Page 2 of The Tribes of Magic
The spell was so elegant, so beautiful. Conner formed snowballs like an artist sculpting his grand masterpiece.
“Now defend yourself, Seven. Evade the snowball.” Kato flicked his wrist. The snowball shot toward me.
And smashed into my face.
It had all happened so fast, I hadn’t even realized what was going on until it was already too late.
“Perhaps you should spend less time mesmerized by the pretty, sparkly snowballs and more time evading them,” Kato said coolly as I wiped the snow off my face.
I scowled at him.
“Frowns aren’t weapons. Defend yourself!”
Conner formed another snowball, and once again Kato used telekinesis to shoot it at me.
This time, I’d anticipated what he was about to do—and I wasstilltoo slow.
The snowball smashed into my chest so hard that it nearly knocked the wind out of me. I doubled over, and another snowball hit me in the head.
A violent sneeze exploded out of me. I was so angry, I was surprised fire wasn’t smoking out of my ears too.
“Again!” Kato’s merciless voice called out through all the snow and snot on my face.
I wiped them away with the backside of my gloved hand, just in time to see a fleet of snowballs zooming toward me. I tried to evade them, but they were coming in too fast. And I was way too slow. I fell to my knees under the heavy bombardment.
Kato offered me his hand, which I took. He pulled me to my feet, then looked at me and sighed. “If you can’t even defend yourself against a few snowballs, you will never be a great and powerful Knight.”
“Thanks for the cheerful pep talk.”
I certainly didn’t feel very great or powerful right now. In fact, I couldn’t feel my magic at all. It was all tied up, buried deep inside of me. I felt so uselessly human.
The next snowball bombardment began. Each ball Kato released hit its mark. When I opened my mouth to tell him to stop this useless exercise, a snowball smashed into my teeth. I spat out snow, growling.
“Don’t talk during battle. It divides your attention.” Kato said it like it was the most useful piece of advice ever.
Ok, so maybe it was useful advice, but I was still angry.
“Focus, Seven, or this will never work.”
“Iamtrying,” I muttered through the snow still swooshing around inside my mouth.
“Try harder. Remember what we talked about before training. What are the key points to controlling your magic?”
“Maintain steady breathing. Check my emotions at the door. Keep my mind focused on the task at hand.”
Kato nodded in approval as I rattled off the pre-battle checklist. Then he rewarded me for my excellent memory by unleashing the next volley of snowballs. And this time, the snow-bombing knocked me down.
I staggered sloppily to my feet, nearly falling back down again. I brushed off my jacket and pants. By this point, there must have been more snow on me than on the ground. Icy water trickled down the back of my shirt. I planted my shaking feet hard on the ground, pressed my lips together, and tried really hard not to squeal—or fall over.
Frowning, Conner watched me struggle to stay standing. “I don’t think your method is working, Kato.”
“It will work if she follows the procedure.”
“You’ve got her magic so tied up in bullet points and breathing exercises that it’s strangling her.”
“And what would you suggest? Games and laughter?” Kato favored him with a single, slow eyebrow lift.
Sunshine sparkled in Conner’s eyes. “What a fantastic idea! Come on over here, Red.” He waved at me.
