Guardian of Calandria | ✔️

Chapter Twenty

          Fire and ice flew by Kira's head, narrowly missing contact when she ducked. She huffed and stood up in time for a stream of electrical energy to knock her backwards. Dirt and rocks scrapped her arm as she skidded across the hard ground. With a growl, she pushed on her hands and knees. Wilders wouldn't allow her time to recover her stance. Water sprayed her body, causing her clothes and hair to cling to her skin, and knocking her face first into the dirt.

"Give me a break!" Dirt turned to mud, splashing her face, temporarily blinding her. With both hands she swept the mud from her eyes.

"Nay! Ye asked for my help learning how to fight with magic and I'm giving it to ye the only way I know how. It is no secret ye have power, Kira. Ye can use magic with the flick of yer wrist, but only if nothing else is going on around ye. Sure, ye can clap yer hands and vaporize a single guard, but what if ye have ten on ye? What if at the same time yer fighting a guard, a harpy attacks ye? What about when yer angry and scared like in Astrid's tribe, innocents all around ye, and don't have a moment to take a breath? All of those things have happened before and will happen again. Honestly, I'm surprised it hadn't happened sooner, killing innocents."

Addrick stood with Wilders forming a circle around Kira. One by one, in random order, they fired magic at her, never giving her a chance to breathe or see where it was coming from next. They stopped only when Addrick raised a fist to signal for a moment to instruct her. Most of the time, they had free reign to send attacks without stopping. She knew she should fight back, sending her magic after them, but she was scared. Would Addrick's shield around the Wilders hold up against her power? Kira didn't think she could live with herself if she killed them the way she had Astrid's people. Never in her life had she doubted her ability, but that was all she could do now.

"If ye want to be able to use magic in battle, ye have to be able to use it under attack without hindrance of yer emotions. Know exactly how much to use and when to pull back yer power. Or do ye think Zarich is going to stop and let ye get yer feet under ye?"

"No, but—" She was interrupted by a little boy using magic to throw a boulder at her head. Kira shrieked and rolled to the side. Mud splashed her face, darkening her vibrant red hair with a brown paste. She looked at the boy, no older than ten. He stood on the right side of the circle, missing teeth broke up his smile. His eyes stared at her with a certain arrogance Kira had only seen on Addrick. Wilders had been happy to join Addrick in the training, the young and the old.

"Stop dodging and start countering!" Addrick shouted.

"I don't have time to think about what I'm doing."

"Then don't think, Kira! Just calm yerself and do it. Yer not going to have time to think in a fight, ye know this. Ye have to learn how to act without thinking and without emotions guiding ye. Steel yerself, block out noises around ye and find the resolve within. Use an anchor to tether ye into the now if ye must." Addrick raised his arms, extending them toward her. A ball of ice formed between both palms. She swallowed hard, watching the ice grow larger.

He made blocking out noise and actions around her sound so easy. She'd never needed to worry about her surroundings when casting magic in the Glades. Sure she had to make sure she concealed the magic so nobody noticed, but that wasn't the same. Back then, her magic came easily used in small doses. In a battle, holding back her power could be the difference between life and death.

The ice ball flew toward her at an alarming rate, the closer it came the larger it appeared to grow. She inhaled a deep breath and raised her hand. Birds made from fire sprung from her palm, flying toward the ice. They curled upward, spinning around each other, and dived into the frozen ball. The ice exploded, snowing onto the ground.