“How she’s overcoming the others. She’s received special training from her father and they haven’t, so it’s quite unfair.”
“And why does that matter?”
“Her father is an Elder of Lowsunn.”
“Oh, is that all?” Aidan said aloud, glaring at the teacher. The words had clearly carried to Leah’s ears for she immediately turned towards him with a scowl. He tried to deny the churning in his stomach when she did. Was this another one of her abilities? Being able to paralyze someone? To make someone fall under some kind of hypnotic spell? He shook his head and looked back at her again, but the feelings were still there. She was so beautiful that it could be nothing but sorcery. She had an elegance to her like royalty but her toned body was both chiseled and soft simultaneously. How did she manage that?
Nevertheless, she was approaching him fast, and as she got closer, the effects were only getting worse.
“And who are you?” she asked, pointing a finger in his face. Aidan swatted it away absent-mindedly and she gasped in horror. She faced the teacher immediately. “I want him to be my new sparring partner.”
“Um, we’re not going to do that,” the teacher said, glancing back and forth between them.
“Why not? Because he’s from the outside? What difference does that make?”
“He might not be able to control himself.” Aidan rolled his eyes at the remark. Did she remember that he was standing right there?
“I can handle him. I’m ready,” Leah said, examining Aidan up and down. He snickered and stepped away from the two women, walking out into the open field. He was more than willing to prove that she wasn’t.
“There’s a lot of boys around here that think they’re tough,” the blue-haired girl explained, pacing around him. “They talk a big game just because I’m a girl, when they’re the ones that end up on their butt.”
He didn’t hear much of what she said. He could tell she was speaking, but all he could see was her face. It was cute when she scowled.
“Are you listening to me?” she finally screamed. He shot his head up to attention.
“Who me?” he asked. “No, not really.”
“You’re just like the rest,” she spat, extending her palms to the ground. “You’re going to regret underestimating me.” The other students in the field backed away and let Aidan and Leah have their space. Leah smiled and called forth another wall of dirt, which emerged from the grass and reached further and further up into the sky. Aidan stared in awe as its top reached beyond the clouds and its borders extended so far out that he couldn’t even see Leah and the rest of the field anymore. Before he could ask what she intended to do with the wall, he got his answer. The wall flew forward as fast as a punch, and he had little time to react. Instinctively he threw up a fire shield but he knew before the sphere completed around him that it wouldn’t be enough.
To his surprise, the wall stopped just before impact and exploded into chunks, each the size of an adult hand. The chunks hovered around him as if pondering what to do next and then decided to form back together again. Except this time they enclosed around him like they were part of his own fire shield, encasing him inside a gigantic shell like an oversized cocoon.
Trapped, he began preparing to blow his way out of it when he heard the first crackle of electricity. His eyes shot upwards and he narrowly jumped backwards in time to dodge the lightning bolt. Another crackle sounded off behind him and he fell to his belly as it shot from one side of the sphere to the other, being absorbed back into the dirt wall. Aidan heard three more crackles from beneath him and he decided to stop playing around.
Clenching his fists tight, he summoned all the power he could muster from within his body, jumped into the air, and then unleashed it like a bomb. The walls around him exploded and crumbled to the grass. While he was in mid-air, a sharp pain suddenly shot through one of his ribs. He clutched his side instinctively and his hand wrapped around a shard of ice that was jutting out of his torso. He landed to his feet and narrowly ducked under a shower of ice shards that were soaring toward his head. As he sprinted away, he locked his eyes onto Leah, who was feverishly summoning every trick in her playbook to put him down. More dirt walls. Ice showers. Fire waves…
If she was summoning fire, was she immune to his attacks? He scowled and dropped to one knee to avoid a bolt of lightning, which grazed his spiked hair and made it stand up even more. With tiny streams of electricity sizzling across the spikes in his hair, Aidan decided to stand slowly to his feet. He couldn’t help but smile once he saw the shock on her face. The intimidation had worked. From a distance, it must have looked like the bolt had struck his forehead and still he had rose, unharmed, and ready for more.
