19. Thayla #2
With a deep breath, I let go of the worry of not knowing where everyone is standing. I simply focus my mind on the connection that’s going to be present between them and the other three’s sight no matter where they are.
“Who do you still see?” Val asks.
Damn it.
“Gladian, Vullie, and Prath,” Rose, Lambrit, and Havar all say at once.
“Bestie!” Riven shrieks, while Gladian barks, “Godrun.”
“Sorry,” the two of us mumble as we glance at each other, then over our shoulders.
I don’t know how I forgot or lost the connection in front of his ass.
“Again,” Val orders. “Everyone move around and don’t stop walking this time.”
Shit.
I shake my hands out and crack my neck as I prepare my power. My eyes drift back shut and I get my mind right.
V, Riven, Creed, Amick, Kyzen, Mara, Gladian, and myself.
I repeat their names, refusing to allow myself to forget anyone again. That happening the first time was excusable since we were just getting started, but that’s a mistake that never should’ve been repeated.
It can’t be repeated once we get into the Abandon.
On my exhale, my power flows free.
“Who do you see?” Val asks.
I hold my breath and stay still, not allowing my concentration to break because of my nerves.
“No one.”
The echo of that answer has a small laugh tumbling from my lips as my eyes fly open and meet Yemi’s. The bright smile on her face grows as she glances around the Court, searching for her men. They all beam at her in pride. Even Sevryn.
The smirks mine give me are panty melting.
Gladian looks a touch relieved I didn’t forget him again, and Mara’s lips are curling at the corners.
I have no clue where V is hiding.
“Now you two join your groups. I don’t want any rhyme or reason to the way you move around. Run, sprint, jump around, do whatever you want but keep your bodies moving. Loudly. Sound and sight.”
A quiet rush of air tumbles out of me as I jog toward the other side of the Court.
My men surround me in their normal formation of someone on either side of me, one in the front and one in the back.
Mara positions herself on the other side of Kyzen, while Gladian takes the front beside Creed.
V pops up out of nowhere and perches himself on Amick’s shoulder.
Then we run.
Yemi and her group position themselves in basically an identical formation.
Sound and sight.
I mentally murmur everyone’s names again, and honestly, I believe I’m just going to continue doing so. It really does make me lock in on them and keep them at the forefront of my thoughts.
“Very good. From this point on, don’t drop your power and just do as I say,” Val shouts. “Thayla and Yemi, switch spots.”
Creed and Gladian part for me and I run through them, smiling at Yemi as she races to get to the middle of my men’s formation. A chuckle falls from my chest as Sevryn shoves me as I pass him.
“Good idea, Sevryn.” Val laughs. “Everyone distract them.”
Ah, fuck.
Valories, the noise.
I don’t know what my men, V, Gladian, and Mara decided to do as their distractions, but Doren, Nero, Iric, Barir, Vullie, and Prath talk at once. Fucking Sevryn keeps poking me.
Running, concentrating, being touched, and hearing nothing but damn babbling is far more difficult than you think.
I’m about to scream, I’m so overstimulated.
“Both of you are flickering. Tighten your holds on those connections,” Val yells.
Son of a bitch.
I shove out a bit more of my power and home in on the connections.
Everything going on around me is very overwhelming, but the funniest and most comforting thing happening is listening to Meridamus give Lambrit, Rose, and Havar a play-by-play of what we’re doing.
“Everyone, go grab a sword, pair up, and start sparring,” Val says.
Shit…I see what he’s doing.
The realization hits me square in my chest. These aren’t just random crazy-ass exercises at all.
Instead of pairing with my men, Mara, or Gladian, I race toward Yemi in the center of the Court. She’s taking slow, deep breaths as she gets her grip right on her sword.
“You okay?” I ask.
“Fuck, I’m tired of running.”
“Same.” I chuckle, then lower my voice. “You see what he’s doing, right?”
“Yeah, torturing us.”
Possibly a little.
“He’s preparing us. We might get separated. We might have to run or even fight,” I say, shaking my sword at her and her gaze widens. “He’s making sure we can hold the connections no matter what’s happening around us.”
“Damn. I hate how much sense that makes,” she huffs and hangs her head. “That’s why he hasn’t moved on to us separating power yet. We’ve got to get this as perfect as possible first.”
“Yep,” I say.
“Well, then”—she sighs and rolls her shoulders out—“I guess let’s do that.”
