Discord

by E A Foley

  “Didn’t help much though, did it?”

  “It did help. My meeting Nimbus allowed his door in the Gallery to form. When the pain Jaden put me through became too much, I’d go sit in the Gallery and stare at the soft blue light illuminating his door. I’m not sure I would have possessed the willpower to keep going without that light and the memory of our kiss at midnight. I didn’t know I could feel so deeply for someone,” she more said to herself than Cirrus.

  “I’m glad you two have each other. Perhaps you’ll actually be my sister some day rather than just pretend to be.”

  “Getting a little ahead of yourself, aren’t you?”

  Cirrus shrugged. “I know you and I know my brother. Perhaps it is too early. At least you’ll be around for family functions. I know Violet will love that. So will I.”

  Iris’s eyes twinged. She clenched and released her hands. She refused to let her eyes change. A coolness descended on them like when she was in Jaden’s control. Cirrus’s words didn’t fill her with joy the way he meant to. They filled her with doubt and sadness. He described a life she wasn’t sure she’d live long enough to experience. She gave Cirrus a fake smile. He grinned back at her. Didn’t realize the melancholy descending around her.

  Iris kept her eyes and face from betraying her emotions and thoughts all evening. While the surrounding conversations were filled with laughter and stories of what life on Earth was like, Iris contemplated how they were going to safely get back to Earth. More importantly, how they were going to show up moments after she extracted her college friends from Jaden’s grasps and how they were supposed to continue college. Except for the twins, Rowen, and Nimbus, everyone was so close to graduating.

  She hoped Jaden would allow a truce in Davis seeing as he and Zarina were also in their last year of school. Then there was Brett to contend with. Iris had higher hopes of Brett being reasonable about Davis than Jaden. Of course, everything was contingent on her ability to form the archways to Earth once more.

  Iris shook her head. Tried to clear it of the million possibilities it obsessed over. She would allow herself nine more days to figure it out. Nine more days to train her friends to the best of her abilities. Nine more days to increase their powers. Nine more days of assured freedom. What happened on day ten would keep her mind spinning until it arrived.

  Chapter 8

  The elves brought breakfast to the meeting platform outside Iris’s rooms the following morning. After another delicious meal and mingling with the elves, the twelve friends from Earth made their way to the practice field provided by their gracious hosts. An even larger contingency of elves and faeries followed them this time.

  Twinges of guilt at her not teaching the gathered elves and faeries filled Iris. Especially with how much they’d provided her and her friends with. Iris promised herself she’d remedy the situation soon. With her guilt placated for the moment, she pushed the thoughts from her mind and focused on the task at hand—training her friends.

  Iris took a deep breath of cool morning air. The weather was perfect for her plan to work on defensive and offensive skills in conjunction with physical weapons. She asked Cirrus to lead everyone through some warm-up exercises he used to complete in preparation for soccer practices and games. Once they finished warming-up, she had everyone draw their quarterstaves and guided them through some basic stances. After about an hour, she got them into the real practice.

  “All right! Everyone all warmed up and ready? Great,” she added after several nods and murmurs of ascent. “We’ll start with some simple combinations and magic use. For our first combination, I want everyone to do an overhead strike, four-point strike, overhead rib strike, front thrust, and an uppercut,” Iris showed the moves as she said them. She was pleased to see all of her friends following along and was even more pleased they knew the moves she announced.

  “Good. Once more,” Iris said. She watched everyone complete the correct motions. “Excellent! Now to add in some magic. You won’t have a magical element for each strike. We’ll start with two. While you can connect them to any strike you want, I recommend taking the overhead strike to request your magical attack and releasing it during the four-point strike. Then request your second attack during the front thrust and release it to coincide with your uppercut, okay?”

  A few raised eyebrows and pursed lips looked back at her amongst nods of understanding. Iris noted who seemed confused and filed the information away for when the true practice began.

  “So for the magic part. With your first request, shoot a wall of air. With your second request, place a trip wire several feet in front of you as if behind an opponent’s feet. Everyone got it? Good. Ready? Go!” Iris yelled.

  As one, all twelve friends followed the combination and attacks as Iris announced the moves. “Again!” Iris called once everyone finished their first round. She closed her eyes and concentrated on sensing the requests being made around her. A few people stumbled, but everyone managed to release the requests. “Great! Keep practicing at your own pace. Take breaks as you need them. I’m going to walk around and give pointers. Don’t exhaust yourselves! We’re still going to do these in combination with another person.”

  Iris moved amongst her friends. She adjusted quarterstaves here, recommended timings there, and guided magic use as needed. She called for a long break after completing her rounds then paired everyone up and assigned them to either offense or defense to start.

  “Start slow. Practice the quarterstaff moves with each other a few times, then at sparring speed before adding in the magical elements. If you’re on defense, try to defend against the magical attacks. Use a shield or barrier for the wall of air and try to deflect the tripwire. All right, have at it.”

  She waited for everyone else to get started before preparing to defend herself against Sienna. She needed the most help and Iris decided it best to give her the one-on-one practice to increase her abilities now.

