The Spirit Guardians Book 1: Enlightened

Chapter 16

           
"Pick up the pace!" Miguel called from afar. Cassie ignored him, continuing her same pace as she returned to Miguel and Marc under a large tree.

As Cassie approached the tree, she came to a halt and wiped sweat from her forehead. It had been a while since she'd trained, and she was beginning to feel it in her aching muscles.

"Sorry...it's been a while," she murmured.

"Yeah, yeah. Just because you're an official spiritkeeper doesn't mean you can slack off. Your professional training is still a month away," Miguel grumbled.

"No school, then?" she thought. She hadn't even realized that summer was slowly coming towards an end. She'd been so focused on finding her place in this world and getting her family back that she hadn't even thought of college applications or standardized tests.

"You're going to be training. There's no time for school," Marc explained, tossing her a water bottle.

Cassie clumsily caught the bottle and gulped down some water. It was only three weeks until August now, and then another few weeks before training began. Overall, she was incredibly nervous. Her family's whereabouts were still unknown, and she was soon expected to blend in to the new crowd at her training facility.

"It won't take long to train," Miguel told her, "especially for a love spiritkeeper."

She shot him a glare, even though she especially wanted to give Marc the middle finger for deciding on that type of spiritkeeper for her.

"How about a ten and we keep working?" Marc suggested.

Cassie groaned, though Miguel nodded in agreement.

She stepped inside the cabin, finding it empty. Irene had taken Elijah to see Cherie while Lillian and Conny chatted outside. She headed to the kitchen and quickly wolfed down a banana, finishing it off with another glass of water.

She pulled her shirt down slightly to gaze at the tattoo against her chest.

"Cassie!" Lillian called.

She gasped and let go before spinning around to face her.

"I thought you were training until early afternoon," Lillian remarked.

"I am. I-I better be going now. I just had a quick break," she said before slipping past the door again.

She awkwardly approached Marc and Miguel as they spoke. "And what torture will I endure now?" she inquired.

"Climbing," Miguel said, pointing to the tree.

"If you feel it's too hard, just holler and I—we'll---help you come down," Marc offered gently.

She shook her head, remembering that Marc hadn't seen her climb the tree that one day. She placed her foot on a branch and hoisted herself up, climbing the familiar tree. Like a spider, she wove her way towards the top, grabbing and pulling herself up, lifting higher and higher off the ground. She became closer to the sky, the wind growing with each foot higher she climbed. When she reached as far as she could go, she leaned against the tree trunk.

"I'm coming down now!" she announced.

She slowly moved down before gradually speeding up her pace downward.

"Not too fast! You'll fall!" Marc warned.

She ignored him and continued her pace. The tree grew wider, and the branches thinner, and in a few moments, she hopped back onto the ground, satisfied.

"I've still gone higher," Miguel grumbled.

"Nice job," Marc congratulated her.

"All right. You're doing for the day," Miguel announced.