by Walls, Devri
“Yes.” Emane dropped his head. His blond hair had grown longer and was starting to hang in his face. “I’m worried.”
“I know.” Kiora’s fingers itched to brush his hair out of his eyes. “I am too.”
“Are you?” Emane asked, looking at her sideways. “Lately you have been so sure of everything. You’re almost like a different person.”
“I’m not always sure. I’m just sure there aren’t any other options.” Kiora looked out at the waters. “I am a different person.”
He was quiet for a while, looking out with her. “I know.”
“You’re different too.”
“Not like you.”
Kiora took a deep breath, tucking her hair behind her ears. “I’m sorry.”
He put his hand on hers. “Don’t be sorry. It’s not bad—it’s just different.”
“That is not what I am sorry for,” she whispered.
“I know that too.” He gave her hand a squeeze before letting go. “Alcander sent Drustan out fishing a while ago. Are you ready for dinner?”
She smiled weakly. “Dinnertime already?”
“We slept through breakfast, and you slept through lunch.”
“Dinner sounds good.”
CHAPTER NINE
Natural Abilities
DESPITE HAVING SLEPT THE day away, Kiora was ready for bed shortly after dinner. The next morning she was jolted awake by Alcander throwing open the doors to the balcony, sending in a rush of brisk sea air and the sound of breaking water.
“Time to wake up,” he announced. “Your Pegasus will be here tomorrow. That only leaves us one day to train.”
Kiora flopped back onto her pillow. “I was hoping you could grant me one more day to relax before I flew out to certain death.” She peeked over at him.
“That is not funny.”
“A little, yes.” She smirked.
Alcander pointed to a stack of clothing at the end of the bed. “I found some practice gear for us.”
“How very convenient.”
“Meet me outside.”
She pushed up on her elbows. “Do I get to eat or bathe first?”
“The rest of us already had breakfast. You should have been up an hour ago.”
“If you were planning on rudely awakening me, perhaps next time you could do it before breakfast.” Alcander’s face remained still, but she could see the smile lighten behind his eyes. A second later, a tray sat on the edge of the bed.
“Thank you.” She wrinkled her nose. “Fish for breakfast?”
“I don’t want to risk summoning food and that is what we have, Your Highness,” he said with a tight bow.
“I am the only one without royal blood, Alcander.”
‘Maybe, but you’re acting like a princess.”
“Because I don’t want fish for breakfast?”
He walked to the door. “Because you don’t want to train, you want to sleep. You want to eat, bathe…the list just goes on and on! Be downstairs in twenty minutes,” he added, closing the door behind him.
Kiora stared at the door. She couldn’t be sure, but she would almost bet he was joking. She sometimes forgot Alcander knew how to do that. Smiling, Kiora climbed out of bed. She forced down the fish and then put on her practice gear. If she thought the last set of gear was tight, this pair was surely a size too small. It took some jumping and twisting to maneuver herself into it.
Heading down the hall, she looked over the rail. Alcander and Emane were standing below. Alcander leaned against the banister while Emane pulled and tugged at the skintight black gear.
“This is ridiculous,” Emane grumbled, pausing to push his hair out of his eyes.
Kiora giggled as she came down the stairs. Alcander looked at her unabashedly, his eyes raking over her as they had the first time she had walked out in her gear. Emane, on the other hand, stared slack-jawed before his cheeks turned bright pink and his eyes darted away. She couldn’t help but check out the pair of them. Alcander was leaner, but no less toned than Emane, and their clothing didn’t leave much to the imagination. Giving her head a quick shake, she hurried down the remainder of the stairs. Once she reached the bottom, Emane glanced back at her, his eyes making short, jerky movements as he struggled to keep them on her face.
“Your clothes are so tight,” he finally said.
“Not as tight as yours,” Alcander pointed out.
“Why, thank you for noticing, Alcander.”
Kiora rolled her eyes. “Are you ready, or are we going to stand here all day?”
“If you summon Emane’s weapons to the courtyard, we can begin.” Alcander said the word as if it were a disease.
Once outside, Alcander eyed the pile of weapons and Emane’s shield. “How are you supposed to fight?” he asked. “Those will weigh you down.”
“Since I can’t produce a shield spontaneously with my fingertips, I have to make do with this.” Emane picked up his shield.
Alcander looked at it closely. “What good does that do against magic?”
Emane’s eyes narrowed before casually turning around and examining the rest of the pile. “Not much—it’s fairly useless, actually. But it’s the best I have.”
Kiora opened her mouth to explain that the Guardians had infused it with magic and that it could reflect spells back at the caster, but Emane shot her a look to silence her.
Alcander huffed. He pointed at the sword. “And what will that do?”
“This happens to be a magical sword that prevents the healing of your kind when I stab it through your gut.” Emane’s eyes glinted as he spun the sword in his hand.
Kiora didn’t appreciate the visual.
