Sorry for the delay between updates! I'm travelling so I've been a bit busy! Next one should be up soon.
Twenty
Christian
When Rose and I got to the lake after dinner the next day, there were a group of about ten students waiting for us. It was more than I'd expected, and the pressure began to build on my shoulders.
I hadn't told my Aunt about it, at least not yet. I didn't want to her to say she'd help and then for her to get into trouble. She wasn't just a school kid that could get away with breaking a few rules, and she was key to getting offensive magic actually being practised. Involving her in this little club would be a terrible idea.
Everyone's chatter calmed when Rose and I got to their meeting. They watched us with just a bit of apprehension.
I cleared my throat, and had no idea how to go about this. It was only ten people, but I could still feel their eyes on me, and it was more attention than I was used to. "All right, everyone. Welcome, I guess. So, you want to learn offensive magic. I think I should start out by being frank, it's not a straightforward process. You won't be throwing fireballs after one lesson. And, a word of warning that I'm a fire user, and I don't know how well these lessons will translate into wielding the other elements, but I think it'll be a learning experience for everyone. So, could you split yourselves up into the different elements? It makes sense to learn according to what your element is best at."
They split into four groups. There was only one water user, and one air user, and the rest were fire and earth. Fire had the most people, thankfully, at five.
Rose stayed stationed beside me, and her presence made me feel calmer.
"Okay. I think we'll start with something basic." I could remember when Aunt Tasha had first started teaching me offensive magic, and what techniques she'd used. "Offensive magic comes down to having very strong control over your element. You can't manipulate it to do offensive things unless you can control it, otherwise it becomes destructive, especially something like fire. Being able to send a fireball doesn't help anything if you can't direct where you're sending it.
"Now, I want you to all command your element into a ball." I conjured a fireball. "I want a perfect sphere, and then I want you to hold it for as long as possible in that shape."
There were a few mutters of disappointment from the group of students, like I'd been expecting.
"Tell me," I asked the boy in the front, who was grumbling. "You're in battle and your Guardian is fighting a Strigoi. You set the Strigoi on fire. If you can't hold your ball of fire in a perfect sphere, what chance do you think you have of setting you Guardian on fire and killing the both of you instead of helping out?"
His grumbling ceased, and I nodded. "Exactly. Now, give it a try, and see what you can come up with."
Rose chuckled when they started trying to complete their task. "It's funny that they're all scared of you," she murmured. "You should give them a real demonstration of what you can do, then they'd be quaking in their boots."
"Well, I'm kind of planning on doing that." I grabbed a book out of my rucksack. "I have a spell that I want to try and learn."
I showed her the picture and let her read the text. Her eyebrows raised. "Oh wow, this looks intense."
"Intense, but really helpful." It was a spell that would create a dome of fire around someone. If I learnt it, then I could protect myself from being targeted by Strigoi. "Apparently it takes less energy than the spell that I did to Ralf. Because you're holding an easier shape rather than the shape of a moving person."
"Sounds good," Rose agreed.
"Right, I'm going to go see my students—" we both chuckled at that "—and see if I can actually help them with something."
By the end of the less we hadn't had chance to look at the spell I wanted to. It turned out that only learning magic through Mrs. Cormac meant you hadn't learnt much magic at all. But, by the end of the lesson, nearly everyone had managed to hold their sphere for at least five minutes, which was a significant improvement.
"Okay." When we'd been at it for an hour, I called them to a halt. "I know that was a disappointing first lesson, but it was crucial. Rose seems to think that maybe a demonstration of what it's building up to might help everyone."
There were eager nods from the group.
Rose stood opposite me, a grin on her face. I knew she liked watching me practice my magic. She stood stock still, and acted as my dummy.
"If you set my hair on fire I'm going to be the one cremating you," she warned me, tying it into a ponytail.
I grinned. "Why do you always have so little faith in me?"
I started by sending an onslaught of fireballs towards her, mapping the outline of her figure, and coming dangerously close to her. Then I conjured the same spell I'd used on Ralph, coating her body on fire that didn't touch her. I was impressed when she didn't even flinch. I'd never used it on her before.
Everyone in the group gasped, and I let the spell drop after a minute. That one was draining. "Obviously in a real fight you wouldn't be trying to keep it off the person, and so it would take a lot less energy," I explained.
Rose beamed at me.
"Wielding magic for long periods of time is a lot more physical than you'd have thought. You're going to be exhausted and aching tomorrow, but you just have to power through it. Practice your spheres, and we'll meet here again on Wednesday. Okay?"
They all nodded.
"You sound like Dimitri," Rose teased. "He was all you will ache, build your stamina."
I laughed, gathering my bag off the floor and following the crowd back towards campus. "Do you want to go see my Aunt? I want to tell her about the dome spell." At least that's what I was going to tell Rose. What I really wanted was to speak to Dimitri.
"Sure."
We walked in comfortable silence, because I was struggling to have a conversation with Rose that didn't revolve around begging her to go to Court.
We knocked on the cabin door and Aunt Tasha let us in. Dimitri was sat on the couch, and I took the seat beside him, leaving Rose to sit at the table with my Aunt. I had no idea how I was going to get him alone to talk to him without it being ridiculously obvious.
Rose talked to them for a few minutes, but her eyes were trained on me, and I knew she was suspicious. I was normally the one who made jokes with my Aunt when we first got into the cabin.
I rested my head on my hand and tried to think of ideas.
"Dimka, we're running out of firewood. Would you mind going around the back and fetching some?"
"Oh, I can help," I said, standing up and following him out, hoping I hadn't jumped at the chance too obviously. "Dimitri," I began when the door had shut behind me. I had no idea how to word this. "Liss is going to Court with the Queen at the end of the week and Rose has the option to go with her, but she won't go. I don't know how to convince her. I figured you might have more chance than me, or at least have some better idea of what to tell her to make her change her mind."
Dimitri chuckled. "You won't get Roza to change her mind. If she's decided she's staying, then she's staying. Especially since you don't have a valid argument, as far as she's concerned. Protecting her own safety doesn't matter to her."
I wanted to rip my hair out. "I have to find some way to convince her. She could die."
"She knows that." Dimitri stopped around the back of the cabin to meet my eyes. "I know you don't want her to get hurt, but she's never going to bend to that. She doesn't want you to get hurt, either, which is why she's staying. If the situation was reversed, you know you wouldn't be jetting off to Court, either. You'd be in the field fighting next to her." He lifted a shoulder. "She's not going to leave. Besides, I don't think she should leave. She'll be able to help. She might help save lives."
"How can you say that, when you care about her? She might die," I stressed again. All those visions were haunting me.
"Because I'm a Dhampir, and it's how I've been raised. They come first. It's all Rose knows, too. You won't convince her. I'd stop trying, and just do everything you can to make sure we're on the winning side on the day."
I ran a hand through my hair. "I know you're right, it's just hard to swallow, I guess."
"I'm a hypocrite," he admitted. "I spent a solid week trying to convince your Aunt to go back to the house and get away from the school, but she wasn't having any of it. There's nothing we can do. We'll just have to fight it out on the day and hope for the best."
I sighed. "I guess you're right. God, I'm so not ready for all this heavy bullshit. I've not even left school yet. How did this happen?"
Dimitri clapped a hand on my shoulder. "It's not fair, that's for sure. Roza is lucky to have you around, though." He grabbed some wood. "We should go back inside."
"I'm sure Rose already knows what I've attempted and failed to do," I chuckled, loading up my arms with wood.
