by E A Foley
Curiosity at Rowen’s skill and different style filled Iris. She definitely needed to ask him how he formed his requests. And remind him about not making demands. The power surrounding her fluctuated. Like it grumbled at his use of it. A building storm drew Iris toward its maker. Sienna manipulated the weather. She dispersed the gathering clouds and Kyxy tried to gather them back into a storm.
Iris finished her lunch and decided it was time to make her way back to the training grounds. As she walked, she continued to track her friends’ magical training. Small amounts of progress were being made. She hoped it would be a much larger transformation by the end of the week. As she headed toward the back of the crowd of onlooking elves and faeries, Rowen and Cirrus switched spots. Cirrus spoke with Nimbus for a minute before both pulled quarterstaves from their hiding places and prepared to spar.
The sound of quarterstaff on quarterstaff rang out across the mostly silent field. Iris watched the progress of the practice duel with a critical eye. Nimbus was taking it easy on Cirrus as far as the use of magic went, but the brothers were both using every ounce of their physical abilities. As she watched, Iris couldn’t help but notice Cirrus’s increased strength and speed. He and Nimbus threw a nonstop array of traps at each other. Many she’d never thought to use.
She focused on Cirrus and Nimbus so intently she didn’t realize Esras approached her until he said, “Are you feeling better?”
Iris tore her eyes away from the brothers to look at him. “Yes, I am. Thank you for asking. And thank you for the food. It was most appreciated.” She smiled at the prince of the elves.
“How long have you been able to use magic?” he asked as they both went back to watching Nimbus and Cirrus.
“Since I was seventeen,” Iris said. She waited for Esras to dictate the conversation’s direction.
“If it is not too rude, how old are you now?”
“I’m twenty-one,” Iris said with the air of one much older than her actual years.
“Twenty-one? In Elven terms, you would still be considered a young child. I’m only a few years older than you at twenty-nine. I can’t imagine holding the fate of my people on my shoulders yet let alone the fates of two worlds as you do.”
“It’s not something I’ve fully cognized,” Iris said as she turned to face Esras once more. “I was born to this task yet remained unaware of it until I was deemed ready.” Iris paused in her response as she searched for a way to explain what seemed natural to her and what most people would have walked away from.
“My mother always called me mature for my age but my childhood was still filled with fantasy and magic and endless possibilities. I think these things allowed me to simply accept my fate as possible. So many other people would have scoffed at the idea of being able to use the power that flows through every molecule in the cosmos as something far-fetched and impossible but not me. It made sense to me.”
“But how are you so calm about your task in life?” Esras asked in wonder.
“I accepted this is what I’m meant to do,” Iris shrugged. “It took a while but I know I’m supposed to teach these few extraordinary individuals I have the pleasure of calling friends. We’re here to give life a chance. If I can do that by sacrificing my life, so be it. One life can make all the difference in the world, but it’s what that life chooses to do that truly matters. I’ve decided to fight as long as I can and can only hope I’ll survive to see life thriving in the end,” Iris finished softly.
Esras looked back to where her friends from Earth practiced magic. “They are very lucky to have you. We are very lucky to have you,” he added.
They stood in silence for several long minutes and watched the training field and its occupants. At some point Nimbus and Cirrus sat down for a breather and some water but it looked as though they were getting ready to spar once more.
“You say they’re lucky to have me but I’m the lucky one. They could have told me no at any point or joined with the forces of Chaos as three of my former friends did. Instead, they all stuck it out with me. They force me to be better—stronger—each day and are the reason I’m still fighting and will continue to fight until I no longer can.”
“I hope I will possess half your courage someday and that you will count me amongst your friends,” Esras breathed as he watched Cirrus get the upper hand on Nimbus for the first time.
“I know that day will come. I only hope our friendship will be one that lasts decades rather than days,” Iris smiled sadly as Esras. Their eyes locked for a moment and Iris’s entire demeanor lightened as her sad smile turned into a playful grin. Her eyes shifted with her altering mood. “Want to see something I’ve been working on for the last few months?” she asked Esras.
He nodded mutely. A slow grin spread across his face at Iris’s delight.
Iris turned back to where Cirrus and Nimbus still sparred before opening herself to the flows of power she had come to both love and hate. She formed her request and waited for the opportune moment to release the now torrent of power she held. Nimbus took a few steps away from Cirrus. Cirrus advanced on his brother. Iris released her request before their staves could meet once more.
Both brothers stepped into invisible barriers and stumbled back a few paces. Iris laughed outright at the pair as they tapped at the barriers surrounding them in confusion. A few moments later they searched the surrounding area for the culprit. Cirrus spied Iris first. Her laughter increased at his scowl. She sent part of her mind to wait for him in the Gallery of Doors. Cirrus came crashing in without even a polite tap a moment later.
“What the hell was that for? I was going to beat him that round!” he raged indignantly at her.
“Sorry, Cirrus. I didn’t know you had the upper hand. I swear,” she added after she got a good look at his face. “I was talking with Esras and depressed myself a little, so I decided to try out the shield barrier on two people at once to see if I could do it,” she explained through a grin she tried but failed to lessen.
