Magic Resilient

by Kayla Bashe

  The attack damages it, but not enough to fully expel it from the poor woman’s body. Instead, it’s just made it angrier! Before you can plan your next attack, tendrils of purple and red flesh lash towards you, binding you and knocking you down. What does it plan on doing to you? You struggle as much as you can, hoping you don’t have to find out.

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  Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe

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  The attack damages it, but not enough to fully expel it from the poor woman’s body. Instead, it’s just made it angrier! Before you can plan your next attack, tendrils of purple and red flesh lash towards you, binding you and knocking you down. What does it plan on doing to you? You struggle as much as you can, hoping you don’t have to find out.

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  Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe

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  The school building is just as picturesque as all the pictures have led you to expect: a sturdy, yet beautiful antique castle with climbing ivy and lots of towers. Flowers bloom on the trees in the gardens—pale pink and peach and lavender—apple blossoms and roses and lilacs and flowers you don’t even know the names for. It’s perfectly balmy this time of year, the way it always is, and you take off your grey wool sweater and stuff it into your bag, enjoying the feel of the air against your skin.

  There are lots of lines to stand in—luggage retrieval, room assignments, squad assignments—in all the chaos, you and your new friend get separated.

  “Here’s your squad listing.”

  Verdie Vestri

  Charmaine Flare

  Shani Nejem

  Malou Stonewall

  Recognizing a name on the list, you let out a spontaneous cry of joy, hoist your bags, and run into the castle and to the suite that will be your new home.

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  Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe

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  “Purifying Waterfall!”

  Mist and leaves and magic-made water lilies cascade horizontally over you, dampening your outfit’s fabric. You hear the monster’s cry of despair and fury as it leaves this plane of existence.

  “Sorry I soaked you…”

  Looking up, you see the girl from earlier, in a glimmery blue outfit that shimmers like sun on a lake.

  “I dry quickly, it’s nothing.” To demonstrate, you summon up a zephyr that swirls around and whisks the moisture from you outfit.

  As people begin to regain conciousness, you detransform and head to the back of the bus.

  “Shani Nejem,” your new friend says with a shy yet perfect smile. “Pleased to meet you.”

  You nod an introduction. “Verdie Vestri.” She wrinkles her button of a nose. “Vestri, Vestri…I studied a Castle Vestri once, but I can hardly remember it. Do you live near the ocean?”

  You can’t help smiling. “Always have.”

  “I live near a lake, and waterlilies grow in the thatch of my family’s home.” Beaming, she nudges closer to you. “See, we have something in common already!”

  By the end of the ride, you’ve formed an opinion: Shani is one of those people it would be hard not to like.

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  Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe

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  “Chain Shot!” A loud bang, the smell of gunpowder—and suddenly the tentacles around your ankles are shriveling and weakening so that you can kick them away, no problem. You’re aware of how fast your heart is beating; to calm yourself, you breathe deeply and slowly. Just another brush with disaster. No problem. You’re alive, aren’t you?

  “Need a hand?”

  It’s the girl from earlier, crouching and helping you to your feet; at once, you recognize her as a fellow magical warrior. Her outfit looks like a military uniform. It’s the color of city buildings, of sidewalks and brickwork and dust.

  “I can stand, I think,” you say, testing your legs. And then, with more certainty, “We need to get the bus ventilated—help me open the windows.”

  She nods. “Right!”

  You snap into action, each taking a side of the bus without even having to verbally divide up responsibilities. At one point, one of her windows is stuck; you hear her struggle with it, mutter a curse with lots of consonants under her breath, and calmly smash her fist through the glass.

  Oh, wow. Girl’s got guts.

  Out of the corner of your eye, you see the monster rallying, preparing to launch another fell attack on your new companion. Before it can do that, though, you twirl into a move of your own. “Freedom of the air, check six!” Tiny magic planes swoop from your hands and drop explosive parcels of energy onto the creature. With a moan of fury, it fades away, leaving an unharmed but dazed woman behind. You comfort her, encourage her to take better care of herself in the future so she’ll be less stressed; as the bus starts again, you detransform and stagger into a seat.

  “You’re headed to the Academy as well.” It’s not a question. “Malou Stoneheart from the Red Planet. And you are?”

  “Isn’t that planet uninhabited?”

  “My city is one of the last holdouts.”

  “Wow, what’s that like?”

  As she talks about her upbringing—she was raised by a group of soldiers who found her as an orphaned toddler wandering the streets—you realize that while you’ve corresponded with other magical girls before, the immediate spark of kinship between you and Malou is special.

  You’ve found someone else who understands what it was like to grow up too fast and have to catch up to childhood afterwards, who gets that teenage girls are a lot tougher than they think they are.

  Adversity bonds people, even separate-but-similar adversities, and makes them stronger.

  Malou is the same sort of strong as I am, you think with a smile. We’re going to work well together, I can tell.

  She understands what it’s like to get excited over strawberry oatmeal with sugar after a childhood of food rationing, to treasure the opportunity to walk alone outside after dark.

  “And I was like ‘if you’re going to run into a cordoned-off zone, it’s perfectly reasonable that I’d have to take a few minutes to swoop to your rescue!’”

  “I know, right?”

  Even though you’ve just met, you feel as if your souls were cut from the same cloth.

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  Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe

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  Lighting gives the common room of your suite a warm golden glow. Furniture in rich browns and creams looks warm and inviting, and a door-sized window opens out onto a balcony.

  A chubby girl in a purposefully crinkled pastel-blue dress and a cute green hijab with glittery white sequins lies on the carpet, stringing candy necklaces.

