20. Elzora
20
ELZORA
“ B reathe through it, Zoe,” Omi commands, and I grimace as I try to do what she says. It’s futile, though.
I’m struggling, desperately, and no amount of breathing is going to change the fact that I’m extremely unfit.
“And pause,” she calls, not even a minute later. I absorb my magicae back into myself and drop to the ground in exhaustion. Lox laughs at my dramatics, but I don’t even care.
My body aches , my arms, my thighs, honestly, even my bum hurts. Every single part of me is burning, and I am mortified about how weak I am.
“You’re doing great, Zoe,” Omi says as I groan. “I think, in the long-term, we need to set you up with a solid cardio regimen so that we can continue building on your endurance.”
I couldn’t hide my grimace if I tried. “That sounds… great.”
Lox laughs again, a hearty chuckle that I can’t laugh along with. “You can’t lie to save your life, Princess.”
I roll onto my back, the clouds in the sky so much darker than when I arrived, and I glance up at Omi. She’s grinning down at me, just as amused as Lox is about my unfortunate predicament.
“Cardio will help your primordium grow, which will only benefit you in battle,” she repeats the same lecture I’ve been given multiple times through our time together, and I nod my head, still gasping pathetically for breath. “Now that our warm-up is done?—”
Warm-up?
“That was only the warm-up?” I shriek, rising to a sitting position in true horror. This time, it’s not just Omi and Lox who burst into laughter, and I can hear those around us enjoying my torture.
I bite my lip, my cheeks heating up, although with how sweaty I am, I truly doubt anyone will be able to see my blush. I grab my bottle of water and sip at it as I wait for them to calm down and to try and avoid looking at any of our audience.
“Oh, Princess, if I knew you were this funny, I’d have invited you to the playground far before now,” Lox says through his chuckles.
“Luckily for you, Miss I-Abhor-Exercise Myxere, the next part is more focused on you using your magicae to survive. The goal is to get you to connect with animus bellatoris when you’re not fearing for your life. The physical exhaustion isn’t just torture ,” she says the word teasingly, and I smile, “it quiets your mind and makes it easier to reach for your instincts rather than overthinking it.”
“The warriors’s state,” I murmur, remembering the phrase from when my dad mentioned it. “You think I can do it?”
Her face lights up in amusement—no, it’s not her face, it’s her soul . She’s so excited, so mischievous, so… energised . I’m so drained that the nerves bubbling up don’t seem to have any physical side effects.
“I have no doubt that you can. The techniques we’re going to use are going to give you the opportunities to do it. We’re going to take away your senses, and…” She trails off, looking at Lox before shrugging. “And, well, we’re going to attack you.”
“Which of my senses will you take away?” I ask, taking her offered hand up. I brush off the bits of dried mud on my leggings as the achy feeling seems to fade.
“Hearing, sight, and smell,” she says with a smile. “Taste is pretty useless in this exercise anyway, and touch is a necessity for you to be able to stand and feel if you’ve fallen.”
Images of baby animals learning to stand and walk, and their constant falls, is something I think everyone here is going to see with me. That’s lovely.
I shiver as Omi’s excitement seems to grow. “Um, I thought you wanted me to fight?”
“Well, at first, you’re likely going to freeze up or maybe even try to run,” she says with a shrug. “At least, Vex did.”
“Okay..” Overwhelming, lonely, terrifying .
She smiles, squeezing my hand. “Without your senses to distract you, you’ll be forced to rely purely on your magicae. That’s what animus bellatoris is—pure instinct, no hesitation. This is the way you’ll survive in a real battlefield, Zoe.”
“Once you can get into the animus bellatoris in a simulation where you’ve forced it, it’ll make it easier and easier for you to do it at will,” Lox adds. “Trust me when I say it saves lives.”
Omi outlines the rules of this training exercise. Deprived of all my senses, I’ve got to identify each of my attackers and subdue them before they can attack me. It sounds simple enough, but… it’s also pretty familiar.
“What’s wrong?” Omi asks.
