Suffocate In Spirit - Shadows of the Night 4

Chapter 29

Hi!

I had a great week, but got sick towards the end of it - which so figures... Anyway, I'm here on my couch, thinking, *I've got to put this on wattpad, just do this one thing, then go back to sleep.* So here's the next one. All I'm saying is 'training day' - mouhaha!

Lara

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Chapter 29

I walked behind her in silence as we took another path through the forest. I was too lost in thought to realize where we were heading to at first. Not the outskirts of the village, or the deeper shadows of the forest as I'd initially thought. We were heading towards the sea. Things weren't looking up.

I'd expected a form of pep talk, a moment in which we'd connect the way we did in New York when I first met her. I was wrong. It looked like Giuliana led me away from the forest only to push me into another training session. I could see it in the set of her shoulders. Her steps were fused with determination and purpose.

I hurried after her, mirroring her stance when she came to a halt in the middle of the beach.

She turned, staring at me for a long moment.

"Why are you holding back?"

I frowned. "I'm not holding back."

"You used other elements before. Something is different now."

I shrugged. "Maybe I just suck at using other elements. Maybe all those times before I was just lucky."

Or dying.

I cocked my head. "You know, there's something I wanted to ask you. How do you keep up the ward? And how exactly does spelling a portal work? I've been thinking. Maybe we could work on that instead."

"Of course you'd like to know more about that." Giuliana smiled. "In principle you already know most about that, though. You transfer and store magic in an object."

I looked at her. "Is it the same with spelling a portal?"

For a long moment she said nothing. "Portals are a different matter. You could say that using a portal is defying the laws of nature. It needs immense focus and willpower to draw up a portal, to create a device that can open it, if applied by a witch skilled enough. It takes years and years of training to attain the skill."

I'd gone through portals before; stumbled through them, was probably a more appropriate term. I might have clawed myself through indefinite wormholes, but I had no clue how to open up a portal on my own. I always had a spelled device at hand – first a stolen Inri Brotherhood necklace, then my mother's pendant.

"Teach me." The words fell from my lips in a soft sound, almost like a sigh, or a silent prayer.

This was the one thing – with training and a focused mind – I knew I could do. It was also the one skill I wanted to learn most. The Circle outlawed portalling in the States. But to have that ability would be another asset I might need one day.

Giuliana looked at me for a long moment – so long, I almost believe she's going to say no. Her gaze was unwavering, assessing, almost as if she could gauge my worthiness by one look alone.

"We'll start with normal spells. Show me control in one of the elements that are not yours and I'll teach you all I can about portals."

* * *

The cuff was made of gold, the surface smooth, but dented from long years of exposure. The fading sunlight ate its way through the stone room, beams reflected from the metal. The cuff felt eerily warm in my hands. I'd been staring at it for what amounted to two full minutes. This was going to be my training object, the material I'd be working on for the next few hours.