She ran
through the forms until she was drenched in sweat and her arms felt like she
couldn’t lift them even if she had to save her life. Sunrise was still a few
hours off so she perched on Feoras claw and worked through her magic lessons.
She started with the simple exercise of lifting items from the ground, and made
her way up to setting specific items on fire then putting them out. Just
setting things on fire was not enough, she needed to control the flames.
‘I want
you to throw rocks at me.’
‘Little
one, I believe you have lost your mind.’ His large brown eye was close to hers
and she could see just how sweaty and un-kept she looked, and she realized that
she didn’t care.
‘Throw
them at me, there’s some rubble over towards the wall where you can reach.’ She
pointed over to the large pile that had fallen from the top of the battlements.
‘Start with the smaller ones, and we’ll get to the bigger ones.’ She slid down
from his claw and unclasped her cloak. Leaving it and her staff on a tree stump
Vanya often used for her seat, Riona carefully rolled up her sleeves so that
her arms were bare. She had to admit that even she noticed a difference in how
her body was looking. Her arms were harder, and her skin had taken on a golden
sheen from training in the sun.
Feoras
just stared at her, not moving. She straightened her stance.
‘Look,
if I can lift and throw them, then I should be able to block them or redirect
them.’ Feoras huffed out steam, she could tell that he really wasn’t convinced
of her logic, but he reluctantly stood and made his way to the pile.
‘If you
get squished, I am not explaining to your mother.’ Sitting back on his haunches
Riona had to giggle when his head was higher than the wall and his claws
searched for the smallest of the rocks to throw.
‘Are
you ready?’ his question was more than in just the words. He was asking if she
was sure that she could stop them.
‘Just
toss it over here, Firebreather.’ She felt and saw him bristle his wings in
agitation. But she also saw his forelegs awkwardly bunch as he pulled back to throw
the first boulder.
She
broke their connection, she didn’t want to cheat herself by knowing ahead of
time where exactly he was going to throw them. Since she already had been
practicing her magic rose to her fingertips faster than she thought possible.
Her fingers glowed in the half light, but she kept the flames from emerging,
she didn’t want fire, she just wanted power.
She
almost broke and ran as the large rock hurtled towards her head. But instead of
moving she imagined herself pushing out her power into a half circle in front
of her. In her mind she formed it into a type of shield that the rocks would
hit and then deflect to one side or another. She used the same logic as
blocking a staff blow. It took more energy to stop the blow than to deflect it.
Still,
the shock of the rock slamming into her shield was more than she had thought it
would be. To her surprise the rock crumbled and the pieces slid to either side
of her body landing harmlessly on the grass at her feet.
‘Are
you okay Little One?’ his voice was tentative, and though she had blocked her
from his thoughts, he must have felt the impact of the rock against her shield.
‘Yes I
am.’ she looked at the ground and noticed that she had sunk into the ground to
her ankles from the impact. She stood straight and shaking out her arms, moved
to the right. ‘Another.’ She readied herself again, this time making the shield
even more rounded so that there was less of a flat surface for it smash
against.
This
time it worked better. By the fourth rock she had learned to attach the shield
to either one of her arms and how to move to let the rock fall away without
causing so much force on her. The rock hitting the shield didn’t hurt in the same
way getting whacked by a staff did, but she still felt the force behind the rocks.
‘Enough,
you are shaking Little One, it is time to stop.’ Feoras dropped back down to all
fours and slowly made his way to her. She gratefully leaned against him. Her whole
body was shaking, and it felt like her legs would not support her for much longer.
She was covered in sweat and some of her hair had fallen out of its plait.
‘Let’s get
you a bath.’ She turned and climbed to the saddle, her whole body aching with the
effort. Feoras stood and launched himself into the sky before Riona could even strap
her legs in. ‘We don’t have much time before the others wake up.’ He flew straight
towards the lake.
‘That waters
going to be cold, isn’t it?’
‘Yes, very
cold I should think.’ Riona groaned. She missed the hot bath at the outpost already.
She must
have nodded off on their flight, the next thing she knew she was being splashed
as Feoras dropped into the lake. Since she hadn’t even bothered with strapping her
legs in, she simply slid from his back into the thigh high water.
Wading to
shore she began the task of unlacing her corset, boots and pants. Her fingers didn’t
want to work thanks to the early time cold and her exhaustive training session. She rolled
her head around on her shoulders and was tempted to walk right back into the lake
fully clothed when a voice made her jump.
“Let me
help you with those.” She whirled around towards where the voice had come from,
flame sputtering at her fingertips despite her tiredness.
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