“Didn’t I already pass this test, though?” I ask softly. I wring my hands together, nervous about offending her when she’s not only taken the time to work with me but clearly is an accomplished trainer who knows what she is doing. Vexus’s survival is proof of that.
“When?” Omi asks, frowning.
“This is sort of what I was doing the other day with… with Anomus.”
I choke over his name, not yet comfortable referring to him as my dad outside of my own head, but neither seem to notice.
“In a way. Your dad’s exercise taught you to read souls in the middle of a battle. This one teaches you to trust those readings even when everything else is stripped away,” Omi says. “And we’ll be using real volunteers who will be far more accomplished at disguising their… desires.”
I frown, and Lox grins at me. “We’re not going to outwardly let you know we’re attacking, Elzora. Those volunteering will be the people around us who are already busy doing their own things.”
My eyes widen. “So, they’re not just going to… attack and wait for me to subdue them?”
Both of them laugh, and Omi shakes her head. “Not for this challenge. You need to connect with your primordium , use your abilities, and decide if the people around you are friend or foe.”
Omi starts outlining all of the rules, including that I can’t subdue everyone and just end the exercise. I need to examine each person’s soul, their intentions, and make sure that I’m connecting with my magicae to do this.
“Vexus used to get so frustrated with this exercise at first. He thought brute strength would solve everything. But the truth is, Zoe, power isn’t enough—you need control, endurance, and skill . The moment you run out of magicae, you’ve lost. I refuse to let that happen to you.”
Another shiver wracks my body, a small pit forming in my tummy. “I don’t want that to happen to me either.”
“I know you don’t, darling girl,” she says softly. “Now, I want you to think of magicae like music, Zoe. Some witches are loud and booming, others are soft and subtle. Your job is to learn the melody of each person’s energy, so you know who’s a friend, who’s a threat, and how much danger you’re truly in,” she says calmly. “Some may try to play false notes to deceive you, but you have the ability to feel the true rhythm beneath.”
“I know how to do that already,” I offer, and she grins.
“Let’s see how well you can apply it when they’re attacking, hiding, and deceiving, then.”
She continues by explaining that the volunteers will use weak spells, but they might still hurt , and how I need to distinguish between intent and danger levels when planning my own strategy.
I’m nervous but also kind of excited. This is the kind of training that I’ve been wanting, so I’m going to give it my all.
Even if I’m already exhausted from doing magicael planks.
“How will this mental state help, then? The animus bellatoris ?”
Omi’s hazel eyes twinkle in the light. “When you reach it, you won’t just read their souls, Zoe—you’ll react to their rhythms instinctively like a dancer responding to music, and your magicae will obey.”
“Are you ready?” Lox asks, and I take a deep breath before nodding.
“Good. I don’t have the power to take away senses, but my anima nexum does,” she says with a gesture to her side as who I assume is Vexus’s dad arrives in a shadow. “Zirze, love, this is Elzora Myxere.”
He’s practically Vexus’s twin, if a little bit older. They’ve got the same exact shade of dirty blonde hair, and similarly to how Vex wears it, Zirze has it tied up in a knot at the base of his skull. With an oval-shaped face and honey-toned skin, the only physical difference is that Vexus has golden runes branded into his skin that Zirze doesn’t.
“Um, wow, hi, um, yes.” I stumble and stutter over my words, causing both he and his anima nexum to laugh.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that I birthed the boy, I’d be positive that he wasn’t mine,” Omi says with an eye roll. Her grin gives away her happiness, though. “Until Vex decided to brand himself, they were identical.”
“It is lovely to meet you, Elzora,” Zirze says, nodding his head at me. “I’ve heard my son has been a fool today.”
“Um…”
“A fool?” Omi’s tone sharpens, her hazel eyes lighting up as she reaches for her magicae. “What has he done to deserve the title?”
I tense, not sure how to answer them.
“Fights between those in a bond are not our fights to monitor,” Zirze says, placing his hand at the small of Omi’s back. “But we can judge.”
Omi rolls her eyes. “I birthed him, I get to smack him when he’s been a tuber stultus .”
I burst into giggles at the words foolish potato and how offended Vex would be if he heard.
“It was just a small… scuffle,” Zirze says. “But the boy probably deserves a smack.”