“You have to get it close enough first,” Alcander retorted. His fingers moved so slightly that Emane missed the motion and the sword flew from his hand. Flying end over end, it then buried itself in the grass. Emane’s hand flew out just as quickly, calling his sword back to him. It wiggled before freeing itself from the earth and flying across the courtyard into Emane’s hand hilt first.
“Drem managed to teach me a thing or two before Dralazar showed up.”
Alcander moved his hand again, but Emane was ready for him this time. The spell caught the edge of Emane’s shield, sending it spiraling back. The spell connected with Alcander, jerking him to the side and nearly knocking him off his feet.
“Oh, that’s right…” Emane slapped his sword against his shield. “This reflects magic. I had forgotten.” He tossed his head with a smile as if to say “Silly me.”
Alcander actually smiled at him, although it was closer to a sneer than any pleasantry. “But can you move fast enough to deflect them?”
“Can you get out of the way if I can?”
Alcander seemed to think about that for a second before firing two shots as he leaped into the air and then bubbled. Emane’s shield moved upwards, sending the magic flying back into empty space where Alcander had stood.
“Behind you!” Kiora shouted as Alcander appeared behind him. Emane tried to turn, but Alcander fired a shot, knocking Emane onto his face.
“No cheating,” Alcander chided Kiora.
“No cheating,” Emane grunted, picking himself off the ground. “No cheating, he says as he uses magic to catapult himself twenty feet in the air.”
“That was not magic.”
Emane turned to look at him skeptically. “No magic?”
“My physical abilities are my own. That’s why Shapeshifters don’t use any magic once they shift. They adapt the physical strengths of what they have become.” He looked around. “Where is Drustan? I told him to meet us out here.”
“He was still sleeping when I came down,” Emane said.
“You work with Kiora,” Alcander said to Emane, “while I go wake the Shifter. Again.” He stomped off to the house.
Emane smiled at Kiora. “You don’t have a sword.”
“I hate swords.” She groaned. “I am no good with them and I am never going to need to use one here.�
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“Oh, really?”
“Really.”
“What happens if you run out of magic during the battle? Like last time?”
“A sword would not have helped when Dralazar showed up.”
“You don’t know that. And what about after that, when you were stuck in the woods—by yourself, I might add—which were full of Hounds? And then when Soolan showed up? And what are you going to do when the Shadow appears and you don’t have any magic? Or—”
“All right!” Kiora threw her hands up in submission, a sword appearing in one at the same time. “There. Are you happy?”
“Very. Now, hold your sword how I taught you.” Emane dropped his shield and moved toward Kiora. He swung his sword and it connected with hers. Kiora’s arm vibrated.
“Ow!”
“Ow? Kiora, I barely connected.”
“It still hurt,” she insisted.
He teased her as he walked around her. “Come on, Kiora. You have to move your feet, remember? Just turning your head to watch me is not going to cut it.” To emphasize his point, he caught her between the shoulder blades with the flat side of the sword.
She turned to face him and he moved in, quickly pushing her sword back until they were nearly nose to nose.
“You are not trying,” he said with a grin.
“I don’t know what I am doing.”
Alcander and Drustan came out of the house. Alcander yelled across to Emane, “Are you going to flirt with her all day, or shall we train?”
Emane turned to face him. “I am not—”
“Yes, you are.” Alcander walked straight past him. “And you are going to get her killed. Now, would you like to continue with your flirting disguised as sword play, or can we actually train?”
“Alcander, do you have to—” Kiora began.
“I suppose you can train her better than I can?” Emane demanded over the top of her.
“Of course I can.” Alcander held up two fingers. “One: Because I can do magic, which is what she needs. And two: Because I am not afraid to let her get hurt. You, on the other hand, treat her like she is a glass doll.”
“I am her Protector,” Emane said.
“And you will protect her to death. Do you think others will be as careful with her as you are?”
“Stop it,” Kiora said, stepping between them. “We can’t be at each other’s throats—there is too much to be done.”
Emane ignored her as if she were not there, stepping to the side. “How can you enjoy hurting her?”
“Emane.” Kiora took a deep breath, trying to keep from yelling at them both. “He doesn’t…”
Alcander moved so quickly that Kiora didn’t realize he had started moving until he was nose to nose with Emane. “I do not enjoy hurting her.” He seethed with such fire that Kiora’s breath hitched. “But teaching her, really teaching her, is the only way to keep her alive. Now, can you allow her to hurt?” Alcander punctuated each word, his eyes narrowed to slits. “Because if you can’t, you can’t help train her.”
“Alcander!”
Emane’s gaze did not waver, his jaw working. “Fine. You train her.”
Kiora huffed, crossing her arms. Alcander was right—he did need to train her. But the two of them talking as if she were not there was annoying.
“Thank you.”
“I am standing right here,” Kiora snapped. “You two don’t get to stand around and discuss things as if I am not. Emane, if it does come to war, I would like you fighting with Drustan. Training with him would help you two learn to work together, to play off your strengths and weaknesses.”