He thrust his hands behind him and formed his hands into claws, calling forth the flames from them, feeding them with the will to hurt. He didn’t want to harm her gorgeous face, but he couldn’t back down once provoked – not from anyone. Through the soles of his feet, the liquid fire poured, crawling across the ground and spreading like a web in all directions, extending out for a half a mile, cracking the surface and preparing the terrain for his ultimate attack. Once his hands were as red as blood, he slapped them together. The ground made a booming sound and a tsunami of fire roared from the cracks, heading straight for Leah.
She had long sensed the danger coming from behind him. The several rock walls, all covered in thick ice borders were a testament to that. But it made no difference. Living in Lowsunn, she was used to leisure and rest. Time to cool down. He never let his fire die, and that became evident the moment the tsunami of flames smashed into the first rock and ice wall.
It consumed it like it was made of fire too and proceeded to devour the rest, showing no sign of slowing. What made no sense to him, however, was what Leah decided to do upon her inevitable fate.
She didn’t run.
Instead, she met it head on, running forward as if it were a veil or a curtain. The two forces collided, and it appeared that the flames had claimed another victim. But then she emerged from the tail end, still sprinting forward, and to the horror of everyone watching the fight, they saw that she had emerged completely naked.
The fire may have consumed her clothes, but not her. And certainly not her will. With a wave of her hand to the right, the dirt flowed around her body from beneath and encased her in an armor of rock, covering everything from the neck down. Aidan blinked and tried to think of how to react when she was suddenly right in front of him, a fist encased in rock at his face.
He could only see quick images as she began hitting him without mercy, rock and all. When he fell to the grass on his butt, she used one hand to grab him by the collar of his shirt and used the other to send a stream of fire upon his abdomen. He knew what she was trying to do – burn his clothes as he had hers, but it was a bad move. She should have finished him off, not just tried to humiliate him.
Aidan kicked at her legs and rolled out of the way as she fell face-first into the grass. She tried climbing to her feet but Aidan tackled her quickly, pressing his body weight on top of hers. He placed a hand on the back of her head and shoved her face further into the grass.
“Cut it out. You’re done,” he said as he heard crackles all around him. He glanced down and saw her right arm feeding the ground beneath them, creating a network of electricity underneath him the same way he had with his fire. Before she could allow it to manifest, he grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulled her head up, and then slammed her face into the ground as hard as he could. He felt her body go limp immediately upon the impact.
The stampede of footsteps behind him caught his attention.
“I didn’t kill her,” he said quickly, rising to his feet and facing the incoming crowd.
“You hurt the Elder’s daughter!” the teacher screamed. Aidan shrugged his shoulders.
“Why should she get special treatment? We’re all going to be kicked out this place at some point.” The teacher began to reply in protest when she cupped her
mouth once more. Aidan turned around just in time to catch a fist to the jaw, encased in even more rock than before. Leah grit her teeth and went for another blow, but Aidan was faster. He head-butt her in the forehead and she staggered back, clutching the crown of her head as her legs wobbled.
“That hurt,” she muttered, as she put up both of her rock fists and shook her head to gather her thoughts. “But that’s not going to be good enough, little boy.”
“What are you made of?” Aidan asked in exasperation as the teacher stepped between them.
“That’s it! That’s it!” she shouted. “We’re done here! Both of you are going to be brought to the detention center immediately! Any objections and I’ll make sure you’re given another strike on top of the one you’re already getting.”
“What?” Leah exclaimed. “Why do I get a strike?”
“Because you went too far,” she huffed. “You especially should know better! Now both of you come with me now. And no talking until we get there! For the rest of you, class is dismissed!”
Aidan sighed and followed, knowing that getting one strike was bad enough. Leah stomped along with them, keeping her rock armor on. The other students dispersed quickly.
