She moved faster than I thought she would, faster than I’ve ever seen Daris fly and came up in front of me. She lifted her hand in front of her and then I was wrapped in tree roots, roots that quickly fell away at my word. She shot at me again and I retaliated with a blast of my own. However, instead of a hurricane or tornado, the same mixed attack came out, charring the grass and forcing Daris’s mother to dodge. She landed looking like nothing had happened in the past few minutes and combed her hair away from her face in an action that was similar and yet entirely different from Daris’s habit.
“You think you can challenge me?” she mocked.
“I think I can challenge whomever I want.”
She didn’t falter, shooting blasts of air straight at me. I jumped, though, and landed comfortably in the air, floating several feet above the ground. The red blade in my hand went back to its halter and I watched her. She looked calm, but like every mother, she had her hidden ticks. Her eye twitched. I was getting her mad. Good.
“You insolent—!”
“Brat?” I completed. “Honestly, could you be more cliché?”
She snapped at my blatant disrespectful mocking and tried to shoot herself at me, failing and falling on her face due to the roots I had asked to hold her to the floor. She saw them and violently ripped them from her legs. I cringed when I heard the trees cry out in pain. With every one she tore from the ground, the shouts grew louder until I was screaming and clutching my head, begging her to stop. She didn’t, and I fell to the floor as the plants pleaded with me to stop her. I shot a weak wind tunnel at her and saw her fly back into a tree. I slumped to the ground and caught my breath. The roots slunk back to their trees to heal and I calmed as the yells softened to whimpers.
My break didn’t last long, however, because she was in my face seconds later, her own blade blazing and coming towards me. I raised mine and had it grow, closing my eyes as I waited for the blow. I heard the clash of metal but didn’t feel the impact. A third blade had made its way into the fray and had stopped hers. It swiped away from me and Daris took its place.
“Enough.” His voice was cautious but firm. His blade was pointed at her, keeping her away from me. I shut my eyes and whimpered as the pain of the plants around me hummed in my ears.
“Get out of the way, Daris. She needs to be taught a lesson.” His mother was seething.
“Mother, look at what you did. Look at the reason she was screaming.” His blade was gesturing to the destroyed roots and she looked. Her face quickly softened to a more serious expression and her sword shrunk back into a dagger. Without a word, she turned back into the house. Daris turned to me, but I was no longer on the ground where he had left me. I hid in the trees.
He found me with ease and sat down beside me, watching as my blade slid into its sheath. “You okay?”
I nodded and listened as a breeze ruffled the leaves and blossoms around me, sighing as the last of the cries faded into silence and my mind was quiet once more.
“She’s going to kill me.” I groaned and hid my face. This woman was getting me frustrated and I had only known her for a fraction of the time that I had Camille.
“Actually, I think she likes you.”
I glared at him from between my fingers. It wasn’t as effective as I hoped because he quirked an eyebrow and sniggered.
“I’m serious. Normally, she either starts attacking the minute she meets someone in training or just ignores them until they give up trying to get her attention.”
“Yeah, I can see that. She only started attacking me because I threw a knife at her when she was ignoring me.”
He chuckled. “Give it a bit. She’ll get used to you and you her.”
“I still don’t like her.” I crossed my arms and leaned against the trunk of the tree. Daris just smiled at me. He was back; the person who had been hidden in the presence of that woman was back. I smiled back at him and felt my blush return.
“You’ll be fine.”
“Daris! Come here!” His mom called him inside and when he left, I was feeling bitter.
“That’s twice she’s interrupted a moment and she’s barely been here an hour,” I muttered. I dropped from the tree and followed him, apologizing to the trees around me and fixing what I could. When I finally got inside, he was in a stare down with his mother, his eyes gleaming and hers like still water.
“I won’t let you,” Daris finally said. I moved to my bedroom, not wanting to get caught in whatever feud they were having this time.
“You have no say in the matter. You are no longer her trainer.”
What? I froze, one foot in the air, and listened more closely.
“That is why I have all the say in the matter! I am her trainer!”
“Quiet! You do not raise your voice at me. I am your leader and you will do what I say. I will take her tomorrow to be…properly trained. You are to continue searching for others.” She turned away, done with the conversation, and saw me. Daris noticed me too and he looked away, his fists clenching in obvious frustration.
“Good, I won’t have to tell you again. Pack your stuff. We leave tomorrow.” Then, she did it, the thing that made me snap: she flipped her hair. I had flashbacks to Camille and Melanie and the life I had been forced to leave. I was happy about leaving those two, but I saw my mom helping me through my problems and heard her telling me to take control. I heard her voice guiding me through my life and realized I was done giving up on what I wanted. I was determined to stay with Daris.
“No.”
“Excuse me?”
“Did I stutter? I’m. Not. Going,” I said it slowly and forcefully like I was talking to Camille. I may as well have been; the resemblance was terrifying.
Then, she smiled, another Camille-ism. “How cute. You think I’m giving you the choice.”
“How cute. You think I’m going to listen to you.” I stood beside Daris and stared at his mother. “I may not be what you expected, but I’ve lost too much to give a damn what you think about me and Daris has worked too hard dealing with my shit to put up with you treating him like this.”
