The sun balanced on the tips of the reeds and wild cattails that swayed gently in the breeze. In an open patch of the marsh, where water flowed as if it had all the time in the world, floated a canoe, and next to it, a boy. With eyes closed and a smile on his lips, he lay still even though mosquitoes and dragonflies perched on his bare, tanned arms. He wore only a pair of wide, black pants that drifted by the surface like a skirt. They mirrored his hair which surrounded his head like a black halo. His hands sparkled with golden lines as he slowly moved his arms to remain in place.

In the canoe sat a girl of the same age with short strawberry blonde hair, and a yellow frog with a pink pattern. Nerissa had rolled up the long black sleeves to her elbows and was taking notes with damp hands. She too had recently gotten her second set of golden tattoos. It hadn't hurt as badly as the ones on the fingers, but she didn't let the itching on the back of the palms stop her from drawing. She had made several maps of the lakes, each with a set of notes, numbers, and arrows, guessing in which order they could have been created. Elenour sat patiently by her side, clearing the air of mosquitos.

"Hey, Alaric!" she called to get the boy's attention.

He sighed and opened his eyes.

"Aren't you gonna write something down?"

"Of course, but not right now," he replied. "We have plenty of time, join me! It's like magic flows in the water."

Nerissa eyed the insects. "I'm good here. I know we have all day, but it feels like we're wasting it. This is pointless-"

"Shus! Just enjoy the moment, Nerissa." Alaric closed his eyes and let himself drift. "We'll be stuck inside again tomorrow. Relax while you can."

She sighed, put down her notebook, and submerged her hands on either side of the canoe. The instructions had been clear. They didn't have to solve the mystery of The Dance. All they needed was a hypothesis for this fraction of the marsh. But why not practice their magic doing something that would yield an actual answer? Like studying sprites or spirits?

Nerissa let go of the frustration and focused on the task at hand. She snapped her fingers and reached out her sense of touch through the water, noticing the waves, the shift of the current, and the fish further down. Her tattoos glowed and she closed her eyes to reach deeper. Like a bat in a cave, she read the floor of the lake by sending waves of gathered magic through the water. Centuries of mud and clay made her mental image of the steps blurry, but not indecipherable.

Nerissa dried her hands on her chest embroidered with the academy crest of a silver willow and made another note on the maps. This was as good as it would get.

"Have you thought of what wizard's name you'll take?" she asked as Alaric swam towards the canoe.

"Already?" His eyes widened. "It's five years until graduation!"

Nerissa shone with excitement. "It'll be here before you can blink. Just look how fast the last two years have gone by."

"I guess." Alaric bit his lip in concentration and gathered a platform of magic by the surface. With a step, he was back in the canoe without having to worry about it tipping.

Flustered by the spell, he wrung out the water from his hair and pants. "I haven't thought much of a wizard's name to be honest..."

Nerissa picked up the paddle and steered them further into the marsh. "I want mine to be something with stars. Like Starsea or Eveningstar."

Alaric shrugged. "They fit you."

Nerissa tried to read Alaric's rigid expression. "Are you okay? You seem a bit ... distracted." He'd been happy only moments ago. Was it something she'd said?

Alaric turned his back against her and hugged his knees. "I'm fine. I'm just thinking."

"If you say so..." She decided to try and lift his mood. "What do you think of Reedwhisperer?"

Alaric hesitated. "Isn't it a bit too witch-like?"

Nerissa tapped his tense shoulder with the wooden paddle. "Then it would suit you perfectly! You're a bit like a witch, don't you think? Swimming with insects and-"

"I'm not a witch!" Alaric whipped around, causing the canoe to wobble and let in water.

Nerissa grabbed the railing with both hands to not fall over, letting the paddle slip out of her reach. Elenour croaked in dismay and jumped onto her lap.

"What's wrong with you?!" Nerissa yelled. "Sit still!"

His eyes turned red as he tried to force away tears. "I'm not a witch," he repeated, this time with a tremor in his voice. At first, it struck her as anger, but that was there only to mask the fear that grew as the canoe came to rest once more.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know this was a sore subject." Nerissa's mind buzzed with thoughts that filled her with guilt. She shouldn't have said anything.

The canoe fell silent but for the occasional croak from Elenour and a thought struck Nerissa. "Would- Would you want to be a witch?"

Instead of screaming at her again, as Nerissa had steeled herself for, Alaric shrugged. "Doesn't matter." He studied his tattooed hands and hid them in his pockets. "That ship has sailed."

"If you didn't want to be a wizard, why did you go to the academy in the first place?"

"My family, especially my uncle, didn't give me much of a choice. It was the only option I had if I wanted to learn magic. And not even that was much of a choice honestly."

"Well, is it really that big of a difference?" Nerissa wondered. "It's still magic."

