Chapter Nineteen
I ’m going to fucking kill him.
I’m in the middle of the woods, blindfolded, and he keeps pelting me with water. I know that my training needs to be a bit more aggressive, given the circumstances. But I didn’t expect my trainer to secretly be a sadist. Or for my first day to be so aggressive.
And then I’m pushed over by a gust of air, yet again .
The ways I have imagined killing him are staggering, and we have only been at this for a few hours. Even though my magick is still diluted a bit from Cordelia’s tea, this training is all about focusing my trisense. Or at least, it should be. Instead, it’s just been mostly me—soaked, blind, and getting shoved around every few minutes.
Super fun times.
Ten out of ten do not recommend.
Maybe I can find a way to accidentally-on-purpose kick him in the balls?
Nah. With how fucking clumsy I am, I would end up kicking myself in the face or something stupid.
“Forsythia!” Blake yells at me from the tree line to my left. “You need to focus! At this rate, the Creatori could have taken you down several times and you wouldn’t have even given it a hangnail. Find. Your. Focus!” He shoves another gust at me, but I manage to plant my feet enough that I don’t go face first. Or ass first for that matter.
I crouch down and touch the Earth. Pushing my tendrils out, I attempt to seek the magick surrounding me. Except, yet again, nothing happens. Just like all the other times I’ve tried. It’s almost as if I can’t trisense at all. Growling in frustration, I stand back up, just as another gust takes my feet out from under me.
Again.
Blake walks up to me, but thankfully I can’t see him through the blindfold. Instead of moving, I lay on the ground where I fell and try to breathe through my anger. I hear Blake shuffle his feet a little before he talks. “Listen, I wish we could take this slower and really give you a chance to dive all-in with your magick, but we can’t. I wish I could take things easier on you, but I can’t. I feel so strongly that we are supposed to do this together, but I can’t go up against the Creatori with you by my side if I’m worried that you can’t handle yourself. I won’t put you, or myself in that kind of danger.”
Letting out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding, I reach up towards him with my hand. He clasps it in his much larger one and helps me to my feet. “I get it Blake, really I do. And I am trying, but I just feel… I don’t know. Blocked? Maybe you guys are wrong. Maybe I’m just a normal witch. Err… uhh... Half-breed I guess.”
Blake instantly responds, almost startling me with the conviction in his voice. “No, you are the Noctifer Witch, Sythia. You have to believe it. That doubt in yourself and in your magick is what is holding you back from your potential. We are going to try this again, but I will give you a few minutes first. Ground yourself. Breathe. Give yourself a pep talk if you need to, because you can do this Sythia. I believe in you.”
Without waiting for my response, I hear him walk away.
Ok, ground myself. I can do this.
Reaching down, I touch the Earth. Instead of trying to push out, I let the energies flow through me. I hold on to that feeling as I stand and begin taking deep breaths. I feel calmer and almost instantly feel the tingle of magick across my skin. The unfamiliar feeling bringing goosebumps to the surface as I continue to hold onto my calm.
The wind picks up and the rain starts pouring down. I manage to only jump a little at the sudden burst of cool liquid touching my exposed flesh.
Breathing deeply, I pull Blake’s words into my mind. Telling myself to accept them as truth.
I can do this.
I open my eyes, and suddenly it’s as if the blindfold isn’t there at all. I can see everything.
No. I can see so much more .
It’s as if everything has brighter hues of colors to it. Reaching up, I touch the blindfold covering my face. Just to confirm that it’s still there. Sure enough, the soft fabric that should be obscuring my vision rubs softly against my fingers. Noticing movement to my left, I dodge to the right as a gust of air blows past where I was just standing. I look in the direction it came from and see Blake.
Only, I can’t really see him as much as I can see his... shape? He emits this beautiful colorful glow that dances between a bright turquoise, and a deep sapphire, with a bit of velvety black. He must realize that I’m seeing something because even though I can’t see the smile on his face, I can hear it in his voice. “There you are.” He whispers.
The colors must be his magickal aura. I look down at myself, but I see nothing at all.
Damn.
Ok, so I can’t see my own aura. But oh my Gods, do I see everything else. I know I’ve gotten myself a bit distracted when Blake starts throwing air from several directions and amplifies the intensity of the rain. Now that I can see the magick coming, none of it even comes close to making contact. For the first time in my life, I actually feel graceful.
That is, until Blake charges me from out of nowhere and whacks my ass with the flat side of his sword. I scream, throwing out a fireball in his direction as I continue to fall down toward the ground.
Fireball? What?!
As if that was the only weird shit, this time I don’t actually hit the ground when I fall. Quickly ripping the blindfold off my face, I discover that I’m suspended in the air. Excitement zings through me and I manage to spit out a quick, “Oh my Gods. Look !“ before I fall the rest of the way.
Ouch!
Apparently, my excitement broke whatever magick I was holding. I sit up and look at Blake, wanting to understand what I did so that maybe I can practice recreating it. Maybe throw a few blasts of air his way finally. Or another fireball...
He is only a handful of feet away from me, but he is standing completely straight with his hands clenched. “Blake, did you see that?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer me and still hasn’t turned around. I get up and make my way to the front of him, forcing his attention and try again. “I said... did you see what I did?? I actually...” I cover my mouth immediately with both hands to try and hide my shock.
“Oh no…” His eyes radiate pure fury. “Blake, I’m so sor—“
“I’m going to kill you!” He lunges at me but I manage to move quickly out of his grasp. “Not once during any of my training as a youth or in my hunts have I ever been mutilated like this!“ He bellows and I can feel the anger radiating off him.
