Journey

Chapter Thirty-Eight~ Harnessing the Power

I was appalled by the question at first, but remembered our conversation in the hall about an hour ago. I started for the closet to get a training suit, but was stopped in my tracks. "You don't need one of those today."

"Why not?"

"You'll see."

I nodded and allowed her to take my hand. I was lead to a wall in my room. I looked over at Grace questioningly. She smiled and touched the wall lightly. The wall began to sink into itself. It revealed a passageway. The panel was perfectly fitted to the rest of the wall. No one would ever know it was there unless they were looking really hard.

Without letting go of my hand, Grace ducked into the little hallway. I was pulled into the dust hallway with her. The passageway looked like it wasn't used for a long time. I dodged cobwebs and coughed on dust that was dislodged by Grace's feet. Grace did not quiet me, but continued to walk quickly in the dimness. Her hand held mine firmly.

A little light shone at the end of the hall. It grew bigger and bigger as we got closer. Until It became an opening. We stepped out of the passageway into a glorious room. It rose taller than the main entrance of the palace. It was well kept. With no cobwebs to be seen.

Someone cleared their throat, taking my attention from the size of the room and diverting it to the people in the room. There looked to be about 30 people occupying the area around me. Heat slithered up to my cheeks. Their eyes landed on me. Some smiled and some just stared.

I was lead through the staring crowd to a door. Grace gave me a little push forward. Urging me to the door, I opened it and entered. I walked into an enclosed area. The wallpaper on the wall was designed with golden dragons. I touched them lightly. The walls fell away into the ground. Glass flowed from the top of the room. instantly forming around where the walls were just a few moments ago.

I touched it softly expecting it to be cool to the touch. It was warm and my hand went right through it. Ripples ran away from my hand. I gasped and pulled it back. "What is this stuff?"

Grace's voice echoed around me, "It's called rippling glass. At least that's what we call it. It does not break easily."

"What does it do?"

"It allows the people outside of the room to see in while two people battle, or in this case, train. It keeps them from getting hurt. It will extinguish anything that touches it." I jerked my hand back. I did not come this far to lose a hand, "Except for a person of course."

I sighed in relief and looked around the new space. It was like a theater. Rows upon rows of chairs spread out before us. The area we stood in, much like a stage, was surrounded by this water like glass.

The number of people in the room grew. The chairs began to fill until there was almost a hundred people looking on. Does news spread that quickly around here? Grace walked over to the other side of the training area. "Now." she waited for me to turn towards her. "Begin."

Before I knew it, a ball of lightning made its way towards me. I dropped to the floor. I breathed hard and looked up at Grace. She laughed and didn't wait for me to regain my footing. Lightning sparked from her hand, it slowly formed into a ball. It was a slow process to create one, but quick to hit a person.

It rocketed out of her hand and flew towards me. I rolled over quickly and looked at the place I was two seconds ago. The hole in the floor sizzled making me terrified. I wasn't wearing a practice suit, and she was acting like she was going to kill me. The crowd roared on the other side of the glass barrier. I guess they all wanted me dead too.

"Grace, calm down!"

"You wanted to train. This is training."

"No! This is you trying to kill me!"