“This is for your own good,” the teacher snapped as Aidan yawned from behind. They walked in silence until they reached the infirmary. Aidan snapped his head toward Leah and examined the bruises on her face. She wasn’t hurt THAT bad. No need to worry. She was still pretty. Just more of an unpleasant dream than a lovely fantasy.
The three of them marched down the labyrinth of halls, passing by the meager number of doctors and nurses until they reached an off-white door in a narrow dead end. The teacher pressed down on the handle and a whooshing sound could be heard from the frame. Aidan stepped inside the room, curious over how it had made that noise, but all wonder vanished the moment he heard the door slam and click behind him. He had been thrown inside, all alone.
Aidan pressed a hand against the door’s surface but nothing came from his palm. He looked at his hands and tried to see through them to the liquid fire, but all he saw were his palms. A click was heard from above him and he spun around. The room was about thirty square feet long and the ceiling was about the height of two of him. It was bathed in lily white and composed of glossy, spotless walls. The air had a slight chill to it, and there wasn’t a single piece of furniture or decoration. How long was he expected to stay in here?
Looking at the room around him, Aidan almost preferred getting an extra strike to this. He wasn’t used to confined spaces and lifeless rooms. And worst of all, his Fire Arts had disappeared…how was that possible? No one in their right mind would use a Yen to take away his ability. Only those with deep vendettas did that, and he hadn’t been in Lowsunn long enough to acquire any enemies.
Another click and whoosh was heard, and the door sprung open. He rushed it, but Leah met him head on. Literally. She head-butt him in the forehead on purpose and he went sprawling onto his back, grunting at the sudden sting above his eyes. Leah smirked as the door closed and locked behind her.
“What is wrong with you?” Aidan shouted as she chose a corner of the room and sat up against it. Aidan crawled over to an opposite corner and dabbed at his wound.
“You’re not bleeding,” she said. Her voice echoed and the extra vibration made him wince.
“You can stop looking at me now,” he said.
“But you’re so big and strong. I just can’t control my feminine desires. What will I do with myself locked in a room with you for 24 hours?”
“24 hours?!” he yelled, meeting her eyes. One was a bit swollen. “There’s not even a place to go to the bathroom. They can’t do that!”
“Excuse me,” a voice reverberated throughout the room. Aidan raised an eyebrow and looked for the source but Leah didn’t appear concerned so he settled down quickly. “Aidan Serafino. Leah Ainsley. The two of you are being detained for 24 hours for the excursion that occurred in the Field of Visions. During this time, your abilities will be taken away from you. This room was designed for prisoners but given that we are in a time of peace, it has been designated for detention purposes. While here, all natural bodily functions will be inhibited, including your need to eat, drink, sleep, and go to the bathroom. You are to reflect upon your actions and discuss a civil and mature way to get past any conflict between the two of you. Any, and I mean any physical fighting will result in an increase in the time of your stay. Enjoy.”
Another click was heard and the voice was gone.
“Hey!” Aidan shouted at the ceiling, but Leah laughed at him.
“They can’t hear you. It’s a one-way speaker.”
“So we’re here for 24 hours, huh?” Aidan said, examining his palms again. “That’s quite a long time.” Leah said nothing. “I noticed that you got a change of clothes.” Leah looked down at her standard Lowsunn uniform and then back at him.
“Yes, my rock armor wouldn’t have worked in here, and it would have been very inappropriate to leave me in here in such a vulnerable state.” She flashed him a false smile. “Sorry to disappoint.”
“I like you better with your clothes on actually.”
“Why’s that? So you can concentrate? You can slam girls’ faces into the ground better?”
“Would you have preferred that I treated you differently because you’re a girl?”
“No,” she said, brushing a hand against her jaw. “Just hurts.”
“Yeah, getting hit does that. A cause and effect thing.”
