Girl Born of Smoke

FP

Adonis Rep

I would give anything, right now, for a three day weekend on a middle gravity world. I badly need to relax and recenter. The gravity stabilizer on my home disc is on the fritz again. I've spent the last week and a half bent over a bucket, losing my guts, as I yo-yoed between twenty and twenty two thousand feet above the surface of Aubrus. Sadly, a vacation was out of the question. In order to get my grav-stab fixed I need to make money, not spend it, so I hit up my editor for another assignment.
He sent me to Ralinos, a city buzzing with the tense energy of newly won, but tentatively held, peace. The remnants of two armies still camped in and around the city, and the stronghold was alive like a shaken nest of hornets.
My interview was with Tarana, the young girl whose magic and sacrifice inspired this new found truce. If Ralinos had any hope of sustainable peace between the Wizard's Army and the Citizen's Army, than Tarana represented that hope. It was an exciting assignment, but not easy. Tarana's past was shrouded in mystery--or more literally, smoke. Who was this young girl, born from the ashes of Delobo?
I caught up with Tarana in an upper room of the stronghold. She was smaller than I'd imagined, her short blonde hair hung loose and wind blown around her head, and she was floating. My stomach lurched and threatend to give. I left my floating home for this interview for the sole purpose of rooting my feet in firm ground, and here this girl was, bouncing on thin air, bringing back memories of recently launched lunches. Ah, well. . . the hazzards of inter-world journalism.

Adonis Rep: Tarana, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I. . . would you mind if we sat for this interview?

Tarana: Oh, right. Sorry about that. I forget that people are still a bit. . .er. . . jumpy about magic. Thanks for coming. It's nice to meet you!

AR: I don't mind magic in the least. It's sort of a way of life for me. It's all of the ups and downs of anti-grav that are making me regret my lunch. On the topic of magic though-- How are you adjusting to your new magical abilities?

T: Well, nobody has tried to kill me yet, so that's a plus. Most people are still pretty uneasy about the situation, but I guess that's what I have my friends for. Even if they're freaked out by me, they'll still do their best to protect me. I still feel a little weird to be using magic openly. But it's good. It's good to finally be able to stay in one place and not hide who I am or what I can do.

AR: Is there any power that you have an affinity for? Any you find particularly useful?

T: You've already seen my favorite! You have no idea how exciting it is to counteract the forces of gravity and just get up and fly. I mean, I don't really do it in public. At least, not yet, but sometimes I leave my physical body behind and fly across the land, trying to see how everyone is doing and what cities need our help. I don't suppose you would like to try it out? I could probably haul you along with me and go for a little flight...?

AR: Bleh! As appealing as that sounds. . . Perhaps I'll take a rain check. Actually, no. No more flying. I need to sit down. Forgive me.
Okay, that's better. Back to the interview.
How are your friends, like Djerr, Kirian, and Roxanne adjusting to your knew talents and identity?

T: Er, some better than others. . . Djerr has never really had a problem with anything I've done. Well, regarding magic anyway. We're still a little rocky because of what I- well, that's not the question. Anyway, Djerr's fine with the magic. Still a little mad about other things, but magic isn't the problem. Roxanne is mainly just excited. She's busy recruiting a group to protect me from all the people like Kirian - he's absolutely terrified of my talents, but fortunately he trusts me enough not to try to hurt me or run off. It's hard, you know. There's such a history behind the magic and so many horrible stories that people have grown up hearing. It's hard to overcome that right away. Some people will always hate me for what I can do. I have hope for Kirian, though. I think he's open-minded enough to deal with it.

AR: I understand that it's a painful subject, but I need to ask. What stays with you from Delobo?

T: Guilt. I have so much guilt for what happened in Delobo. I feel absolutely terrible for what happened to my family, and then for what happened to everyone else that lived there. Yeah, I wasn't directly responsible for the second part, but I wish I had caught on sooner as to what was going on. Maybe I would have been able to stop him. . .

AR: One final question. Farseeing may not be within your impressive magical range, but considering all of the major changes on a personal and political level, what lies ahead for Ralinos? And what does the future hold for Tarana?

T: Haha, I wish I could see into the future, but that's definitely not something I can do. At least not that I've figured out so far! As for Ralinos, something drastic has to be done here. The people have lived in such fear of the army for so long and they are so poor. The first thing I want to do is destroy the stronghold. I know, I know, my whole message has been about rebuilding, but this building has been such a symbol of oppression and contention. I want to start new. That'll be my first step. As for myself, I don't really know. There are a lot of places I need to go and a lot of people that need my help. I also don't know what will happen between Djerr and I - if he'll ever really forgive me for everything. It's kind of nice though, not knowing what's going to happen. All I can do is try to help rebuild everything that was destroyed in my name. And that's enough for me right now.

AR: Wow. Even with your magic, it sounds like you've got your work cut out for you. Thank you so much for the interview. I wish you the best. As for me, I believe I'll literally lie low for a while. Seriously. Before you tear that stronghold down, is there a moldy basement I can hang out in for a while. Somewhere dark with a lot of gravity is what i need.
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Check out The Girl Born of Smoke, by Jessica Billings
Jessica Billings is currently going to school in Michigan, butwill always consider herself an Oregonian. She likes photographingbugs and majored in biology and education at Oregon State. She is nowpursuing a master's degree in environmental engineering. She learned to scuba dive when she was 14, but refuses to dive into the frigidwaters of Michigan.
Website: http://jessicabillings.weebly.com/
Amazon link: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003F779P4/
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Adonis Rep interviews are created and written by Tim Worsham. If you are an author or fan of genre fiction and would like to see one of your favorite characters interviewed, contact Tim at tcworm@hotmail.com