(A picture of Lachlan Raine, the witchhunter. Enjoy the chapter!)
The Monday was cold, the morning dew adorned the leaves as the air seemed heavy with moisture. Blake sneezed, curling up against Coney who sniffed the air, as they walked toward the new Price mansion. Soon he saw Mya Price, waving happily in a knitted shirt, ready with cups of warm chocolate.
"Sorry for being late," Blake said, panting as he rushed over. He put down Coney that started to skip off, nibbling on grass.
"You are right on time, silly! Besides, I'm the mother of three sons. Do you think I am not used to boys being late?" Mya chippered handing him a cup.
"Where are we going?"
"Nowhere, our yard will do well. Normally, it would have been better to do this on a mountain or by some cliffs, but there are none so I have prepared this," Mya pulled out a small vial, with a green fluid. "I had to make it for this occasion."
"What is it?"
"An old trick. I will tell you later but it is better if you don't know the trick beforehand," Mya winked at him handing him the vial.
"So I will need to drink it?" Blake asked.
"Yes, in order for you to go through the wind trial so that the wind spirit can give their mark, you will have to drink it. Fair warning though, it tastes horrible."
Putting the cup of chocolate away, Blake opened the vial.
"Wait!" Mya pulled out a blanket and put a pillow on it. She patted it to make a point. Blake laid down, drinking the potion and closing his eyes.
His breath became slow, his heart almost still as he fell into what he first assumed was sleep, but then everything went silent before a choir of sound reached his ears. He opens his eyes to stare up at a dim sky. The wind started to howl at him, as he with wide as stared at his surroundings. He was at a plateau, high in the stormy sky.
"Mya?" Blake screamed against the wind. It whipped his face, he had assumed it was a dream but the wind hurt and he could feel the cold spread through his body.
"I'm here Blake," Mya's voice said, her tone calming. "You are not alone."
"What am I doing here?"
"This is the Wind Trial, you will need to get to the ground."
Frowning, Blake pushed himself toward the edge only to scurry off when all he saw were clouds.
"I cannot, there is no way down. I think the plateau is floating," Blake screamed back.
"There is a way down, you will need to jump," Mya said. Blake's eyes widen, jump. Then this must be a dream. Going towards the edge, he took a deep breath and looked down. Paling, he scurried off when vertigo hit him. Fear dripped through his every nerve.
"I can't," Blake felt tears stream down his cheeks.
"Calm yourself," whispered someone, a familiar voice. Whose voice was that? Blake knew it but could not place it.
"Blake, can you hear me?" Mya asked, but Blake could barely hear her. Her voice was more of an echo, slowly fading off.
"Let go. Let go of the fear, who you are. Feel the wind, become one with it."
Blake closed his eyes. "Breathe."
"I know you," Blake whispered.
A chuckle replied, "As I know you. Now jump!"
Opening his eyes, Blake ran, not wanting to regret this. He threw himself off the cliff, tears streaming down his face as the wind dried up his eyes. He fell through the clouds, not halting in his descend. A burning sensation erupted from his palm and looking at it, he noticed a rune glowing on his palm, looking like a spiral. Before he could process the development, he felt his body become the wind. Flying over the clouds, the sky was his to venture.
"Open your eyes and see," whispered the voice. Then Blake remembered who the voice was.
"Ahriman?" Blake's eyes suddenly darted open, in shock he noticed that he was in the air in front of the Price mansion. The wind whipped the ground. Thunder flashed the sky. In shock, Blake gasped and everything suddenly went silent. The sky cleared and Blake fell.
Only to be caught by a couple of strong arms, "Got you!" said Jaxon, his eyes gleaming with triumph.
*****
"What the hell was that?" grunted Kai. He had rushed over with Elliott and Owen. Harrison and Wallace had also rushed over looking like day and night. Harrison looked grim while Wallace's face was gleaming with excitement. Behind them stalked Raine, not letting Blake go with his eyes. He stopped a few steps back though when Ronan stepped in between them, tilting his head with a dangerous grin, clearly, challenging Raine.
Raine didn't seem fazed though, not breaking his cold stone face. Though for a second his eyes seem to widen, and he darted around looking up at the roof for a second. Jaxon and Ronan followed his gaze to see black smoke fading away.