“Speaking of cause and effect,” she said, pointing at him. “What’s up with the robe? It didn’t burn.”
“It’s special,” he said, casually looking away.
“How so?”
“I would rather not talk about it.”
“This is the most I’ve heard you talk all year. Why stop now? We’re going to be here for a long time. More if I walk over there and head-butt you again.”
“I wouldn’t get more time. You would.”
“Right. Like you would be able to contain yourself,” she laughed.
“For an Elder’s daughter, you sure are a lot different than I thought you would be.”
“He’s my dad, not my Majesty. I’m free to form my own opinions, you know.”
“So your beliefs include punching a bunch of weak villagers in the face?”
“Thank you for that,” she said. He snickered at the response.
“For what?”
“You said the other villagers were weak, implying I’m not.”
“It’s not saying much.”
“Is that how you view the people here? Weak? Inferior? A waste of time?”
“I just don’t think any of the training they’re receiving will help.”
“Says the man with the busted face.”
“So I’m a man now and not a boy?” he smiled. “Well, thank you for that.”
“You shouldn’t thank me,” she said with leery eyes. “It’s unbecoming of bad boys. Your spell over me is weakening with every soft answer out of your plain and undesirably flat lips.”
“My lips happen to be grade A material.”
“Sorry,” she scoffed. “But I think we’ll have to stop here. I don’t usually flirt with guys who head-butt me when I meet them.”
“Yeah, but you said yourself, you don’t want to be lumped in with them,” he said, pointing outside the door. “You want to be different, right?”
“I want to be the best fighter here,” she chuckled. “Not someone’s girlfriend.”
“Who’s asking you out?”
“Well, it kind of sounds like you are.”
“If I was asking you to be my girlfriend, I would say so.”
“Right,” she said with a smirk. “I forgot. You’re that kind of guy…so I take it we’re friends now?”
“Why would you want to be friends with me?”
“Because we did good out there. We have a lot to learn from each other.”
“You caugh
t me off guard by not dying in the fire. And then running at me butt-naked. I hardly call that a strategy.”
“Hey, you never know. It might save you someday,” she winked. He tried his best not to laugh at that one.
“In any case, I don’t have time to train anyone.”
“Why? Busy? Doing what? Brooding?”
“It’s a 24-hour job.”
“I won’t hold you back, as you just saw.”
“I see that,” he said. “And I respect what you were able to do to me out there. But…I’m not good with people…I have a temper. Sometimes I get emotional and just lose it. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Ha,” Leah scoffed. “And that, ladies and gentleman, is the irony of the day.”
“I’m serious.”
“Why? Because I’m a girl?”
“No.”
“Because I’m just a Lowsunn villager?”
“No…I already said I respected your style.”
“Then what is it?”
“Everyone I’ve ever loved died,” he said suddenly.
“Tell me what happened,” Leah said in concern. Aidan shook his head and threw his arms over his knees.
“I won’t,” he said. Leah jumped to her feet and began marching over to him with clenched fists. He threw up his hands in surrender. “Alright. Cut it out. I’ll tell you. Just don’t force me to be in here any longer than I have to.”
“Agreed,” she said, plopping down beside him. “But I want to hear everything.”
“You can hear just fine from the other corner.”
“This corner is more comfy,” she said, scooting closer to him. “Besides, it’s cold in here.”
“Don’t expect me to take off my robe and give it to you.”
“I don’t expect you to be a gentleman at all,” she said, punching his shoulder. “Now hurry up. Tell me.”
“I just told you that everyone I’ve ever loved has died. Don’t you think it’s something that might take me a little bit of time to talk about?”
“Yeah, but that’s not you,” she said, looking at him. He refused to look back. “One of the reasons I was so happy to face you today is because you wear your heart on your sleeve. Don’t get me wrong. You’re a jerk to people, and–”
The Works of Julius St. Clair - 2017 Edition (Includes 3 full novels and more) Page 43
