The Trinity of Magic (Book 2 of the Trinity series)

Chapter 31

                                                                        Trey's POV

"Focus, Trey! What's gotten into you today?" Dean Lucia groaned impatiently after I failed yet again at conjuring up a force field. Dean Lucia had aimed a flaming sphere my way and I was supposed to pull up a force field strong enough to deflect it. It was one thing to conjure up a strong force field. I couldn't even conjure up a weak one.

"I'm sorry. I'm trying," I said, gritting my teeth.

I felt exhausted and frustrated. I had been working at force fields for two weeks now and I still couldn't do it. With every failed attempt, I could feel myself losing focus and giving into my emotions, which was something that Dean Lucia told me to avoid at all costs, especially during battle.

"You're not trying hard enough," Lucia spat. His words stung, which only intensified my frustration.

"I said I'm trying!" I shouted.

"Try harder!" he yelled back, hurling a swirling ball of ice at my face.

Maybe it was the anger and frustration that was boiling inside of me, or maybe I was finally getting the hang of advanced magic, but just as the ball of ice came my way, I reached out with my mind and took control of the fire from the flickering candle on Lucia's desk. Pulling the flame and enlarging it, I hurled the flame at the ball of ice, melting it just inches before it hit me.

Dean Lucia raised his eyebrows at me, looking impressed.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Self defense," I replied bitterly.

"Well, that was a good alternative way to defend yourself. But you can't always rely on element manipulation, even though I know how easily it comes to you," Lucia told me.

"Why do I have to learn how to conjure up a force field, anyway? Why can't I just jump out of the way. I have fast reflexes," I said.

"Because you can't always dodge spells. What if it wasn't a ball of ice I was throwing at you, but an entire wave of ice shards? Then how would you jump out of the way?" Lucia replied.

Wave of ice shards?

I found myself questioning day after day what I had gotten myself into. What the hell was I thinking taking up such an enormous responsibility? How was I going to be the leader of the good side? As far as I knew, Dean Lucia was far smarter and stronger than I was. He should be the one leading our side, not me.

But whenever I voiced this to him, he told me I needed to have a little more confidence in myself. He said that he couldn't be the leader because he needed someone to carry on the legacy if something were to go wrong in this war. If we lost--which was very probable because no one had won in centuries--then it would be my responsibility to train the person that would take charge for the next war.

"How about we take a break?" Lucia suggested. I nodded, glad that he was offering one. Usually, we trained for four hours straight. But I knew the look he had on his face. He wanted to talk.

"So, what's bothering you? You seem distracted," he asked, sitting at his office desk. I sat in the chair across the table from him.

"I'm not," I said.

"If you're going to lie, at least try to make it convincing," he said. I glared at him and then sighed, slouching back into the chair.

"There's nothing bothering me," I repeated, although we both knew there was. And I was fairly certain he knew exactly what was bothering me.