The Obsidian Pillar

Chapter Forty-six

'Straighten your spine. Raise your chin. Shoulders back.' He placed his hands on his hips and cocked his head to the side, squinting as he critiqued my posture. I felt the sweat form in dewdrops upon my brow as I waited for his next command.

He didn't announce the attack. He shot the vibrant green burst of magic from his hands without warning, aiming right for my foot.

'Ow!' I yelped, hopping out of his line of fire as the magic numbed my foot through my shoes.

'Posture!' was his only response, before he brought back his arm and whipped it forward, expelling the magic at an inhuman speed, again aiming for my feet. 'You're forgetting everything I have taught you because I surprised you. Not good enough.'

'Faeroc, please-' Again the green bursts of magic spurted from his palms. I broke into a run.

'Chin up, you need to see where you are going,' he shouted as we ran.

I felt a rock slip underfoot and looked down. He shot another ball of magic towards my shoulder. I screeched and hurtled forward.

'Don't look down. Never look away from the path. It could cost you your life.'

His magic scraped across my cheek, numbing the skin in its path.

I ducked from one shot that flew over my head, but missed the next as it caught my shoulder.

'Don't make a sound. Don't let them know that they are winning. Sometimes their confidence can do more damage to you than anything else.'

I jumped over a felled tree, scraping the soles of my shoes as I did so. The insides of my thighs burned with the stretch, and the obsidian belt that I was still wearing strained against my muscles.

'You're getting tired,' he called from behind me, his words devoid of sympathy. I sensed the ball of magic that he was conjuring, fuller and stronger than the last, the starburst no doubt concentrated tightly for a violent impact. I beat him to it, tossing my head over my shoulder, my braid whipping at my neck, and thrust my palm out at him, allowing my magic to course towards him in a shot of white, misty light. It hit him in the chest. He fell to the floor.

'Faeroc?' I stumbled to a stop, my toes aching from my leather shoes and swollen from the jagged rocks that had pierced their soles. He had thought it would be a better idea to train without the proper garments. The chances of me being ready for battle were slim. Better to know how to react to anything, anywhere, he had told me as we left the Fold at daybreak that morning.

Faeroc was deathly still. His leathers were scorched where I had hit him, still smoking from the heat of my magic. I approached him cautiously. 'Faeroc? Are you alright?'

Nothing. I was about to kneel down to him, worried that he wasn't breathing, when he shot green light at me, without moving. It hit me in the ribs, numbing the skin immediately until I felt as though my bones were impacting. I struggled back up, winded.