Eight
Song: Beautiful Hell - Adna
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I watched the windchime above me as it shimmered in the setting sun's rays. The light danced through the colored frosted glass throwing a rainbow of color across the patio. I closed my eyes letting the soft music it produced in the wind take me away.
"We're not done yet," Julian's voice shook me.
I turned over and placed a hand on the hard floor, pushing myself up.
I was tired. So, so tired.
I needed sleep.
And rest.
I had another nightmare and couldn't go back to sleep. I didn't leave my room, choosing to practice on my own with the little I'd learned so far. It was unsuccessful. I barely had a spark of magic in my hands before I just gave up and made my way to the kitchen to make myself breakfast instead.
The sun was barely out when I caught Julian in the study having a drink.
His back was to the center of the study.
His hands rested on the small table on the side wall with different glasses and decanters filled with alcohol.
His shoulders were hunched over, unmoving like he was standing in that position for a while in thought.
His fingers gripped the table so tightly his knuckles turned white.
He was impeccably dressed in the heavy jacket just as he had been the other morning. Had he been summoned again?
Despite not making any noise, he turned. "You're awake."
I nodded. "I don't sleep anymore."
He nodded towards something behind me. "Let's get some breakfast and we can begin for today."
And he was merciless.
To the point that I regretted wanting to train as hard as I did. But then I remembered Damien and felt my sense of purpose renew.
"Come now, Emylin, stand up."
I watched him through the curtain of silver hair that fell over my face.
"Good," he said with a small nod. I could see his own exhaustion in his face, though his body didn't sway like mine did. "You're angry. Use that anger."
I felt my ankle buckle slightly as I stood to full height but ignored it. He didn't.
He shook his head when he noticed. "We need to stop for today."
I shook my own head. "No." I felt a familiar surge within me. It built within my core then expanded to my arms. I directed my hands towards him as he instructed and released it in his direction.
He deflected quickly and moved away.
Trust my instincts, he told me.
So I did.
I willed myself to appear behind him.
I recognized the call of power as it flowed through me and just when I was about to release it to appear behind him, it faltered.
I didn't appear behind him. Instead, I appeared beside him.
He didn't hesitate and moved. His hand grabbed my wrist and pulled it behind me.
On instinct, my leg shot out and with as much strength as I could muster aided by some magic, I pulled his leg with mine and we both fell.
I braced for the impact of the floor, dreading it, wishing I could at least land on something softer than the mat Julian had laid out during training.
We didn't fall into the cushioned mat we stood on like I thought. Instead, we both fell into the backyard pool. Without meaning to, I somehow sucked water into my lungs. Julian let me go quickly and I swam to the top, taking a large gulp of air when I broke the surface.
I coughed harshly, letting the water out of my lungs. It wasn't long before Julian spectered us out of the water. We laid down with our backs on the mat on the floor. I looked up at him from the floor as he sat up.
He was not amused. His black hair was plastered to his forehead. He was completely soaked from head to toe. And despite his murderous look, I found myself laughing.
"Was it supposed to be a joke? You did that on purpose?"
I covered my face with my hands but snorted with laughter. "No!"
"Why are you laughing, Emylin?"
I shook my head and held my middle. "I don't know!"
He sighed as he sat back on the mat. He took off his boots. "These were my favorite pair."
I shook my head again and let myself relax fully in the floor. "That was fun." I felt his gaze and sat up. "Come on, admit it was fun."
He shook his head. "What did you try to do?"
I sighed. "I didn't want to fall on the hard floor, I didn't aim for the water."
He sighed deeply. "At least you spectered."
I moved to stand. "Can we try again?"
"Absolutely not. You might not mean to but you might specter us to the bottom of the Styx." He shook his head as he stood. "You're pushing too hard. I will not have you burn yourself to exhaustion to prove a point."
I stood too, following him to a seat on the patio as he removed his other boot. "I'm not trying to prove a point. I'm trying to learn so I can save Damien."
He scoffed as he shook his head. "You will be of no use to Damien dead, Emylin."
I crossed my arms. "Come on, Julian. You said you wouldn't take it easy-"
"I also didn't agree to train you to the point of death." He shook his head again. "No."
"It's only been a week!"
