ICE

6. Observant

The dragon's eyebrow twitched. Annoyance filled his expression and the herbs dropped from his hands. He turned to face her. "I'm not a person. I'm not a human. I'm a dragon. A ferocious beast that could destroy you within seconds. What part of that did your impudent mind not understand?"

"Now, now," Ravenna said coldly. "Your petty insults will get you nowhere."

Ice crackled across the floor between them. The air inside the cabin chilled, and the hairs on the back of her neck spiked. She folded her arms across her chest and skewered the dragon with a dark glare. He glared right back. His gaze traveled from hers down to the ground, where ice spikes were growing steadily. She tensed when his eyes narrowed.

His hand shot out and snatched a jar from the table. Then he hurled it at her.

Ravenna took a step backward in shock. An ice spike shot upward and blocked the jar, shattering the glass into millions of pieces. The shards sparkled as they fell to the ground like rain.

The dragon folded his arms across his chest and harrumphed. "Interesting," he murmured.

"What was that for?" she demanded.

He picked up another jar and examined it. "A simple test. Don't get so worked up."

She grimaced as he threw the second jar. It hurtled through the air like an arrow, aimed for her face. Her hands flew up to shield herself. The jar shattered before it reached her once again. She lowered her hands and watched the ice shrink back into a jagged spike at her feet. Her gaze returned to the dragon. "Are you going to throw another one? Or did you get the results that you were looking for?"

The corners of the dragon's mouth twitched upward. "Come," he said and turned toward the door. "I will train you now."

Her jaw clenched tight. She watched as he walked out the door and into the wilderness outside. The door remained open, allowing a small gust of wind to brush her cheeks. Her gaze moved downward at the arrangement of ice that surrounded her feet. She lifted her leg to step over the spikes. Despite its uncanny appearance, the slits in her dress did make it easier to move.

Shock bristled through her as she lowered her foot. The ice moved around her, spreading out to create a path. As she moved forward, the ice followed her.

A groan escaped her. Her powers hadn't quite done this before.

She made it outside and looked around. The dragon stood at the edge of the trees, half concealed beneath the shade. She stomped toward him. "Finally, I'll actually learn something," she snapped at him.

He arched his eyebrow. "Have you not already learned something already?"

"I'm talking about my magic." She held out her hands, clenched into tight fists. "You haven't taught me a single thing since you took me into your cabin."

A heavy sigh escaped the dragon. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her with a vacant expression. "You humans really are as stupid as you come across."

Her nails dug into the heels of her palms. The icy spikes multiplied around her feet. "Care to elaborate?"

"Not really," he said. Another smirk appeared.

Ravenna shifted around on her feet. Something tugged at her gut, and an alarm blared at the back of her mind. She crouched slightly into a defensive stance. "You're just toying with me," she accused.

His hands moved quick. A shard of ice sliced through the air. Her eyes widened and the ice at her feet jolted upward. It stabbed through the center of the shard, both pieces of ice exploding midair. The broken end of Ravenna's ice sunk back down the earth and vanished within the spikes. As her gaze lifted, she realized that the dragon no longer stood in front of her. Her breath hitched and she whirled around in search of him.

Another shard of ice exploded at her feet. She lifted her hands and willed her spikes upward. A single spike shot forward, in the direction the shard had come.

Something sliced through her sleeve. Her arm stung sharp, as beads of dull blood swelled. She looked down, surprised.

"Interesting," a familiar voice said from behind her.

She whirled around. The dragon stood impossibly close, within her circle of ice. His hand shot out and snatched her wrist. She staggered backward at the proximity and her ice shot forward. "What are you doing?"

He waved the spikes away like they were mere feathers. "Have you still learned nothing?"

Her hands clenched into tight fists. His grip on her wrist tightened and he lifted her arm closer to examine her wound. He lifted his other hand, which suddenly held a handful of the strange putty that he'd created earlier. He pressed it against the scratch and then released her.

She watched him with a sullen expression. Her annoyance faded once more. "What are you talking about? All you have done so far is throw things at me. How am I supposed to learn anything from that?"

The dragon stared at her. "And yet I have learned two things about your magic since I started."

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't understand."

Another sigh escaped him. "I suppose I shall dumb it down, so that even you can understand. The first lesson that I must teach you is simple. In the midst of a battle, it's imperative that you watch your opponent."

She opened her mouth to argue that she most certainly had been watching him. It was almost impossible not to watch him. He was so unnatural... so strangely attractive.

He glared at her. "You are about as observational as you are stupid."

Her mouth fell shut. Her annoyance returned, sizzling through her veins like a second blood. She folded her arms across her chest as he continued his explanation.

"You lost track of my movements the moment I made a surprise attack. That should never happen, or you'll be dead within seconds. The second lesson concerns your powers. In the small test that I performed, I have learned two important things about you."

Ravenna tried to calm herself down. There was no use in trying to attack him. Her weight moved from one foot to the other, causing her hip to jut outward. "What are those?"

"You are in most control over your ice when you are angered, or fueled with powerful emotion," he said. "And that the movement of your ice is subconscious. If you are not aware of your opponent, then neither is your magic."

He gestured toward her scratched arm. "I was easily able to get past your defenses the moment you were distracted."

"How can I fix that?" she asked. Her hand lifted to cover the cut material on her arm. She never wanted that to happen again.

A finger pulled her chin upward. She blinked, eyes wide as his face moved even closer. His gaze pierced through her. Something tingled low in her stomach. A moment passed and red started to spread across her cheeks.

"What are you doing?" she whispered.

He smirked. "Lesson number three, stupid girl. Lust is not one of your more powerful emotions. Heavens forbid you find an opponent attractive. Your magic will be powerless."

Her anger returned tenfold. Her hands shot out and shoved hard against his chest. He stepped backward, carefully avoiding her ice spikes. She scowled at him. "Quit dancing around my question. How do I stop getting so distracted?"

His smirk deepened. "Become more observant," he said and turned away from her. He started to walk back toward the cabin. "There is nothing else that I can do with you until you do."