The Woven Crown (Completed)

Chapter 14

Janek was waiting underneath the trees for them. He watched the snowflakes fall as he carved out slices of an apple he'd found in storage. They had been training for weeks and Ryla's body had finally started adjusting to the rigorous schedule set for them by their instructors.

"Ready?" was all he said. Ryla, Yulia, and Killian ventured out into the falling snow, hoods pulled up over their heads.

"Today I'm going to teach ya some basic defensive magic. One of the best way a Woven has to defend himself is by makin' barriers— like the Tapestry and the smaller shields we make around objects. Killian and Yulia, you've already had a lot of practice with this type of magic, but it's application will be a little different here.

"You can make a shield that surrounds your entire body for a long bout of time, but that's not a very economical use of yer energy. Instead, you need to learn to toss up multiple small barriers that fade as soon as they've served their purpose. That way you block any blows coming at you and don't waste energy covering the parts that aren't in immediate danger. Understand?"

Ryla nodded, but she wanted to see it in action. Janek had Killian try to attack him while he demonstrated blocking with magic. Ryla could not see the threads he was making unless she used her Sight, which was becoming easier with each passing day. Without it, it looked as if Killian's blows simply stopped in midair. He grunted and swung at Janek with all his might but only succeeded in knocking himself backwards. He stumbled and stood up, shaking the snow out of his cloak.

"I give up," he said.

"Alright, yer turn. We're just going to practice weaving the shields quickly first, then we'll practice throwin' them in a specific direction."

For this, he allowed them to sit on some upturned logs. They brushed the snow from their tops before sitting down. Ryla concentrated on her thread and multiplied it to weave a shield. She wove barrier after barrier, trying to be quick but also not leave any gaps in the fabric of her magic. Killian was the fastest at weaving, but Ryla made better quality shields. Hers were also much bigger than either Killian's or Yulia's. Janek watched her, grunting with approval when she made one that covered most of her body.

Her stronger life thread allowed her to waste less energy than the others. Ryla decided she would begin practicing her weaving in her spare time. She had a lot of catching up to do in speed. Yulia and Killian had been practicing their magic for years, and it showed when they applied it to defensive magic.

Once they felt comfortable with weaving a shield, Janek instructed them on how to throw it. It was harder to aim it than Ryla had thought. She threw her whole body into it, but it would always veer slightly off course. Janek showed her how to fix her stance so the weight of her throw was balanced. It helped and Ryla started to hit her targets with more precision.

"Now to really put you off course, I'm going to throw some attacks at you and I want you to block 'em. I'll call out my attacks at first to give you some warning, but believe me, there will be no warning from the beasts out there." He gestured towards the other side of the field where the barrier lay.

"Ready Killian? Left shoulder! Midsection! Low kick!" Janek's fists and feet swung towards the areas on Killian as he called them. Killian blocked each one, a frown of determination set hard in his face. Janek kept going, pushing him. Killian let out a few grunts as he struggled to keep ahead of his blows. When one finally got through and landed on his chest, he yelled out and slammed his body into Janek's.

"Whoa! Hey now, Killian. Calm down!" Janek grabbed both of his shoulders and pried him away at arm's length. Killian gritted his teeth and then went limp.