Sodie flexed her fingers as she went over the spell in her mind. Okay, first you draw the sign of the phoenix and then? Then? She snatched up her book and skimmed over the spell again, then begins the chant and once the flame has been conjured all you do is direct it. "Simple as that." She said aloud.

"Sodie, are you ready yet?" Madam Shora asked.

"Yes, Madam," Sodie said and marched into the room behind her classroom.

"Well,"

Sodie inhaled and began the test. She drew the sign of the phoenix in midair and began to chant. Suddenly a ball of fire sprang up from her hand.

"Good job, now extinguish it," Madam Shora instructed.

Sodie nodded and concentrated on what she had just read. To extinguish it you close your fist over it and sent it back to whence it came. Where did it come from? Inside? Sodie figured so and clenched her fist. The flames remained where they were, just above her hand. Concentrate, inside. Again she tried and this time the flames went up in a puff of smoke.

"Mmhmph," Madam Shora nodded as she scribbled something down, "You need a bit of work on the extinguishing, but other wise you did wonderfully."

Sodie curtsied, mumbled a thank you and rushed out.

"So how did you do?"

"I need to work on my put out," Sodie said to Doreen.

"Oh," she said a bit quietly, "I hardly got the flame started."

"It takes practice." Sodie pointed out.

Suddenly a long rumbled of thunder rolled in through the window, reaching a high crescendo and falling back to a soft growl.

"Looks like a storm is coming, I'd better get going." Sodie said as she rushed to the door. Outside the sky was a light gray and almost black far in the east. As she hurried home she felt a fat drop of water land on her head. Then another, and another, until the ground was speckled with rain drops. Oh no, she thought, I'm not going to make it home. She looked around and spotted the Mews. Perfect, she thought and rushed in. Just as she closed the door the rain fell, sounding as if a bag of needles had been dropped atop the mews.

"Looks like I'm going to be here a while," Sodie said to a horse that hung its head lazily out of its stall. A small, circular window confirmed her prediction as the rain pounded endlessly. Sodie began to wander around the small barn. She noticed that one stall was completely closed off. Curiosity got the better of her as she approached it. She heard a neigh and a loud thump. Sodie peeked through a small opening in the stall door and jumped back. A caramel colored eye was staring back.

Sodie felt bad for the poor creature imprisoned in such a small stall and cut off from every thing else. Without thinking she unlatched the lock and swung open the top half of the stall. Sodie gasped. The red, gray, and blue equine pawed the ground. A long pointed horn emerged from the center of its head and its silky black tail flowed magnificently to the ground. The unicorn whinnied and pawed the ground again. Sodie noticed that, though beautiful as it was, it looked rather scrawny and battered.

Gradually Sodie noticed the silence of the mews and realized the rain had stopped. She was uncertain whether she should leave and just go home or do something about the unicorn.

"Hey fella," she said softly and held out her hand, "I'm not going to hurt you."

The unicorn looked at her suspiciously, but somehow it seemed to understand that she was safe. Sodie stroked the equine's silky mane suddenly feeling its sorrow.

"What have they done to you?" she cooed and continued to stroke it. "Mystra," she said suddenly, "Your name is Mystra."

Just then the door of the mews swung open and a man strolled in. "What are you doing here? Hey, get away from that!"

Sodie's heart began to pound. She had no explanation and she knew she was in for trouble. Absently she threw open the stall door and the unicorn bucked out.

"Whoa," the man jumped back as the horn barely missed his chest, "What have you done, girl?"

"What have you done?" she snapped at him, "You've angered Mystra." With that she hopped atop the unicorn and raced out.