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When he finally rose to his feet, she knew the stolen moment was over. She hopped up as well and at the same time, released her shield.
Merl called out. “You two having fun?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
New skills thrive, when the past is brought to heel.
Collected Proverbs – Beatrice of Fourth
Not even Merl’s comment could touch Duncan’s feel-good. The team had really started coming together, his visions were back, and for the most part the damn snake stayed quiet. It seemed the more he moved forward, the less the poison got to him.
Merl got the team going again. “Let’s pick up with folding during wing-mount. Who wants to go first?”
“I do,” Duncan said.
Merl nodded then moved to stand in front of him. He put his hand on Duncan’s harness, over his heart. “Feel your grayle power here and when you do, access the energy of your wings at the same time, but don’t release right away. You want a combined sensation, both abilities forging in sync. Without it, you’ll end up with a mangle of wings that will take hours to heal.” Jean-Pierre drew close as well and planted his hand on Duncan’s shoulder, adding his jump-start stream of energy to the mix.
Duncan’s entire body vibrated with renewed energy. He closed his eyes and focused on the interior of his being, on all he was as a Warrior of the Blood and as a m
an capable of delivering battle visions. His wing-locks were already swollen, ready for release. But as suggested, he held the sensation at bay, waiting.
He sustained his concentration until he could feel his grayle power flowing through his chest and his veins. It felt similar to his vision ability but centered on his wings this time.
“That’s it,” he heard Merl say. “You’ve got it.”
Duncan opened his eyes and met Merl’s gaze. Merl stepped away from him. “Don’t think. Just mount and do the fold.”
While holding his grayle power steady, Duncan mounted his wings, the sensation so reminiscent of sex that for a few seconds his body flooded with the same intoxicating hormones. The next moment, he slipped into nether-space, his wings fully intact.
He was surprised to find he could see everyone clearly, something that didn’t happen during a normal fold. Still within nether-space, he moved down the line of warriors and experienced a profound connection to each, especially his former squad. He could sense their positions and their general emotional shape; Owen’s intensity, Alex’s positive nature, Joshua’s determination.
He aimed for the same location Rachel had chosen and rematerialized at the entrance to the workout center. The line of warriors cheered, just as they had for Rachel. Alex threw a fist into the air and whooped a few times.
Slipping back into nether-space with barely a thought, Duncan reversed direction. This time, he rematerialized behind Merl and caught him in a symbolic chokehold, releasing him quickly afterward.
“And here’s the beauty of this kind of fold,” Merl called out. “You can see where you’re going, which will be a huge factor during battle since not all Third ascenders can fold during wing-mount.”
His eyes shining with battle fervor, Merl turned toward Duncan and gripped his shoulder hard. “You’ve got it.”
Merl then directed him to teach Owen. “Show the brother how it’s done.”
The command to have Duncan work with Owen made sense in terms of team-building. And maybe there was a small part of Merl not wanting to get too close to Owen. Of all the warriors, Owen had expressed his dislike of Merl the most.
A lot had changed in the past few hours, but one night’s behavior didn’t automatically translate into trust.
Duncan retracted his wings as he crossed to Owen. The brother’s hazel eyes glowed fiercely, matching Duncan’s current temper. Each of them wanted to be ready to take on whatever Third Earth warriors they would meet in Yolanthe’s prison.
Duncan centered his hand on Owen’s battle harness, over his chest. “Feel the power here and begin accessing your wing-mount energy at the same time. Both powers need to merge before you release your wings. Once I released mine, I had the sense it was permanent and wouldn’t unravel during the fold. But you’ll know what I mean when it happens.”
Owen narrowed his eyes, fixing his gaze at a point beyond Duncan. Because Duncan had taken Merl’s position as teacher, he now felt what Merl must have felt when he had his hand on Duncan’s harness. A vibration began to build beneath Duncan’s palm, a steady rise of power.
“Holy shit,” Owen said, his voice hushed, awed. “I can feel the grayle power rising.”
“I know.”
Duncan even knew the moment the two powers locked together within Owen.
The next moment, Owen released his wings, which had grey, brown, and blue bands on a black background.
