Stormlands ( Book 2 of the Torrent Skies Saga)

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Downfall

Katerin panted as sweat poured off her and soaked her shirt, but she paid it little heed. Despite the cold temperatures in the training room she wore a light linen vest and loose leggings, and she sighed as she watched her cloud giant teacher form another ball of lightning across the span of the room.

"Catch it this time, Katerin. You have the ability, and I expect to see you apply it."

Katerin absently wondered what had made her seek this out so desperately. Two months into her training and she had never been so tired in her life. The Elemental Caste had a much different meaning when they spoke of hard work, and not in any of her years at the Tower had she worked so long on something so gruelingly difficult. The training had been endless, and Halessia worked her like a oxen.

Though, Halessia was far kinder and gentler than Raek, or Kul Galysa were.

The ball of lightning shot forward, growing in size as it flew across the room. It slammed into Katerin's chest despite her best efforts to stop it. So strong was the energy, that despite the warding Halessia had provided her, it jolted her fingers to numbness and made her knees shake. Her hands ached from the power of it as she fumbled to maintain the draw of this spell. It shrunk in her hands, and she threw it back across the room with all her might.

It soared halfway before dipping low, skidding across the scorched floor, and dissipating.

Halessia shook her head but was grinning. Her diminuated from still stood taller than most Uhma'zarhin men. "Better! You create it, this time."

"I fail to see... how that was any... better," Katerin said, as she panted for breath. They had been at this for at least two hours now, and she was only worsening.

"Little one, do you need some rest? Should I call off the rest of today's lessons?" Hallesia's tone was full of mocking, that strayed just outside of the playful kind. "You know I do not rival the Cyclone's Fist in this, and I did not lie when I promised that she would be your final test. You must learn this today."

Katerin breathed through her teeth. No, she thought. She would not fail. The first tests had been hard enough. The barrier on her magics had been torture, and she had passed that. She would not let this simple exercise beat her. The first two tendays had been rather simple, she had trained in the gardens, found her focus and found the wisdom necessary to avoid the plague of rapid aging that could beset the mortal kind, on this plane that housed the city of clouds.

They taught her many simple spells that had nothing to do with lightning. How to communicate with anyone, through focus and thought and magic. How to steady her nerves, how to strengthen the magic she already held. They taught her how to bend the thoughts of those around her, to avoid conflict and trouble, and many other things. Some she loved, and some she was loathe to think of using. Finally they showed her spells of lightning. How to conjure it from the sky, from it from her own hands, bend it and shape it to her will and purpose. This was what she came searching for, in training. This was where she would excel. Katerin instantly found her magic in her mind, and pulled at it, shaping another orb of lightning, as large as she could, and she finished with an orb the size of her skull.

Halessia smiled proudly. "This is what you came for! Fight for it until it is easier than breath, more comfortable than a lovers embrace!"

Katerin focused her thoughts, and flicked her wrist, using her mind and her magic, instead of her body, to move the energy she had created. It zipped through the air, leaving behind that telltale scent of a storm.

Halessia caught the orb with one hand, without flinching. "Well done!" She tossed the orb back, like it was nothing more than a twig. "Again!"

Now the same orb moved back and forth between them, as Katerin grew ever more focused. Her anger and determination boiled under the surface, and they fueled every ounce of energy she expended. Halessia kept egging her on, congratulating her and pushing her limits, and she smiled, as anger gave way to invigoration.