Force of Nature (An Alex Warren Novel)

by Shawna Logue

  “Are you hungry?” he asked, picking up on my desire to change the subject. Before I could blink, he disappeared, only to reappear a few seconds later beside me, holding a tray of bread and fruit.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled, slightly shocked. I took an apple and rolled it my hands. My hands, which I could see were no longer the mess of scrapes and cuts they had been. I held one hand up, tracing the faint pink lines with my finger. “Whoa, what did you do to my hands?”

  He chuckled and moved to sit beside me. “Just a little salve,” he said. “Time helped too.”

  “Time?”

  “Alex, you’ve been sleeping for almost three days.”

  “I’m sorry,” I replied automatically. Three days? How did that happen?

  He laughed. “Don’t be. You must have really needed it.”

  I crunched into my apple to avoid talking. Neither of us looked at each other while we ate, and soon the silence became uncomfortable. I wondered why he sat here. Why had he bothered to check on me? I thought about his experiment in the meadow, and wondered if he saw me as some sort of toy. When he looked at me, he always seemed to be amused, like I was entertaining to watch.

  Now that I thought about, I probably was entertaining. Not only was I an emotional roller coaster, but my natural awkwardness was emphasized by the graceful way the elves moved. They practically danced when they walked, whereas I often had a hard time keeping my balance while standing. I must look like a toddler to them.

  “What are you thinking about?” Jack’s voice said, interrupting my wanderings. “Your cheeks are bright red.” He had a crooked half-smile creeping up his face.

  Crap. Just another reason why for him to be entertained. I improvised, ignoring the heat on my cheeks. “I was thinking about… magic.” Shoot, why had I said that? That was the last thing I wanted to talk about right now. Or at least the second to last thing.

  “Oh?” he answered, his Elven features staying perfectly smooth as he arched one eyebrow in genuine interest.

  “Um,” I struggled for a thought. “I was thinking about something you said earlier. About me not having any control over what I can do.” Where did I pull that from? I hadn’t ever thought about that before. But, now that I had said it aloud, I knew this was something I really did want to know about.

  He looked at me speculatively, and I twirled my apple core anxiously in my fingers as I awaited his response. I got the sense he knew I wasn’t answering his question, but he answered mine nonetheless.

  “You don’t have any control, Alex. You nearly overloaded me back in the alley. I suppose that’s because it was arcane magic, not Elven, but still, the energy was so incredibly raw.”

  “What do you mean, arcane?”

  He paused. “You don’t know much about this at all, do you?” I shrugged, wanting him to continue. “Elves don’t use the same energy as other magic users. We draw our power from ley lines found in nature. The kind of magic you saw in the woods is only ever found in Elven lands.”

  “Ley lines?”

  “I think that the arcane equivalent is called a force line.”

  “And you think I can learn to control the flow of power out of me?”

  “Yes, I do. That is, if you practice.”

  This was starting to sound promising. “Will you show me how?” I asked, a little too eagerly.

  “Alex, I have no idea how to teach you! I have never experienced something- er, someone, like you in my life!”

  “Oh.” I tried to hide my disappointment, but failed miserably.

  “I suppose we could try a few experiments,” he said slowly. I sensed he was just trying to placate me. “But none of that arcane magic. It felt funny.”

  I wrinkled my nose. Elven magic tasted like dirt.

  “Unless of course you don’t want to,” he baited, rising from the bed and gliding to the door.

  “No! I do! When do we start?”

  He turned, a devious smile flashing across his face. “You’re not going to be happy unless I say “Now” aren’t you?”

  I smiled back, nodding with an excitement I hadn’t felt in ages.

  “Come on then,” he said, feigning exasperation. Now I was sure I was amusing to him, but I could care less at this point.

  I was going to train.

  Chapter Twelve

  Jack took me to the epicentre we had visited the other day and I filled my body with the liquid magic. I was careful to do it slowly, not wanting the honey flavoured dirt taste that followed when I tugged too hard on the ley line.

