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“A little sweat doesn’t change things,” he murmurs, brushing his lips across my forehead. “Okay, I’ll leave you two to it. Have fun.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, feeling guilty.
“There’s nothing to feel guilty over. Have fun with Rik. Hopefully it’ll help, but if not, we’ll come back to it next week. I’m proud of you for today, though, Ellie baby.”
I nod, and then he walks back up to the dorms, whistling some random tune as he goes. He’s so carefree, a saunter in his steps, and it reassures me.
Even if I fail again with Eirik now, he’s not perturbed. He still has faith.
“He’s never not going to have faith in you, love,” Eirik says, and my eyes dart to him in surprise. “You might not have mastered fire in four weeks, but you’ve come leaps and bounds in your education. Education that you’ve been denied, remember. You’re doing your best, and we’re all so proud of you.”
I smile, and then he offers me his hand. As I slide mine into his, he opens up a portal. The bright glow of the portal is nearly blinding, and I’m once again reminded of how ethereal this whole thing is.
I’m a witch, and I have my own magicae.
It’s like something I’ve dreamt up, but it’s not a dream. This is my reality. I have eight soul connections, I’m a soul witch… and I’m being hunted into extinction.
A familiar flutter of panic threatens to overwhelm me, but I look into the icy blue eyes of my elementalanima nexumand I try to ignore it.
“Where are we going?” I ask, not able to see anything but white through the portal.
“Somewhere where we can be alone for a few minutes,” he replies. I shrug, and we both step through the portal.
I’m immediately freezing, and when the portal closes, a sense of doom fills me. It sounds dramatic, but I was already feeling panicky.
Why are we here?
“Use your fire to keep yourself warm,” Eirik commands.
My teeth are chattering as I look around at where we’re standing. We look like we’re in Antarctica, but I don’t think we’re actually on… at Earth.
“We’re not,” Eirik says. “Use your fire, Zoe. You’ll freeze otherwise.”
“I-I-I’m al-al-ready free-ee-ee-ee-zing,” I chatter out.
“Use your fire, Zoe.” He’s standing here in a shirt and dress pants, loafers, and yet looks as warm as he would in 20 degree heat. Not too hot, not too warm. He’s the epitome of perfection.
I close my eyes, picturing a flame, but the panic within me is causing my mind to struggle to remain focused.
“It’s—” Eirik starts, but I refuse to let him give me a handout.
He’s brought us here to try and teach me how to access my fire. I don’t know why it’s so hard for me.
“Calidum,” I shout, well, I attempt to. But it doesn’t matter that my voice was shaky, or no louder than a whisper, because the intent was there.
Warmth fills my pores, the coldness disappearing. The shivers are gone, and I can feel the cool, clammy sweat clinging to me.
“You did it,” Eirik says with a smile.
“I cheated,” I say, looking around at the beautiful lands. I can appreciate the serenity of being here now that I’m not freezing any longer. “I cast a spell—”
“You’ve been thinking over and over about how you’re hopeless,” Eirik says, taking my hand in his, and tugging me forward. Taking the hint, I start walking with him. Despite my shoes being terrible for this weather, they’re not getting wet due to my magicae keeping us steady.
“Professor Byzatic said it, and it just… it stuck in my brain,” I murmur. “Even if he were wrong about what I was hopeless about, he wasn’t incorrect.”
Eirik sighs, and squeezes my hand. “I hate how little self-worth you have. Your mind is a liar, and I hate that you’ve adopted—”
“It’s not a lack of self-confidence.” I blush when he looks at me with that intense look of his, but I don’t apologise for cutting him off.