Barely containing my laughter, I find myself choking as I try to keep it in. I start into a full coughing fit, but manage to finally squeeze out, “It is really hard to tell what your emotions are right now,” before finally grasping my middle and letting out all the laughter I was holding in.
Blake is not amused.
Blake… is growling at me.
The sound is super sexy, but I’m far too gone in the humor of the situation to get fully turned on.
Thank the Gods.
“We’re taking a break, and I’ll be talking to Cordelia to see if there is a way to fix this .“ He gestures to where his bushy eyebrows were located this morning... before I apparently singed them right off. He stalks off without another word, and I jog to catch up once I have myself under control.
“I really am sorry, Blake,” I finally say when we have been walking for a bit. “Was that an ability from my…father?”
“Demons have an affinity for the element of air, but they can use the friction within it to create fire. So yes. What you did is a more demon-ish ability.” He seems less annoyed with me as we walk. “I wish we had another place to practice or at least another way into town.” He rubs his missing brows and pinches his lips. “I really don’t want anyone seeing me like this.”
Patting his shoulder, I try to offer comfort. “Yeah, I wish we didn’t have to walk so far back to Cordelia’s.”
My ears pop, and my head starts to spin.
Blinking rapidly to clear my vision, I see Cordelia standing in front of us. Although, somehow we end up on the ground.
Her eyes are wide and her mouth is hanging open in pure shock. She drops the bin she was holding and it thunks to the ground. When I hear a groaning sound beside me, I look over to see that Blake is collapsed on the ground.
“Well, that solves that mystery at least.” Apparently, I can freaking teleport us. Or maybe we did it together?
I’m not really sure, but I’ll take the win. Who wouldn’t be excited about faster travel options? Am I right?
Looking back up at Cordelia, I notice that while she has managed to close her mouth, she still hasn’t moved and is clearly in a bit of shock. “Oh Gods, Cordelia! I’m so sorry. We didn’t mean to scare you. Well, to be honest, we didn’t mean to do that at all. It just kind of happened.”
She manages to swallow and bob her head a little. “Yes, well… I imagine you will be learning to do all manner of things we never thought possible.” She pinches her brow as she looks at Blake and waves her one hand in his direction. “Is that because of the transport magick as well?”
“Huh?” I glance at Blake before understanding sinks in. “Oh! No. I... well I discovered I could toss fire. Apparently, Blake can’t catch it. I’m just glad we aren’t both throwing up this time.” I say the last part excitedly, and Cordelia just nods at me.
She picks up her bin and places it on the shelf before addressing me again. “Alright, well let’s wake up sleeping beauty and see what we can do to fix this situation.” She gestures at Blake but doesn’t make a move towards him.
Taking the hint, I bend and tap his shoulder gently, “Hey Blake.” He groans, but that’s all I get. Biting the inside of my cheek, I put my hands on both of his shoulders and push a little harder, “Blake.” This time he whines and snatches my hands.
Before I can figure out what is about to happen, he is holding me tight against his chest in a giant bear hug. My face inches from his, I yell, “Hey asshole!” His eyes fly open and a weird look immediately crosses his face.
Man, who knew eyebrows were such a vital key to properly expressing emotions?
If Cordelia can’t fix them, we are going to have to draw some on there because I will not be able to take my training seriously like this. I wonder if he can just get them tattooed on?
“Trying to seduce your trainer will not make me go easier on you, little nymph, but I do appreciate the effort.” He smiles at me.
I smile back.
I guess my smile is a little scary because his expression attempts to convey his worry. Either that, or he is starting to learn from the last time I smiled so broadly at him. When he still makes no move to release me, I pull back my fist to the side and land a hard punch to his kidney. He lets out an oomf, and his arms release me automatically. I stand and brush myself off.
“I transported us again. We didn’t get sick this time, but you fainted like a little weakling. Get up so Cordelia can try to fix your face.” I say it all with extra snark, but to be honest, I’m just getting a wee bit hangry.
I have a deep love for food, and it’s past lunchtime.
Blake glares at me before getting up and joining his grandmother in the next room. My stomach grumbles and I want to rest my feet, so I make a quick exit from the commissary, heading next door to Cordelia’s house.
Already at home in her kitchen, I make a sandwich and cut up vegetables to add to the plate. I also make a plate for Blake since he missed lunch too, but manage to make his whole lunch look like a little frowny face with big broccoli eyebrows. It’s my way of saying “sorry.” I snicker to myself when I take in my art.
Ori would—
My thoughts come to an abrupt halt, and the smile falls from my face. I close my eyes and breathe in deeply. The pain is still there, and I don’t try to fool myself into thinking it will be gone anytime soon, but I find comfort in the feather I keep in my pocket. Ori may have hidden far more from me than I ever would have liked, but none of that matters to the part of my heart that is still broken over his death.
I don’t care who or what he was beforehand, he will always be my best friend.
My familiar.
My Ori.
I’m not sure how long I must have stood there, letting my grief and the memories flood through me, but I’m soon engulfed in a comforting embrace. The contradicting smells of a fire and cool water fill my nose. I breathe it in deeply and let it ground me.
Blake.
I slowly step to the side, breaking the connection, and wipe the drying tears from my cheeks. I look up into Blake’s face and let a small smile form on my lips. “Yes, you look so much better with these bushes back.” I say as I rub my thumbs across his fresh new brows.
He rolls his eyes and lets his attention shift to the plates. “Awe, did you make me a sandwich again? Planning on sitting in my lap to give it to me this time, too?” he asks in a flirty way.
I elbow him in the stomach as I turn and grab the plates, taking them with me to the table.
Thankful for the distraction and not at all trying to hide a blush.
Well… maybe just a little .