And that cuts off my giggles as I look into Zirze’s blue eyes. Of course, they’re the same shade as Vexus’s. “I don’t think more violence is the solution.”
Lox smiles. “You’re different to Vex in that way, and I don’t know if that’s because he’s, well… damaged ? — ”
“He’s not damaged!” Omi and I snap at the same time. Her tone is far more aggressive than mine, but it’s me who receives the apology from Lox.
“It’s nothing to do with them both being soul witches as to why Elzora doesn’t favour violence whereas Vexus does,” Zirze says, interrupting the death I’m sure that Omi has planned for Lox. “Now, are we training or meeting properly?”
“Training,” Omi says. “Can you be a darling, Zir, and take away Zoe’s senses.”
He nods his head and steps forward from his mate. “Can I take your hand? Using my physical touch will be a firm anchor as we do this.”
“Sure.”
He takes his hand in mine, and it’s reassuring to feel the dark magicae and not soul. This isn’t Vex, not even a little bit. Their souls are extremely different. Zirze is a good man, mostly, but there are quite a lot of blemishes on his soul.
Probably from where he tried to… murder King Etonik.
“I’m going to take your sense of smell away first,” he says and murmurs a spell too quietly for me to hear. I don’t really notice anything different. “Next will be your sight.”
This is where my body tenses, and the knot in my stomach seems to grow. I gasp the moment the world goes black, and I tighten my hold on his hand.
“Take some breaths and connect with your magicae, little soul witch,” Omi commands. “You shouldn’t be distressed when you have the power over your own soul.”
I flinch. “Anxiety is my middle name, Omi. I wake up this way.”
“Breathe,” she demands, and Zirze rubs the back of my hand with his thumb, not moving from where he’s standing. “Connect.”
I breathe, slowly and carefully, counting the inhales and the exhales, trying to reassure myself that this is a normal feeling.
But that would be a lie, and my body and magicae know it. I could fight against his spell so easily, but I know that defeats the point, so I stay blinded, scared, and empty.
Maybe instead of physical exhaustion being my trigger for this warrior spirit mentality, maybe I’ll unlock one nobody has ever heard of before—the coward’s spirit that unlocks by reaching anxiety levels that I haven’t before.
“I’m fine,” I mumble, and based on her huff, she doesn’t believe me.
“We’re going to take away your hearing next. Before we do, know that you can reach out to us mentally, and we’ll end the test immediately,” Zirze says.
“Would it not be faster to end the spell myself?” I ask, and Omi’s laugh is quieter.
“Yes, so do that if you need to end it, okay? There is no judgement—this is for training, and if it’s causing distress, we can retry it.” He squeezes my hand, and a warmth spreads through me.
I never had parents, not really. I had my grandma, who adored me, but I knew she wasn’t my mum . I might have my dad now, but it’s different.
But knowing that Vexus has two parents who adore him, who are caring and loving and full of warmth, it heals my soul in a way I didn’t know I needed.
My hearing disappears, and I take my time to ground myself. Breathing does nothing, and I connect with my magicae. Like always, I can guide it so easily without truly thinking it through.
“ Revelare ,” I murmur, but instead of revealing my surroundings, my intention is to reveal the souls around me. I can’t see, not really, but at least this way, some of my vision returns.
Rather than seeing actual people, I see outlines. Red, blue, silver, yellow… I see their magicae types very easily.
Zirze’s still holding onto my hand as I try to ground myself. I don’t know how much time passes before I feel a mental probe coming from Omi.
“We’re going to begin. Once you identify an attacker, you need to out them. That ends their participation in your training exercise. Remember the goal, and don’t hesitate to stop this if you need to.”
And then she withdraws mentally as her anima nexum withdraws physically. The battle is on, it seems, and yet, nobody attacks. I look around, seeing people still moving, still doing what they were doing.
A flash of fear fills me, and I can feel the trembling in my legs extend to my hands, too. I’m alone and deprived of the senses that can help me most.
Omi and Zirze are gone, no longer by my side, and whilst Lox is still next to me, I’ve lost his attention. He’s talking to someone else.