Alaric shook his head. "It's not the same. Not at all. At first, I thought magic was supposed to be difficult. But the longer we study, the harder it seems to be for me in particular. Remember our first lesson in how to gather magic?"

Nerissa nodded. It had only taken her a couple of hours to form an invisible, levitating disc from the magic in the air. Memorising the set of precise hand movements had come naturally.

"It took me a week to get right. And it only worked after I read how witches do it; using the magic as it is, instead of coercing it into a new shape that suits the spellcaster. Ironic how I was told to read myself to a solution, and then the book told me reading wasn't the solution for me." Alaric flung his arms in frustration which sent ripples into the reeds.

Nerissa thought back on the late nights he had insisted on studying by himself. It all made sense now. Another blow of guilt hit her. "Why didn't you say something? I could have helped you."

"I guess I got used to it being hard. But every time I try a witch's way of magic it just feels so right. And I can't stop, even though I know I probably should."

"No, don't say that! There's nothing wrong with being a witch, they just do things differently," she said as if she'd actually talked to a witch.

"Try telling my uncle that," Alaric snorted. "He says they're "unstructured and have no appreciation for society". He'd never allow me to be a witch's apprentice."

Nerissa furrowed her eyebrows. "Why does he get to have a say about your life?"

"Well, he's one of many wizards in my family and he's quite a big deal at the academy. He researches the origins of magic or something. I always zone out whenever he starts his monologues about old books."

Instead of defending the appeal of ancient tomes, Nerissa said, "It's still your life."

"I know, but it doesn't matter." Alaric raised his hands. "I-"

"So what if you have some tattoos already?" Nerissa interrupted. "They look awesome, but you don't have to get more if you don't want them."

"Okay." Alaric collected himself with a deep breath and Elenour jumped onto his lap for moral support. "Let's say I wanna leave the academy. How would I even do that?"

"Just tell your family what you've told me. Stand up for yourself!"

"How-" Alaric stopped his thought and shook his head. "No. I can't. They'll talk me out of it and then I'll be back where I started."

"Well, what do you wanna do then? I'll help you any way I can." Nerissa tried paddling with her hand to steer the canoe closer to the lost paddle. The distance wasn't worth the effort and instead, she began gathering magic into a hook. She moved and merged the fragments of magic to the patch of reeds, slowly moulding it like clay.

Alaric stared out over the marsh in the meantime, thoughts swirling like the insects in the air. "I could just leave."

Nerissa froze with arms hanging in mid-air and the invisible, magical hook right above the paddle. "Just like that?"

"Well, yeah. Out here it feels like I can finally breathe. It's calm, literally buzzing with life, and I can feel the magic like never before! Maybe I should just fake my death."

"Hold on! That's not happening." Nerissa's concentration shattered and the magic dispersed into the reeds, causing them to rustle as if by a strong wind.

Alaric shrugged with a smile. "You never know. The marsh can be dangerous. All the alligators and sprites could be my doom."

Nerissa couldn't help but smile. "As if you couldn't handle those. Besides, sprites are harmless. I had hoped we'd get to see one today, but I guess we've been too loud."

"I take no responsibility for that," Alaric teased.

Nerissa rolled her eyes and tried again to gather a hook.

"Seriously though," Alaric said. "I can't go back. Not right now at least." He pulled out a fistful of coins from his pockets. "How far do you think I can stretch seven gold and eight silver?"

"Really? Do you have seven gold on you? On a two-day trip?" Nerissa facepalmed and lost the hook again. "That would last at least two months!"

"What? It's nice to be prepared. Money can solve a lot of problems if you let it, as uncle Vicktar use to say."

"On second thought," Nerissa said. "That will last you a couple of weeks. At most."

Alaric played hurt and put away the money. "Two months or two weeks – this should give me plenty of time to find a witch who wants an apprentice."

"So that's your plan? Leave and never look back?" Nerissa tried to feel happy and proud of him for following his heart, but it was impossible while her own was being torn.

"Of course not! This isn't a farewell, Nerissa." Altho his eyes were still red from tears, he gave her a warm smile and returned Elenour to her lap. "I'll come to visit. I promise. But I have no idea when that will be, so you better stay ready!"

"I will." Nerissa laughed, but her eyes were still brimmed with tears. "Promise you'll send me letters."

"Of course!" Alaric lost his smile and grimaced. "I should probably write at least one of those as soon as possible. Could you give it to my uncle when you get back to the academy?"

Nerissa nodded and wiped away the tears. Like he'd said, this wasn't a farewell, she had to get a grip on herself. "Who do I ask for?"

"Grand Wizard Vicktar Cinder. He's probably still in the Silver Tower, but I don't think students are allowed there."

Nerissa shrugged. She'd find a way. But delivering that letter was a problem for another day. For now, she decided to follow Alaric's earlier suggestion and enjoy the day. Maybe there was still hope of seeing a sprite.