, Leesa heard the thick rope begin to sizzle and burn. A scant second later, the rope split. Leesa screamed as her baby plummeted toward the ground.

Rave reacted instantly. From a sitting position he leapt forward, moving so quickly he was little more than a blur to Leesa. His volkaane quickness got him beneath Ralin before the child could crash to the ground. Rave caught him easily and pulled him close to his chest.

Leesa barely had time to get to her feet, but she was now hurrying across the lawn. Ralin giggled happily, as if the near disaster had all been part of the game. His hands no longer glowed green.

“Magic,” he said to Leesa from over Rave’s shoulder.

“Yes, that was magic all right,” she acknowledged as Rave handed Ralin to her. She squeezed her son tightly to her breast as the adrenaline slowly left her system, allowing her racing heart to begin to slow. She was far more anxious about the whole episode than Ralin appeared to be.

“Magic can be dangerous,” she told him. “Especially when you can’t control it. Do you understand?

Ralin nodded. “Magic dangerous,” he repeated.

Leesa had no idea whether her son actually understood what she was telling him or if he was merely parroting her words back to her.

“No more climbing,” she said. “Not until you can control your magic.”

From the frown on Ralin’s face, Leesa was pretty sure he at least understood the no climbing part of her admonishment. Whether he grasped the concept of controlling his magic was another matter entirely.