Stifling a bark of nervous laughter I gaped at the members of the council. The silence echoed all around bouncing from wall to wall. Cordelia had started the meeting with a bang. I felt Phaeora stiffen beside me.
“She is no threat to any of us Cordelia. I ask that you not overreact and frighten the child.” Phaeora replied.
“Oh I assure you Phaeora, this is no overreaction. The council believes that this ‘child’ could be more dangerous than anything we have experienced before. Do not pretend as if you are clueless Phaeora, it doesn’t become you. You have read all the books and I do not need to tell you the threat Gemini poses.”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3lM1VbLU2
If possible, Phaeora became so still I was worried she’d turned to stone. The rest of the council fidgeted uneasily.
“Gemini is not a possibility at this moment in time and may not ever be. I have come to know Anya and I assure you what I say is true.” Phaeora argued.
The council did not seem to have a reply for this, and I thought that just maybe Phaeora had managed to convince them that I wasn’t dangerous, but then someone else spoke up. I followed the voice to a man with black hair nearly as dark as the girl I saw earlier though not quite there. His eyes told a different story, they were obsidian. Gazing into them felt like falling into an abyss. I couldn’t hold his gaze.
“That could very well be so Phaeora; however we all know how precarious time can be if not managed properly. We cannot say for sure what may happen in the future, not even Cordelia here can see that far into it. So we have no way of knowing what will become of this talented young girl.”
The man’s voice threatened to force my dinner back up. Something about him made me feel like parasites crawled under my skin, sucking away my energy. Just a glimpse into his eyes made me feel isolated, his presence alone made me shiver from the inside out. It was worse than when I had encountered the girl with the red eyes. Merely meeting this man had cause somehow instilled a deep-rooted fear within my spirit and soul. My hunches had never been wrong before. The girl with the red eyes might kill me, however this man would do worse things. Oblivious to my inner torture he carried on speaking.
“I assure you Phaeora I want to believe in her nature too, yet it is a given that nature can change with time. As Cordelia said, we all know what the threat of Gemini is though it seems you are quite happy ignoring it.” The man smiled. Bile burned my throat.
He was as charming as they come, or at least tried to be. He spoke with eloquence and had a voice that was deep and husky in all the wrong ways. Phaeora was now shaking, in anger I assumed.
“Of course I take it seriously, how dare you suggest such a thing.” She said, gritting her teeth.
The man held both his hands up, the small smile still on his face. “I am ever so sorry Phaeora; I did not mean to offend you.” The apology sounded false even to my untrained ears, upsetting Phaeora was absolutely his intention. “However you have to see where we are coming from. The attacks that this girl has been subjected to is proof alone that we are not alone in our way of thinking.”
“Thank you Dimitri, I think they understand. The others also have their own views on this” Cordelia finally spoke again. Dimitri, relaxed against his chair looking very satisfied with himself, I still trembled.
“I suggest we wait, we still don’t know or fully understand the extent of her powers. Gemini may or may not be a threat but we have yet to see any proof of that.” Another man said. He had sandy brown hair and green eyes reminding me faintly of Cael.
“I agree, we should allow her to explore her powers further. She may also be a great help to Eithreal.” A woman with strawberry blonde hair and grey eyes suggested.
There were nods of agreement amongst the three other members that hadn’t spoken yet and the atmosphere was dying down from threatening to understanding. Unsurprisingly, all that changed when Dimitri spoke again, I immediately felt defenseless.
“Again, I do agree with you all for the most part. Nevertheless, we cannot ignore the dangers she poses. I believe the danger was ignored many years ago before and we all know how that ended, yes?”
“You make a valid point.” Cordelia said with a sigh.
“Just as we are not sure that she is not a danger we are also not sure if she is. So what can we really do but wait? I suggest we look into her attackers more and deal with the present and physical threat.”
“I agree with Eleanor. The truth is Cordelia, we are not sure of anything. This is not something we’ve had to deal with before.” A new voice added, another lady; she had grey hair and kind brown eyes.
