ICE

164. A Compliment

HER HANDS MOVED instinctively, before she could even really process their movement. Another light blue shield formed in front of her and deflected the sphere. Caelan's smile appeared to grow wider. He launched forward, throwing more and more magical attacks her way. Ravenna dodged as quickly as she could. She moved this way and that, deflecting what she could with her shield.

Every few seconds, she had to recreate a new shield. Each orb of Caelan's magic that hit the shield caused significant damage. But it wasn't as hard for her to create them this time. She could move fast and without any discomfort.

A sense of excitement began to bubble within her. Even without the talisman, she was almost able to keep up with him.

As they continued to spar, the sun lazily crept across the sky, working its way toward the western horizon. It was only visible through a collection of slender glass windows, which worked to bring some sort of light into the study. When the lighting that encased the room shifted from warm yellows to cool blues and violets, Ravenna and Caelan stopped. Heavy panting filled the air around them. Ravenna found herself seated on the floor, her back flat against one of the bookshelves that lined the walls of the study. Her chest heaved and her mouth stayed open as air struggled to fill her lungs. Caelan's breaths sounded labored as well. He several feet away, on the opposite side of the room, crouched down slightly. He snapped his fingers and several torches that lined the walls burst to life with witchlight.

"Well done," he told her once he caught his breath.

She grinned at him. Her lips stretched into such a wide smile that it caused her cheeks to hurt. "Wow. A compliment. I guess I know that I have done something right."

He chuckled at her. "I think that you will improve at a much faster rate this time around," he told her. "Your previous experience using magic has vastly boosted your confidence and has also given you the chance to work with your abilities. You know what you are capable of and how to go about using magic now."

She just nodded in response, focusing on regulating her labored breathing. He chuckled again and walked closer to her. She watched as he sat down beside her, leaning his back against the bookshelf behind them.

He held out his hand, his fingers curled into a tight fist. Slivers of white magic glimmered between his knuckles. He then turned his hand and splayed his fingers wide, his palm facing the stony ceiling that hung above them. A sphere of glowing magic hovered above his skin. It shifted and moved, stretching until it expanded wider than his palm. The magic formed a thin shape that reminded her of a dinner plate from the palace.

Ravenna's brows furrowed with confusion and she peered closer at the magic. Small dots scattered across the circular shape like small clusters of stars, glowing brighter than the magic that surrounded them. "What are those?" she asked Caelan, pointing at one of the dots.

"That is one of your ice soldiers," he answered.

Her eyes widened. "You are able to track them?"

Caelan's lips twitched into a sly grin. "Naturally. How else do you think I managed to destroy so many of them?"

She chewed on her lower lip, staring at the glowing plate-shape in front of her. His reasoning made sense. He would have needed some way to track her soldiers through the kingdom in order to destroy as many as he did. Her gaze zeroed in on a single dot that stood out amongst the rest. It glowed a very light shade of sky blue. She pointed at it and arched an eyebrow at him. "What is that one?"

The dot in particular stood in the heart of his palm, almost like a sun. Caelan hesitated for a moment and his gaze stayed focused on her, almost as if he were waiting for an unpleasant reaction. "You," he answered simply.

"You tracked me too?"

Mild discomfort entered his expression. "Only to ensure that you weren't killed," he explained. "Vyses is incredibly unpredictable and does not always have the best temperament."

Part of Ravenna was mildly freaked by the notion. She did not like the idea of being tracked and found it to be somewhat creepy. However, the other part of her also understood what he meant. Caelan had known about Vyses' volatile nature, long before she had ever even picked up on it. It made sense that he would attempt to monitor her whereabouts, especially if she were traveling with someone dangerous throughout the kingdom. It also would enable him to monitor her creation of new ice soldiers. He would have been able to see which towns she'd overtaken and aid with their liberation.

"I see," she murmured under her breath. She stared intently at the magic that hovered above his palm.. At one of the edges of the circular shape, Ravenna could see what appeared to be a large cluster of stars. "So that would be a large amount of ice soldiers?" she questioned, pointing at the cluster.

He nodded. "Yes. And that is near the location of the palace. I assume that Vyses has been working on creating a small army of his own soldiers."

Worry marred her features and she glanced up, catching his gaze. "What are we going to do? There is no way that we can fight so many."

"There are several things that will work to our favor," he assured her. "As long as Vyses does not have the original spell that you used."

She patted the side of her bodice, where Caelan's old spellbook was situated between the tight confines of her skirts and her skin. "No. I do not think that he ever realized I had your spellbook with me. He never gained access to it."

Caelan seemed pleased with this information. "That means that any new, corrupted soldiers are mere copies of your originals. These new copies won't be as strong or as hard to defeat. Duplication spells often distort the quality, especially the more that it is used."

Her eyes widened.

"We also have time," he continued. "I doubt that he will attempt to attack us just yet. He will want to make sure that he is adequately prepared. In the meantime, we can work on our own army of ice soldiers."

He gave her a pointed look. "Of original ice soldiers."

Panic flared within her. "I can hardly manage to make a shield properly. How am I supposed to create an army?"

"I believe that you can do it," he told her with a small, warm smile.

She ignored the butterflies that danced within her stomach. "You may," she muttered under her breath. "But I certainly don't."

~

hey sweet friends!

I apologize for the delay in this week's chapter. I seriously appreciate your continued patience with me!

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this book! I genuinely can't express into words how much I appreciate you all! You are absolutely amazing!! ❤

 I hope that everyone is having a super awesome week so far! ❤

ash ❤