Jaxon knew who that was, but he had no intention of telling Raine who seemed rattled by the strong presence of an Archon. Turning back towards a grinning Blake who proudly showed his palm and the glowing rune on it. " I got the wind rune!"
"Great, why did the world go all apocalyptic on us for a second?" muttered Kai, still sniffing the air with suspicion.
"Blake summoned a storm," Mya looked both shocked and excited.
"Is that even possible, don't you need to combine different elements for that?" asked Wallace eagerly.
"He has the fire rune, and now wind. Notice that there was no rain. He doesn't have the water rune or we would be very wet," Mya said.
"He didn't even chant, and doesn't a weather spell need several practitioners?" Owen said grimly.
"Of course, " huffed Coney suddenly, earning a surprised yelp from Harrison. "A normal practitioner cannot summon several elements at a time, not enough magic for it, but Blake can summon several spirits at a time. It's only natural that he can summon several elements as well."
"But he didn't chant," Mya pondered, looking at Blake who stilled marveled at the rune he had acquired.
"He did," said Coney. "Just not out loud."
"Is that even possible? I have never heard of it," asked Wallace, looking at Blake like he was a rarity to study. Jaxon felt anxious and moved Blake out of his line of sight, pressing Blake towards his chest.
" Just because you haven't heard of it, doesn't mean that it doesn't exist," huffed Coney, scratching at Jaxon's leg, wanting to get into Blake's arms. Blake came out of his stupor, looking down at the cute little rabbit. Climbing out of Jaxon's arms, much to Jaxon's dismay, he picked up the rabbit, cuddling it in his arms.
"Well, either way, all of you are in the way. Blake isn't done yet, now the lesson actually starts and all of you-" Mya looked around at the group," are in the way of the lesson."
"But-" began Jaxon wanting to be close to Blake, but Kai grabbed onto his neck and dragged off with him.
"Get us some breakfast, Owen!" his mother's voice was the last thing he heard before he was dragged out of sight only to stop when they encountered Joshua. Owen and Elliott walked over, frowning at Joshua who waved them over.
"What-" began Elliott but when silent when Joshua signaled for him to quiet down, nodding towards Harrison and Raine who was just about to walk over to them but was stopped by a single glare from Owen.
"Alex and Hadrien were attacked by the witches in Elan Valley."
"What the fuck were they doing in witch territory?" Kai grimaced.
"A shifter had walked into the valley according to one of the druid som Alex, Hadrien and some other shifters went in to retrieve them before the shifter was discovered."
"It was a trap," Owen said grimly.
"Ouais, they escaped fairly unhurt but the trap was set for Alex. There were magical circles all over the place to capture him, they only activated when he stepped on them," Joshua explained, Jaxon noticing him inching closer to Elliott sneaking a grin towards him.
"Why would they want the cat?" asked Kai, not really convinced.
"It's most likely his father. As a father myself, I can say with certainty that I would want my sons safe. Getting them out of a warzone is a smart move in order to ensure that," Owen said, Jaxon looking over at him with a grin.
"You haven't sent us away."
"That's because I haven't found a place that could handle you yet, I'm still leaning on a deserted island but I have a feeling you three would kill each other in mere days so the plan isn't perfect yet."
"Well, no matter your plans, we still have important things to do here," Elliott looked at Joshua. "You said a druid told you this?"
"Ouais, my brother got the intel from a druid in Elan Valley who wanted to warn us."
"Does that mean that the druids have betrayed us?" asked Kai, cracking his knuckles.
"Not necessarily, it might just be that someone has fed the druids lies to test their loyalty," Owen said, grimacing. "Which means that the poor druid who gave us the intel might get seriously hurt."
"I will send some shifters to keep an eye out on the border, we will help them in case they need to flee but until we know for sure, we cannot really help them since they are staying in Elan Valley," Elliott said, rubbing his temples like a headache was coming on. "Either way, be careful with what you hear from here on out. I do not want you to do what Alex and Hadrien did. It is better if you come to me or dad if you hear something."
Glaring at them, Owen's jaws clenched. "This is not a game. People will get hurt or worse die, whether you like it or not, you will need to grow up fast and keep each other safe."
Not saying anything more they all walked their separate way, Jaxon sneaking back to take some peeks at his boyfriend only to get discovered by their mother and be put to work. The rest of the day went by uneventfully, but Jaxon still noticed that Raine was never far off from Blake.