The Other Side

Chapter 7

He led me down a little path behind the stable, into a small forest. We walked for what could only have been three minutes, but with the heavy silence between the two of us, it seemed much longer. We reached a clearing, a patch of grass surrounding a rock-lined pond that sat in the middle. There were a few larger rocks scattered around the space, large enough to sit on. The thought of sitting down was looking awfully inviting at this point.

"I come out here to practice my magic." Landon finally broke the silence, squatting down at the edge of the pond. He trailed a finger around what must have been the near freezing water, seemingly not minding the cold.

"You wanted to show me your magic?" I asked, giving in to my leg's aching and sitting on the nearest rock stool, glad to have my weight off of the limb.

Landon turned around with a nod, his hand cupped with water inside. "You've probably never seen magic, at least not up close, right? I hear it's not very common where you live."

I shrugged. "Hunter's grandmother had magic, but I was too young when she died, so I never got to see it."

"I'm sorry for his loss," Landon said, and I noticed a small drop of water drip from between his fingers. "But to answer your question, yes, I took you out here to show you my magic. And for another reason, but we'll get to that after you've rested a little." His eyes flickered down to my leg, the bandages from my wound hidden under my jeans.

"Well, get on with it then," I said with a small smile. "I want to see what you can do."

Landon chuckled. "Alright then." The water in his hand began to levitate, forming a small nearly transparent sphere. The ball was still for a moment before it began to hover in my direction. It became long and serpentine, and I realized that Landon had crafted an ancient looking dragon out of the liquid. Its scales were defined, with small whiskers poking out from its stern looking face. It had tiny little fangs, and it opened its mouth, shooting cold mist onto my face. I shivered and could hear Landon laugh from over by the pond. He had his hands in his pockets; how was he able to control the water if not with his hands? My attention was pulled back to the dragon when it suddenly burst into thousands of tiny droplets, the water reflecting the late afternoon sun and sparkling like stars.

"Look at the trees," Landon said, drawing me away from the beautiful display he'd created. I turned around and watched as droplet after droplet shot past my head, impaling the large tree trunk nearest to me, the holes forming a perfect circle in the rough bark. It gave me chills to think of how effective that move would be against enemies. They were bullets made of natural resources and magic. "I know it's not much to look at, not the flashiest of elements. Get me together with an air user and I'll make you a winter wonderland, though," he said.

I turned back around to see Landon smiling, his cheeks and nose pink from the cold. "That was amazing, what are you talking about?"

Landon waved his hand to brush my compliment off. "It's nothing, really. Practicing intricate things like that dragon aren't very helpful in the heat of battle. I can move much larger bodies of water, but I figured I didn't want to risk getting you wet."

I shrugged. "I guess it is pretty cold."

Landon walked up to where I was sitting. "Speaking of which, I want to try something with you. Can you stand?"

"I think I can manage," I said, standing up from my rocky seat. Landon brought me over to the pond, and we both crouched down.

"Don't hate me for this," Landon said, eyeing me a little before suddenly grabbing my hand and plunging it into the icy water, holding it there.

"Jesus! Fuck! Landon that's really cold!" I tried to pull my hand out of the water, but he was too strong. "What are you doing?"

"Try to heat it up," He said, looking at me eagerly. "I'll take my hand out if it starts to get too hot, but I want you to try."