Chapter 15
I awoke in a cloud of creamy white sheets in an oversized bed. There was a sense of relief when I turned over and saw that I was alone; at least I knew it wasn’t that kind of night. The first thing that caught my attention was a candle flickering against a stone wall. Candles were mounted all around, but no lamps.
My toes lifted when they touched the cold floor, and I shuffled over to the wooden door. It was like something out of a medieval castle, with a long handle that clicked open revealing a dimly lit hallway. A gust of air cooled my legs as I peered around the corner. Who the hell is this guy, Bella Lugosi?
I tiptoed down the windowless hallway past three closed doors. At the end was a giant archway that opened up to an enormous room with high ceilings and an impressive stone fireplace. No windows in here either, which made me think we were underground. While everything looked medieval, the furniture was comprised of modern black leather and oversized chairs. The same stone flooring and walls as the bedroom ran throughout, and the ambiance of the room was warm and rich with a soft amber glow illuminating the walls from a row of hurricane lamps. A soft brown misshapen rug lay before the fireplace whose hearth glowed with fading embers.
A steady bright light caught my eye coming from a stairwell on my left that spiraled out of view. Next to the stairs was a heavy iron door like I had never seen before. I drifted down the steps and when I reached the bottom I raised an eyebrow or two.
The floor was a high polished marble in uneven shades of grey and beige that stretched across a large open room. The walls were light tan and anchored across the ceiling were several long light panels. One side of the room sported all your basic workout paraphernalia such as punching bags, weights and knives.
Knives? My eyes wandered over the vast collection of various weapons mounted on the wall. As I ran my finger along a sharp blade, I jumped.
I spun around and put my hands on my hips. A fifteen-minute walk home from the train was one thing, but six hours of Justus as my personal trainer? “So this is your torture chamber, is it?”
Ignoring my comment he continued, “You’ll be strength building and working on flexibility, but you will learn to defend yourself. That is the rule.”
“Defend myself, or fight?”
He lifted his upper lip clearly irritated by the notion. “Women do not fight, but I will teach you to defend against your enemies, Learner.”
“Who are my enemies?”
“Everyone. Many other Breeds are highly respectful to women, but a Mage is your own worst enemy.”
“Women don’t fight back in your world, isn’t that a little Middle Ages?”
“Haven’t you ever heard of ‘the best offence is a good defense’?”
“I think you have that the other way around. Was the quarterback ever chased with an axe?” I glared at the pointed blades on the wall. “Why can’t I just zap them with a ball of light?” I wiggled my fingers only because I knew my mockery annoyed him.
Justus moved towards the punching bag and held it with his hand. “You should never put your power into another Mage. All that does is juice him up.” He lightly pushed at the bag. “You’ll be learning to manipulate energy.”
I didn’t even see him move, one minute Justus was by the punching bag and the next he was two inches in front of me. I jumped back and gasped.
“In time you will learn that you can harness it, and move with it. An experienced Mage would be armed. A Learner cannot mortally damage a Mage of a higher rank, but you can slow them down enough to get away if you are clever.” He turned his back to me and walked back over to the punching bag. “You can borrow light.”
“This is a little confusing. I move things? If energy is in everything then why don’t I just smash him with a couple of trees?”
Justus bent over with his hands on his knees laughing in that rich voice. My eyes studied the tattoo wrapped around his arm which was striking in his tight fitted muscle shirt. I could see every angle of it, all the way up to his shoulder.
“No Learner, you cannot move things, you can only borrow from the sun or the light of other living beings. However...”
“Borrow?” I let roll off my tongue.
“Much to learn. First we’ll start with testing your flexibility and stamina.” Justus peeled off his tank top allowing me an admiring view of his frame before he turned away. I briefly wondered what he meant by testing my flexibility as a smile played across my face and I stared at the defined muscles on his back. Can’t blame a girl for thinking it.
“I’ll shower up while you dress.”
I so did not need that mental image floating in my head.
I unfolded the bundle as he made his way up the stairs. “I’ll be back in fifteen. Be ready.”
In my hand was a pair of what looked like lycra bicycle shorts, only they covered even less than my underwear. The top was sleeveless and tight enough to accentuate every curve of my chest, which was a little curvier than it used to be.
“Hey wait a minute!” I yelled in protest up at the stairs.
My blood boiled as I heard a chuckle coming from topside.
Three hours later.
I learned a new word: pain. Justus had a tedious routine that involved sit-ups, pull-ups, and weight resistance. Basically, my muscles turned to putty as I staggered across the room falling on the mat; my thighs were screaming.
Justus hovered, ordering me to do more, more, more. I mentally ordered him to die, die, die.
The skimpy clothing did allow me to move more freely—but I still wasn’t nimble. My Ghuardian assured that would come in time, yet why he got to wear sweats and a tank top simply irked me. That hardly seemed fair, although I hated to admit that it was motivational for a short while to have him as my focal point—Justus was built like a shithouse. Visually his physique was stupendous to look at, but the minute he opened his mouth the thrill was gone.
Finally, I reached my limit as my muscles were trembling and I could no longer continue.
“I’m done, I can’t do anymore,” I panted on the mat.
My cheeks burned, my legs throbbed and my hair was nothing but a sweaty mop halfway attached to my face.
“Are you telling me, Learner, that you have no more energy?” he asked, rubbing the bristles of hair across his scalp. Justus was a man in love with a razor.
Beads of sweat rolled down my temple into my hair. I glared.