  Jack was very patient as I poured my energy resources into him. At first, we experimented on how to transfer the energy. When I touched my fingertips to his, the energy flowed more quickly than if I touched his bare arm.

  “Hmm,” Jack had said, as we both reached the same conclusion. “It seems that extremities are the key to increasing flow.” I reluctantly agreed to further test his theory by taking my shoes and socks off and touching my toes to his. I felt ridiculous, but he had been right, and the energy poured more smoothly through our feet than it had from our hands.

  “Fascinating!” he cried, leaping to his feet. “I’m completely saturated and that only took seconds!” He murmured something unintelligible and discharged the magic from his hands. The energy twisted in the air, reaching for the line I had pulled it from before assimilating back into it. I hadn’t really paid attention; I was too busy thinking about how my toes seemed to transfer magic faster.

  Not as fast as lips, I thought, as I remembered transferring my power to Connor during the fight. A knot twisted angrily in my stomach.

  “Perhaps that’s enough for today,” Jack said cautiously, misreading my expression.

  “No,” I said, gritting my teeth. I was determined to make this work. I needed to show myself I could do this. “Again.”

  I couldn’t tell if he was shocked or frightened at my resolute expression. “Okay…” he replied slowly. “We’ve figured out how to transfer power quickly, so I suggest maybe you just use my forearm for now, to keep the flow as slow as we can?”

  I nodded, taking a slow refill from one of the lines above me. When I was ready, I reached my hand out to him.

  “Try to think of the flow of power having a valve that you can open or close. I want you to try not to give me anything.”

  I clasped my hand around his arm, feeling the energy pour out of me. It was slower than it had been when our fingers touched, but still flowed smoothly. I struggled, trying to will the power to stop. I could feel my forehead creasing with concentration.

  After a moment, he pulled back. He released the power back up into the air before turning back to me.

  “That was a start, but you only were able to slow it slightly at the end there.”

  I took more from the ley line. Taking a deep breath, I clasped his outstretched arm again. I wanted this to work. I wanted to get control. I wanted to prove to myself I could handle magic. I wanted to prove it to Connor.

  I started to imagine running into him on the street, with his darling wife. I would be surging with more power than he had ever seen. We would exchange pleasantries, and I would shake her hand, careful to keep the valve turned off. Then I would shake his hand.

  And I would release. I would open the floodgate of power, proving to him how much control I had.

  A flash of bright green light blinded my thoughts. For a split second, I became aware of two things: One, Jack shouting my name, his voice seeming far away, and two, I was flying.

  Flying is an odd sensation, I thought to myself. Everything seems to be moving past me, instead of me moving forward. Or was it the other way around? I was moving too fast to tell if I was moving or the trees. Whichever it was, the trees were speeding past me.

  Less than a second later, I heard the resounding crack as my body crumpled against a large Douglas Fir. After a moment’s pause, I started falling. I fell for several seconds, my body writhing and twisting in the air, before facing down to the rapidly ap
proaching ground.

  As I braced for impact, I felt an invisible tension stop me from hitting the ground. I bounced once, as though on a bungee cord, and could see Jack nearly fifty feet away, his arms outstretched as he lowered me slowly to the ground. The moist earth felt soft under my body, and as I inhaled, I felt crumbs of soil in my mouth. This wasn’t the same dirt taste from Elven magic, this was the real thing. Instinctively, I closed my eyes, sinking my face into the damp earth, and letting the drain of the power surge pull me into unconsciousness.

  ******

  “I’m so sorry,” I heard Jack whispering softly. I could tell he was seated beside me, but I had no idea where I was. The surface below me felt too dry and flat to be the forest floor. “I’m so very sorry, Alex,” he repeated, though I could tell he was talking more to himself than to me.

  I felt his hand sweep a loose lock of hair off my face. It was cool against my much too warm face. I leaned my cheek into the chill of his fingertips, not opening my eyes. I felt his body stiffen beside me, but his palm relaxed, cupping my face.

