Mischief in the Stars

𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘉𝘰𝘺

"It's sort of lame, especially compared to lightning," Malakai said, scratching the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Try me."

He nodded and held his hand out. Taking a deep breath, he focused all his energy into creating a shield. He tried to create a picture in his head. Eventually, a small green shield appeared in his palm. "I can create these shields, they block stuff but they can't do much else."

"Are you kidding?" Tempest surprised him with her astonished tone as she prodded the shield with her finger. "Do you realize how much you can do with that?"

Malakai shrugged. "Not really."

She poked at the shield, even daring to spark it with lightning. She watched Malakai carefully and noticed anything she did to the shield, he couldn't feel. Raising her hand, she hit it with a bigger strike of lighting. Malakai jumped back, completely affronted.

"What's wrong with you? That could've killed me!" he exclaimed.

"Your shields are essentially indestructible when you keep your focus. They're incredibly strong, too," Tempest informed him.

"How would you know?"

"Despite just testing it, I've met people with similar powers. Have you ever tried throwing your shields?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What are you doing? You don't know me, why are you helping?" Malakai asked her, not understanding why a stranger he met not even five minutes ago was so willing to help.

Tempest shrugged. "You seem cool, figured we could train together."

"I'm training my brother already, I don't have time to focus on my powers," Malakai explained, gesturing to his brother who was currently throwing knives at a tree.

"You're training him? You can't be much older than twelve," She stated with a scoff.

"Hey! I'm thirteen," Malakai corrected her defensively. "Besides you don't look much older than me."

"True, but I've got a year on you," she grinned proudly, "and I know a thing or two about powers, so maybe I can help you guys."

"I don't think you've seen powers like his before," he told her, gesturing to his brother. She raised her eyebrows at him challengingly. Turning to his brother, he saw him finally land a knife in a tree. "Hey, Pierce!"

"Yeah?" his brother asked just as he was about to pull the knife from the tree.

"Show her." Pierce knew what he meant.

Pierce kept the knife in the tree, holding his hand up and fingers spread out. He slowly lowers his hand down and let out a deep breath. A thin black mist left the knife and cover the tree. Tempest watched in astonishment as she saw the tree die before her eyes.

"Oh, Freyr," she gasped out, eyes wide.

"You sure you want to help?" Malakai asked, expecting her to run in fear like everyone else did.

"Absolutely," Tempest breathed out, completely amazed. Malakai raised an eyebrow, surprised that she didn't seem at all scared. "Why does he use the knives? Can he do that without them?"

"The knives concentrate his power," he began to explain as Pierce pulled the knife from the tree. "If he doesn't use them, then he could die. When we first found out about his ability, we didn't know that and almost lost him."

"Can it be any knife?"

"We don't know, honestly," Malakai admitted. "The knives were a gift from the coven when my father began to work for them, we haven't bothered to try anything else. They said they've seen powers like this once or twice and each person needed a set of knives specific to them to concentrate their power."

"Fascinating, can I help?" Tempest asked hopefully. "I can help you make your shields stronger and you'd be able to use them however you want. I can help Pierce with his aim and with control, too."

Malakai grinned a bit, enjoying the girl's company. "Sure, I don't see why not. We could use the help."

A few months out and the brothers' powers improved immensely. Malakai was able to create anything from a large defensive shield to offensive small shields that worked as throwing disks. Pierce now hit his target almost every time with the knives. Tempest had even brought Pierce a sheath for each knife that went on both his hips. She had him practice whipping the knives out and throwing them until it was one fluid motion.

Tempest and Malakai sparred nearly everyday. She went increasingly harder on him as time past, telling him how had improved and what needed work. They would train for hours, from dawn to dusk and sometimes past that.

Malakai was grateful he met her. The two had became close friends, too. They made a game where each time someone won while sparring, they could ask the other a question. Malakai learned that she found out about her powers at a young age and her parents had her train immediately so she could control it. She was born in Benela, the realm just next to Valsaire but moved here a few years ago. She was an only child and admitted, reluctantly, that Malakai was her first friend.

They were fighting early in the morning and Malakai was surprised when he pinned her. It wasn't often that he won. She won far more than him and knew a lot more about his life than he did hers.

"Okay, you won. Ask your question," Tempest said breathlessly, picking herself off the ground.

"Who are those men that keep watching us spar?" Malakai asked, subtly pointing to the woods behind them. Tempest looked behind her and frowned. The men tried to act as if they weren't watching, turning to pick berries. Tempest rolled her eyes- they weren't exactly discreet. "I think I've seen them watching us a few times before."

"They've been following me for a while, actually. My parents think that they might be from the coven. Apparently, the coven recruits people to train," Tempest told him, seeming uncomfortable, "something feels off, though."

"How so?"

"I don't know... I haven't exactly heard great things about training with them. I mean, they're witches. How would they know anything about what I can do?" Tempest asked before taking a sip from her water. Malakai had never seen her nervous, it wasn't something he wanted to see again. "I'm not sure if I'd want to go with them."

"My father wants me to do some jobs for them, I don't know, though," Malakai told her despite it not being his turn to share.

"Stay out of it if you can," Tempest said with earnest, "I don't think I'll have a choice, personally."

"Hey, say the word and I'll kick their asses," Malakai offered with a grin, trying to lighten the mood a bit. He felt relieved when he saw her smile.

She let out a laugh, shaking her head. "Let's see you win more than two spars a day, then we'll talk about you kicking anyone's ass."