“Well, I’d say you managed it just fine. Now let us go, and get your ass down to the field so you can teach us how to create this barrier thing of yours. Oh, and I’m glad you’re feeling better,” he added as an afterthought as he reached his door and disappeared from Iris’s mind.
While half her mind placated Cirrus in the Gallery, the other half guided her body toward the training ground and continued her conversation with Esras. “I think they’re a little upset with me,” she said as they walked toward the practice area.
“It appears so,” Esras responded. A smile still played across his face. “Though, it was a rather amusing trick. Are you still maintaining the barrier?”
“I am. Though, I should probably drop it before they get really angry with me, shouldn’t I?”
“That may be for the best,” Esras agreed as they got close enough to see Cirrus’s not impressed look and Nimbus’s grin. He at least appeared impressed by the magic containing him. Though, the fact it kept Cirrus from beating him at their most recent sparring round may have been the greater reason for this happiness.
“I think I owe you one,” Nimbus said to Iris as she released him from his invisible cage. “Cirrus almost had me. He never would have let me live it down,” he finished as he scooped Iris up into a rib-cracking hug and swung her around in a circle. “Glad you’re up and about again. Promise me you won’t push that hard for a few more days, okay?”
“I promise,” Iris agreed with a sigh.
Nimbus grinned at her. She ran a hand through his hair, brought her lips to his, and gave him a kiss. He returned it with several deep ones of his own as he squeezed her tighter. Cirrus cleared his throat.
Iris looked up. It seemed her arrival on the training grounds had been noticed. All of her friends walked toward them. She tapped Nimbus to show she wanted down and forced her teacher persona to come forward. Everyone formed a half-circle around her in less than a minute.
“How’s the training going? Looks like you guys have been w
orking on a lot of different tasks,” Iris said to the group.
“How do you know?” Rowen called.
“I could sense what you guys were doing. And hear you in the Gallery.”
“Guess I should have known that,” he flashed her a grin.
“We didn’t wake you, did we?” Gavin asked.
“No. You guys were really quiet. I only heard you after I woke up.” Iris turned her attention to Violet and Aerianna. “Why were you guys working on doorways?”
The pair looked at each other for a few moments before Aerianna answered. “We were trying to see if we could form doorways to unknown places like Morrigan can. Sorry. No luck.”
Iris nodded. She didn’t trust herself to respond. Instead, she spoke to Sienna. “I had no idea you were that powerful at forming and dissipating storms.”
“Gavin and I worked a lot on that one last week,” Sienna grinned. “We both became a lot more powerful. In retrospect, we probably shouldn’t have used so much power. Especially not if Jaden and his followers were looking for us.”
They were back on the one topic Iris was trying hard to ignore. Something must have shown on her face because Kyxy steered the conversation in a different direction.
“So, what do you have planned for us for the rest of the afternoon?”
Chapter 7
Iris swallowed. She brought her mind back to the present from where images of Jaden torturing her flashed through it in quick succession.
“It’s too warm to continue with physical weapons, so I thought I’d show you guys how to create full barriers rather than just shields. You can put them around yourself or around another person,” Iris began. Her teaching persona took over in an instant. It helped her push thoughts of Jaden, Zarina, and Morrigan from her mind.
“Another way to think about them is as a large containment field. You can use them to both protect yourself from attacks or to surround someone else. Like I did with Cirrus and Nimbus a few minutes ago. Either way, the concept and request are the same—you simply have to alter the location you wish the barrier to form.”
Iris took stock of her friends’ faces. A few seemed to understand her explanation while others looked completely lost. “Would it be better if I showed you what I’m talking about?”
“Yes,” several voices called at once.
“Okay. So, like a containment field or a shield, I start my request by thinking about a barrier that any physical or magical means cannot penetrate. Then I concentrate on the shape—in this case, a dome—followed by where I want it to appear. It could be around me or another person. When you put it all together, it looks like this.”
Iris put actions to words. A barrier surrounded her a moment later. “You guys are welcome to come check it out. Feel free to throw some attacks at it. Physical or—”
A fireball burst on the barrier at head-height on her left side.
“Magical,” Iris finished and looked to Rowen.
“I wanted to see if it remained intact while you weren’t paying attention to the magic wielder.”
“And?”
“And it does. I’m satisfied.”
Iris shook her head at Rowen. A few of their friends chuckled. Before Iris turned back to the rest of her friends, Aerianna slammed her quarterstaff into the barrier with what was probably all of her strength. The loud crack made Iris think she’d broken her staff. The magic Aerianna used to repair the staff a second later confirmed Iris’s theory.
“Anyone else want to take a shot at me before I let this thing go?”
Kyxy and Kylee advanced in unison. Fire surrounded Iris’s barrier before being pummeled with blasts of air. Nothing broke through her barrier. When she grew tired of the onslaught, she sent a gust of air outwards from her barrier to gain everyone’s attention.
“Are you quite finished with—”
“How did you do that?” Kyxy asked in awe.