Our swords collide between us and our dance begins.
I couldn’t tell you how long we spend bouncing around the Court, switching off sparring partners, and doing whatever else Val yells out.
When I feel my power waning, I tighten my grip, repeat everyone’s names, and push through.
There’s a good possibility that Yemi and I will be drained dry by the end of this training, and I honestly believe that’s what Val wants to see.
I think another test we’re taking that we aren’t supposed to be aware we’re taking is him measuring how long we can go for.
I don’t know if it’s because he just wants to know or if he’s trying to get an idea of how long he needs to make sure all the Beginning Gods are kept in the Neutral for.
That’s both understandable and worrisome.
I really haven’t considered the actual timeline of this mission.
Could be an hour…Could be five.
Fuck.
“Kyzen, use your power,” Val commands, and my swing toward Amick falls short as my damn brain malfunctions. Luckily, he notices and stops himself from carrying his strike forward.
Shit, shit, shit.
“Get it together, Thayla. You know what to do,” Val yells when my power flickers.
Right. I do.
I tap into the connection around us that’s already tethered to the separation I have between the sound and sight. My breath steadies as I extend my power of Boundaries a layer farther once I sense Kyzen’s brush across my skin.
That’s the part I focus on. Not the power itself. Not the movements. Not even the group. Just that sense of awareness that’s flowing outward.
And then I pull the connection.
My power of Accord flares instantly in response, attempting to confirm what’s happening around us. It wants to map every reaction, every ripple of awareness, and that’s where it typically trips me up. Not this time.
This is what I spent all of day four and five of training working on.
Teaching my Accord how to shift its focus to what’s within my boundary, not past it.
As long as it senses there’s a strong connection between those I want it to focus on, it’s satisfied.
“Good, Thayla,” Val says. “Doren, your power.”
A moment passes before my senses are alerted to his power, and I command my Boundaries, Accord, everything within me, not to do anything about it.
It was easy enough not to pay those outside my group any attention when I was separating the connections for sound and sight, but it’s instinctual for my power to want to respond when one that doesn’t belong to one of my men or Yemi brushes up against me.
“That’s it,” Val says with an approving nod. “When I call your name, bring forth your power and don’t let it go until I say so. Thayla and Yemi, I don’t know why you both have quit sparring.”
Ah, fuck.
My feet have definitely fallen still, and my training sword hangs lazily at my side. I readjust my grip and focus back on Amick. The features on his face scream that the last thing he wants to do is make me spar.
Too bad, I suppose.
My sword comes forward in a slow, easy swing as I steady my breathing and tighten my attention around the invisible boundary surrounding my group. The sound remains inside. Their movements remain visible only to us.
I hold it all together.
“Creed,” Val calls and my eyes flare for a breath before I shove that spike of surprise down.
Death rolls across my skin like lightning before settling comfortably inside the boundary.
“Sevryn.”
I spare a quick glance over at Yemi and the fierce concentration on her forehead. She too is barely moving her sword enough to call it sparring, but she’s at least participating.
“Gladian.”
The pressure against my Boundaries increases ever so slightly and I suck down a deep breath.
“Nero. Riven.”
Accord, not my own, skirts across my mind, and I force myself to ignore it before my own decides to respond. That becomes so much harder to do when Chaos bursts into existence.
Not enough to warp anything around us, just enough that the air feels…different.
Restless and wild.
I separate the connection between it and exhale slowly through my nose.
Keep holding.
Val continues calling out names. Back and forth between my group and Yemi’s, and pressure builds against the edge of my control.
A slight tremor flows down my spine and I swallow, adjusting my hold on the connections.
My mind races across everyone’s names as I make sure every new ripple of power stays within our little bubble.
Across the Court, Yemi rolls her shoulders, feeling what I’m feeling as well.
“V.”
My Vedarya lets loose a hoot and a pulse of his own power.
That new wave stacks atop the last and it feels less like I’m separating connections and more like I’m bracing my entire body against a rising tide that’s trying to knock me off my feet.
My breathing turns uneven and my power strains against my skin as if it’s noticing how much force is pressing against the invisible barrier I’ve built around us.
Shit. Hold it. It’s fine. This is fine.
“Everyone, push more,” Val instructs.
Every Domain answers, and the invisible pulse slams into my Boundaries. I bite back a brutal grunt as that ripple spreads across the connections I’m holding onto for dear life.