  After a moment, he whispered, “Are you okay?”

  I opened my eyes, and quickly squeezed them shut as I was blinded by bright sunlight. Slowly, I tried again, and it was not nearly as difficult to focus, as Jack had moved to position himself to block the light. I could see now we were in the gazebo, and that it had to be around noon, judging from the sun. It felt unusually warm here, despite it being February.

  “Yeah, I’m fine,” I croaked, moving to sit up.

  Sitting up was not a smart move, as the ensuing head rush made me dizzy; I swayed once before laying back down involuntarily.

  “Ugh,” I groaned, my hand flying to my forehead. It felt hot, and I started to wonder if it was me that was warm, not the weather. “What happened?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me,” he said solemnly.

  “I… don’t know,” I said. “My head hurts.”

  He chuckled once, but then looked serious again. “What did you do, Alex?”

  “I don’t know!” I defended again. “Tell me what happened!”

  His responding look was so fierce I cringed and looked away. Finally, I heard him sigh, low and long, before he spoke again.

  “You couldn’t stop,” he began, and I could feel the tension in his voice as it cut through the air. “Your grip on my arm was so tight,” he paused to rub his forearm, “that I had to practically tear it off of me.” He looked at me, again with a ferocity I didn’t like. “When we were disconnected though, you didn’t stop. I barely had time to throw a shield up before you surged more energy out of you than I have ever seen. If you hadn’t transferred all that power to me, I’m not sure I could have withstood the force that came out of you.”

  “Oh Jack, I’m so sorry. I didn’t-”

  He held up one hand. “I should apologize. I hadn’t meant to reflect the power back at you. It was a reflex. I could have absorbed it, but I didn’t…” his voice trailed off as he spoke.

  I reached for his hand, holding it earnestly in both of mine. I had no magic left in me, so I didn’t need to worry about giving him any residual traces. “I remember falling,” I said, emphasizing the last word carefully. “You saved me, didn’t you? Thank you.” My voice cracked as I spoke, weak with exhaustion.

  Jack smiled faintly at my words, but I could see he was hiding mixed emotions.

  “Please don’t do that,” I said, trying to be firm but sounding as raspy as an old smoker.

  “Do what?”

  “Blame yourself.”

  “I’m not-”

  “Oh, please,” I said, trying to sit up again. “I know that look. In fact, I invented that look.”

  I heard the small chuckle I was hoping for before a new wave of dizziness hit me, forcing me back down.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t try to sit up,” he cautioned.

  “I kinda guessed that,” I muttered. “I’m always such an invalid.”

  He laughed, louder now, and I closed my eyes, listening to the low timbre of his voice echo through the forest.

  After a moment, I felt him get up, and my eyes flashed open.

  “Where are you going?” I demanded, surprised at the harshness of my tone.

  He smiled at me. There was that bemused look again. “I was going to let you rest for a while. You seem like you need to sleep again.”

  Well, I did feel exceptionally tired, despite having just slept for three days. But I wasn’t about to sleep in the middle of a strange forest. I could feel my eyes widening as I thought about all the strange creatures, especially the unknown mythical ones, that probably lurked in the woods.

  Seeing my face, he added, “It’s perfectly safe here, Alex.”

  Though I had every reason to believe him, I didn’t. Reaching my hand up, I whispered, “Please stay.”

  I caught his eye roll, but ignored it, smiling when he gently slid me over before lying beside me. There was nothing romantic about our proximity to each other; instead, it was more comfortable than anything else. Taking one last deep breath, I closed my eyes, and drifted to sleep.

  When I woke up, the sun was low. My arms were wrapped around a firm, cool body, and my head was resting comfortably in the crook of an equally cool arm.

  “Are you part sloth?”

  I jumped at Jack’s voice, my face likely turning nineteen shades of red as it burned. I sat up quickly, very aware of the position I had woken in.

  “You sleep a lot, is all,” he said, clearly confused by my startled reaction.

