Page 43 of The Queen of Ash and Magic

“Okay,” I say simply.

When she casts the first spell, I feel nothing. She does another and I feel a little more. “It’s just like wind,” I say.

“That’s it?” she asks, and I nod. She does it again and the wind is a little strong. She keeps doing it over and over, but all I feel is the same level of wind.

“I’m getting bored,” I say.

“Lysa, the spell I did should have knocked you clear across this field,” she says. “What about this…”

The next spell she casts feels like a slight pin prick to my shin. When I don’t react, I feel it on my palm, and then my chest. “Feels like I’m getting poked with a needle, but slightly.”

“That should have mimicked being stabbed, Lysa,” she says.

“Why the fuck did you stab me in the shin?” I ask, laughing.

“Better question. Why can’t you feel it?” she asks.

“Do something stronger,” Salvor says.

“I’d prefer to not kill my daughter, Salvor,” she says.

“She’s resistant to magical attacks,” Salvor says. “Trust me and do something stronger. She needs to know the feeling.”

“Go ahead. Kill me, Mom,” I say with a grin. She sighs heavily before closing her eyes to focus. This time, she mutters something under her breath and opens her eyes. I feel a flush of heat in my chest, but it disappears quickly.

“Just heat in my chest. Went away fast,” I say.

“What was it?” Dad asks.

“The spell should have essentially cremated her from the inside out,” Mom says quietly.

“So?” Drake asks Salvor.

“She’s resistant to magical attacks when shifted. This is her fully shifted,” Salvor says with a smile. “Let me see your hand, dear.”

I extend my hand, and he takes it into his. Drake and Eyrx growl when he produces a knife. “Salvor,” Drake says with a warning.

Salvor winks at me before slicing into my hand. Dad steps in front of them before they can lunge at him, but I am distracted by theblood flooding out of my hand. It doesn’t hurt. “It’s like prickles,” I tell him as we watch the cut in my hand seal up and disappear. He wipes my hand with a cloth and grins.

“Not even a scar,” he says. Drake frowns deeply at him before grabbing my hand to see for himself.

“That’s insane,” he says quietly.

“We need to know what something more severe will do,” Salvor says.

“No,” Eyrx booms.

“Relax,” Salvor laughs. “Unika can help so if it gets hairy, we can stop the bleeding before it does anything too bad.”

“Go on then,” I say.

“I’ll open a main artery to see how you handle mass blood loss,” he says.

“What the fuck, Salvor,” Drake sighs.

“Should I lay down?” I ask him.

“That would be good,” he smiles. I lay in the grass, and he kneels beside me with the knife in hand. “Close your eyes and take a deep breath.”

---