“I have heard what everyone has to say. Eleanor and Opal, you are right in saying that we are not sure of anything. For now, we will deal with the obvious threat. Phaeora we are already aware of the attacks made on Anya and are working on an investigation.”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkRoC2EQ18z
“Do you have any news yet?” Phaeora asked.
“Nothing substantial, though we are close to finding out who it is and what they want. Ruby and Felix are looking into it, another meeting will be held soon. You are dismissed.”
Just like that, a knight appeared to open another portal for us, before I stepped through the barrier I felt a burning sensation on my back, turning I saw Dimitri calmly staring at me the small smile still on his face. He seemed undeterred that the meeting hadn’t exactly gone his way, his eyes captured me in darkness and I struggled to escape. Luckily, when Alec placed his hand on my back the trance broke and I looked at him. His gaze didn’t meet mine so I just thanked him silently. We all made our way back up the stairs and into Phaeora’s study, none of us really saying anything until the secret door closed. Heavy silence encompassed the room. Alec was the first to speak.
“That didn’t go as well as I hoped it would.”
“It went as well as should be expected I suppose.” Phaeora said.
“Because of Gemini?” I asked. “What is it anyway?”
As before, the instant Gemini was mentioned everyone seemed to have lost the ability to form words. Or they suddenly have something else to do. Either way they find a way to evade the question, which is exactly what everyone was doing now.
“Oh, I just remembered I wanted to discuss your progress with Kaii.” Phaeora stated.
Phaeora walked out of the room as if nothing had happened, I was about to follow but Alec stopped me.
“Just leave it.” He said.
“Why won’t answer my questions about Gemini? If it has something to do with me, shouldn’t I know as well? It’s a threat to me too.”
“It’s not a threat to you. I said just leave it. We have other things to do today.” He walked out of the room too; when I didn’t follow, he turned back and looked at me. “Are you coming?”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMiAutEmYmq
At first I was determined not to move until Alec told me something, anything about Gemini then I remembered he was probably ten times more stubborn so instead I ended up going with him. He led me to the courtyard before the castle, where the stables were and we headed inside.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
“We’re in a stable with horses, what do you think we’re doing here.”
I gave him a pointed look. “Sarcasm noted.”
“If you want to get around quickly you’re going to need to learn how to ride a horse. Carts and carriages take up too much time to travel.”
“What about the crystals and portals?”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxhJJAFSpun
“Those are only used to travel between realms, the only exception is the council. Their location is still a mystery.” He opened the stable doors and I saw a long row of several horses in their stalls. “Pick a horse.”
I had to admit the prospect of learning to ride was thrilling. Horses had always been fascinating creatures to me; my love for them hadn’t waned. Walking past the stalls I eyed all the different horses that were kept there. Palomino white, chestnut, bay and black horses whinnied and neighed; yet I wasn’t drawn to any of them in particular. Until I came to the very end of the row. It was huge and black with dark beady eyes. Skin so beautiful it looked like silk, I itched to touch it. Alec who had been following close behind saw me staring at the horse.
“That’s Midnight, she’s a thoroughbred stallion. She’s especially stubborn though; no one’s been able to ride her. I’d pick another horse.”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEr43CxDfpO
“I want this one.” There were no arguments about it; this was the horse for me.
“I’m serious this one’s wild and doesn’t let anyone ride her.”
“She’ll let me.” I said with complete confidence, feeling like I knew it in my bones. Standing in front of her I looked in her eyes, she returned my gaze boldly looking back like she understood that this was a test. Slowly, I walked towards her taking care not to spook her.
“Anya.” Alec warned.
“Shut up.”
Surprisingly he did, I was getting closer to Midnight and she was beginning to bustle around and neigh, I didn’t back down. I was almost an inch away from her when I stood still keeping my eyes on hers, holding my hand out close enough to touch her but didn’t actually lay my hand on her. She would have to decide whether I was worthy of her trust. I kept my gaze steady and waited. It felt like an eternity standing there staring at the horse but eventually she calmed down and stepped forward, pressing her nose against my hand. Smiling, I rubbed her nose and closed the distance between us to pet her.
“See you’re not so bad are you girl?” My grin spread across my cheeks, I looked back at Alec who now had a crooked smile on his face.
