by Logan Jacobs
So, magic powers were not as easy as I thought they’d be.
“Good!” the commander called from the floor. Kalista went over to help her up, but Danira shooed the dwarf away. I readied myself for another water attack, but Danira went over to mutter something in Ariette’s ear.
Ariette didn’t say anything as she nodded, but then she walked toward me. Suddenly, she threw up her hand, and a bolt of electricity shot out of it. Without thinking, I lifted my arm and felt for her blood. My hand tingled as I felt the blood cells race through her body, and then I pushed my hand forward a tiny bit. I didn’t want to hurt her, just move her away from me. The muscles in my hand clenched as I sent her body careening backward, and she crashed into the wall so hard some of the plaster crumbled down. I ducked to avoid her shot of electricity, and it blasted the wall behind me to pieces.
“Shit, I am so sorry!” I gasped as I stepped toward the elf on the floor, but Ariette stood up with a grin on her face.
“Don’t be, that’s exactly what I wanted to see!” She was way more excited than pissed. “So, you can control people’s blood while it’s still inside of them, and you don’t need to rip it out. And you have decent reflexes. That’s going to come in handy, HC.”
Ariette went back to the computer and tapped on the keyboard, no doubt to add to the growing test results for me.
“Okay, next one,” Kalista said as she placed the robot bunny in front of me. “Tear its blood out, but don’t send it flying. Leave it there.”
I concentrated on the rabbit as my Hand grew warm and then the vibration changed as I connected with the blood inside of it. Instead of a push against the blood inside the thing, I threw my Hand to the side as I channeled my magic and imagined the blood being ripped from the white fur.
But nothing happened.
I took a deep breath and felt for the blood inside the rabbit again. I could feel the heat of the blood cells. I connected with that and concentrated on it for two breaths. Then, I threw my hand out and willed it to leave the robot’s body.
Still, nothing happened.
“What the hell?” I cried out in frustration.
“What’s the matter, Milton?” Kalista teased. “Scared to hurt a precious little robot?”
“Just concentrate, HC.” Ariette silenced Kalista with a raised hand. The elf leveled her eyes with mine and dipped her head. “Where do you want the blood to go?”
I nodded and took a deep breath. My heart jumped as I felt into the blood again. Then I closed my eyes and ripped the hot red fluid from the fake body with a loud grunt.
The blood hovered in the air above the destroyed robot, and it was then that I saw inside the rabbit.
It was made out of iron.
“Interesting,” Danira breathed as she stared at the blood.
“What’s interesting?” I asked.
“Well,” Danira started and looked up at me, “most Fae wouldn’t have been able to get past the iron. You did, but it was hard, so it tells us something good.”
The commander trailed off in thought, and I looked to Ariette to finish her sentence.
“It tells us you can still use your powers around iron, but that isn’t normally something Unseelie can do or any Fae for that matter. Your power could definitely play to our advantage,” she finished, lost in her own thoughts now, too.
I considered her words and thought about what they could mean for me. If I was face to face with an Unseelie, I could weaken it with iron and still be able to use my Hand. I had the feeling that gift would save my life someday.
I looked at the blood hanging in the air above the destroyed rabbit and wondered what else I could do with it. Before I thought too much about it, my body moved on its own like it had when I killed troll-2.0 earlier.
The nerves in my hand vibrated as my fingers curled in on themselves and replayed the motions I’d seen the male elf use in the gym. Sweat beaded up on my brow, but I ignored it and inhaled slowly through my nose. Then, the blood shifted in the air and hardened, and red darkened to an almost black as the blood formed into a sword.
Ariette and Kalista stared wide-eyed at the weapon. Without a thought, Kalista reached a hand out and grasped onto the blade.
“Ow!” she exclaimed and pulled back in alarm.
Blood began to drip from her palm. Instinctively, I flattened my hand and watched as my power staunched her bleeding.
“So, two new things,” Ariette said in awe. “You can make solid objects out of blood, and you can stop a wound from bleeding. Damn, HC, that fairy must have been fucking powerful.”
Suddenly, the sword transformed back into a pool of blood and crashed to the floor. Red droplets splattered everywhere. At the same time, Kalista’s hand started to bleed again.
“Oh, shit, sorry, I don’t know what happened,” I fumbled.
“No problem.” Kalista shook it off and reached under the computer desk to produce a roll of gauze. She wrapped her hand up and looked back at my apologetic face with a laugh.
“Powerful, but definitely in need of some training.” Ariette smiled. “What about fighting skills, HC? Got any of those?”
“I just showed you them,” I retorted.
“Hand to hand combat, Milton, can you do that?” Kalista asked in mock annoyance.
“Uh, I’ve taken some self-defense classes. Just to make sure no perp ever tried to steal my packages.”
That earned a laugh from both of the beautiful warriors.
“Take a break, grab some water,” Danira stated. “The computer’s going to take a moment to process everything before we get your results.”
Twenty minutes later, the four of us were huddled around the computer screen as my test results came up.
“Holy shit,” Kalista muttered under her breath when a bright green number twenty popped up on the screen.
Ariette looked at the number in shock. “How is that even possible?”
