Page 30 of When Storms Ruin

I wasn’t ready to face any of those complicated emotions.

Despite my reservations about Nik, the dagger he had gifted me, Stormslayer, was strapped to my thigh as I walked across the field to meet Isaac.

“A beautiful day to create a storm, don’t you think?” he asked with a grin.

“I’m not sure creating a storm at all is wise in Istmere, but I trust you,” I replied, stopping in front of him and crossing my arms.

“I am much older and much wiser than you, young Stormshade. This glen is glamoured well enough that not a soul will be able to sense the storm magic we use here today.” Isaac laughed as his eyes fell on the dagger at my thigh. “Are you planning to need that?” he asked with a raised brow.

“No, but you can never be too careful,” I replied, setting my jaw. “I’ve already been kidnapped once…remember?”

“How could I ever forget. Our true queen…kidnapped before I even knew she had come to Istmere. Nikolai should have taken you to the resistance right away.”

Little did he know, Nik had other plans. The resistance didn’t know about his involvement with Donika or my kidnapping, and we decided it was best not to tell them. I hadn’t entirely made up my mind to cast him out of my life forever, and I didn’t know what the punishment would be for such a crime. It wasn’t only me he betrayed, he broke his word to the council of the resistance, too.

I imagined the punishment was death.

“Well, I am here now, and I have lots of catching up to do,” I said, relaxing my arms at my side and cracking my neck.

“Indeed, you do. What have you learned thus far?” he asked.

“Basic magic. How to move things from one place to another, how to generate an element in the palm of your hand. How to create a rainstorm and a tornado, though I haven’t had much practice siphoning power from them yet.”

“Very good.” He nodded. “That is a good foundation. Let’s begin with a simple storm spell. I’d like you to bring forth a storm cloud with rain, but don’t let the droplets of water touch us.”

“I can do that?”

That sounded awfully precise, and none of the magic I had done thus far had been particularly controlled. I decided not to tell him I had burned my mother’s carpet the first time I had called on air and fire. And that I hadn’t even reached out to my magic source since being captured by Donika.

“It’s quite easy. You’ll bring the storm forth as you always have, but you want to use the air to create a protective bubble around us. It uses multiple elements at once.”

I nodded, raising my palms towards the sky. I had used both elements before, but never at the same time. With a deep inhale, I dove into my source, searching for that ember of magic deep within my core.

To my surprise, I found it easily, as if I had never spent any time away from it at all. My fears that Donika had spellbound me or stolen my magic were quenched as I reached into my magic, bringing it forth and out of my fingertips.

The sky above us darkened, the sun only peeking out behind the black rain cloud that quickly formed overhead. Thestorm cloud quickly eclipsed it, the sun winking out of sight. A soft roll of thunder sounded overhead, and I glanced at Isaac, a question in my eyes.

“Only you and I can hear the storm,” he confirmed with a solemn nod.

My magic surged forth easily, and I closed my eyes to focus. I imagined the rain coming down and felt a cool drop against my cheek as I raised my face to the sky. The rain fell faster as I tried to pull up my air shield, but it was more difficult than I had first imagined. One magic working against the other. The storm came more naturally to me. The air was harder to pull into place.

“Imagine the shield around us, and we are safely within it. Nothing from the outside can touch us,” Isaac encouraged.

“I’m trying.”

I bit my lip as I focused harder, letting the storm go and focusing my magic on the air shield. I sensed it the moment it fell into place, the soft pellets of rain bouncing off the invisible shield with a patter. I opened my eyes, no longer feeling the rain falling against my skin. My gaze traveled to Isaac, an approving expression in his eyes.

“Very good. Now next time, maybe you secure the air shieldfirst, then the storm.” He laughed, shaking out his grey hair. The rain had darkened the blue shirt he was wearing.

“Sorry about that,” I replied sheepishly, my own hair plastered against my scalp, the rain droplets rolling off my leather jacket, “That was more challenging than what I’ve done before.”

“The key is to let the storm go. It has its own energy now. You don’t have to hold the stormandthe air. It can be difficult to juggle multiple elements simultaneously.” He took a step closer to me, the air shields still in place. “Now for the hard part.”

“That wasn’t the hard part?” I asked with a huff.

“Unfortunately not. Now you have to hold the air shields in place while you reach back out to the storm to re-absorb it.”

“I can’t let the shields down first?” I teased with a laugh.

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