“Impressive.” Was all he said. “Let’s open the stable doors and teach you how to groom her, then we’ll go to the meadow to do some simple steps.”
Alec opened the stable and showed me in; he brought some tools from the storage cupboard after Midnight’s stall and joined me. Midnight didn’t seem bothered by his presence and even let him pet her like I had.
“I thought you said she didn’t let anyone ride her?”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQh5cUKzkP
“I’m not just anyone, her brother is my horse.” Alec said.
My eyes widened in surprise but I didn’t comment, Alec gathered the grooming tools and showed me how to groom Midnight; she had thin and sensitive skin so I had to be gentle when brushing her. Then he showed me how to detangle her mane and her tail and once that was done, I brushed both. Afterwards he showed me how to clean the hooves, that was particularly tricky but I managed to do it, during all this Midnight had gotten used to me and decided to trust me. As I finished, Alec led Midnight out of her stall, tying her to the post outside of it. He walked forward a few stalls and let presumably his own horse out who was considerably bigger than Midnight. I wondered why I hadn’t noticed him before, he looked just like Midnight but a bigger version and the middle part of his nose, in between his eyes had a patch of white whereas Midnight was pure black.
“This is my horse, Onyx.”
After the introduction we walked through the town with the horses, reaching the meadow shortly, it was then that I realised Alec hadn’t brought saddles for either horse.
“Won’t we need saddles?”
“That will come later, I want you to learn how to ride bareback first in case of emergencies.”
That seemed reasonable. Midnight was getting a little skittish again so I put my arms around her neck and lay my head on her chest, listening to her heartbeat. The longer I stayed like this the more I felt connected to her, like I could feel her. Her strength, speed, spirit and soul, she was truly beautiful. This seemed to calm her down and when I stepped away I could still feel the connection. Now what I had to worry about was how I was supposed to get on her without a saddle.
“So to get on her without a saddle you have to use her mane and your upper body strength. Grab onto her mane, jump and then pull yourself up, then use your legs to bring yourself into a sitting position. Let me show you first.”
He walked over to Onyx, grabbed his mane and with a slight jump pulled himself up, then he threw one leg over the horse and brought the rest of his body up into a sitting position, it was all over in less than ten seconds. He made it look so effortless. Alec jumped off his horse and came back to me.
“Your turn.” He said.
“It won’t hurt her right?”
“No it won’t.”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUArjPcDZw
Satisfied I grabbed onto her dark mane and it felt just as soft as I thought, hopping slightly I tried to pull myself up. Clearly my upper body strength wasn’t nearly as good as Alec’s, I struggled for about half a minute more before I felt strong hands on my waist. My cheeks warmed in surprise at the sudden contact. With his help I managed to finally get atop the horse.
“We’ll work on that more, your upper body strength should improve with your self-defense lessons.”
“I’m getting self-defense lessons now?”
“A lot of people want to kill you Anya. Can’t rely on me to keep rescuing you.”
Couldn’t argue with that, we spent about an hour on the horses, Alec teaching me how to change directions, speed up, slow down and stop on Midnight. We even managed to start me off on slow trots before I thought my legs would crumple from the exertion, we stopped and tied the horses to a nearby tree.
“Now for self-defense. We’re going to start with the basics.”
I nodded; Alec walked up to me and wrapped his hands around my throat, thin strands of apprehension wrapped around my body causing me to freeze up at the initial touch. Turns out being strangled and suffocated a couple times had that effect on you.
“Relax, I won’t hurt you.” Alec reassured me. Forcibly, I loosened up my body. Alec continued. “What would you do in this situation?” I shrugged. “When you are in this position you’re most likely to panic, grabbing at the opponents arms and hands trying to force them off of you. Of course the opponent is stronger so this technique won’t work, what you have to do is raise one of your arms, either one, and slam your elbow onto the opponents hands, at the same time twist your body in the same direction of your elbow which allows you to evade their grip. Try it.”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMynHidbj0Q
I did as I was told. Whilst he had his arms around my neck I raised my right arm and brought it down on his hands with as much strength as I could muster. They shifted down my neck and the grip loosened. I twisted my body in the same direction and to my surprise I was out of his grip quicker than I thought I would be.