“Do what?”
“Maintain the barrier and send a gust of air at us,” Kylee said.
“Oh. Right. I’m actually not sure. I just do it.” Everyone stared at Iris. She sighed. “I’m dropping my barrier. Please don’t attack me anymore.” Iris followed her words with actions. She took a moment to compose her thoughts before answering the twins’ questions.
“I use images to form my requests instead of words. It allows me to imagine myself, my opponent, and what I want to do with the power I’m holding. Here, I imagined myself contained within my barrier while a gust of wind moved in a circle away from my barrier to blow past all of you. I still had the barrier in mind—which is why Kyxy’s flames didn’t get through—as I added in the request for a gust of wind.”
Several of her friends shook their heads at her. Iris looked down and let out a small huff. Her list of things to teach her friends was much longer than she realized.
“We’ll work on making multiple requests this week but right now, barriers. Full body barriers to contain someone or protect yourself,” Iris said before a discussion on making multiple requests at once could ensue. “Spread out and see what you can do. Start with forming a barrier around yourself.”
A jumble of power surrounded Iris as her friends filled with surrounding flows and tried to create barriers of their own. She closed her eyes. Turned in a slow circle and concentrated on each individual’s magic as she faced them. By the time she made it most of the way around the circle, she sensed Rozlynd and Nimbus forming barriers. Iris sent a magical brick of air at each of them.
Rozlynd’s barrier held up, but it was significantly weaker. One more burst of air was all it took to destroy the protective dome. Roz grimaced, nodded, and started again. Nimbus’s barrier withstood the brick of air well but cracked under the blow she gave it with her quarterstaff. Which made her glad she’d chosen a spot off to his side to land her blow as her staff met no resistance and slammed into the ground when she swung it.
Nimbus cocked his head to the side and thought for a few moments before drawing in more flows and trying to form a barrier once more. It was Cirrus who formed the first successful barrier. No amount of physical or magical power Iris used could diminish the barrier’s effectiveness. She wondered if his protective nature had something to do with his success.
“Nicely done!” Iris told Cirrus. “Now try forming a barrier around me. You want to contain me and my power. It’s a different request and takes a bit of nuancing to your request, but give it a go.”
After a dozen tries, Cirrus wasn’t able to contain Iris’s magic. It allowed everyone else enough time to become proficient at creating barriers around themselves. Iris released the remaining flows she held. Her head spun. She’d overdone it again but not as much as she had that morning.
“I think we can call it here for today. You guys did great!” she encouraged. “Let’s join our gracious hosts and head back to Mothar Crann for the evening meal.” Nods and murmurs of agreement surrounded her.
Iris watched her friends pair off and wander to join the group of elves and faeries that seemed to have doubled in size as the day dragged on. An excited buzz followed them. They were pleased with the training session. Impressed at the growth they’d experienced in their magical abilities in a single day. The conversations depressed Iris.
She took a deep breath. Tried to remind herself they chose to learn magic. Wanted to keep learning more—to be here with her. It was difficult when thoughts of her being the one who unlocked their powers kept filling her mind. Iris tried to push the thoughts out. She sang Right Left Wrong by Three Days Grace softly to herself. It didn’t work.
Cirrus noticed her trailing behind. He stopped and waited for her to catch up to him. Iris kept singing internally until Cirrus spoke.
“Before I forget,” he said when she was a few steps behind him. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“Bringing us here. Protecting us. Being a great friend. Everything.” He gave her a sideways one-armed hug as they continued trailing behind everyone.
“I think I’m the one who should thank you. You guys are my rocks and sanity.”
“Us your sanity? I’m sure we’re the means to your insanity.”
Iris let out a small chuckle. “Perhaps,” she said as her eyes searched the crowd in front of them for her friends. They found Nimbus of their own accord. “Perhaps not,” she added as a lightness bloomed in her chest.
“So . . . how’s Nimbus?”
Iris didn’t have to look at Cirrus’s face. She heard the smile in his words. “Are you looking for an opportunity to tell me you told me so?”
“What gave you that idea?” His grin increased.
“Well, I can’t say for sure seeing as I’ve only spent a combined total of like twelve hours with the guy—maybe less—but you were right. And according to the faeries, we were betrothed in a previous life here on Gemina Terra.”
“Really? That’s interesting.”
“Yeah. And you’re supposedly the spitting image of the current king’s grandfather.”
“Nimbus told me. I wonder if that has anything to do with why I wanted to get you two together so badly. I knew you were meant for each other.”
“I doubt we’ll ever know. But thank you for bringing him to the New Year’s party. How did you manage that, anyway?”
“When you refused to change our reservation to include Thorin and Gavin, I told him what was going on and asked if he was available. When he said yes, we talked to the Alvarez sisters. They’ve been our Latin ballroom dance partners for years. He went as Mya’s plus one.”
“Why didn’t he come with us?”
“Since we’d kept his abilities a secret, I thought it best he not be associated with us. That way there’d be one other magic user on site, but no one involved in the trap would realize it. At least, that was the idea.”
“It was a good idea.”