Page 85 of Mage of the Dragon Prince
“Thanks for agreeing to train with me today. I’ll do my best not to disappoint you.”
Fersen smiled to put Vanra at ease. “I don’t think that’s possible. I’m more worried about letting you down because I’ve never trained anyone before.”
“We’ll figure it out together. I’m at least excited to spend some more time with you!”
The unicorn shifter appreciated Vanra’s optimism. “Jaega suggested I work with you on developingoffensive magic. Is that something you’re comfortable with?”
“I don’t have a lot of experience with it, but I’ll give it my best.”
A wooden rabbit doll appeared in midair. Fersen gestured at it. “Can I see how you purify that?”
“Do you want me to do it with a weapon or my protective shield?”
“Let’s start with your shield.” Fersen made the rabbit approach Vanra. When it drew close to his protective shield, it disintegrated upon contact. Another one appeared in its place. “Very good. Now, instead of projecting your power into a bubble around you, I want you to focus it into the palm of your right hand.”
Vanra did as instructed, gathering his aura into a ball of lavender smoke in his hand. “Like this?”
“Yes, excellent work. Now, I want you to throw it at the next rabbit dummy. Imagine pushing it through the dummy to make it disappear.”
Vanra took a deep breath before he lobbed the ball of his aura energy at the wooden rabbit. It grazed an ear off but failed to destroy the entire doll. He scowled in annoyance before refocusing his aura energy into his hand once more.
It took four tries, but Vanra obliterated the rabbit. He gave a victory cheer. “Finally! Ugh, I really thought my aim had been getting better than that.”
“Don’t be discouraged when this is still a newtechnique to you. It’s different from shooting an arrow, which is more precise.” Fersen called his powers into both of his hands to show what he wanted Vanra to do next. “Try it with both hands this time.”
Two more rabbit dolls floating side by side appeared. Vanra could take the right one out, but he only grazed the left. When he tried again, he destroyed the left one, but the right remained. It took him several more tries before he could destroy them both at the same time.
The human mage’s progress impressed Fersen. “Jaega’s correct. You really are a quick study.”
Vanra blushed at the praise. “Thanks.”
“Now that you can do them both, I’m going to move them farther apart. Let’s see how far you can project.”
For the next hour, they worked together on increasing the distance each time Vanra successfully destroyed the two dolls. Even with the dolls on opposite sides of the room, Vanra purified them both after getting a better handle on the technique.
Fersen summoned a third doll in the middle of the other two. He was about to give instructions when Vanra suddenly moved to stand between him and the door. Before Fersen could ask what the human was doing, Mitsuki appeared with a malevolent energy that made the unicorn shifter instinctively shrink back. He had done his best to avoid his mate’s oldest nephew,who had hated him from hello. But for once, Mitsuki wasn’t aiming his ire at Fersen. It was all on Vanra.
Mitsuki sneered at the human. “How cute. Are you seriously delusional enough to think you can defend him against the likes of me?”
There was a tremble of fear in Vanra’s voice, but he stood his ground. “We can leave if you want to use the training hall.”
“No, I think not.” Mitsuki summoned black fire into his hand. “If you wish to continue this farce of training, it is time you practiced on something other than a defenseless dummy.”
Vanra projected a protection shield around himself and Fersen, which held, even as it was engulfed by black fire. It brought back horrible memories of how Fersen’s home in Morven had been burned by the terrible men who had done unspeakable things to him before he met his mate.
Vanra sent a burst of purifying energy to douse the black flames. “Why do you keep doing this? I’ve done nothing to you!” Vanra protested. He kept the protective shield active around himself and Fersen.
“You exist and bring shame upon our clan. That is harm enough.” Mitsuki summoned more fire into his hand, ready to attack them again.
He didn’t get the chance. In the blink of an eye, Jaega had Mitsuki pinned against the wall. His eyes glowed bright orange as his dragon took full control. “Give us one reason not to kill you for your foolishness.”
“Father would never allow you to kill the sole heir to the throne.”
“You have three other siblings who are better suited to rule than you. That is not enough reason to stay our hand when you threaten our mate and Vanra.”
Mitsuki refused to back down. “Looks like the whore has tempted you as?—”
Jaega backhanded Mitsuki before he could finish his sentence. “If you continue to disrespect Vanra, I will personally see to it that you are banished or worse.”
