Chapter 5
Chapter
Five
Senara
Wyn sat down on the floor, legs crossed under the billowing robe she wore. She shook her hands out and stretched her fingers against one another.
“Just relax, this won’t hurt or anything, I just need to focus so I can get the magic to do what I want.” She gave me a soft smile before she closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.
After an awkward moment that had me glancing at Volker, who just nodded encouragingly at me, Wyn began to move her hands and her lips. She mouthed words without saying them aloud, contorting her fingers to create different symbols.
As soon as she held one for a few seconds she’d move on to the next; between each symbol she would wave her arms as though she was giving directions. After she’d done this a few times, I began to feel magic pressing at my back, as though I’d been pushed against a wall of it.
I glanced over my shoulder but saw nothing there--or at least that’s what I thought at first. When I started to look back at Wyn, I caught a glimmer in the air, as though heat was reflecting off a dark stone.
A bolt of amazement went through me. I’d always known that Wyn was talented when it came to magic--it was one of the main reasons she’d been able to survive so long without being caught and executed--but seeing everything she’d accomplished in such a short time in the fae lands made me wonder how much the humans were denying themselves by keeping magic outlawed.
Slowly the wall of magic that I could sense behind me began to expand and wrap around me like a cocoon. A very tight, slightly uncomfortable, cocoon.
I knew when the circle of magic around me was complete because it snapped into place with an internal click, one which it seemed everyone in the room felt, if Thorn’s reaction was anything to go by. His sharp intake of breath was the only sound in the room, and I saw his eyes widen slightly as he looked me over, reassuring himself that there was nothing wrong.
It seemed strange to think that this was the first time he’d seen Wyn do this sort of thing. It was even stranger to think that he hadn’t been by my side for every moment since we first arrived in the fae lands. Just the thought of being separated made a wave of nausea and weakness roll through me now.
As the circle pressed closer, I let all thoughts of Thorn go; I knew I needed to pay attention to what was happening. The air was shimmering even more now and it wasn’t just a simple distortion, either. Wisps of green magic floated around me.
Wyn kept mouthing words I couldn’t make out, though even if I could I probably wouldn’t understand them, and her hands began to move faster, all of which seemed to increase the green magic in the air until it turned from wisps to ribbons to thick ropes and finally seemed to cover the cocoon I felt like I’d been in the whole time. The ropes layered themselves over and over again, slowly starting to block out all light.
Unlike last time, there wasn’t the rush of magic. Instead, it felt like it was slowly seeping into me, or like I was gently sliding into a tub of warm water. The warmth of it filled me up, spreading from my fingertips and my toes to the center of my chest.
It all seemed to be focused on coalescing in a single point. Just behind my ribs, but lower than my heart, it was almost like the center of my torso. It was the point in my chest that always felt tight right before battle. Wyn had always said it was nerves or anticipation, but it certainly didn’t feel like that now.
As her magic poured into me, it felt like I was staring up into the night sky, the dark, endless void of a new moon night. Stars might have twinkled here and there, but overall there was nothing, just a massive darkness waiting to swallow me whole. It wasn’t cold, though; there was a warmth to the darkness that was unexpected.
The strange thing was as I looked at the darkness surrounding me I didn’t feel alone. My rational mind said that was because Wyn, Thorn, and Volker were in the room with me, but I wasn’t actually conscious of their presence. In fact, it didn’t even feel like I was in the room anymore at all.
The dark part of my mind wondered if I was still in the glass orb that I’d been trapped in by Fenvalur, if my presentation and everything that had happened, since it was all just a dream I’d concocted to make myself feel better and escape what he’d been putting me through.
I had to remind myself that it wasn’t true.
Why would I dream up being so sick I was on the verge of death and only Thorn’s presence could bring me back? That made no sense, in reality, or in this possible fiction my mind was trying to convince me of.
Thorn was just across the room, sitting on my bed.
If I focused on him. I could sense him, feel his soul brushing against my own in a way I’d only ever experienced with him. It was oddly reassuring. I had never been especially creative, so I knew that there was no way my mind could have come up with this.
The more the heat pushed against me, the more I felt like something was stirring within me, something ancient and yet new at the same time. It was just as I tried to figure out what that was that the heat stopped.
I found myself on the floor, unsure when that had happened, breathing hard and having soaked my tunic in sweat. With more than a little effort, I pushed myself up on my elbows and looked around the room.
Wyn sat opposite me, eyes still closed with sweat soaking her as well, making her red curls stick to her forehead and the nape of her neck.
Volker was sitting across the room, seemingly meditating or something, and Thorn was in the exact same position except now he was staring at me with a hunger I recognized all too well.