His icy eyes looked at me. "And here we are unable to specter where needed, barely maintain a shield, unable to create a pulse of energy.
" I could feel disappointment from him. He seemed to be exhausted.
His shoulders were deflated, his movements just a tad slower than before.
"These are all things we learn as children and you're barely able to do it. "
My nostrils flared with indignation.
"You need rest." He began to walk away into the house. "I went against my better judgment to appease you and we barely have anything to show for it."
I followed him inside. "What if we are running out of time?"
He turned to me, his voice grave. "We are.
" He sighed deeply, his tone softening when he spoke again.
"We are running out of time, Emylin.
" He set his boots down on a chair next to him and placed his hands on my shoulders.
"It is important that we train but it is also important that you rest as well.
Our magic is strongest when we are." I watched his gaze go over my features.
A soft, subtle smile crept his features.
I recognized the look almost immediately.
He felt sorry for me.
"You are exhausted. You're burning yourself out. When the time comes, you will not be able to go against him. He will take you back and-" He paused, shaking his head. "It will be much worse for you then."
I didn't want to agree with him, but I knew deep down, he was saying the truth. He was helping me. "Fine then."
He gave a deep sigh but smiled. "I'm exhausted too. Why don't we just call it a night, watch TV instead."
I frowned. "You have a TV?"
His facial gestures were more of amusement than confusion. His tone was pleasant, teasing. "Why wouldn't I have a television?"
"How do you get reception here?"
He laughed loudly. "I swear, Emylin, the questions you ask." He picked up his shoes and began going upstairs.
"I'm being serious!" I followed him as he went up the stairs. "Where are you going?"
"For a shower," Julian responded. He turned back to look at me as I followed. "I don't expect you to go with me. I can do that by myself." He began to go up the stairs, stopped and looked at me again. "Unless you'd like to join, of course. I won't put up a fight if you do."
I felt the familiar warm cheeks and the same fury I felt earlier. "You wish."
He shrugged his shoulders and continued up the stairs. "It was worth a try."
Julian never came back to watch television like he said he would. He was summoned again and had to leave. At least this time, he let me know he would leave.
I felt a flutter in my chest as I watched him come into the living room impeccably dressed.
I'd seen him dressed in his regalia before but it still struck me how formal he looked when meeting Damien/Robyn.
But now it was different. I'd always seen him after.
After he met him, talked to him, and met with him.
Now that I was watching him before the meeting, I was afraid for him. I was afraid he wouldn't return.
I was afraid that something would happen and Robyn would see through him and lead him back to Skryen where we were. Where he was housing a fugitive.
A prize he wanted more than anything.
I followed him as he walked to the kitchen and began to dig something out of the refrigerator.
"How do you know you're being summoned?" I asked.
"Interestingly," he said as he poured himself water. "I hear a tingling of bells in my head. No one else hears it."
I blinked. "Really?"
He shook his head, laughing. "No. I received a letter." He patted the chest of his jacket. "An invitation this time." He rolled his eyes. "Who knows what he will ramble on about today."
"Plans, hopefully."
He nodded, taking a drink of his full glass. "One can only hope."
I swallowed. "Be careful. Please."
He winked. "Aren't I always?"
I rolled my eyes as I walked away. "You'll be fine." I didn't need to look back to know he was gone. Spectered, presumably to the Keep with Robyn.
I sat down heavily on one of the recliners in the large room. Julian's home was modern and gave the impression that he had to be somehow well off. I wondered if being a Lord came with a salary or if his home was inherited.
I looked at the remote in my hand and set it aside. Looking and my hand and turning my hand over, I relived the first time I'd done any sort of magic. I was with Damien in the Throne Room. He held me close, asked me to think of my happiest memory.
I smiled. My happiest memory was with him. That was my lifeline, what Julian gave me to hang on to the smallest shred of hope that I thought had been long gone.
I closed my eyes and thought of it again.
I thought of Damien. I pictured him in my mind how he had been. The care-free, cocky Damien of my childhood. How innocent our lives had been. I tried to relive the memory as I had before. I pictured the pier, the cotton candy, the ice cream...I tried to picture everything as I remembered it.
I opened my eyes and, like before, found a small amount of light in my hand.