“That’s exactly what I’m telling you. In fact I’m not leaving this mat for the rest of the day, I’m going to live here and build a little castle,” I groaned as I covered my face, “so you can just go about your business and leave me alone.”
“Learner, this is your first lesson.”
“What, that you can make my ass cry out in pain? Bravo. Anyone ever tell you that you’d make an excellent drill instructor? The army is always hiring you know.”
He bent over, hands on his knees with a straight back.
“Lesson number 1: there is no such thing as tired. What you will learn is that while your body may ache from your residual human limitations, the body of a Mage can replenish. You are a conduit, you channel energy, you can will it in, push it out, and manipulate it. There are limitations, however.”
“How do you take it from a Mage?”
“They have to lend it, or be incapacitated enough that you can steal it. The latter isn’t likely, as a strong Mage would have their shields up.”
“So, what happens if you don’t take anything? Wouldn’t you die if you had a stab wound or something?”
“Presuming you are nowhere near sunlight, your body would just heal slowly. Each Mage has a core light; you won’t die from wounds inflicted, but you would suffer immensely. Should your head come away from your shoulders, then that is another matter.”
“If I’m in the sun, I can just lie there and heal?”
“That is a dangerous process which must be carefully taught. One small drop of sunlight has more energy than most people realize. Once you acquire the skill, you will learn to harness that energy. But remember that borrowing is just that—borrowing. It will eventually remove itself, but if you take more than you need, it will take more from you.”
My forearm weakly wiped away beads of sweat rolling down my temple and all the little synapses in my brain were firing off. If what he was saying was true, what else did that mean?
“Do we age? Will my hair grow longer, can I gain weight infinitely?”
Justus snorted. “You should not make light of this, but you will not age. We are one of the few Breeds who truly never age once we are made. Your body will remain in a…suspended state from the time you are made. So no, you will not gain weight, nor obtain any grey hairs.”
That was a nice thought after all, no more guilt about taking out a carton of ice cream. “Why all the training if we can just heal in the sun?”
“Something to remember, Learner—most challenges against a Mage are at night because of that very fact. An experienced Mage who is capable in fighting need not worry as much as an inexperienced Learner, which is why they are so closely guarded by their maker.”
“You’re telling me that, I can do sit-ups infinitely?” I began to laugh and rolled over. Every thought revolted. I sighed heavy into the mat.
“That’s exactly what I mean, Learner. As long as you have sunshine or a willing Mage, you are quite capable. Stand up.”
“Sorry, my legs are going to have to turn down your offer.”
Justus bent over me with determined speed and locked his hands over mine, “We’ll just do it this way then.”
“NO!” I shouted, pulling my arms away as a sudden burst of energy sent me fleeing from him. “I’ll get up.”
I didn’t need to be bullied, but when I looked at him, there was a severe look in his expression. It slivered those eyes, straightened the brow, and turned his mouth into a thin line. There was an awkward pause.
“Is that what your maker did?”
Justus gave a single nod and laced his fingers with mine as we stared at one another. My hands were swallowed by the sheer size of his.
“This is borrowing Learner. I’m giving you some of my light.”
“Hallelujah,” I sang. “Heal me, brother.”
“I’ll do the willing, but we will switch our training later so you can learn how to draw from a Mage whose shields are down. If you dabble your inexperienced hand in the sun and you’re likely to light yourself up like a Christmas tree. At least this way I can assess your ability to measure.”
Blue threads formed between our hands and I felt sharp tingles like when your arm falls asleep and is waking up. This was the first time I would experience someone else’s light and I was a little nervous. If I had to describe the feeling, it’s as if your fingertips are drinking in light. It moves throughout your body like a living organism with such speed and urgency that it’s incredible.
“Your body is a glass with a line in the middle,” he said. “When it begins to reach that line, you need to know when to stop. Never go past the line and fill the cup. Focus, you’ll sense when that limit is reached. I can feel your light so I’m going to pull away when its there, so pay attention. There will be a distinct fullness. That’s it…”
The ache of hours of physical training melted away and I felt so revitalized that I could have sprinted out the door and ran for miles. Within a few seconds, my lips were numb and there was a fullness in my chest.
Too much.
I pulled back and the connection stopped.
“Very good, Learner.”
“That’s amazing!” I gasped. I walked around, flexing my hands open and closed. “I feel like I could...” I turned and gave him a sharp look.
I felt like I could kick his ass, that’s what.
He must have read it in my eyes and stepped back.
“Easy Learner, with power comes responsibility. Learn to redirect that energy, and keep in mine I could mop up this room with you in five seconds. Skills peaches, I got ‘em. I can pin you against that wall in three ticks of a heartbeat. Now push it down,” he said with irritation.
A minute later I felt less like a streak of lightning and more like myself. Not a single muscle ached.
“Holy shit. I’m a rechargeable battery!”
I was something more than I was yesterday. An old knowledge that settled in my bones was awakening, was melding to my marrow and becoming the very essence of who I was.
“You can see why it’s addicting and we have a problem with juicers. The energy will allow you to heal or recharge but once it leaves—you will be temporarily weakened. The more you have to take in, for example if you had a severe injury, the worse off you’ll be later. Your body will lose that energy and then some requiring sleep later. So it would be better to let your body heal itself naturally for most injuries. Our healing is quicker than a human.”
“Got it.”
“Feel like you could do 500 sit-ups?”
He tilted his chin. “That’s my girl.”
“I’m not your girl.”