“Good. Now let’s say someone is trying to grab you by the hand and pull you away. First thing is to scream for help, then as I grab you twist your hand over the top of my wrist and break free through my thumb. The weakest part of the hand.”
He grabbed me by the wrist pulling me along the meadow; I resisted his pull and at the same time did as he told me. My arm was easily freed.
“Okay, one more really simple one. If you can’t twist your arm on its own use your other hand, clasp your hands together and pull them straight up with all your strength.”
He grabbed me a second time and dragged; again resisting I clasped my hands together and lifted hem straight up managing to break free. This technique had a lot more force behind it sine I was using both hands. More force than I was prepared for. So I ended up falling backwards. Alec reached for me which only ended up with me hauling him down as well. For a second I just lay there looking up at the sky, catching my breath, and then I laughed. Alec lifted himself onto his elbows and looked down at me, smiling. Disbelief stopped me mid laugh. Seeing that smiled that had transformed his face at the festival up close was breathtaking. Why didn’t he do it all the time? He’d probably have a lot of girls in the hospital that’s why. His smile faltered when he noticed my serious expression.
“What?”
“You should smile more. No need to be such a grump all your life.” I teased.
He didn’t respond. Suddenly becoming aware of his body pressed up against mine I could feel myself getting tense. Though he was supporting most of his weight on his elbows, I could still feel his muscles against my own flimsy ones. He quickly stood up and cleared his throat.
“That’s enough for today; we’ll do this another time.” He turned his back to me and mounted his horse. “You should be okay to ride back to the Academy at a slow trot.”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75cA7n9ZTS
Agreeing, I mounted my horse, still a struggle but I wanted to do it without Alec’s help. We rode back to the Academy in silence going our separate ways after returning the horses and grooming them. As I returned to my room I went over the things I had learned. I was so lost in my thoughts I didn’t notice another presence when I closed my room door behind me.
“Hey.”
I froze, searching frantically for where the voice was coming from. When Mai strolled out of the bathroom I relaxed.
“Mai! You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Sorry, Phaeora said you’d be back soon so I decided to wait in here. Sorry; I’ll go if you want.”
“Stop apologising, it’s fine, I just didn’t expect to see you here. What’s up?”
“Nothing, just wanted to say hello. Hello!” she said cheerfully. Laughing at her odd behaviour, I invited her to sit on the bed with me. There was something I wanted to ask her anyway.
“Since you’re here, do you mind telling me about the powers of earth magicians and maybe even showing me?”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdsmcSdJsp9
“I’m not a very strong one, just starting out really and I’m a terrible learner.”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqiRP4VDaPU
“I’ll take whatever you’ve got.”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFK61il7aPd
“Earth magicians are strong when at full power, though we can be weakened by fire magicians and maybe really strong air magicians. There’s this thing we can do where we cling to earth based objects. So for example…”
Mai stood up and walked to the wall beside my window, she placed her hands and one foot on the wall and proceeded crawling upit. My mouth hung open as I watched her scuttle up to the roof and back down the other side beside my door.
“That is amazing.”
She smiled. “Obviously, as earth magicians, we can control all earth based objects as well.” She faced my wall again and stretched her hand out; she pulled out a large piece of stone held it in mid-air for a second and then placed it back into the wall.
“I can’t really move much right now, I’ll have to build my strength up but you get the idea.”
“My walls aren’t going to collapse now are they?”
Mai laughed. “No they aren’t.”
“I heard earth magicians are really physically strong as well.” I hadn’t really heard that anywhere, but judging by my last two attacks their strength was apparent. And they were earth magicians, I wouldn’t tell Mai that though.
“That’s true but I’m not as strong right now either that also takes time to build up.” Mai glanced outside. “It’s actually a little later than I thought so I should go. Talk to you tomorrow?”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3c3MZLxxOT
“Sure.”176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUsk9H8hxL7
We hugged goodbye and Mai walked out the door; I took a quick bath and got into bed myself. That night I dreamt of black hair and bright red eyes.
and then Add to home screen.