One of my reviewers brought up how nine banded armadillos carry leprosy. I do actually explain how this isn't a cause for concern with Audwin in a later chapter. Thanks everyone who reviews, and reads!
Chapter 11
I placed Audwin on his favorite spot, and marched to the door. I was trying not to pout. Eric was right, I needed to focus. I knocked on the door, and a little older woman answered. I couldn't feel her energy at all. She was definitely more disciplined than I was.
"Hello, I'm Lenore. Eric dropped me off to meet Octavia. This is Audwin." I gave my companion a small nuzzle. He'd had a rough go tonight
"Welcome please come in. Would you like something to drink before we begin?" She walked me into her living room, and gestured to the couch.
"Yes ma'am that'd be lovely. A water please. May I let Audwin out to hunt? He hasn't eaten yet." He also was pretty pissed at me, and needed to not look at me for a minute.
"Of course, I'll be right back, and then we can begin." She disappeared into the kitchen.
I took Audwin out onto the porch.
"I'm sorry bud. I didn't know he could fly. I did know about the driving, but what was I supposed to do? I am really sorry. Go hunt, and I'll call you when Eric returns." I ran my hand down his back, and he nibbled my palm. He wasn't too mad at me thankfully. I reentered the home, and sat on the couch. Octavia came, back and placed my glass on a doilie, like a real lace doilie.
"So what exactly do you need help with?" Octavia asked.
"Well pretty much everything. My mother died when I was almost 8, and Adwin is the only teacher I've had, so besides absorbing energy, helping plants grow, some healing, and the occasional attack if I lose control, I have no idea what I'm doing."
"Do you use a spell to do these things, or do you manipulate energy?" She asked
"I use energy to do it. I've never used spell work, I wouldn't even know where to begin." I answered.
"Well you are definitely more gifted than I am. I can teach you some things, but we'll need to locate a stronger witch to train you. What I do is spell work, along with some other tricks of the trade. I think I can help you some, but I wont be able to train you in the ways you desperately need. Is this something you'd be interested in?" She didn't look offended, just genuinely wanted to help me.
"I don't see why not. Any kind of knowledge would be most helpful." I said.
She nodded. "Have you eaten yet? I'll start by teaching you grounding, and shielding. These can be quite draining at first, so you'll need energy to take from." She appeared to be moving toward the kitchen before I replied.
"Actually I can take energy from the moon. Since its a full moon, I'll have more than enough to draw from, but thank you."
"Okay then lets move outside, and get started." She smiled.
I followed her to a small grove behind the cabin. She sat down on the ground with her legs crossed. I did the same across from her. I looked around, this was a beautiful place. There were clovers growing under me, I could already feel them humming beneath me. There had to be water somewhere near by, I could hear the frogs singing along with the crickets.
"Octavia, your home is gorgeous. Is there a river, or lake near by?"
"This isn't my home, dear. I live in New Orleans. This is Mr. Northmans. It seemed best to come to a mutually agreed upon place to do your lessons. Are you ready to begin?" She asked.
"Yes ma'am."
"All right. Close your eyes." I did. "Concentrate on the ground beneath you. Feel how solid it is, and yet, its full of roots. Feel them?" she asked.
"Yes." I replied.
"Now concentrate on your own body, think of the top of your spine. Follow it down to your hips. Your spine is resting on the ground. Now think of your spine being connected to the ground just like the roots under it. Think of yourself like a root. You draw your energy from the earth, but you are also anchored. You are safe, expel any excess energy you don't need into the earth below. Relax, breathe and then let go."
I did exactly as she said. I feel connected to the ground, and the clover, and I released all of my excess energy. I emptied all of my anxious energy, and relaxed. Octavia gasped. My eyes flew open, and I lost all concentration.
"What? Whats wrong?" I felt frantic. I had assumed the worst.
"Look around you." she said
I looked, but at first all I saw was the clovers. I was so fixated on there being danger it took a minute to notice, the clovers had bloomed. In a circle around me, there were hundreds of little flowers that hadn't been there when I sat down.
"That's one of my gifts, granted I've never done it without meaning to."
"Wonderful. Okay now we'll work on shielding. You seem to already ground well enough." She stood.
I followed suit. Even after passing it on, I was still full of energy. Full moon did wonders for me.
"Okay now shielding is a little difficult. You may already do so of it. Basically its like casting a bubble of energy around yourself so others leave you alone. You can also use it in defense. I'm sure you can cast a shield strong enough to actually block people from harming you. I want you to close your eyes again. Now imagine a bubble that's large enough to hold you inside of it. Lets just start with a bubble." She extended her hands out to feel if I had achieved it.
I pictured myself like Glinda from the wizard of oz, in a giant pink bubble. It was strong enough to hold me, but I could still breathe, I didn't feel trapped, and I could still move about.
"Good, that's very good. You're doing better than I thought you would. Now make the bubble stronger. As if you could leave it if you wanted to, but no one besides you can come in."
I focused, and tried to imagine there was someone I didn't want close to me trying to approach me.
"Yes, just like that. Excellent! Now I want you to focus on putting a wall in front of you. Not around you, just in front. Like a real shield, except larger."
I thought back to the night with the Ware, and how I really didn't want to fight him, but I had no other choice. I thought hard, I put all my energy into this wall. Octavia put her hand out, and actually met the wall. She wasn't able to get through at all.
"That's the best I've ever had any student perform. You are astounding." She was beaming.
I was starting to feel light headed. I wavered a bit, and had to catch myself.
"Easy, that's enough for now. You did wonderful. You still will need to practice, but now that you know what to do, I feel confident in your ability. Lets go get you some food shall we?" She extended her arm to help me walk.
I took it, and started drawing energy from the moon while we moved. After we entered the cabin, she took me into the kitchen, and gave me an apple. She sat across from me at the table while I ate.
"So for spell work, what do I need to know?" I said in between bites.
"I have some books you can take with you. Just remember intention is important. If you don't really want to accomplish what you're casting, it wont work nearly as well. That goes for most magic. Intention is very important."
We spent the next hour chatting about magical history. I told her about my attack, and memory lose. She told me about her small coven. It was great to have someone to really talk to about magic, and have them understand. I had really needed this, and it was only possible because of Eric. Yeah he was going to use my ability to his benefit, but I wasn't even upset about that. He was giving me so much already, why not return the favor with whatever he needed. Seemed like a fair trade to me, I mean I had nothing after all. I had lost everything. My life was changing for the better thanks to a bloodsucker. Who would have thought?
Eric arrived, and I called Audwin back to me. After a few minutes Audwin waddled into view. I ran to him, and scooped him up. He wasn't angry any longer.
"Octavia, thank you so much. Please call me when you're ready for another lesson, or even just to chat." I hugged her tight.
"Of course dear. I'll talk to you soon." She turned to Eric, and said "I'll also be talking with you soon."
Eric bowed, and grabbed me by the waist again. This time Audwin, and I were ready, and we flew to the car. We headed back to Shreveport.
"Eric, Thank you for everything. I will gladly use my abilities to help you do whatever you need. I just wont harm innocent people, and I wont do anything deviant, but besides that I'll help."
My life was coming together. I honestly had no complaints. I was staring out the window, and petting Auddie, and the next thing I knew I was waking up in my bed in the hotel room. There was a note by the bed.
"I thought it best to let you rest, I locked the door on my way out. I'll see you at work this evening". - E
I rolled over, and went back to sleep.
