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“It’s the same concept as regulating your environment. Heat is just energy; you are the master of energy. Build heat and focus it, then tell it where to go.” I put my consciousness on the tips of my fingers and willed the energy from the environment around me to gather. A small spark started to form, before fizzling out and dying.
“Hmm,” Kasha said thoughtfully. “You’re doing the technique correctly. I literally saw you vaporize a bunch of daemons and magick folk on the docks. I wonder why it’s not working now?”
“It’s because you need to piss her off!” Rycon called from where he and Dossidian were training. I noticed neither of them were bleeding yet.
“Yeah, I guess you were in a pretty bad place emotionally at the time, but that’s not sustainable. Every time you’re in a life or death situation you can’t just hope you're going to be pissed off enough to generate power.” She reasoned.
I nodded. “I agree, and I honestly don’t want to have to think about things that make me angry all the time to do this. It’s been nice since I’ve been here. I feel like I haven't been angry or irritable. I don’t want to go back to how I always felt before.” I confided. Kasha nodded.
“I don’t blame you. Ok, so we need to find a new source for you to draw your energy from. What drives you now? Why do you want to help us fight Ash Nevra?” She asked.
I really thought about it. What was driving me now? Amon was upset when I had joked that it was because of the life debt that I owed him. I shouldn’t have said that; it wasn’t really true. I was beyond that now. I had seen Conrad stand up for what was right in front of an entire board of people that he respected. He did it because he truly felt that what Ash Nevra was doing was wrong.
Rycon had just left his leap after literally fighting tooth and nail to keep his place as Rhoan. Not because he wanted to, but because he too, was disturbed by what was happening here. He wanted to protect his people. Why was I here?
I wasn’t a Queen, or a Rhiannon. I didn’t have a leap that I needed to defend or protect for the greater good. In fact, most humans I had met hated me… well, that wasn’t true. I had Jeremy. I wanted to protect him.
I looked at Kasha and remembered that Ash Nevra had forced her to serve in her sex trade, for who knew how long. Dossidian, who she had enslaved and forced to kill and hurt innocent daemons in her name. Then of course, Amon, whom she had forced to serve her for hundreds of years, threatening the lives and well-being of those he cared about as punishment, should he not comply.
I realized suddenly, I did have people that I needed to protect, that I cared about. If the rest of the daemons that Ash Nevra had enslaved were even half as impressive, kind and welcoming as the ones I had met here, then I was here for them too. I felt a burning passion build in me. It was a need. I needed to be their protector. To save them. Save them the way I couldn’t save Clair. A roll of emotion snaked through my chest.
I held onto that feeling, and suddenly, the energy around me pooled and gathered at my fingertips. With little more than a thought, a quasar of light erupted from me. Skittering out into the distance.
Kasha beamed at me. “You got it!” She shouted, and I grinned.
“Great, now let's bring it all together. Dossidian tells me you’re a pretty good boxer. Let’s mix hand to hand with the magick. I’m going to come at you with all I’ve got. Do your best to evade me first.
“If you never land a hit on me that’s fine. Your primary goal should be to avoid getting hit at all costs. When you have an opening or an opportunity, that is when you strike. Don’t rush it. You’ll never get a hit if you’re dead. Defense should always be your number one priority.” She fell back into that same stance, just this time facing me.
“You ready?”
I swallowed but nodded.
Then, she was coming for me. Before I could even think, I called my shadows, and they shadow walked me behind her. She spun around and I did it again, her blazing fist flying through the air, where my face should have been.
The more I bounced from space to space, the better and quicker I got. She was grinning wildly, encouraging me, each time I successfully evaded her. After some time, I realized I could shadow walk into the air, and hover there, before shooting a beam of energy back at her. She deflected most of them easily, but because she couldn’t fly, it was an effective evasive maneuver.
“This is why Amon was so angry that I didn’t think to fly,” I said out loud, and she nodded, grinning.
“Yes. You would have likely been pretty safe in the air,” she replied. Well, I certainly wouldn’t be making that mistake again.
We stayed at it for what felt like hours, before suddenly, Amon appeared, with both Conrad and Meredith in tow.
I had been midair, powering up a deadly blast aimed directly at Kasha, when Conrad’s eyes met mine and my heart sank. The power died from my palms, and I twisted around in the air to face him.
“Conrad?” I asked, immediately floating down to them. His eyes were glassy, and his mouth was set in a grim line. I glanced over at Meredith, and she shook her head.
“Patricia passed away shortly after you both left. She has been cremated, and we had a small ceremony yesterday.” Meredith said gently, taking Conrad’s hand in hers. “We took her ashes to the Brown family in Jamaica.”
“Conrad,” I said softly, stepping forward, “I’m so sorry. She was an incredible woman.”
“Thank yuh, Raven. She is wi di ancestors now. I am glad she nuh feel nuh more pain.”
“How can I be there for you?” I asked softly. I wasn’t sure if he wanted me to hug him or give him space. He gave me a solemn smile and pulled me in for a hug.
“Mi just need time, yuh know?” He murmured, and I nodded my head against him.
“Yeah, I know,” if anyone understood, it was me. We stood in silence for a moment before he pulled away.