  “You’re good with the staff, but you’re concentrating on the moves so much, your magic attacks are weak. Why don’t you forget the pattern we’ve been working on and see if that helps?”

  “Sounds good to me. Can we take a few minutes first?”

  “Sure!” Iris agreed. She turned her focus to the rest of the training grounds. It seemed like everyone else made considerable progress.

  Nimbus and Cirrus had moved on from the designated practice stances and were having an all-out sparring session. A few moments later, Rozlynd and Violet started their own sparring session. Rowen and Aerianna weren’t far behind. The intensity at which all three pairs sparred tugged at Iris’s heart and sent twinges through her eyes she knew meant they were changing to hues of grey and brown. She longed for sunglasses so she could hide her emotions from everyone. Instead, she tried to concentrate on forcing her eyes back to blue.

  “Ready!” Sienna called.

  The single word pulled Iris out of her reverie and back to the present before she’d altered the hues of her eyes. She plastered a fake smile on her face and turned to face Sienna. Hoped she wouldn’t notice the color of her eyes.

  “Ready when you are.” Iris hefted her staff back into place and prepared to defend herself once more.

  Sienna’s ability to use magic while wielding her staff improved significantly without the need to follow a specific set of attacks. Iris wondered if a few of her other friends would have the same results.

  “How was that?” Iris asked after Sienna stopped her attacks a few minutes later.

  “So much better! How did I do?”

  “Much better, I agree. Your attacks were faster. More precise. Both magical and physical. You still need to work on the speed of your requests and combinations, but otherwise, that was great.”

  “Cool. Thanks! I feel so much more confident about this now.”

  “Glad to hear,” Iris smiled at Sienna. There was no need to alter the twinging of her eyes this time.

  “Is it time for lunch, yet? I’m starved!” Rowen said a
t Iris’s side.

  Iris shaded her eyes with a hand as she looked to where the elves gathered. She couldn’t see anything laid out yet. A glance back toward Mothar Crann showed a large number of elves on their way to the training grounds. “It just might be about that time,” she told Rowen before using magic to magnify a clap. Everyone joined her a few moments later.

  “From what I saw, that looked great. How did it feel?”

  “Good, but exhausting!” Rozlynd called from where she and Violet brought up the rear.

  “Agreed!” Gavin said. “And awesome!”

  “Yeah,” several other voices called.

  “Excellent. Well, it looks like lunch is almost ready, so let’s take a break.”

  No one argued. They all moved to the shade of the closest tree and grabbed plates. Iris decided they would need a longer break today. As she ate, she ran through options on what to teach that afternoon. Anything with physical weapons was off the list based on the heat of the previous afternoon. She remembered her friends’ interest in multiple requests and decided it was the best idea.

  Iris made a quick mental lesson plan and finished her meal quickly. She stood and scanned the small crowd in search of Esras. It was time for her to make good on her promise to teach the residents of Gemina Terra how to access the flows of power embedded in their planet.

  “Esras,” she tapped the prince of the elves' shoulder.

  “Iris!” His demeanor brightened as he turned to face her. “I am so impressed with everything I’ve seen so far. I have learned a lot just by watching.”

  “That’s great! If you’d like, I can teach you and anyone else interested a little right now. I can’t promise we’ll get past recognizing the surrounding power and how to accept it into your being, but it will be a start.”

  “We would most appreciate any kind of lesson,” he said with a deep bow.

  “Great. Can you gather anyone interested and join me under that tree?” Iris pointed to a tree several yards away.

  “We’ll be there promptly.” Esras bowed again and turned to speak with those Iris had interrupted his conversation with.

  As Iris walked toward the tree, her mind started down a path of negativity. More people to train. More people who may get hurt. More people you’re responsible for. Her eyes twinged in pain. Iris shook her head. Tried to convince herself this was the right thing to do. Like your friends, they want to learn. All you can do is explain the consequences before you start teaching them. At least you know what they are this time.

  Iris settled herself against the trunk of the tree and concentrated on cooling her eyes back to blue. She closed them and took several deep breaths as she focused on her physical surroundings. The solid tree behind her. The soft grass she sat upon, still damp with morning dew the sun hadn’t evaporated yet. Dozens of footsteps pulled her from her reverie.

  “Good afternoon everyone,” Iris said to the small crowd of elves and faeries approaching her. “Please, take a seat. I find it easier to recognize the power flowing through the planet by being as close to it as possible.”

  Everyone complied. Faces full of anticipation and rapt attention stared at her. She let a large breath out through her nose, shifted so she sat a little taller, and pulled her teacher persona to the forefront of her mind.

  “First, I want you all to know that magic use does not come without consequences. I am sure you all know that my friends and I are here to prepare to fight some former friends and those who have been attached to Chaos for years. Perhaps Chaos itself. I cannot guarantee your safety. In fact, Chaos may become even more determined to make it to Gemina Terra if there are dozens of magic users here.” She paused for a few seconds to let her words sink in before continuing.

  “By learning magic from me you all make a promise to only use your powers for good. If you cannot abide by this or you believe the benefits do not outweigh the risks, then I ask you to leave now. I charge every one of you to monitor yourself and everyone else here when I am gone.”