  “Um, yeah, sorry about that,” I said, still feeling incredibly awkward. I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them protectively.

  “So who’s Connor?” he asked. Damn that amused tone he always had in his voice.

  “No one,” I answered sharply.

  He raised one perfectly arched eyebrow, a move I was now quite familiar with. “He didn’t sound like no one to me.”

  I groaned. Trust me to talk in my sleep. “What did I say?”

  He smiled an impish grin. “I’m not sure I can repeat that with ladies present.”

  Oh no. This was so wrong. I didn’t want to hold on to Connor anymore. I didn’t want to hold on to anyone right now. I just wanted to hold on to me. I felt one hot tear trickle silently down my cheek as I cursed myself internally for my own mental mess.

  “Um,” Jack said sheepishly, “I’m sorry I brought that up.”

  “No,” I gritted, “It’s fine. You’re right though. He isn’t no one. He’s nobody.”

  He made a face of understanding, and then wiped the lone tear from my face. Then, I saw his eyes flash as he thought of something.

  “That face you made right there,” he said, looking at me intently. “Were you thinking about this Connor earlier?”

  “No. I try not to think about him at all.”

  “Think, Alex. Earlier, in the meadow, just before you surged, you made that face.” He touched a long slender finger to my nose. “It was full of anger, though I hadn’t recognized it at the time. What were you thinking about?”

  I searched my mind. The events that occurred in the meadow were foggy in my mind. I traced, and then retraced everything I could remember. After a few minutes, I nodded.

  “You were thinking about him,” he said, and it was not a question.

  I nodded, shame flooding me as I remembered exactly what I had thought.

  Jack looked excited though, not upset as I thought he would be. “This is brilliant!” he said, clapping his hands together. “I’m betting that you power is ruled by your emotions.” He was more talking to himself now, his eyes focused far away. He said a few more things, mostly mumbling, as he appeared to calculate a few things in his head.

  I heard a faint rustling, and stiffened. Jack, noticing my reaction, waved me off absentmindedly. “Justin,” he said, still calculating something in his head.

  Moments later, as expected, Justin appeared from the quickly dimming forest.
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  “I thought you two would be out here. I figured I would check on you after that little magical demonstration you put on this morning, Jachai.”

  “Took you long enough,” he laughed. “And that wasn’t me, it was Alex.” He jutted his thumb in my direction.

  Justin looked at me confused. “Really?” He let out a low whistle. “Whoa. What did you do?”

  Before I could answer, I hear more rustling, and Maria joined us, followed by another figure that stayed back in the shadows.

  “I told you I would bring them to you,” Justin said to her quietly, kissing her lightly on the forehead.

  “He wouldn’t wait,” she whispered quietly back, though still loud enough I could clearly hear her. She turned to me, eyes pleading as though to communicate forgiveness. “You have a visitor,” she said, then mouthed, “Sorry.” I stiffened.

  Jack rose, and in two strides was next to his brother. He turned back to me, and in a voice loud enough I was sure the shadowy figure could hear, he said, “We’ll be in the meadow. Just call if you need us.”

  I felt sick. There was only one person this could be, and I didn’t want to talk to him. My eyes pleaded to first Maria, then Jack, but they both had turned away already. I felt my hands make fists as my body reeled at the thought of my visitor. I couldn’t bear to look at him as he emerged from the tree line.

  “’Ow’s things?” my visitor asked in a thick, Irish brogue.

  I wheeled around. “Dermot?”

  “Aye.”

  Relief washed over me as I gazed up at the tall, lanky leprechaun who now stood before me. My body relaxed. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  He laughed a high pitched giggle. “I should ask the same of you.”

  I rolled my eyes, unwilling to be the first to answer.

  “Oh fine,” he said in fake exasperation. “First, if you didn’t think I would feel that lil’ trick you pulled this morn’, you be a wacker.”

  “You felt that? How did you know that was me?”

  “Of course I felt that. Ev’ryone and their dog felt that. It ‘elped that I was close by, mind you. I recognized yer signature.”