Do I walk around? Can I even do that? Do I try to start attacking myself?
Lox walks away, and I feel something change. I whirl around, trip over a stone in the ground, and land onto the hard grass just as something whizzes past me. I don’t know what it was, just that I can feel the energy in the air.
“Ow,” I mutter, but even though the word left my mouth, I can’t hear it. The souls around me fluctuate with colours, energy, brightness… and I have no idea where to start.
I roll onto all fours and push up from the ground, stumbling as I move forward. I let my magicae roll out, assessing the people closest to me. There’s five people hovering around a training mat, and they all read as good.
Some may play false notes to deceive you.
Omi’s words come back to me a second too late. I’m hit in the back by a gust of air that knocks me forward, onto my knees. I grimace, letting out a whimper, as my hands cut on the rubble next to me.
With an annoyed grumble, I trace the attack back to the person who launched it and use the same spell I used the other day, but rather than marking them as friendly, I mark them as a foe. It’s temporary and should last only a few moments.
I call out, “Air witch—dangerous. Marked as foe.”
There’s a change in that person’s soul, and I grin, noticing how easily it changed. In rapid succession, I mark another ten or so witches as friendly because they’re not taking part in the exercise.
That just leaves another seventy-two who are. Some automatically read as dangerous, some as friendly, and some are concealing their intentions through magicae or natural blocks.
It’s quite exciting.
Another blast of air knocks me back down, this time, I fall onto my bum, and I sigh. If only I could stay on my feet, this would be easier to do something about.
As I’m knocked into the ground once more, I hear a silent whisper, one that isn’t a person but flowers . The plants are talking, and they can sense the disruption from an earth witch nearby.
Two patches of daisies close together are both unsettled, and there’s a tree about five metres further back that is as unsettled. I spot the green soul of the earth witch— the supposed friendly— and spot how their soul lights up a mere second or two before I call out, “Earth Witch—deceptive.”
They had flung something my way, but it doesn’t seem to hit me for whatever reason. There’s six more earth witches here, and I use the souls of the plants around me for support, and call out quickly another two dangerous ones, along with the four that are truly friendly.
I manage to get back to my feet, and as soon as another gust of air is launched towards me, I say, “ Redi !” and thrust the magicael attack back towards the witch.
I flinch when I see the pain in the air witch’s soul, but before healing them, I call out that they were dangerous. As soon as they’re marked, I do my best to soothe the pain on their soul.
I’m bombarded with fire energy—hot and cold, hot and cold, over and over. I’m circling the area, able to see the souls, but it’s not as easy to pinpoint who is doing it when there’s no true maliciousness behind it.
It’s frustrating. In the castle, it was so easy to determine which souls were good and which were bad. I could read the intent as if it was tattooed on their forehead, and I never had to dig any deeper.
I just knew.
Because I was in animus bellatoris and could .
Omi said I needed to be exhausted. I mean, physically, I’m drained. Emotionally, I’m a bit of a wreck. But exhausted? I could keep doing this.
But maybe… I close my eyes and drop to the ground, running my fingers through the grass like I did earlier. I don’t engage with the attacks, letting them do whatever they want, whilst I connect with my primordium .
With my soul.
Help me.
Please.
I beg my inner self, desperation likely leaking through the bonds I share with my men as another attack is launched my way.
A shadow man reaches out to touch my cheek, and I blast him away and jump to my feet, outing Zirze immediately. He’s a good mile away, or at least that is how it seems, but I recognise his energy.
Small attacks of rain, snow, and sleet don’t phase me as I’m so warm . Nothing can disrupt me, nothing can stop this feeling.
I’m calm, I’m capable, and I’m so powerful.
We walk towards the group of eight souls, and I calmly call out their position—deceptive, foe, or friendly. Only the light witch was friendly, a young girl of twelve or thirteen, who seemed awed that I spoke to her.
I wish I could have heard her responses, but I refuse to break from the game. I’m currently winning, and I achieved what I was meant to.
Another thirteen people are outed, and they go back to their own sessions, not seeming disappointed that I cottoned on.
