Page 8 of Beyond Her Sight

Desmond smiled a wicked grin and opened his mouth before Malcolm, without looking at him, elbowed him in the gut sharply. Desmond let out an ‘oof’ and rubbed his stomach.

“Training,” Malcolm said, ignoring Desmond’s cross look. “We can’t let our skills get rusty and it’ll keep your mind off things.”

“I could keep her mind off things,” Desmond grumbled quietly and Claire let out a laugh at his petulant expression.

“Come on, wizard,” Everett threw an arm around Desmond’s neck in a soft headlock. “Let’s see how bad your sword skills are.”

“How bad mine are? See if you can land a blow!” Desmond squawked in outrage as Everett led him to the far side of the training arena.

“What are we practicing today?” Claire asked Malcolm. Her last lesson before they had come into the Elven Forest had been taking and sending Energy from her dragon’s forceful blows, but with all of the events of the last week that felt like ages ago.

As if reading her thoughts, Malcolm responded, “We’ll spar and I want you to practice taking the Energy from my blows and using it in your counter attack.”

Claire nodded and pulled her daggers. It had become second nature for her to put them on each morning and their weight at her waist brought a comfort that was only equaled by their weight in the palm of her hands. Malcolm took a stance a few paces in front of her and Claire walked forward before dropping into hers.

She pulled a tendril of magic from her center, blinking twice at the seamlessness to which it responded. Her magic rose and curled into her palms, snaking along the daggers till they glowed softly. She pulled it back from her daggers softly, redirecting it to focus on finding the Energy in the world around her. It tugged on her to close her eyes and let her magic guide her completely but Claire resisted and kept her eyes open.

Malcolm attacked in a series of sharp blows and Claire kept her feet light as she parried and waited for the right blow. A powerful downstroke arced towards her and Claire held the Elven dagger above her head to block it, pulling the Energy from the blow with the Elven dagger. She was careful not to send too much Energy into the Fae dagger, not wanting to knock Malcolm on his ass as she sliced it towards his side. Malcolm barely dropped his sword to block her strike in time and went flying sideways, hitting the ground hard.

“Malcolm!” Her cry stopped Everett and Desmond’s match.

“Knocking him on his ass already, little sweet pea?” Desmond said, jogging towards them and offering Malcolm a hand up.

Even Desmond’s ridiculous nickname couldn’t distract Claire. “I didn’t mean to. Actually I pulled the Energy back. I only sent half of what I sent the first time,” she said, referencing the first time she had thrown Malcolm backwards.

“Your magic is getting stronger,” Everett said, stepping up and cupping her shoulders. “It makes sense that the Energy manipulation is doing the same.”

Claire bit her lip and frowned. Her magic was coming easier which was great but not helpful if Claire couldn’t stay in control of it.

“Don’t stress, little treasure,” Malcolm said. “I’ll gladly fall for you if it means knowing you’ll knock any attacker over.” Her usually grumbly dragon gave her a wink that had Claire’s heart skipping a beat.

She groaned and buried her face in her hands. “Hey, what is it?” Everett asked softly, tugging her hands away from her face gently and cupping her chin until she looked up at him.

“I…” Claire struggled to find the words. She understood what Malcolm was saying about being able to protect herself but her lack of control over her magic and Energy manipulation scared her. How would she prevent hurting anyone she cared about if she couldn’t get it under control?

Everett must have been able to read her face as he smiled softly at her and pulled her into a hug. “It’s going to be okay. You can ask your questions of Toan tonight and Greta will teach you how to control it.”

Claire sighed and nodded. He was right. “It is going to be okay,” Desmond said, echoing Everett’s words. “It’s a lot, I know.”

“It is,” Claire said weakly. “I’m sorry. I’ve been such a mess these last few days.”

“You’re allowed to be so don’t apologize,” Malcolm said with a growl. “You’ve been through a lot, little treasure.”

“Remember, we’ll help you carry it,” Everett reminded her.

Claire nodded, taking a deep breath. She couldn’t dwell here, she had to do something with herself. “Okay, let’s get back to training. Maybe without magic today?”

Malcolm nodded. “We can do that. Is there anything else you want to work on?”

Claire’s eyes fell on some practice bow and arrows on one of the tables at the training ground’s edge. “Does anyone know how to use those?” she asked, gesturing towards the table.

Malcolm clapped a hand on Everett’s shoulder. “Everett is the shifter for that. I’ll take over Desmond’s ass kicking.”

“Excuse me!” Desmond’s protest was drawn out and indignant, causing Claire to laugh at the dramatics. He shot her a quick wink before following Malcolm to the other end of the arena. “I’ll show you an ass-kicking.”

Everett fetched a bow and quiver from the table. “I’m no Elf, but I can teach you the basics.”

He walked Claire through the basics of holding the bow, her stance and how to sight her target. By the end of it, Claire could hit the target from five paces away although plenty of arrows littered the ground. As they cleaned up, Claire felt lighter. This was exactly the distraction she needed before the dinner that lay ahead.

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