Page 67 of Riftborne
“Hello to you, too,” I quipped, brushing past him into the familiar space. He followed me inside without a word.
I pulled a chair from the wall and sat, my muscles sighing in relief as I pulled my hair back into a tighter knot at the nape of my neck, now malleable from the sweat.
“I trust your group training with Mercer is going well?” His voice cut through the silence as he grabbed his own seat.
“I’m exhausted but it could be worse,” I responded, tracking his movement.
He took his time pulling the chair over, the scraping sound grating at my ears. It didn’t seem like he was listening to me at all.
“The recruits are interesting, aside from Baelor, who seems likehe could murder any of us in cold blood,” I half-joked. Murderme,perhaps. This seemed to grab a portion of his attention.
“Oh Soleil? Yes, he’s a piece of work. Just like his father,” Laryk responded.
“He reminds me a bit of you, actually.” I raised an eyebrow, anticipating his response. His eyes shifted to me curiously.
“Don’t insult me like that again, Riftborne.” He actually smiled before his eyes glazed back over as he returned to whatever was occupying his mind.
I cleared my throat, feeling an edge of agitation, “So what's the plan for today?”
I watched as his teeth scraped over and released the plumpness of his bottom lip, his mouth slightly parting when he finally looked at me. “Hmm?”
“What’s the plan?” I snapped, my exhaustion turning to annoyance.
What is going on with him?
I was sure it had something to do with the Wraith attacks. There was probably so much we weren’t authorized to know about yet. So much we hadn’t given ourbloodto know about yet. It took a strong willpower to not start asking him about everything. I slipped a shard of red jasper from my pocket and gripped it in my palm. The last thing I needed was to lose my patience.
“We have to get you caught up with the rest of the recruits. While you can’t truly practice using your focus like some of the others, we need to get you to the point of full control without the release.”
“So my goal is to let my focus form to the fullest extent but to not use it?”
“Correct.”
I nodded. It seemed like an easy enough task, but it had been pretty resistant since the incident with the guard. Since Laryk killed him.
My eyes closed and I turned my attention to my lower spine,willing out the translucent webbing, watching as it began braiding up my vertebrae only to retreat again.
“How do you think my focus will work against the Wraiths?”
Willpower, gone. So much for the jasper.
I wondered if I sounded nervous.
“When you found me and saw what I was capable of, I’m assuming you brought me on with these opponents in mind?”
“I have my theories,” he replied vacantly.
I opened my eyes again and noticed he was back to chewing his lip.
“Will I be clued in on these theories?”
He sighed, pushing his hair away from his face. He wore it down tonight and it flowed in waves over his shoulders.
“Eventually, yes.”
My mouth formed a straight line as I glared at him, hoping to see some form of his usual spark, but his mind seemed to be elsewhere.
“That's reassuring.” I murmured. I gripped the stone harder, but the sweat from my palm caused it to slip and tumble onto the ground with a piercing clatter. It landed at Laryk’s feet. He bent to pick it up, finally turning his attention to something other than his thoughts.
