Natalia scoffed in the corner. Why she was even allowed to witness my first magic lesson from dear old dad escaped me. Perhaps I could accidentally throw a fireball at her? It surely would make me feel better even if it probably would turn out to be very unproductive.
“Try again,” James said, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression guarded in quiet contemplation. Perfect, he was judging me without giving me an idea as to what he was thinking. The familiarity of the gesture hurt to consider.
I focused on the palms of my hands, willing the fire to gather in them, chanting the fire spell over and over to absolutely no avail. “Why are we starting with fire anyway?”
“To overcome your recently developed ear toward it, as well as arm you with a means to defend yourself until you start to learn more complicated spells,” James replied simply.
I groaned when nothing still wanted to happen,
Suddenly, a fire ball whizzed past my head, a hair away from touching me. I yelped in surprise. “That’s how you throw a fire ball,” Natalia said smugly.
Anger bubbled inside me. She knew how averted to fire I must be, and still risked striking me with it? I trained my gaze on her, the level of hatred I felt toward her reaching new heights. A familiar buzzing spread through my blood and my whole body was charged. The once clear sky was now covered in dark clouds, rapidly gathering directly above Natalia. She started backing away from me, any trace of smugness completely wiped from her face.
One bolt of lightning struck a nearby tree, a tree situated almost directly next to Natalia. “Father!” she yelled, her voice filled with fear. Still, I didn’t calm down, having reached my maximum capacity for patience.
“Lana,” James cautioned. “Try not to hurt Natalia.... While she does deserve to be put in her place, you don’t want to commit irreparable damage.”
My gaze flickered to him and his eyes widened with… pride? “By the angels, you are more powerful than I thought,” he said with a sense of wonder. He stepped to me, placing a hand on my shoulder.
I close my eyes and take a deep breath in an attempt to calm myself. Slowly, the buzzing in my veins started fading into the surrounding plane. “I’m sorry; I lost my temper.”
“No fucking kidding?!” Natalia yelled. I had done absolutely thing to hurt her, so I honestly couldn’t see how she could be mad at me.
“I’m not the one who almost hit you with something that brings back bad memories! Do you have any idea what it’s like to burn alive? TO feel your flesh get ripped from your bones by a never ending heat? What it’s like to see your family watch you with gleeful expression as you are subjected to the worst kind of torture? Do you?!” I yelled at her, tears stinging my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.
Natalia pouted and tried to remain stubborn, but I caught the flicker of empathy pass through her eyes. Perhaps there was hope for our relationship yet. “I wasn’t going to hit you. I have been trained how to use my magic from a very young age, my aim is almost perfect by this point.”
“That doesn’t matter!”
“Okay, that’s enough. Natalia, please go inside,” James said, his expression stone. She nodded and left without further word.
James and I were left staring at each other, neither of us speaking for several moments.
“You should’ve told me your eyes changed color,” he said to break the silence. “Many things would’ve happened differently.”
“Oh? You would’ve treated me differently? Showed more interest because I have so much untapped power? Tell me, father, if I didn’t have any magic at all, would you have rejected me completely?”
“Of course not!”
“Then why on earth should it matter that my eyes turn blue when I’m pissed or perform powerful spells?”
“For one, I wouldn’t have invited Nat along to provoke you. Typically, provoking helps to get a sorceress to tap into her power and perform the spell she is training to do. But, with your kind of power, the approach has to be more carefully planned out,” James replied, exasperated.
I crossed my arms stubbornly. “How about we both just admit we have made mistakes and move on.”
He nodded. “Very well. Back to the fire spell. You will learn it today, no matter how long we have to stay out here. You have the power, now you just have to learn how to apply it.”
YOU ARE READING
Haunting Shadows (Book 2)
Fantasy"What if my sins are all I've become? Will you still love me if the Andreas you once knew is too far gone to ever get back?" Lana had survived burning on the stake, but at what cost? Every time she closes her eyes, she revisits the horror of burning...