It made my core tighten with need. As I pushed myself up into a sitting position, everything seemed off; there was a very noticeable difference in terms of the distance from my head to the floor, and even to Wyn as well.
Everything around me seemed more…normal sized. Wyn was the only thing that seemed small.
“Wyn?” I asked, my throat drier than I expected, causing me to half choke on my own tongue.
Her eyes snapped open, and I was thrown off for a moment as I forgot about the color change that had happened when we went through the Veil. Ever since we’d gone through that wall of magic they’d been the same milky white, but now they were shot through with veins of green. It was enough to make my breath catch in my throat, causing another coughing fit.
Thorn was by my side a moment later with a glass of water that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
I nodded my thanks and gratefully took it, sipping on the contents.
It was fresh and clean and everything I needed, but more than that the taste was richer and more layered than I’d ever noticed before as well. I looked at it again, for all intents and purposes it looked like regular water. Nothing special. But it tasted amazing.
The more I thought about it, the more I became aware of other things that were different. If I focused I could see out of the window at the end of the room and clearly make out the leaves on the trees in the valley below. Not only that, but the scent of the flowers that hung from the ceiling of the room was more complex than ever before as well. My gaze latched onto Thorn and I became acutely aware of his closeness and my attraction to him.
“You okay?” Wyn asked, pulling my attention away from the dangerous fae that was still squatting next to me.
I nodded, not trusting my voice and pointed at her.
She smiled gently before stretching and saying, “I’m fine, just a little tired.”
“Your eyes are different.” Thorn grunted.
Not exactly how I would have brought that up, but I had wanted to mention it.
Volker was there a second later, gingerly reaching for Wyn so he could look at her eyes. His shoulders relaxed slightly. “She’s overextended her magic, but that’s not all that unusual for her, is it?”
I chuckled in spite of myself. I knew he was trying to scold her, but the reality was Wyn would do what she wanted when she wanted. She was free in the fae lands and no one was going to take that from her. If I hadn’t known her as well as I did I might not have understood that, but we’d grown up together, been through unspeakable things together, and finally she was finding a glimmer of happiness so I wasn’t surprised that she was pushing herself beyond her limits.
“I may have gone a little overboard that time, but I didn’t know when I’d have the opportunity again with everything that’s going on,” Wyn mumbled, sounding ever so slightly abashed.
I wanted to find out what was going on that made her feel that way, but Volker turned to me and asked, “Are you feeling okay? If there’s nothing pressing I’d like to take Wyn back to her quarters so she can recover some of her magic.”
“I’m fine,” I replied with a nod, though my voice was still croaky.
Wyn didn’t look convinced.
“Seriously, I’m okay, just feeling a little run down, that’s all.”
“That makes sense, your body did expand and maybe your magic too, not that you’ve ever been aware of it, but still. You might want to keep an eye on yourself over the next few days and make sure you’re taking care of yourself properly.” She paused and glanced at Thorn who nodded in agreement, but clearly missed part of her point. “So don’t work her too hard with your training.”
Thorn smirked just for a second before wiping the expression off his face. “Of course.”
Liar.
As though he couldn’t wait any longer Volker scooped Wyn up and the two of them left as abruptly as they’d shown up.
Then it was just the two of us.
Alone.
Thorn pushed to his feet and I was grateful for the distance that it put between us, even if it was only for a moment before he extended his hand and offered to help me to my feet as well. Part of me had just expected him to leave, like he had done so many times before after training, but this time I was pleasantly surprised.
I took his outstretched hand, unable to refuse without explaining why and I wasn’t sure I could put it into words at that point anyway.
Thorn pulled me up to my full height, which was quite a bit taller than I had expected. If I was honest, I wasn't expecting Wyn’s magic to do that much this time around, but it must have been a different spell or incantation or whatever it's called, because I was taller. In fact, I was almost normal sized. I was fairly sure I'd still be considered petite for a female fae, but judging by the way Thorn was appraising me, at least I wasn't that far outside of the norm anymore.
“Let me go and take a bath and then we can try training again. I'm curious how different things will be now that winds worked her magic,” I said as I stepped away from Thorn.
He didn't let go of my hand, though. “I can think of a different way to test your body.”
A shiver rolled through me. As much as I wanted to, I wasn't sure if I should trust what he was insinuating so I said nothing.
He pulled me close. “You look big enough that you could take my cock now. I wouldn't have to be satisfied with those creamy thighs of yours.”
A flush followed swiftly behind the shiver that had just rolled over me pooling in my core until I was alight with need. I couldn't deny that the idea made me nervous. I mean, he had been huge as a human, but as a fae he was gigantic and I was only just approaching a normal adult sized fae.
Could I really take him? I honestly wasn't sure. Admittedly, the only way to know was to try, but still.
Before we could venture any further down that road a knock sounded on the door.