“Do not tell me what I can and can’t do, Skyler.”
“Oh, look at that!” I threw my hands in the air. “You know my name.”
“You would be wise to watch your tone.”
“And you would be wise to find something else to do than bother us when we were doing just fine.”
She faltered and that was all I needed to continue.
“You need me, right? You need me to take down the Acerlums? Well, guess what? I’m not doing this for you or for Daris or for the other Luxators.” I took a deep breath and looked her in the eye. “I’m doing this for me. I’m taking down my father for ruining my life, for leaving when I was young and coming back, for hurting my mother and making me leave the life she and I had built together. Daris is my trainer and the first real friend I’ve had in years. If you want to take me somewhere else to train, so be it, but you’ll have to take Daris too because I won’t listen to someone who shows nothing but contempt towards me.”
She was shocked at my outburst for a moment. Then, her anger dominated. “You, child, do not tell me what to do. I am your leader and you will do as I say.”
“You may be the leader of the Luxators, but right now, you are not and will not be the one I follow into battle.”
“As if you know anything about battle.”
“I don’t, but I do know that you don’t deserve to be followed.”
“I’m beginning to question if you are worth the trouble at all.”
Daris, who had been watching the argument with a lost expression, screamed, “Mother!”
“Oh calm down, Daris. I know that we need her, but right now, she’s not worth anything.”
My hands tightened into fists and I snarled, “I may be weak, but I have the right to choose who I follow and to plan out my own life. So, the next time you try to control me, how about asking for this thing called an opinion? It might get you
somewhere other than an argument.”
With that, I was gone, leaving her and Daris standing in the living room watching as I stormed into my room. Was I throwing a bit of a tantrum? Yes. Was I trying to get my point across? Yes. Was I succeeding? I didn’t know. What I do know is that the booming sound of my door slamming was so satisfactory. I wanted to go out and train, but I didn’t want to be near her.
“Blossom?” Three quick knocks rapped against the door. “Blossom, let me in.” Even though he couldn’t see me, I shook my head and rested it on my knees, just wanting to be left alone for the moment. I stared at the window across from me until I heard the tapping stop and took a deep breath.
Later, a lighter, softer, more cautious tap came from my window. I looked up and smiled when I saw Daris, his white grin contrasting with the dark sky behind him. I had been in my room longer than I thought, but I liked having the time to just think. I didn’t move and he frowned before ducking out of sight, only to reappear seconds later holding a picnic basket. Then, he was gone. I snuck out of my room and walked out the back door to the training ground and gasped. Around me, the trees were coated in blossoms and spotted with small traces of light. When I looked closer, I saw lanterns concealed in the leaves. However, I saw no sign of Daris.
“Hungry?” Speak of the devil. I turned behind me and saw no one. “We’ve been through this already, Blossom. Look up.”
“Again?” I rolled my eyes and saw him grinning down at me. He nodded in the dim light and jumped down. He grabbed me by the waist and had me sitting on the roof before I registered what was going on. “You know I can get up here on my own now, right?”
“I know.” He dug into the picnic basket and pulled out two boxes of warm pasta. “Eat up.” We must have stayed on the roof for hours after that. He seemed to always have another small snack. After the pasta, there were bits of fruit, pieces of different breads, and small sweets.
As the night wore on, he brought out a bowl of marshmallows and a thermos. When he opened it, I sighed as the scent of hot chocolate filled the air as he filled two mugs. One sip and I was gone. I leaned back on the hand not occupied with my mug and sighed.
“Better?”
“Much. How did you know I needed this?”
He chuckled and popped one of the small marshmallows into his mouth. “She may have raised me, but every kid needs a break from their parents at some time. I’m sorry for how she acted.”
“Not your fault.” I yawned.
“No, but I could have at least given you some sort of warning.”
“Did you think it would be this bad?”
“I didn’t know what would happen. I was hoping that you two would get along, but knowing her, I should have known that that was a stretch.”
“If you didn’t know how she would react, then it’s not your fault for not warning me.” I finished the last of my hot chocolate and had a few more marshmallows before I lay down on the blanket, the roof feeling almost comfortable.
“Aw… Did my mom tire you out with her training?” He smiled at me.
“No,” I answered with a serious face, “she tired me out with her attitude.”
He laughed and the stillness of night rang with the deep sound of his happiness.
“She’s too much like Camille for me to want to handle.” I jumped when he poked my side.
“You can do it.”
“Maybe when I get some sleep.” I yawned again and rolled over onto my stomach so that I was facing Daris. My eyes drifted close.
“Don’t fall asleep just yet, Blossom.”
“But I’m tired,” I whined.
“Trust me.”
“Keep me awake,” I shot back. “I’m tired, it’s dark, I just ate, I’m calm, and you’re telling me not to go to sleep? Not happening.” I snuggled into my crossed arms. He leaned close to me and I felt his breath on my neck.
“If you stay awake, we can do this tomorrow.” Crap. Sleep or another midnight picnic?
Picnic.
I sat up and glared at him. “Deal.” I slumped forward and put my head in my hand.
