ICE

22. The Spell

The room was a wreck. Globs of pink and green goo pooled across the floor. There were splatters across the wall colored a rosy flesh tone. Caelan stepped further into the room, toward the desk, completely unbothered by the mess. He picked up a book and rummaged through the pages. "Mistakes," he answered. "Don't mind the mess. It will be cleaned within the next day or so. I have a cleaning spell set up to run through the house every other day."

He paused, mid page flip, and glanced at her. "Which reminds me. Try not to leave anything of importance on the floor."

She blinked.

"The cleaning spell will dissolve it," he explained. "And you'll never see it again."

"Oh," she said. She moved further into the room, stepping over a glob of rosy goo. "Good to know."

He hummed. He set the book in his hands down onto the desk, opened to a spread of intricate letters and designs. Ravenna stood beside him and eyed the book. Hidden within the designs were sketches of a humanoid figure. It seemed to dance about the page, hands working together at odd angles.

"This spell is meant to be used in the heat of the moment," Caelan said. "Or in the middle of an attack. It is a quick defense sort of spell."

She nodded. "You mentioned that earlier. What does it do exactly?"

"It creates a shield. You have already created a version of this with your ice, though it is fairly weak and easily penetrable. This spell will make your ice shield stronger and more manageable."

Caelan scanned over the book once more and then stepped aside, away from the desk. "I have never really used this spell," he admitted to her. He lifted his hands and retied the ribbon around his hair. "I tend to revert into my other form once I am attacked. Or simply summon human weapons. Those tend to work fairly well, depending on the material they are made of."

She nodded. Her gaze zeroed in on his hands. She couldn't help but watch as he started to remove his shirt. He quickly discarded it on the desk and then gestured for her to follow him. She hustled after him, through the back door and through the garden, toward the forest. The sunlight glistened against the bare skin of his back. Each step caused a slight movement within the muscles of his arms, of his back. It made it hard for her to look away from him.

He stopped once the forest opened into a small clearing and turned toward her. A canopy of tree branches stretched across the clearing, providing some sense of shade. Sunlight poked through the leaves, casting a cluster of leafy shadows across Caelan's bare chest and shoulders.

Ravenna folded her arms across her chest. Her gaze remained intent on his somewhat flexed muscles. Caelan cleared his throat.

Her cheeks turned bright red. She forced her gaze to meet his, and she almost scowled at the amusement that shimmered within his eyes.

"Remember what I said about lust," Caelan warned her.

"You hush," Ravenna snapped at him. "Now what's the spell."

His lips curled back into a wry smirk. "Alright. To start, you must clear your mind and summon your ice."

Ravenna squeezed her eyes shut. She pushed the mental image of Caelan's body out of her head, and focused on the cold. It took a moment before the familiar feeling of her ice began to dance around her fingertips. She opened her eyes and forced her gaze to lock with Caelan's. "Alright," she said.

He nodded. "Now, position your hands as such."

She watched his hands move. His fingers flexed and then curled. Then he pressed the tips of his thumbs and middle fingers together. Both index fingers remained stretched out, and the last two fingers on each hand were curled, knuckles pressed together. He held this pose for a moment and then turned his hands out, palms flat.

A burst of white exploded across his hands. It expanded outward and formed a perfect circle-shaped shield.

Ravenna blinked. She repositioned her hands and threw her hands outward, fingers flexed, just as Caelan had. Her ice jolted upward and flew forward as a projectile.

Caelan's white shield blocked it. "Don't throw your shield," he told her. "Just cast it."

She huffed. "This hurts my hands," she snapped.

"The more that you do it, the easier it will be."

hello sweet friends! 

There is an inconsistency in this chapter that I wanted to address. I know that earlier in this book, it states that she doesn't need to eat. Unfortunately, inconsistencies tend to happen in first drafts. I promise that it is explained/worked back into the plot later on! I apologize for the inconvenience!!

Thank you for your continued patience and support!