“How did you bring me here?” I only half demanded because I was too taken aback by his feat.
He waved his hand, expecting my question. “I will admit that I would normally not be able to pull you out of a room without seeing it or having been there myself—”
“You have never been in the Hidden Kingdom,” I argued, causing a new smirk to graze his face.
“Have I not?” He gestured to the space beyond the tree. “Bed, nightstand, wall, alarmed little princess… I could keep going if you want.”
Bastard. He had piggybacked onto my magic when I spoke to Evanna and the others, gaining a look into our room.
“I suppose I could show you how to block others from following your magic,” he continued, “but I am the only other being alive who can take advantage of that, and I am not sure I want to.”
“This won’t work unless we can trust each other, at least while we train,” I warned, getting in his face again. “I won’t follow anything you want to teach me until you agree not to interfere with my magic in any way. Otherwise, I’m gone, and you’ll no longer have access to me. Understood?”
Of course, I knew I couldn’t ever trust Raithian, but there had to be a minimum amount of decency in this pact, or what the hell were we even doing?
Amusement danced over his expression, like he was dealing with a silly child.
I crossed both arms over my chest, standing my ground while I held his gaze defiantly. “If we can’t at least be civil while we train, then—”
He sighed, extending his arm towards me like he expected me to take it.
“With the Four Cursed Dragons as my witness, I vow not to harm, hinder, use, deceive, or take advantage of you and your magic while I train you as a Sorcerer. When the moment comes for us to face each other, I shall defeat you because my power is greater than yours, and always has been. Warlock’s honor.”
I wasn’t sure what it was about the Warlock King’s words, but energy stirred inside me in response, as though the Devenish force within recognized them as true. Reaching for him, I grasped his offered arm, our hands closing over each other’s forearm and holding tightly.
“With the Sky Gods as my witness,” I said instead, “I vow not to harm, hinder, use, deceive, or take advantage of you and your magic while you train me as a Sorcerer. When the moment comes for us to face each other, I will defeat you, Raithian, because regardless of the magic, I am a better man than you are, and I will always be. Good always wins over evil… no matter how long it takes. Wizard’s honor.”
Green and gold vines of light suddenly sprouted from our hands, swiftly wrapping around the other’s forearm to tie us together, sealing our promise to each other.
Stunned, I held his gaze for a moment, taken aback that he had actually used a magically binding vow with me.
“It is a practice from the days of old,” he admitted, answering my silent question, a certain longing tainting his voice. “A promise made by a Wizard to his new apprentice…” A mischievous brow arched at me. “At least the first part.”
The glowing vines suddenly receded into our skin, his into mine and mine into his, holding us to the vow.
“What happens if either of us breaks our promise?”
“You die a horrible death self-inflicted by your own magic.” He shrugged. “Or something.”
WTF?
He didn’t really seem to care about the consequences, which told me he had no intention of breaking his word.
“I have to say, Raithian, this would be easier if I still thought you didn’t know the meaning of the word honor.”
His lips twitched at that, and he dropped his arm from mine. “I have to say, Braxton, this would be easier if I still thought you were stupid.”
Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. He’s freaking evil, don’t you dare laugh!
My lips twitched too, making him grin. Turning his back to me, Raithian walked several paces away, standing the staff beside him once he stopped. “Now, show me what you can do.”
Taking a settling breath, I thought about it. “I can heal and restore injuries or things, but you already know that.” My hand gestured towards his unblemished face. “I can…” I couldn’t really tell him about the way my Devenish magic enhanced my Dragon abilities, so I wasn’t sure what else to say. “I can communicate with you and summon you. I create fireballs or energy balls, but I have a hard time even trying to form them, unless I think I’m being attacked and then—”
“Your magic reacts in your stead, defending you,” Raithian finished for me, knowingly.
I nodded, remembering the devastation I left behind the night he tortured Azazel. The hall was half destroyed from my attacks, and it had to be repaired by the people building the rooms for my guard. I hadn’t even thought about it, it had been pure adrenaline and reflects.
“Yes.”
“I did not ask you to tell me, Braxton. I asked you to show me.”
Okay, then.
Glancing down at my hands, I lifted them before me and began to pull the magic from my core, just like I did when practicing with Asher.
Unfortunately for me, the feat seemed harder to achieve right now than it was then. Golden energy began to exude from my hands, swirling into a slow ball that took forever to form. My gaze lifted towards Raithian to find him glancing at me perplexed, the deep set of his brows saying perhaps I was stupid after all.
Every muscle on my jaw strained from the effort, grunting escaping my throat while I pushed harder against the force inside me. Pulling more and more, I tried my best to wrangle the wild energy fighting me at every turn. Beads of sweat began to dot my forehead, but I didn’t let it deter me. I had to do this.
Trembling took hold of my upper body, yet I held on to the growing sphere now floating between my hands, its magic too volatile to be safe.
“Enough. Enough!” Raithian bellowed from where he stood. “What in the Four Cursed Dragons are you doing?!”
His interruption helped the power escape from me, shooting like a cannonball past his head and crashing into a nearby tree. A gaping hole was left in its trunk. The damn thing had almost singed his cheek, but he didn’t even flinch.
“I’m trying to create a weapon with my magic,” I panted, trying to recover from the exertion.
“A weapon?!” he asked, seeming absolutely confounded. “I guess I must start from the beginning with you.” A grunt rippled from his throat, as though this was extra work he hadn’t anticipated. “A Wizard’s magical essence is not like the magic other beings’ possess. Some may have a seed of power they can tap into and use to influence the body to heal, others can imbue material things with purpose—maps, armor, jewelry. Not us…”
Vanishing his staff to who knows where, he lifted a hand in front of his face, swirling green energy immediately exuding from his fingers and palm. Filled with wonder and appreciation even after all these years, his eyes brightened, a sincere smile tilting his lips.
“Magic is not something we wield, Braxton. It is not a weapon, or a skill we possess. It is a living, breathing, pulsing force that resides inside us. Its heart beats in sync with ours, our lungs breathe in perfect a rhythm. It can feel as we feel. It moves and grows with us. We are but a vessel for its power.” His attention returned to me. “All you must do is allow it to flow out of you freely, and claim it once it has… Attempt it once more.”