Piper
"How about we make a deal," Evander said as he got up from his chair and approached me. "In time, I will teach you all there is to know about the Witches, and in return, you teach me about your kind."
He held his hand out to me, which I gladly took. I assumed he meant it as a kind gesture, a polite way to help me up from my seat even though I didn't need the help. As I stood, I made sure not to pull on his hand because I didn't want to accidentally bring him down.
I had to remind myself that although he was supernatural, his abilities did not affect his physique and he was still vulnerable to my strength. Even with his strong build, I was much, much stronger.
"I can agree to that. Although, you already seem to know a lot about my kind," I said. He obviously knew that I didn't know much about his kind. But what else could he possibly want to know about my kind if he already knew so much?
"It wouldn't hurt to learn from a Vampire herself. All that I know about your kind has come from books written by my kind, not yours. I am sure you will surprise me," Evander explained, almost as if he had heard my question out loud. Even if he wasn't telepathic, he was very good at knowing what I was thinking.
"I assume that you know of my abilities at least," I said. Evander nodded as he lead me out of his cottage.
"In time I'm sure I will witness some of those abilities, but yes, I do know of them," Evander assured me. I felt a foreign feeling settle deep in the pit of my stomach when he said that. He obviously assumed that I would continue to come around. To be honest, I wasn't opposed to it, and I liked hearing him say it as if it were a good thing.
"Then for now I will skip the show and tell," I joked.
I wondered if what we had between us could be officially called a friendship, seeing as though he didn't greet me with hostility anymore as he did the first time. We at least did not seem as weary around one another.
The air was chilly, a slight breeze whirling through the forest that loomed around us. The branches and needles of the evergreens hummed as it passed through them. I couldn't feel the chill, seeing as though I was coldness itself, but I could see the goosebumps that softly prickled at Evander's warm skin. I marveled at what goosebumps must feel like.
Soon, we stopped in the middle of his stone path. We were surrounded by the same luminescent flowers that first drew me in the first night I found this place. I shifted my focus from the awe-inducing flowers to him as he turned to face me.
"Every Witch or Warlock is born with an element, or elements, that we can manipulate at will. Earth, Air, Water, Fire. Earth Witches can summon plants, siphon from nature, and things of that sort. Fire can obviously siphon energy from heat or fire and can summon fire at any given moment. You get the idea. My mother was born an Earth Witch and my father a Fire Warlock. I just so happened to be born with both," Evander explained. As he did so, he was gathering wood from around him, mostly small branches and dry brush. I watched as he stacked the wood in a pit.
I watched as his hand rose and his fingers curled into his palm, making a loose fist. What looked to be liquified fire veined through his palm and fingertips and when he opened his hand, a small flame was flickering within his hand. The small flame engulfed the palm of his hand as if someone had drenched his skin in gasoline.
My eyes widened in shock as I watched it move with the wind. Evander fluidly flipped his hand over and pointed his fingertips to the stack of wood, setting it on fire, the fire in his hand now gone and transferred into the pit.
I stepped back as the fire roared up in a vengeful puff of flames and sparks, engulfing the branches within a mere second. I looked up to meet Evander's gaze with one of awe and surprise. He had a proud and almost amused look on his face as if he liked showing off.
"Bravo, bravo," I clapped, finally curbing my shock. Evander chuckled at my response.
"It's not every day I get to show off my abilities. They are nothing special among my kind," He admitted. I furrowed my brow at that.
"Is there anything you can do that no other Witch can do?" I asked.
Evander smirked once again and I instantly knew that was a yes.
"I cannot say for certain I am the only one with certain abilities. It's not something specific I can do, but I do have a few things that are hard to achieve or near unattainable," He explained.
"As in...?"
"If I focus hard enough, I can see where people are through their eyes and thoughts. The memory sharing is also rare," Evander listed a few. He wasn't trying to be egoistic, but it sure didn't pass me that Evander knew of his talent.
"Sounds like you're a professional Warlock," I chuckled quietly. Evander shook his head with a smile on his face.
"My mother used to just say I was more experienced than my peers. I wouldn't say I'm a professional though."
"What about your other element? You said you were born with both Fire and Earth. Is that rare to have more than one?" I asked.
"Somewhat. Only a few people that I know were born with two elements," He explained. He whirled his hand and the fire in the pit extinguished itself in one forceful sweep.
"Here," Evander plucked a dark crimson rose from a bush pressed up against his house. It wasn't illuminated like the others, but it was in astoundingly good health. Its petals showed no withering or spotting. The perfection of the flower was almost unnatural. The unnatural perfection didn't detract from the overall beauty though.
He held the stem between his fingers delicately as he held it out to me. At first, I imagined he was simply offering me a rose. If I could blush, I wondered if I would have. Realizing that this was just another trick he wanted to show me, I reached up and grabbed the stem from him. Evander closed his eyes and sighed, holding his hand up so his palm overshadowed the rose.
I watched as the perfect rose began to wither and the petals began to droop. As the life of the rose left, so did the beauty of it. Soon enough, the rose was left with no more life and the petals were softly falling to the ground. When Evander opened his eyes, the smallest flare of golden amber flickered in his eyes.
It was almost... heartbreaking seeing such a beautiful flower die. Sure enough, it was just a flower, but watching it quickly wither away into a fraction of what it once was was saddening. I frowned at the once perfect flower now dead in my hand.
"Is this what you meant by siphoning?" I questioned, gesturing to the dead rose in my hand.
"Yes, but that is not nearly enough to make much of a difference. Such a small rose could barely provide much energy," Evander told me, taking the rose from my fingertips.
"Is that why it died?"
Evander nodded, "A much larger, much older object such as a tree would not have been affected so greatly."
"So how do you give that energy back?"
"It doesn't work like that. Energy cannot simply be put back. I took all of the energy and life out of the rose, meaning it has no need for the energy now that it is dead," Evander explained. He dropped the rose where the dry petals now laid. "But, that doesn't mean its energy will not be used for a greater cause."
Evander went back to the bush and found where he had plucked the rose from. He placed his palm above the broken branch and soon new stems began to grow, leaves and roses forming as if a whole month of growing just happened within seconds.
Each rose was just as perfect and unflawed as the rest. Instead of one rose, there were half a dozen.
"One rose's sacrifice was fed into the rebirth of six others. I guess you could say that is the art of siphoning; giving for a greater purpose."
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Hello everyone! Glad to be back I hope. I know it sucks I waited a couple weeks but I loved having more time to edit and perfect the chapter.
Love you all and all the support.
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