“Come here, sleepy.” He put his hands on my shoulder and pulled me back until I was leaning against his chest. Suddenly, I was very much awake and my cheeks were blazing red. My heart pounded in my chest to the point that I swore he would hear it. He leaned back on his hands and let me rest on him completely.
I yawned again. “Daris. It’s late. Can I please go to bed?”
He looked up at the sky and grinned excitedly. “Just a few more minutes, Blossom.”
I groaned and he rubbed my shoulder until I was half-asleep and my eyes were nothing but slivers.
“Skyler,” Daris whispered, “look.”
I opened my eyes enough to glance at the sky and my breath caught. Streaming through the speckled black sky were hundreds of white streaks. One after another, they cut through the stars across the black sky.
“Whoa,” I whispered. I peeked over at Daris to see his shoulders hunched and his head lifted to the sky as he watched the shooting stars with a smile on his face.
He looked at peace, and as I exhaled deeply, I realized I was, too. We watched the meteor shower in the dead of night, surrounded by flowers and dim lighting and filled with delicious food.
My father would come looking for me soon enough. Travis would probably be with him. Daris’s mom was sleeping downstairs. All these people expected something from us, they wanted us, but sitting there on the roof with Daris, I knew where I was wanted and I would fight until my last breath to keep it that way.
“Again!”
My breath came in gasps and my chest heaved with each one. The sweat on my body was soaking through my clothes. My ponytail came out hours ago, and the loose hairs were plastered to my face and neck. Sitting by the door was my full water bottle and an energy bar Daris left for me three hours ago. He had been promptly dismissed and I hadn’t seen him since.
I hunched over and tried to stop the world from spinning. Across from me was Daris’s mother. I finally got around to calling her something other than “witch” when she was around: Katherine. In my head, she had about another twenty names that worked interchangeably, but when I spoke to Daris, the original name stayed.
I held up a finger. I just needed a minute to make the trees stand still and to get the flowers back on the ground. I tried talking, but nothing would come out except for ragged gasps.
“Let’s go, Skyler. I don’t have all day.” She had started training me at noon and before I had anything to eat, too.
I looked at my tipping shadow. It must have been about four or five by now. With each gasp, the world spun faster. Every movement sent pain to my head. My mouth was dry and I could feel my body trying to stop moving. The plants around me begged me to take a break. Unfortunately, Witch just shot another wind tunnel at me.
For the past hour, she has been telling me to stand my ground as she blasted hurricane winds at me. I was fine until she reached Category 3, which is where I was now. The lack of breath and balance let the wind shoot me back at least another thirty feet. I didn’t get up this time. I sat on my knees and stared at the grass with tears in my eyes. I couldn’t get up this time, not without falling back to the ground.
“Get up!” Witch shouted. “Get up and show me all this energy you had last week when you were so eager to prove that you could do something right!” She was laying on the sarcasm too much for my taste and I tried once more to get my feet on what I thought was solid ground.
I only made it to being upright on my knees enough to shoot back a tunnel of my own. It didn’t make it halfway before I felt my stomach clench. To my complete disgust and humiliation, while this woman was standing there watching me, I had to fight down last night’s dinner. The bile stung my throat and my head just kept pounding. Then, I saw shoes in front of me.
“Get up,” she commanded.
I shook my head.
“Get up.”
Again, I shook “no”.
<
br /> Katherine grabbed my arm and I felt a jolt of pain while her face came in and out of focus. Her cold fingers were wrapped securely around my mark but the burning I was feeling must not have been affecting her at all. She pulled me to my feet and watched as I promptly collapsed once more. She left me there with a sneer and a swift and hard kick to the right side of my stomach. With the throbbing in my head and the pain in my stomach, I watched her go back inside, kicking my water out of her way without a care that my world was quickly going black. I was really beginning to hate her.
I wish I had known how long the devil had chosen to leave me outside, but when I came to, the only thing going through my head was the longing to hurt whomever just dumped water on me.
“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty. Sleep well?”
“Don’t even start with me, Daris.” I rolled over onto my stomach and pushed myself up. My breath started coming fast again and my arms gave out. Daris offered me a hand, but I waved it off and shakily got to my feet.
“You alright?”
I tensed and watched the world tip again. “Fine. Just a bit dizzy.”
That was an understatement. My world was close to being upside down, but I didn’t want him to go after his mom guns blazing like he did last week when he found out that his mom had been training me since 4 AM. He found out at ten when he came outside looking for me. My voice was scratchy. I grabbed the energy bar from the ground and went into the kitchen where the witch herself sat eating dinner.
“Oh. So, you finally decided to wake up?” she sneered. “It’s about time.”
I brushed past her and grabbed the basket from the counter and a water bottle from the fridge. It was empty before I left the kitchen. I ignored Daris on my way outside, my throat feeling too tight and my stomach in too many knots for me to even consider answering his questions or responding to his mother’s taunts.
“Sky?”
I put a hand up to shut him up before I launched myself into the fruit trees to begin gathering my dinner. The light of the setting sun was fading and casting a mysterious glow among the leaves as I picked. When the basket was almost full, I heard Daris start hovering behind me.
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