The women looked at the number on the screen like it had told them they were pregnant. A mixture of shock and excitement was expressed in all of their faces. I waited for someone to tell me what they were so weirded out by, but all three warriors seemed to be in their own world.
“Guys,” I snapped my fingers in front of their faces to bring them back to reality, “what does that number mean?”
“HC, you’re as powerful as any Fae I’ve ever met,” Ariette said. Then her blue eyes looked into mine, and I couldn’t tell if they held awe or worry.
“Well, the fairy who gave me his power was definitely crazy awesome.” I shrugged my shoulders. “You saw what his magic did to that troll dude on the street.”
“Yes, he probably was pretty powerful,” Kalista piped in, “but in the transfer, the power never stays that strong. Humans don’t have the capacity to hold in that much mana. It would rip them apart on a cellular level. It should have ripped you apart by now.”
Kalista began to circle me with her arms crossed over her chest as if she looked for any evidence that some part of me had ripped apart on the cellular level. She found none because she came to stand back in front of me with a huff and continued to stare.
“So freaking weird,” the dwarf breathed in awe.
“Milton, did anyone ever tell you anything about your parents?” Danira asked. “Were they connected with the Fae in any way?”
“No.” I shook my head. “I mean, no, no one ever told me much about my parents. I know they were killed by a drunk driver when I was two. That’s it. I don’t even remember much more than their faces, but nobody ever said they had any connection with the Fae. They were accountants.”
“Well then, the good news is that it isn’t ripping you apart,” Ariette stated. “The bad news is that you’re definitely going to need some serious training to learn how to defend yourself without your Hand, and probably a mind enrichment lesson too so you don’t lose control as you did with Kalista’s hand and the blood sword.”
“But I get to go out there and kick some ass with you two
,” I said flirtatiously, and that earned a wry smile from both women.
“Hell yeah!” Kalista exclaimed and gave me a high five.
Ariette, ever the poised warrior, simply tilted her head and smiled. Danira rolled her eyes in mock annoyance before she turned to Ariette.
“Analytics room. Milton stays here,” she said cryptically before she strode out of the room.
“We’ll be back soon, just wait here,” Ariette assured me as she turned to dash after the commander.
“I’m going to go too, gotta hack the High Court,” Kalista said as she wandered toward the door.
“Why the hell would you want to do a thing like that?” I called to her retreating back.
“Got to stay up on the news straight from the source,” she mumbled over her shoulder. “I’ll be back in a little bit. Try not to hurt yourself while we’re gone.”
“Uh, ok, guess I’ll just stay here, by myself, all alone, in a strange place, then,” I called after her form as it retreated.
When she walked out of the door, I frowned and looked around at the small and empty training area. I decided there was little for me to accomplish here since I didn’t know how the machinery operated, and I didn’t want to break anything, so I strolled back out into the main room of the gym. Then I sat alone along the back wall and watched the Fae at work.
Many of them trained in hand to hand combat. I was entranced as I watched them do a dance of footwork, defensive moves, and offensive strikes. Two elves in the middle of the floor caught my attention. They were both female warriors, dressed in clothing similar to Ariette’s.
As I watched, the brunette elf charged at the blonde elf, her body low to the ground. The blonde sidestepped her charge and brought an elbow down hard on her opponent’s back. The blow forced the brunette to the ground, but she quickly rolled over and swept the first elf’s feet out from under her. She then launched herself into the air to straddle her partner with both hands wrapped around the blonde’s thin wrists. The pair stood up with solemn expressions and bowed to each other before they parted ways.
As I watched the hot warriors, I didn’t notice that a male elf had taken the seat right next to me.
The moment I became aware of his presence, I slid both my eyes to the side to take him in. He was tall, even for an elf, and his black hair was cut in a crew cut. That was very unusual. I had noticed even the men wore their hair long. He wore tight black leggings and a gray t-shirt, and his feet were clad in thick black combat boots.
A smell pervaded my nostrils. It was sickly sweet and heavy, and I knew this guy wore way too much cheap cologne.
One green eye caught my sneaky gaze, and he turned toward me.
“I’m Arendor,” the elf stated as he extended a hand in my direction.
“Milton,” I replied and accepted his hand.
“Milton.” He chuckled snidely. “Not the name I would have expected from a warrior.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t expect so much then,” I replied with an edge to my voice.
Arendor just laughed. It was a short laugh, monosyllabic, and it reminded me of the sound someone makes when they get the wind knocked out of them.
“Maybe I shouldn’t,” he said. “So, you’re the newest addition to Ariette’s team. A human.”
He didn’t even try to hide the sneer in his voice, but then his tone changed slightly when he said Ariette’s name. It was almost reverent, like the tone of a religious follower when they talk about their pastor.
“Yep,” I said shortly.
“And how, pray tell, did a human land a coveted spot on her team?” the elf retorted. “You’re not even a part of the guild.”
He looked around the room nonchalantly as he spoke. His actions told any onlooker that we were in the midst of a friendly but uninteresting conversation. However, I could tell the elf found this conversation anything but boring by the constant glances he threw in my direction and the way his jaw tightened as he waited for my answer.
