Page 98 of A Dance With Fire
The woods descended on a downwards slope with trees that angled sideways and low hanging branches with bright orange leaves. They crunched under Shula’s boots as she followed down. Dry dirt made way to mud, made way to the roaring river.
Roar wasn’t the right word for it. Yes, it was loud, but it was in no way violent. It rushed fast over jutting rocks on the shallow end, mellowing out towards the middle in deeper depths.
Shula chanced a look around, suddenly nervous that there would be humans camping out near the place. She cocked her head to the side, listening intently for any sign of danger. There was none. Nothing but clear water and the steady breathing of her companions.
They spread out, Weylyn taking confident strides until his back leaned casually against a tree, Clay and Julius near the edge of the river on opposite sides, Ryker to sit against a boulder, Uric stopped at the edge, and Valerio… he shouldered off his belongings and handed them to his right hand man.
Shula watched as he began methodically taking off his jacket, his vest, and his tunic until he was bare-chested.
What the—
He waded into the water until it was waist deep and turned to Shula. “Today you’ll be fighting me,” he said.
She blinked at the Seelie Prince. “In the water?”
He gave her a single, firm nod. “No swords,” he added when Shula started for the weapon. It made her blink at him again. “Today we’ll be using magic.”
She felt her throat go dry, smoke filled her lungs, and inside the magic stirred. Like it recognized Valerio’s words and wanted out. She felt the fire stir her blood, banging against her inner walls like it could bust out and incinerate the whole damn forest. Which probably explained the reason for being near water.
Valerio’s eyes were hard with authority. “If you do not practice, it will control you for the rest of your life. You will always live in fear; it will always get out of control.”
He was right. Logically, she knew he was right, but fear still lodged in her throat. She’d thrown herself into training with them. Hands-on, sword, self-defense training. Because it was safe. Because human soldiers fought that way. And maybe it was just another way for her to push her magic further away.
But Shula wasn’t human. The humans hated her; at the first hint of what she truly was, she’d been betrayed. They thought she was siding with them over the Fae; she said she wasn’t siding with anyone. The truth was, shehadbeen siding with the humans. Because it was safer that way. Safer to endure the humiliation upon her body; to walk, talk, and live like a human because it meant survival.
This wasn’t just about survival anymore. Not to them. She didn’t want a bloody war. She didn’t want death.
But for the first time in her life, she wanted to test the magic inside her.
Everyone waited with bated breath until she dropped her bag to the ground and toed off her boots and socks. After pulling off her coat, her hands went to the hem of her tunic and she froze.
If she did this, they would see her scars. They would see the most unnatural part of her, a part she herself didn’t understand and wouldn’t begin to know how to explain. She wasn’t ashamed of them, if only because she didn’t know the full extent of their meaning yet. But they felt magical. Something about the scars held power in a way she hoped The Seer could explain. They didn’t feel wrong, no matter how painful they still were. They weren’t right, either. Not normal. But they meantsomething.
Steeling herself, Shula brought the tunic over her shoulders and left it on the pile as well. She twisted her long hair over her shoulder, standing there in pants and thin bustier that did nothing to hide the wounds on her back. Shula fought back a shiver.
She quickly walked to the water, flinching at the cold as she waded in. She knew they were staring, could feel their gazes hot on her back, their questions burning, but no one spoke. She didn’t know if she should be grateful for it.
“Talk to me about your magic,” Valerio urged when she was a few feet in front of him.
Her hands clenched. “What do you want to know?”
“Everything. What does it feel like inside you? How does it feel to release it? You are an Elemental, so you have no price to pay except your own energy. The stronger you are, the more magic you will be able to wield. Think of it like a muscle in your body. You must exercise it, nourish it, for it to grow.”
“I’ve never really used it before. The last time—” She broke off. The last time she’d used her magic, it had been to kill humans and to rescue Orna’s body from an iron prison.
“The last time was incredible,” Valerio commented. She hated how her heart beat faster at the praise. “Your power was like nothing I have ever seen before. Shula…” He cocked his head to the side. “Youmeltediron. You melted the bars off a cage.”
“I don’t know how I did that.” Her face flushed. “I was so angry… Iron affects me just like it does you, but my powers… they were out of control.”
“They were. But if you could learn to control them, imagine all the possibilities.”
Melting iron? Shula had hardly even remembered that she’d done such a thing. She’d been so focused on her friend, on that loss, that she hadn’t thought beyond that. In fact, it had been the furthest thing from her mind until he brought it up just now.
“So, what does your magic feel like inside you?”
“It feels like… fire.”
Somewhere, she heard Uric snort. Her face flushed, but she refused to turn and look at the mocking gaze she knew he wore. “What else?” Valerio urged.
