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“Your power is not a thing that lives inside you.” Syl’vyn holds my eyes. “It is you, and the faster you can embrace the darkness within, the sooner you will master your powers.”
Easier said than done. “I’ve lived a long time believing magic couldn’t touch me. It’s difficult to reframe the way I think.”
“You do not wake up one day and decide to run a marathon.” She circles a finger to encompass the cabin and the surrounding forest. “That is why we are here.”
A smile tugs at my lips. “So, I’m learning to run the mile right now?”
She snorts with derision. “No. This is you crawling.”
“Great.” And here I thought I was making fast progress.
“Now.” She turns toward the pallet. “Embrace the inner darkness and unfocus.”
I rub my temples. “That should be confusing.”
“Yet it is not.” She flashes me a hard stare. “Stop dawdling. You may have infinite time, but I do not.”
With a sigh, I try to reach for my magic without grabbing for it while attempting to focus on the pallet while not focusing.
How did this become my life? Saving the world was so much easier.
dodge ball
- Flint -
I duck as a blast of magic whizzes toward my head. It slams into the wall behind me, exploding the plaster and leaving an enormous crater.
“Hey!” I brush dust from my hair. “We’re supposed to be using non-lethal forces here!”
Savannah smirks and pops her biceps, where the tattoos on her swarthy skin glow bright purple. “And you’re supposed to be practicing your shielding with your familiar’s help, not ducking and covering like this is an earthquake drill.”
Off to the sidelines, Orianna lets out a sharp bark of encouragement.
I glare over at the red fox, where she sits among the upper-level students who showed an interest in battle magic. “Whose side are you on?”
Her mouth drops open into a tongue-lolling grin, and she wags her tail.
The kids’ eyes widen as they look past me, and I dodge the next bomb flying at my head.
Savannah grins at me. “Keep your focus, old man.”
I straighten with affront. “Excuse me? I’m not the one going into retirement.”
Of the two of us, Savannah appears older, though appearances are deceiving. Crow’s feet may be forming at the corners of her eyes, but she’s only forty-seven. A child compared to the centuries I have over her.
Which doesn’t mean she’s not kicking my ass right now.
As she readies another ball of magic, the dozens of spells tattooed all over her body brighten. The purple glow they cast catches in the short strands of her black hair and dance in her dark-brown eyes, giving her a fiendish appearance.
Or maybe that’s just Savannah.
Her partner, Trent, warned me that she would terrorize the students if I invited her to become a teacher at the Conservatory, the magical school I run. I didn’t expect her to pull me into her lesson plan, though.
She throws the ball of magic at me, and I leap to the side, only noticing the second missile after I step into its path.
My pulse leaps, and ley line energy rises within me, creating a shield a heartbeat before the bomb lands.
It explodes against an invisible wall inches from my chest. My legs shake, but I refuse to give her the satisfaction of putting me on my ass.