"You're improving."
I closed my hand into a fist, extinguishing the light. "Not as fast as I'd like."
Asmo stepped around me and gestured to the other couch in the room. "May I join you in your solitude?"
I only nodded, preferring not to look into his insult too much. Somehow, I could read his energy like the night before. And its toxicity was practically seeping into my lungs.
"Have you told Julian about my offer to teach you?"
I looked over at him but didn't answer. He was dangerous. There was something about him. His gaze held me in place, his crooked smile didn't seem at all welcoming...but his actions.
He didn't seem like he meant any harm at all.
He gave a knowing smile at my silence. "You haven't."
I shook my head. "It wasn't something worth mentioning to him, Asmo."
He smiled again, wider this time. "He told you who I am."
I nodded. "He said you're going to help us."
"When I'm needed," his voice was deep, smooth. He had some leverage, I could tell that much in the way he carried himself and spoke. He was either very confident or very powerful. Or very confident because he was very powerful.
He looked at his nails. "Have you considered my training?"
"No," I said, standing, looking down at him. "I never considered it because it's not something I'm interested in."
"Oh," he tsked. "Come now, Emylin. Aren't you the least bit curious to see what you can do? What you can do to finally rid of us that man once and for all?"
I hesitated and that was all he needed before he smiled.
"Perfect." He waved a hand and a small little birdcage appeared on the coffee table between us.
A small canary sat perched in the domed Victorian-style birdcage.
It wasn't a very large cage but large enough for the lonely yellow canary to move between the perch and the bottom of the cage.
I felt my heart drop. "What are you going to do to it?"
"He is here for you to practice on."
The canary chirped sweetly, completely unaware of either of us in the room.
I shook my head. "No."
He sighed, exasperated. "In the grand scheme of things, what is one canary when you can stop the man that is about to go to war to kill faes and humans?"
"Not like this. You're crazy."
"You can hold life in your hands, Emylin. You can bend others to your will. All life, including faes." He extended a hand towards the canary. "All you have to do is take it, it's yours."
He was insane. "I won't do this."
He scoffed. The way he spoke, how he expressed himself, his annoyance was palpable. But there was something else there, too. It was desperation. He was desperate for me to learn, whatever it would take, it seemed. "You're weak, then," he finally said. "You might as well just join him at this rate."
I shook my head. "That bird is innocent. I won't harm him, that doesn't meant I won't harm Robyn when the time comes."
"Prove it." He nodded at the bird.
Heavy energy pulsed in the room, reverberating in my chest. The canary began to chirp loudly. I turned to it and found it was completely still on the perch...no, not on the perch. It wasn't standing on the perch, its tiny legs were straight out almost hovering above it.
I knew at once Asmo was using his power on it. "Stop it!"
He chuckled, cocking his head towards me. "Make me."
I ran to the cage but was stopped by an invisible wall.
He shook his head. "That's not what I mean. Use your magic."
I shook my head. The pulsing magic of the small canary's life was calling to me and I could feel its little life force starting to wane. "Stop it!"
He didn't. In response, the bird chirped louder.
I could feel the magic around me. It was dark, dangerous, perverse...
And nothing I wanted to learn or be associated with.
I couldn't do it and Asmo was showing me just that. He was showing me my weakness, my unwillingness to do what was necessary to finally get rid of Robyn. I was failing. Just like I would fail Damien...
My hand shot out towards Asmo and the moment that it did, I felt my magic grasp something cold and dark. It felt like I was grasping ice in my hands.
Immediately, the bird stopped crying out and the magic I was gripping slipped through my fingers.
I stayed rooted in my spot, staring at the small bird as it lay on the bottom of its tiny cage.
Hands shaking, I reached for the cage and opened the little door. I carefully grabbed the little bird and placed it close to my chest.
I breathed a sigh of relief. It was alive, at least. I could feel its frantic heart beating wildly in its chest. Almost at once, I felt something new leaving me.
Leaving me...and going to the small creature cradled in my hand.
Slowly, the canary began to chirp in my hands again.
I let out a sigh of relief. It would be all right. I could set it free and it would be all right.
Asmo chuckled. "This is going to be very interesting."
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Next chapter should come soon-ish!
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