“Guess I’m just talented.” I smirked with a shrug of my shoulders.
Arendor’s green eyes flashed instantly to me, and his gaze held a fiery hate. I didn’t even know this guy, but I could tell he would have killed me if we’d been anywhere but the guild.
“Don’t mistake talent for luck, Milton,” he said in a dangerous tone.
“Oh, I don’t think I’ve made any sort of mistake, Arendor,” I growled. I made sure the implication in my tone was clear. I knew that he was trying to intimidate me, and I wouldn’t have it.
The elf stepped close into my personal space, and I drew myself up to my full height as I stared into his hateful eyes. One finger poked itself into my chest as he prepared to speak, but the flare of anger pulsed through me at his contact.
Before he could say a word, I lashed out and pushed hard against his chest. He stumbled and nearly fell as a slew of Fae onlookers turned to watch the drama.
“That was a mistake,” he growled before he charged directly at me.
But I was ready, and as soon as he came close enough, my fist collided with the side of his face. Arendor’s head whipped around, and he hit the ground.
I stepped back, ready to let this be over, but he threw himself toward my legs and wrapped his arms around my knees. I hit the floor, hard, and he scrabbled to get on top of me. Thanks to my new Fae reflexes and apparent fighting skills, I sent a knee into his gut, and he crumpled in on himself.
My Hand tingled, and I focused in on Arendor’s blood. I didn’t want to kill the guy, but I did want to see the extent of these new powers.
The moment my Hand pulsed in time with his heartbeat, I threw a hand out, and Arendor flew about five feet backward. He flipped through the air and landed on his back. I heard the air leave his lungs, and he took a moment to recover.
His eyes were murderous as he slowly stood up, but I kept my hands by my sides and waited to see if he would come for me again. He took two steps backward as he regained his balance, and then he shoved a younger elf out of his way.
“You think you’re all that, human?” he taunted as he began to circle me.
I matched his movements and narrowed my eyes as I readied my hand. Arendor charged forward, but I flung him backward again. He sputtered this time as he stood up.
I didn’t move or attack again. I was perfectly happy to let this go.
“Big… mistake,” the elf repeated as he stood up slowly. Ice crystals began to form around his hand until it looked like a club of rock solid crystal. Suddenly, he flung the ice straight at my head, and I ducked to avoid it before it bashed in my skull. As I ducked, he launched himself at me and took us both to the ground. The elf landed a solid punch across my jaw before I could connect with his blood again.
This time, I forced his body to fly up against the ceiling, and he slammed into it like a rag doll. Then, I pushed him back into the crowd of Fae who came to observe us fight. It took him a long moment to recover from that one, and I spat out a little bit of blood on the ground as he did.
Arendor readied himself for another attack when his eyes suddenly snapped to something behind me.
I turned around to see Ariette with her hands on her hips.
“Arendor,” she said in a low tone. “How are you?”
I got the sense that the question was a mere formality.
“Ariette!” Arendor exclaimed as the ice disappeared from his hand. “I’m, uh, I’m good. Just getting to know your newest recruit over here.” He stood then, his posture stooped slightly, and he folded his hands in front of himself awkwardly.
“H-how are you?” the elf added with a shy smile.
“Fine, now that we’ve got Milton on the team,” Ariette answered shortly.
Then she placed a hand on my shoulder, and I knew she couldn’t have missed the jealous gleam that crossed Arendor’s green eyes.
“Milton, let’s go somewhere more private to train,” Ariette said as she jerked her head over her shoulder and eyed Arendor up and down. “Where
we won’t be disturbed.”
Then she turned on her heel to leave without another word to Arendor, but the male elf caught my bicep as I went to follow her.
“Careful, human,” he sneered dangerously. “It can be a scary business, fighting evil. Wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”
“I think I’ll be alright, thanks,” I said as I ripped my arm from his grip.
I caught up with Ariette a few steps outside of the gym. She stood impatiently in the hall with her arms crossed and one slim hip cocked to the side.
“What was that about?” she demanded as soon as I stepped out of the door.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” I replied with a shake of my head. “What’s that dude’s problem, anyway?”
“HC,” Ariette sighed, “not every Fae likes the idea of working with humans, much less having them as part of the guild. Some of them think we’re… better than humans and shouldn’t associate with your kind.”
“So they’re racist,” I stated.
“Basically, but Arendor has it out for you on more than one count because he’s been trying to make it onto this team for over a decade,” she laughed. “Getting here would be like becoming royalty to that guy, but Danira can’t stand him.”
“I think he wants on this team for another reason, too.” I smirked at the elven beauty.
“Oh, yes, I’ve noticed,” she said in an exasperated tone. “Arendor has a special agenda against any guy that’s on my team. He’s had a thing for me for years.”
“And do you like him?” I asked, and I felt a twinge in my heart as I waited for an answer.
“Not in the slightest.” She grimaced. “He wears far too much cologne. Now come on, you should be saving your energy for more… interesting activities.”
“I like the sound of ‘more interesting activities,’” I said as I winked at her. My flirting was rewarded with a light laugh, and she quickly glanced down at my chest before she gestured for me to follow her.