The two men looked her way during her short outburst but still stood threateningly within inches of each other. Drustan walked up casually, putting his arm around Emane’s shoulder. “Come, my prince. I don’t think you want to see this.”
Emane’s eyes flickered sideways with alarm. “What? Why?”
“There is a good chance they will be calling you for healing. Come along.”
“Healing? Alcander, if you—”
Kiora pushed her way between them. “Enough. I make the choice. Look, Alcander’s right. It’s the only way to train me.” She placed her palm on Emane’s chest. “It’s fine. Go with Drustan.”
Drustan dragged Emane off. “What creature would you like to do battle on? Pink Pegasus? Purple dragon?”
“Is there anything mute, by chance?”
Kiora grinned as Drustan laughed. “Ahh, no such luck, my prince,” Drustan said as he patted Emane on the shoulder with mock sympathy. Looking down at the pile of weapons, he said, “We should fight from the air, as you’re best with your bow.”
Emane bent over to pick up his bow and quiver and Drustan morphed into a dragon, his color changing to purple.
Without even a look over his shoulder, Emane yelled, “Don’t! Don’t you dare.” Drustan changed to black as Emane turned to face him.
“What?” he asked innocently. “Don’t do what?”
Emane shook his head and then grabbed on to Drustan’s tail. The dragon lifted him up and over his back.
Drustan spread his wings. “How far does the barrier extend?”
Alcander pointed at a lonesome rock jutting out of the ocean. “That is the border. Go past that point and you will be outside the protection.”
Drustan took off, flying straight up before turning into a dive. His massive body barely missed the cliff edge on his way down.
“Show off,” Alcander said.
“I don’t think he was showing off,” Kiora said, pursing her lips. “I think he was trying to scare Emane.”
“Ready?”
Without turning around, Kiora twitched her fingers. She heard Alcander slam onto his back, followed by some very creative swearing. She laughed as she bubbled and ran, turning to wait for what she knew was coming next.
Alcander pushed to his feet, still swearing, but grinning. As Kiora predicted, Alcander pushed his sphere out with a grunt. Kiora, anticipating it, dropped her bubble before the sphere hit and fired off a shot. Alcander barely had time to put up a hand shield before it caught him in the shoulder.
“Good thing you don’t need to fight with that ridiculous sword,” Alcander said, rubbing his shoulder. “You’re terrible.”
“Is that your way of saying my magical fighting is improving?” Kiora asked with a cock of her head.
“I think you are ready to move past elementary magical fighting.”
She dropped her hands in exasperation. “Elementary?”
“Elementary magical fighting is using magic for direct hits, hiding, strategy. You’re making rapid progress in those areas. But now I want to see more of what we started back on the island.” He walked around Kiora as Drustan rocketed overhead. A second later, an arrow buried itself in the ground right at Alcander’s feet. He looked up with a frown.
“That was a nice shot,” Kiora observed. “You have to admit.”
“The next step,” Alcander continued, moving around the arrow without comment, “is using your imagination. Many of us are limited in this by the elements we have access to. But you—you can do almost anything you want.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I told you—it is you and your imagination. We are not working with things that require incantations. I don’t have time to teach you each one of those. But ask the elements for what you want and they will listen. Specifically, what will help you against a dragon?”
Kiora thought out loud. “Their hides are impervious to fire—that won’t be of any use.”
“Don’t be so quick to dismiss it. If you were quick enough, you could control their fire.”
“Really?”
“Really. But you would have to be very quick. I wouldn’t recommend you attempting that for a while. What else?”
“Earth could be useful in the right scenario.”
“Anything could be useful in the right scenario. What is your scenario?”
“I have no
idea what I am walking into, Alcander. They fly—what about wind?”
“Wind is good. Although, dragon’s wings are powerful and their bodies are heavy—it takes a large force to halt their progression or pull them off course. One of the best defenses against a dragon is water, if you have it. Since Toopai is an island, you will. We know you can control water, but we need to see if you can use it to hit specific targets.”
Kiora set many small fires to simulate an attacking dragon and help her practice aiming. She pulled spiraling pillars of water from the ocean below, forcing them forward. She sent spiral after spiral, scowling at her inability to hit where she was aiming. Most landed on either side of her targets. A couple of the fires were extinguished by sheer luck when the water splashed to the side. Unfortunately, a little splashing would do nothing to detour a real dragon.
About the time she began to land strikes on target, Alcander added wind, blowing it in gusts toward her attacks and forcing them off course. Frustration built within her at the number of fires that still burned around the property.
What she lacked in aim, she knew she made up for in sheer power, and if she had learned anything since she started this journey, it was to use her strengths. Closing her eyes, she focused on the water that beat against the cliffs. Motioning it upward, she called the waves. To her complete surprise, a mountainous wave came hurtling over the side of the cliff, rushing across the dry grass straight at them.