The moonlit glow slowly faded until my skin looked normal, but there was a feeling that stuck around, a power inside me bubbling just under the surface. It reminded me of when I'd gotten my wolf—a feeling that I was more complete, as if I had suddenly found access to a limb I'd never known existed before.
“Now you will be able to access your moon magic completely,” Celeste said when I glanced up at her, wondering what would happen next. “Before you were able to use it under duress, but now you should be able to call it at will.”
“Really?” If I could shoot out anything similar to the Sun Witches' sunbeams, I'd be able to fight them better in my human form. "But only when the moon is out, right?"
"No. Your magic will be stronger at night and under the moonlight, but the moon is always out there, orbiting the planet, even if you can't see it. Your moon magic will always be inside you too.”
That was oddly comforting. I opened and closed my hands, eager to use this newfound power inside me. Then I saw something flying overhead, that at first I assumed was a seagull until it got closer and I realized it was Larkin. She flew on a trail of silvery light like she was Supergirl and my mouth fell open at the sight.
"Will I be able to do that too?" I asked.
"Maybe," Celeste said with a small chuckle as Larkin touched down on the sand beside us. "Larkin will help with your training since she's the youngest witch here and went through training more recently than any of us."
Larkin—who was really in her forties despite her appearance—was the youngest witch here? Damn. They really were in dire need of some new blood.
“You will meet here every night to train,” Celeste continued. “Until we feel you are strong enough to go back and protect your pack.”
And save Kaden, I mentally added, as the moon's strength flowed inside my blood. The thought of being able to use this power to help Kaden and my pack sent a bolt of pride through me. No longer was I the outcast half-human shifter from the Cancer pack. I was a Moon Witch and the Ophiuchus pack alpha female—and I would use my combined heritage to save the other shifters.
“I'll let Larkin take over now,” Celeste said, as she stepped back and clasped her hands.
“We're going to start with some very basic spells." Larkin looked me over as if assessing me for strengths and weaknesses. Her young face had a very serious expression on it, and it was still hard for me to accept that this freckle-faced girl was really a mature woman. "The kind they teach children when they're first starting to use their power. You're going to have to chant a bit in ancient Greek, but Celeste and I will teach you what to say.”
“Ancient Greek?” I asked. “Is that the language you were speaking in before?”
“Yes, our kind began in ancient Greece as a cult that worshiped Helios and Selene, the sun and moon gods," Celeste explained.
My eyes widened at that. I hadn't known that the Sun and Moon Witches had been around for so long. Obviously, they played a long game, like the Sun Witches were doing with the shifter packs now.
Larkin lifted her hands and said a few words in that same language—ancient Greek, I knew now. She enunciated them slowly and clearly and looked at me as she did so. A ball of moonlight appeared between her palms, pulsating softly. I'd seen the Sun Witches do something similar, but it had usually been hurled in my direction while I'd been attempting to flee. Now I could simply watch as Larkin manipulated the silvery ball, letting it expand and get brighter, casting enough light on the surrounding beach so it almost looked illuminated by daylight. Then she let it flicker to almost nothing, before releasing it completely.
“Did you catch those words?” Larkin asked.
"I think so," I said, before repeating them for her out loud. She said one of the words again, putting emphasis on a different syllable. We went back and forth like this a few times until she was satisfied I could say the entire phrase correctly.
She created another ball in her hands as a demonstration. “Good, now try to summon a small amount of light. You should be able to feel the energy within you—let it pull toward the moon and bring some of the energy down.”
I opened my mouth to ask her exactly how I was supposed to do that, but she shook her head at me.
“Close your eyes, and you'll feel it," she said.
I sighed and did as she requested, closing my eyes and feeling for that power inside of me. I thought about the times I'd used my magic to jump between patches of moonlight, and when I reached for that same magic now it wasn't a struggle like it had been before.
A huge amount of energy went through me like a lightning bolt. I said the words out loud, trying to imagine a small ball of light appearing in front of me as I stretched my hands out to face each other, just like Larkin had done. My eyes popped open to an almost blinding amount of silvery light pouring out from between my fingers. Oops. That wasn't exactly small. I wondered if I'd done it wrong, or if this was just what happened at first?
I looked up to find Larkin holding her hand in front of her eyes, grimacing at the blinding light. Celeste was as well, but she was peering through her fingers at me and smiling. I let the magic go, and the light faded to nothing. "How was that?"
Larkin lowered her hand with an amused smirk. “Well, that was bigger than I thought it would be. Usually, young witches can't get much more than a little bit of light."
“It was perfect,” Celeste said, clapping her hands together, her eyes beaming. “Your magic is strong, Ayla. The goddess favors you.”
Her praise sent a pleasant little shiver down my spine, and I found myself standing a little taller.
Larkin lined up a bunch of smooth sea stones between us, then said another set of words. I repeated them in my head, trying to copy the intonation exactly. For a few moments nothing happened, and I flicked my gaze up to Celeste. Unlike when she had called the moonlight, Larkin's brow was drawn down in a slight frown, as if she was struggling with this. Finally, the rocks began to glow, and when I leaned closer, I could feel the heat coming off of them. Then the glow began to fade and when I reached out to touch one, it was lukewarm.
“We can create heat,” Larkin said. “Although it isn't one of our strongest talents. The Sun Witches rule the heat and the sun, but we can use the moon to capture some of that energy. I want you to try it, and see if it feels different for you than calling down the moonlight. Some Moon Witches have an easier time of it than others. I am not one of them, sadly."
"You have many other areas where you are strong," Celeste said to Larkin with a warm smile, and I realized the two of them had a close bond. Almost like mother and daughter themselves.
I repeated the words back to Larkin like last time, and she coached me a bit on the pronunciation until she was satisfied I was saying it correctly. I pointed at the rocks and imagined them heating up. This was more like how I had struggled before. The magic inside of me stirred slowly, as if waking up after a long nap, and it wasn't quite sure what I wanted it to do.
"Imagine that you're holding a laser that will direct the moonlight in a very concentrated way, and think about fire and warmth while you do it," Larkin said.
I tried to visualize what she said and the magic slowly poured out from my fingertips, while the rocks began heating up. They didn't get as hot as they had for Larkin before the magic slipped out from my grasp. I gasped, struggling to hold onto it, but the stones went cool once more.