Winterfall

After I grabbed a quick bite from the kitchen, I ran to the training area. I had less than ten minutes to get there before Theo did, so I knew he was there before I was.

"Are you sure you are up for this?" I asked him as he was sitting up in the arena.

"Maria, for the one-hundredth time, I am fine."

"But the dizzy…"

"Like I said, I haven't felt it for a day. And that is the truth."

"You better not be lying to me on this."

"You would know if I was."

"Didn't you fail to mention the dizzy spells in the first place?" I glared at him.

"Only because you would react like this." He walked over to me and stared deep into my eyes, "I am fine, Maria. Those spells were nothing."

I sighed; there was no sense in fighting this anymore. It just kept on going around in circles. "I'll let it go."

"Thank you, Maria. If they happen again, I will let you know."

I nodded. "You better."

"Now, spells. I will not over-channel my shield immediately; I want you to target it with full strength. It's been a week, so I assume those spells would be harsh. If we learned anything from the last, go around." I recalled the lighting strikes against his shoulder. He said he was fine then. "And I was. This time, however, until we start using some of your magic, my shields will be over-channeled." I nodded. "Let's begin." He spoke as soon as the barrier was in place. "Pick at random or do ones we already know. If I need to entice you, I will." He flashed a quick arcane rune across his palm and shot a liquid bolt of ice in my direction. To which I dodged. It was not as skillfully as I liked, but I still dodged the dang thing.

I let out a breath and eyed him. I wanted to see if using his magic was hurting him in any way. So, I waited to attack, which caused him to throw a couple more liquid ice bolts in my direction. The spells he was using were minor, first-level, basic stuff. I may need to entice him to use some heavier stuff. In case you were wondering, I dodged all but one of those. It almost froze my body instantly, but it wore off quickly.

I randomly chose a gem, let the arcane magic flash in my palm, and watched a brilliant light of radiant energy beam across the training area. The beam hit the barrier with enough force. It should have even sent him back ten or twenty feet, but his barrier seemed un-phased. Was it stronger? Did creating the layer strengthen some of his abilities? Interesting.

"Was that the yellow one?" I looked down at my ring and nodded. "That felt more powerful than last time. I probably would have burned like a bitch. Again."

I rolled my eyes, "It didn't even phase the barrier. I could at least break it before."

"Perhaps I gained more as well." He smiled at me, "I have the strength of the kingdom, Maria."

"Is it hurting the kingdom?"

"No. The kingdom is untouched."

I nodded. I had no idea he gained power from creating the layer. That may be where his dizziness was coming from. Not from the lack of energy but from power gain. "Interesting."

"What?"

"Nothing, Theo." I quickly choose another gem at random. As the magic left my palm, a purple beam of energy danced along the outside of the barrier, creating a spider wave-like effect.

"Targeting the mind. Was that psychic damage?" I looked down and saw that I had chosen the purple gem I would use on the training dummies earlier.

"I think so. It was a good thing I didn't practice earlier. That would have been pointless against those dummies."

He laughed. "What else do you have?"

This time, I picked the red one to get the fire blast out of the way. And damn, that was intense. It almost had the power of what a delayed fireball would have. But his damn barrier was still intact. "Huh." I chose another gem. The royal blue one with the acidic rain and lighting. This time, instead of three strikes of lightning, there were five. And the rain lasted for twelve seconds instead of just six. The barrier still seemed untouched. Or was it…I caught a glimpse of a flash of arcane magic leaving his palm. "What was that?"

He looked at me, "Just something to give it more strength. You have done a lot of damage to my shield, so I am just amplifying it a bit further—testing, something."

Test? What in the hell did he need to test? I sighed and chose another gem at random. A green gunky bolt streamed across the field but never touched his barrier. The barrier shot something back, a line of what seemed to be invisible magic, canceling out the spell. I just stared at him dumbfounded.

"Don't look at me like that. I didn't know my shield could do that."

"What did it even do?"

"Countered your spell."

"Did you command it to do that or something?"

"Something like that."

"How did you know how to do that?"

"My mentor." My eyes went wide. What in the hell was he talking about? There was no one else here but us. How could his mentor speak to him? I thought he was done training. "As magic evolves, as you evolve, there is always and will always be more to learn." He sounded wise just then. "Glad you think so, Maria." Did his voice change? "Yes. Don't be frightened." How could I not be frightened? "I am his mentor. He's evolving. The dizzy spells. That was my doing. I am granting him more power."

I stepped back. Theo's voice changed from his husky, charming one to a deep draconic one. I knew I shouldn't have been afraid, but something didn't seem right.

"Don't worry Maria…" The voice spoke through Theo's body. "He's fine. I'll have him back to you in a moment."

I just stood there stunned. What in the hell was happening?

"Magic is happening, Maria. A dragon has claimed their layer. With that comes power. And that power doesn't happen overnight. It takes time to develop. Bedrest did not help."

"I…" I wanted to speak. I was wanting to say something. Anything at all, but my voice cracked with each word I tried to mutter out of my mouth.

"You will gain benefits too.. being bound to him by forces unseen. His abilities can lend you a hand. My dear."

I almost wanted to attack, but the barrier seemed almost indestructible. If that failed, I didn't want to harm him, so I just sat there and watched. Theo's body was still, as if stunned. The only thing moving was his eyes, which were darting back and forth quickly.

Five minutes passed, and nothing.

Ten minutes passed and nothing.

Fifteen minutes passed, and his body at least twitched. Or so I thought.

Twenty minutes and his barrier dropped.

Twenty-five minutes passed, and he fell to the ground.

"Maria?" His voice. Theo's voice was normal. He sat up slowly and stared at me. His crystal blue eyes were the same. He was the same. I think. "What happened?"

"You…you don't know what happened?" I wanted to run over to him, but I still couldn't move. I had witnessed something, and I didn't even know what I had witnessed.

"We were practicing. My mentor. His voice echoed in my mind. And he told me to command the shield. I did. The shield countered the spell. Am I correct so far?" I nodded. "I was then put in a trance. I think. I know I was seeing a bunch of things all at once. Glimpses of spells were forgotten—glimpses of abilities forgotten. I was given the choice of category. Three spells. Three abilities. No…four. Four of each. I would get three, but then he gave me four."

"I didn't see any of that last bit happen," I told him as I carefully approached him. I knelt next to him and examined him. He was the same Theo. Well, maybe. He did have a new tattoo peeking out of his clothing on his right shoulder. "What's that?" I moved the edge of his black tee back and examined a crown-like tattoo with a dragon claw going through it.

He looked down at it and smiled at me, "The markings of a dragon king."