  A girl with sleek black hair goes through a stretching routine by the fireplace, her expression intent.

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  Talk to
the girl on the carpet

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  Talk to the girl by the fireplace

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  Please turn back a page

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  Please turn forward a page

  * * *

  Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe

  * * *

  The school building is just as picturesque as all the pictures have led you to expect: a sturdy, yet beautiful antique castle with climbing ivy and lots of towers. Flowers bloom on the trees in the gardens—pale pink and peach and lavender—apple blossoms and roses and lilacs and flowers you don’t even know the names for. It’s perfectly balmy this time of year, the way it always is, and you take off your grey wool sweater and stuff it into your bag, enjoying the feel of the air against your skin.

  There are lots of lines to stand in—luggage retrieval, room assignments, squad assignments—in all the chaos, you and your new friend get separated.

  “Here’s your squad listing.”

  Verdie Vestri

  Charmaine Flare

  Shani Nejem

  Malou Stonewall

  Recognizing a name on the list, you let out a spontaneous cry of joy, hoist your bags, and run into the castle and to the suite that will be your new home.

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  >>

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  Please turn back a page

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  Please turn forward a page

  * * *

  Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe

  * * *

  The school building is just as picturesque as all the pictures have led you to expect: a sturdy, yet beautiful antique castle with climbing ivy and lots of towers. Flowers bloom on the trees in the gardens—pale pink and peach and lavender—apple blossoms and roses and lilacs and flowers you don’t even know the names for. It’s perfectly balmy this time of year, the way it always is, and you take off your grey wool sweater and stuff it into your bag, enjoying the feel of the air against your skin.

  There are lots of lines to stand in—luggage retrieval, room assignments, squad assignments—in all the chaos, you and your new friend get separated.

  “Here’s your squad listing.”

  Verdie Vestri

  Charmaine Flare

  Shani Nejem

  Malou Stonewall

  Recognizing a name on the list, you let out a spontaneous cry of joy, hoist your bags, and run into the castle and to the suite that will be your new home.

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  >>

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  Please turn back a page

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  Please turn forward a page

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  Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe

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  “Hey, my name’s Shani. I volunteered to help the welcoming committee make presents for the younger students, but I’m sure they won’t notice if we eat just a few of the beads. So where are you from?” There’s an openness and innocence in her wide eyes and genuine smile that draws you to trust her. She’s as sweet as candy.

  It’s those qualities that lead you to give her the name of your home planet instead of saying “Castle Vestri.” Shani seems to think you’ve lead the same sort of charmed life as she has. When you speak to her, it’s as if you’ve been given permission to act like that sort of carefree girl. Her very presence is a gift.

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  Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe

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  “You’re Malou, right? I-”

  She snaps to attention, putting one hand over her heart, the other behind her back. The gesture is undeniably a salute. “My heart for the wall, ma’am!”

  Awareness of her surroundings seems to creep into her, and she relaxes with a little bashful laugh.

  “Sorry, I’m…really used to saluting people when I meet them.”

  “It’s okay. My name is Verdie Vestri of Castle Vestri.”

  “Officer Cadet Malou Stoneheart, m-” She clamps down on the ma’am. “I’m from the walled city of Stoneskeep, on Redmoon.”

  “I didn’t even know that planet was still inhabited.”

  “Technically, it’s not—we’re the last holdouts.”

  “Tell me more?”

  Malou’s fascinating.

  Orphaned as a toddler, she was found by a military squad, who subsequently adopted and raised her. At seven, she was officially enlisted as the squad’s dishwasher; at thirteen, when she discovered her powers during a wall breach, she became one of the youngest people ever accepted into military training. Since then, she’s taken on many of the resposibilities of a full soldier, such as patrolling and guard duty.

  “Did you get to do teenager things, too? Like hanging out with your friends and shopping?”

  Malou half-turns away from you. “I had responsibilities,” she murmurs. And then, focusing on you again, “Tell me about your life, though. Verdie Vestri from Castle Vestri…the Verdie Vestri?”

  A story for a story, right? So you incline your head, regal, graceful. “The one and only.”

  Her eyes brighten. “I’ve heard about the siege of Vestri—it’s a textbook example of guerrila tactics. It lasted months, didn’t it? How did you feel?”

  “Terrified out of my wits—when I could afford to be. The way I see it…when there’s something you really have to do, you just…you don’t think about your fears, you think about your responsibilities. You hope for the best. I had to be optimistic, or I’d give up.”

  “I know what you mean. When you live somewhere that’s surrounded by enemies…I can’t believe I’m hearing about the siege of Vestri firsthand, though. You’re such a heroine.”

  I guided survivors into the castle’s old wards, magical barriers reinforced by the ocean’s energy, and slayed a few monsters when I caught them alone. A heroine would have faced her enemies head-on.

  I’ve never felt like a heroine.

  But you don’t say that.

  When you tell her your story, you choose to focus mainly on rebuilding, how you used your powers to banish fear and help people get their lives back together. Maybe, someday, you and Malou will be able to do the same.

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  Please turn back a page

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  * * *

  Magic Resilient, by Kayla Bashe

  * * *

  Lighting gives the common room of your suite a warm golden glow. Furniture in rich browns and creams looks warm and inviting, and a door-sized window opens out onto a balcony.

  A girl with sleek black hair goes through a stretching routine by the fireplace, her expression intent.

  A girl with dark brown skin and incredibly long legs lounges on one of the couches, reading a fashion periodical.

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  Talk to the girl by the fireplace

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  Talk to the girl on the couch

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  Please turn back a page

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  Please turn forward a page