But then, a new group of souls enter the arena, and my magicae and I want to play. I break Zirze’s spell on myself and mark every person still in the game in succession before beaming at the group of five men in the battlefield.
They’re glowing, at least to me, a bright red surrounding Mael, a soothing blue around Zohar, a sunshine yellow around the cheeky Ryes, a dark green around Jasper, and the bright gold that is surrounding Vexus is likely mirrored on myself.
“ZoZo!” Ryes yells, and within a blink, I’m by his side. My eyes widen, but I don’t have time to deliberate before he swings me up in his arms.
“You ruined her training exercise, son,” Omi says dryly. She’s standing next to Zirze as I’m placed on the floor. She dismisses him easily and smiles at me. “You did it, Zoe, well done. How do you feel?”
“Powerful.”
“You’re always powerful, Ellie baby,” Mael murmurs, reaching for my hand. He tugs me into his side, and Jasper adjusts so he’s closer to me. “Well done, though, I can feel it.”
“Me, too,” Jasper adds, grinning down at me. “You’re amazing, sunflower.”
“The flowers helped me get there in the end,” I murmur, and his eyes flash green as confusion shows on his face. “They sing so beautifully, but their anger is more telling.”
Omi frowns. “The plants told you how to do it?”
I giggle and shake my head. “The first earth witch was angering them, so it was easy to tell. Connecting with it… it wasn’t through exhaustion but intent.”
“You just asked your magicae to enter a state of animus bellatoris and it did?” Zirze asks, sounding a little awed.
“Well, kind of,” I murmur, shrugging. “It’s a work in progress.” I blush. “Anyways, Ryes, Jasper, Mael, Zohar, meet Omi and Zirze Coku—Vexus’s mum and dad.”
“Oh, the failure assassins,” Ryes says, reaching out to shake Zirze’s hand. “Ryes Thorne.”
I gasp as Zirze and my men burst out laughing. “Ry!” I tug on his jacket, and he just winks at me. I’m horrified, but Omi just rolls her eyes.
“I’ve heard worse,” she says. “Mael Inques, right?” My fire witch nods his head. She grimaces and reaches out to hug him. “It’s so nice to meet you. We used to live close by to your family.”
Mael tenses, and I don’t move away as Omi wraps her arms around us both. Mael doesn’t breathe until she lets go, and I instantly do what I can to give soothing comfort along our bond. My magicae can’t fix the trauma that’s so deeply ingrained in his soul—not in one go, at least—but I can help.
“Jasper Defas,” Jasper says, reaching his hand out to shake them.
“I’m sorry for the loss of your parents,” Zirze says, bowing his head.
Jasper’s eyes darken. “I’m not.”
“Dead family, dead family, dead parents, and soon-to-be dead parents,” Ryes says, pointing first at Jasper, then Mael, then Zohar, ending at himself. “But, hey, now we have four nice parents in our little harem. We’ve doubled overnight.”
Vexus snorts. “Nice is relative.”
Omi whacks his chest and beams at Ryes. “I’m so excited to meet you all. We’ll have to arrange a parent’s…” She trails off and then gives me a smile. “Zoe, your dad is wondering if you’ll have time to see him before he has to leave.”
I nod and attempt to move from Mael’s arms.
“I’ll take you,” my fire witch says. “Vexus here is owed a re-match from his mum, apparently, so we may as well leave the healer to tend to his boo-boos.”
Ryes and Jasper laugh as Vexus groans.
“I’ll see you on Tuesday for our next session, Zoe,” Omi says with a warm look. “You did really well today, and I have no doubt we can build upon this.”
“If she says she’s come warmed up, will you believe her?” Ryes asks, and I groan. Thankfully, Mael opens a portal, and after another round of goodbyes, the two of us leave.
Jasper stays back with Ryes and Zohar, the three of them excited to watch Vexus and his mum duel.
I’m not, and honestly, I’m quite drained now that the force of the warrior’s spirit has faded away. But underneath the exhaustion, there’s something new, something terrifying.
My magicae has the feeling that, next time, animus bellatoris won’t just be something I stumble my way into… it’ll be waiting for me to call it home.