Footprints Along the Path by Kari Kilgore

Drifting Through Noise When She Needs Peace

Goresi reflects on her path to becoming an Honored Mage.
Considering all the magical steps that delivered her so far.
Facing one last challenge with a mind and heart full of chatter and nonsense.
And no time left for practice and patience.
Will a visit to her own past help Goresi discover the way?

Also available in the collection Fantastic Side Trips: Side Characters Take Center Stage

An excerpt from Footprints Along the Path:
Discovering Her Own Way Forward

A prickly aroma of delicately sweet magic alerted Goresi before someone spoke.

"How did you do that?"

She turned to see a short, slender girl with a head full of thick brown hair floating in the breeze. The girl's robe was an intense, rich orange. Only a couple of matching footprint shapes marked the ground around her.

Her pale blue eyes were wide, but thank all the powers that be, her expression was more curious and admiring than upset.

"I just...well, I figured out how to change the color is all."

Goresi knew her cheeks were flaming red, but she wasn't sure why or what to do about it.

She hadn't meant to show off or make anyone else feel bad. She was much too familiar with that kind of teasing behavior from her own family to want to pass it along to a stranger.

A stranger who grinned and mouthed a silent wow as she took a few steps closer.

Steps that didn't show up on the ground at all.