"Krossea? Krossea, where are you?"
     Porom circled around another bookshelf, looking for the 6-year-old. "Krossea? Are you here? KROSSEA?"
     Suddenly, something caught Porom's eye. It was a flash of light reflected off silver hair. Porom knew that could mean only one thing; she had found Krossea.
     Quickly but quietly walking up to Krossea, Porom bent over and asked "What are you doing?"
     Krossea didn't even seem startled. She didn't even look up from her book. "Hello, Miss Porom. I'm just reading."
     Porom looked at Krossea with her eyebrows raised. How does she do that? Porom wondered. It's almost as if she knows I'm sneaking up behind her before I know I'm going to do it! Porom decided to change the subject; thinking about such things bothered her.
     "What are you reading now, Krossea? I'd have figured you'd have read every book in this library a dozen times by now."
     Krossea finally looked up from her book. Her bright blue eyes sparkled, even in the dim light. "No, Miss Porom. Even I couldn't possibly read that many books in such a short time. This is a new one I found. It's about Summoning Magic; I find it fascinating..."
     I didn't know the Elder had a book about Summoning magic, Porom thought. That's not really our speciality; belongs to the people of Mist. "Really? What kind of Summon magic?"
     "Oh, basic summons. I doubt either of us could actually cast these spells, but it's fun to read about them anyway." Porom smiled at the little girl. I remember when I was like that, only a few years ago. Back when we went on that journey together... Speaking of that journey, I wonder where my idiot brother is now?
     A sudden explosion from outside brought Porom back to the present. "That's probably Palom again. Wonder what he's up to now?"
     Krossea smiled. "I have no idea; but we should go watch! Maybe it'll be as entertaining as the time he tried to start a bonfire and ended up setting half of Mysidia on fire!"
     Porom smiled; she could remember that. Palom, being his usual cocky self, had bosted that he could start a bonfire without the help of magic. Unfortunately, he'd found that it's a lot harder to control fire when not using a spell, and the fire had spread to a nearby house. If the Elder hadn't cast a Water spell to stop the fire, the whole town would have burned down.
     And the Elder was furious. He made Palom wash and sweep the Tower of Wishing for a whole week!
     Porom was so busy thinking that she hadn't noticed Krossea slipping out.
~~~~~~~~~
     Krossea walked out into the square, looking for Palom. Then she heard a very familiar voice.
     "Watch, as the Mysidian genius, Palom, makes fire and water appear out of thin air!" Palom rasied his hands in the air and began chanting words. Suddenly, a stream of water appeared, seemingly out of thin air!
     "Boo! Anyone here could do that, Palom!" one of the wizards watching pointed out.
     Palom smiled. "Yes, but can anyone here do this?"
     Quickly raising his arms again, Palom chanted a few more words. And then the water stream began to fuse together, and formed into a shape.
     "Thank you, thank you!" Palom began to bow to the crowd. He didn't notice the shape disappear, then reform into an even bigger shape. That is, until someone screamed "Water Dragon!"
     "What?" Palom asked, and spun around. Only to see a Water Dragon staring him in the face.
     Palom tripped over his robes, falling to the ground with a thud. Krossea's eyes widened. Palom was going to be killed!
     Without really thinking her next actions through, Krossea ran out into the street. She began to chant words to a spell as fast as she could. "Lit 1!" she cried, and a bolt of lightning hit the monster. But it didn't seem to effect the monster.
     Oh, no! What am I going to do?
     Without really thinking about it, Krossea reached back to find a spellbook. Any spellbook. She grabbed one and began to chant the words to the first spell she could, knowing that if this didn't work, both her and Palom were probably dead.
     But nothing happened. Krossea's heart practically stopped. She quickly checked the front of the spellbook. It was the Summoning Spellbook she'd taken from the library! Oh, no! That's not going to work! I've failed... And Krossea stood there, waiting for the Dragon to end her life.
     Suddenly, a hole appeared in space, and a Jinn popped out. He turned to the surprised Krossea and bowed, then he turned to the Dragon. With one quick movement, he covered the hapless monster in flames. It didn't even have time to shriek before it was reduced to ashes.
     The Jinn turned and bowed to Krossea again, then it disappeared into thin air, from whereever it came from, leaving a shocked Krossea behind.
     Palom picked himself up off the ground, embarrassed at what had happened. He ran up to Krossea. "Krossea, did you do that?"
     Krossea was still in a state of shock. "Yeah, I guess... I didn't know I could do that!"
     Palom gave her his usual smile, full of mischief. "That was amazing! You and I should team up; put on a show for the townspeople! Think of it!"
     Krossea smiled at Palom. "I don't think so, Palom. You keep putting on your shows alone." And with that, Krossea walked back in the direction of the library.
~~~~~~~~~
     Later that evening, Porom walked up and knocked on Krossea's door. Krossea answered it.
     "Hey, kiddo! Where's your father?" Porom asked.
     "You know Dad; he's up on Mt. Ordeals training again. Like he always is at this time. You should have known that, Miss Porom. You're supposed to be watching after me, you and the Elder!"
     She's right; I really should have known that. "Listen, Krossea. I saw what you did today."
     Krossea's blue eyes widened in shock. "Am I in trouble? I didn't mean to do it..." she began to babble.
     "No, no; you're not in trouble. I wanted to talk to you about it, actually." Porom walked over and sat down on a chair. "Listen, Krossea. You should really try to keep this a secret. People in this area don't like Callers; you know that just as well as anyone. If you really want to learn how to do this, you should do it by yourself; don't even tell the Elder. I'm not sure what he might do if he found out. I can help you hide it. Actually, this is kind of unusual for me; generally, it's Palom that keeps things from the Elder, not me. But I'll help if you want me to."
     Krossea nodded. "Thanks; but I don't think I should. I don't know why I can do this; it might be a good idea that I try not to learn for now."
     "But Krossea, you do know that after a certain age, you won't be able to learn any more? That I do know about Summoning; after a certain age, one loses the ability to learn."
     Krossea shook her head; she didn't know that. "Okay, then. I think maybe I should study by myself. I just don't feel right keeping things from the Elder."
     Porom smiled; Krossea was more like her than even she thought. "Neither do I; but if you want to do this, I'll help. It'll be our secret. I'll get Palom to agree to help, too; shouldn't be too hard. Palom likes to get on the Elder's nerves; he'll probably agree to help. Good luck, Krossea."
     "Thank you, Miss Porom!"
     This girl may just have more magical potential than any mage that has come before. I definitely have to keep an eye on her...