  Several people nodded. Others looked around at those gathered. No one left. Iris gave everyone time to mull over her words and make their own decisions. She used the time to search out any negative auras coming from those gathered in front of her. There were none.

  “All right, let’s begin,” she said with a smile. “Lesson one: how to recognize the flows of Gemina Terra. Can you all sense the soft pulsations running through the planet? I believe the King of the Elves told me many of you can still sense the flows of power, yes?”

  “Some of us can. Others cannot,” Esras told her.

  “Do you know why?”

  “No. But I believe it has to do with our degrees of separation from the royal bloodlines. Those who are descendants of your and Nimbus’s families are more likely to sense the flows than those not related to your past selves.”

  “Interesting,” Iris thought about what Esras said but quickly dismissed the bird-walk her mind tried to take as it distracted her from her current focus. “Let’s start there. I want everyone to close their eyes. Place your hands on the ground at your sides. Feel for the subtle pulsations that represent the life force of the planet and everything in the universe. It reminds me of a heartbeat.”

  Iris watched everyone close their eyes. Several people grinned. She knew they could sense the surrounding flows of power. Many still sported furrowed brows or scowls.

  “Don’t demand to feel them. Let your mind wander. Think about your own heartbeat and see if you can sense a matching one coming up through your hands. Into your body where you’re connected with the planet.”

  After a few more minutes, three-quarters of the faces surrounding her brightened with success. Iris thought about another way to describe a way to sense the surrounding flows. Nimbus arrived before she’d come up with one. He provided his own advice and description.

  “Press your palms into the ground and send your mind down through your hands and into Gemina Terra. Think about your mind going deep into the core of the planet. To the very center. Find the heart of the planet. Take a deep breath. Let it out and bring your mind back to your body while you keep your connection to the planet.”

  Any frustrations lingering in those faces who hadn’t connected to the flows of power within Gemina Terra vanished. Iris smiled. She mouthed thank you at Nimbus and returned her focus to the elves and faeries in front of her.

  “The next step is asking the power you sense to enter your being. I don’t need to pull flows into myself on Gemina Terra but I do on Earth. I’m not sure how it will be for you. First, ready your mind. Think about the power surrounding you and invite it into your being.”

  Esras gasped and opened his eyes. Iris smiled at him.

  “I’ve never connected to it before. It’s . . . it’s wonderful. I can feel everything. I can sense the power filling Mothar Crann. Every drop that was used to create our beautiful home.” He shook his head in disbelief.

  “That’s wonderful. Has anyone else accepted flows into their being?”

  “It’s just out of reach,” a faerie that looked like Eireann said a few feet from Esras.

  Iris focused on what she did. The smallest of trickles tried to enter the young woman’s being. “Believe you can accept the flows,” she advised everyone.

  The woman smiled. It was all the confirmation Iris needed to know she’d succeeded. More and more smiling faces surrounded her with her most recent explanation. Iris looked at the large group remaining under the tree they’d eaten lunch. It seemed everyone milled about. Several of her friends looked her direction.

  “I think that may be all the time I have for today. Those of you who can access the flows, help those who cannot. Please do not try using any power yet. You need to be able to accept and release the flows easily before trying to use them and perform any magic.”

  “How do we release them?” someone called to her.

  “That’s an important piece of information. Sorry. Imagine them slowly flowing out of your body and ba
ck into Gemina Terra. Emphasis on slowly,” Iris iterated.

  Dozens of elves and faeries send flows back into the planet. “Perfect!” she called and stood.

  Esras stood with her. “On behalf of all of us, thank you. Thank you very much.” He bowed.

  “No thanks are required. Just keep practicing. Hopefully, we’ll be able to continue this again tomorrow or the next day.”

  Several others added their thanks as Nimbus wrapped an arm around Iris’s waist. They walked back to their friends together.

  “You are amazing,” he told her.

  “What brought that on?”

  “You just taught a large group how to sense and draw in the power flowing through Gemina Terra in less than thirty minutes. It’s impressive.”

  “Oh,” was all Iris could say. Her mind struggled to determine if what she’d done was actually a good idea or not. Only time would tell.

  Chapter 9

  Iris’s successes with teaching that day stalled as she attempted to teach multiple requests to her friends in the afternoon. After an hour trying to complete the new skill, several of her friends were frustrated beyond belief. Cirrus managed the skill—but he’d done it before—so did Nimbus, Rowen, and Kylee. Iris had no clue why some of her friends successful while others weren’t. They all had different styles to their magic.

  “How about we switch to something else for the rest of the afternoon?” she asked after dispersing a large fireball Rozlynd expelled in a bout of frustration.

  “This is so stupid! Why can’t I get this?” Rozlynd demanded.

  “I have no answer. It’s innate to me, so I’m probably not teaching it well.”

  “But they got it,” Roz gestured toward Nimbus, Cirrus, and Kylee. “Even he got it!” she jabbed her thumb toward Rowen.

  “Thanks, baby doll.”

  “Shove it!” she snapped back. “Sorry,” she added after a second. “I’m just frustrated at my inability to master this new skill.”