Breaking Light

Chapter 14

14
"Neat isn't it?"
Aria turned around immediately at the sound of her father coming from behind her and as she turned, she found herself floating higher. She looked back and saw her body sitting crossed leg with Michael and Stag. The ether was unusually dark but their bodies shone against the background.
"Welcome to the shadows Aria." Aria turned around again to see Michael's projection standing straight, hands behind his back.
"Astral projection. Very risky in the real world but here in the limbo, we are safe." Michael held out his hand and Aria took it. She found her self balanced on the ground again.
"Hey how is it that your physical body isn't as bright as mine? I'm practically burning." Aria noticed.
"That is because i am suppressing my aura. We do not naturally belong in this plane. This is how the beings of the shadow realm detect us and this is why shadow magic is forbidden among the mages. An untrained mind, like yours, can not defend it self from the demons that dwell here. This is going to be our first lesson. You will learn to suppress your aura so that you are one with the shadows."
Aria looked at her real body. In the shadows, she burned like a star, shadows around her distorted by a bright yellow flame. She looked at her father who appeared to be in a more peaceful state. His body, though visible, did not burn as brightly, he merely glowed a purple hue, like embers.
"I can still see you. How am i supposed to render myself invisible if even YOU can't do it."
Michael smiled, "Observe". With that, his body vanished in the shadows and Aria could not see him anymore though she shone ever bright in the darkness that surrounded them.
"Woah!" She exclaimed.
"Stag, join us now please." Michael's projection strode casually. Hands behind his back.
Aria looked at Stag, frozen in the real world like the rest of them, suddenly she saw his head turn to face her and the shadows around Stag shimmered with a dull glow as his physical form traversed into the ether and he was as solid as he was in the real world.
"Hey Aria, we'd be in a full blown assault if we weren't in the Limbo right now." Stag floated closer to Aria's projection. "Look how bright you are! That's practically calling for trouble."
"So how do we do this." Aria turned to her father.
"Focus. Look around you, what do you see?" Michael pointed to the space around them.
"I can barely make out anything other than the place where we are sitting. In the library."
"Exactly, that is because you are still trying to look with your eyes. What if I told you that you don't need your eyes in the ether. The magic in this place works a little differently. The laws of physics do not apply here. Every thing is linked, and you need to feel it, to understand it's flow." Michael raised his hand and grasped the air as if he was holding a rope. He pushed a little of his will and the entire space lit up in a pulse of dull blue energy. Tendrils of it running everywhere in a complex network and for a moment, Aria could really see the shadow realm. They were safe inside the limbo. The edges of the room marked the limit of the barrier. An invisible wall that separated them from the rest of the shadows, numerous creatures held back, their sizes different, hundreds of glowing red eyes stalked around at the edge, unable to cross over, unable to see them.
"OH... My...." Aria took a step back. The world turned dark again as the energy pulse faded away till she could only see their real bodies.

"It does not matter how strong your will is or how shielded your mind is in the real world, If you shine as bright as you do here..." Michael pointed out to Aria's bright form.

"You will be helpless in the shadows. And literally everything wants to take control of you."

"And eat your soul." Stag interrupted
"Yeah thanks for the additional info. So how do you do it. How do you..." Aria pointed at herself with both hands. "...Not do this"
"Focus. Calm yourself. Center your mind. Like every magic, this requires concentration." Michael raised both hands, energy gathered around him and Aria did the same. Her real self burned even brighter now.
"Hey dad, this isn't working."
"Keep focusing."
Aria kept gathering more and more energy till she shone so bright that the edges of the barrier began to shimmer.
"Now disperse the energy you have gathered slowly. It's like taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly."
Aria began to let out all the gathered energy, shadows around her started to crackle and sparks flew everywhere. An arc of pure energy leapt at Stag who dodged it, the arc grazed his long arm "HEY! WATCH IT!" he yelled.
"Take it easy Aria, slowly." Michael said as he kept at it.
Aria tried again and again.
Multiple tries had ended in the same way. Anger took over her and more energy arcs leapt from around her. Frustrated, she dispersed all of it in a single moment. Arcs went everywhere, Stag brought his arms in a cross in front of him as raw energy leapt at him. A blue shield enveloped him as he warded off the dissipated energy. Edges of his horns had  caught fire and glowed, giving off a puff of smoke. The room was dark and Aria stood, hunched, breathing heavily.
"HEY WHAT GIVES! YOU TRYING TO BURN ME??"
Michael's projection was aflame but he stood in his place as calm as ever, he lightly tapped his arms, dousing the flames. He lifted his arms up and drew them down in an arc. A wave of cooling energy swept and the excess power faded away immediately. Aria sat down where she stood.
"I can't possibly hope to get this right in one day. This is just stupid. I have good control over my powers but this... this is ridiculous. I feel like my first year around in the academy."
"Get up." Michael crossed his arms.