SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 75- The Training Grounds

"There we go." Alice smiles warmly "Deep breaths, you've got this." she says reassuringly. As I look around, I see the clouds begin to disappear, making way for the blue sky.

"Atta-girl." Mom says happily, "See, I told you that you could do it on your own." she says as she squeezes me tightly.

"Whoa." I state as I stare out at the sky "I made that happen?"

As we make our way to the guard's training grounds, I feel nervous. Nixi is one of the strongest warriors I have ever met, but when it comes to whatever this is, I'm afraid she may be out of her element. Aurora or Roxie, hell, even my mom would have made more sense. They understand the mind and the soul's aura more than anyone, they would have some idea how to tap into this. But Nixi is a warrior of elemental chaos who harnesses the skies, and she's an amazing teacher, but what is the plan here?

"You may be the one with the potential to read minds, but I know what you're thinking." Nixi nudges me as we step outside into the yard "I may not know exactly what mental mumbo jumbo you can conjure up, but I may be able to point you in the right direction." she explains confidently.

"How?" Magnus asks skeptically, jogging to catch up with us.

"Simple," Nixi smiles as she steps ahead, turning around to face us "The ability is already inside of Tessa, it even personified itself and was able to speak with her. Chances are, since the two of you have merged, that part could instinctively just... go for it." she winks.

"That's your plan?" Magnus asks, sounding dissatisfied.

"To be honest, that's not unlike when I figured out how to manipulate wind." I shrug "But, this seems mostly mental, how am I supposed to test it?" I ask nervously.

"I'm glad you asked," she smiles, waving two guards forward, but they stop and block the entrance of the grounds "Try and tap into my mind."

"I'm sorry, what?" I ask, taken back by the outrageous suggestion.

"Did I stutter?" she giggles, flipping her hair back "Volunteers aren't exactly going to be lining up for this, so let's do this."

"What are you expecting her to try?" Magnus asks worriedly.

"That's not up to me," Nixi states, winking "Now give me whatever you've got," she explains, taking a few steps back. I glance between her and Magnus anxiously, pacing to stand before Nixi. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, trying to focus on her energy. I can sense her, feeling her aura in the distance like static faintly bouncing off of my skin. It feels like the calm before a storm, the scent of rain and I can practically hear a distant rumble of thunder. It's her, it's Eliana.

"I feel it," I say calmly "I can feel your energy and sense your abilities."

"Perfect, perfect," Nixi says eagerly "Now see what you can do with it," she suggests. I hesitate at first but focus on the static. The more I focus, the more powerful the shocks feel, almost as though they're protecting her mind from me.

"Are you doing that on purpose?" I ask, trying not to break concentration.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nixi snickers, and I immediately know she's trying to test me. Fighting through the pain, I push through, and suddenly I feel a burst of energy. I open my eyes, but I'm not seeing the training grounds, I see flashes of Nixi's recent memories and important thoughts. Blinking rapidly, I snap out of it, and when I open my eyes again, everything is back to normal.

"Holy..." I mutter, looking across at Nixi who appears to be rubbing her forehead with her palm.

"Nice," she states, giving me a thumbs up "I'll assume you saw something since my head hurts and yours glowed." she laughs.

"My forehead was glowing?" I ask, gently touching the symbol on my face.

"Yup, looks like you're on the right track." she smiles happily "If you wanna go harder, be my guest, I can take it."

"What if I hurt you?" I ask worriedly, holding my hands against my chest.

"Do I look like I care?" she states, widening her arms and taking a bow "If it's too much, I'll shoot you with lightning to make us even, deal?" she offers.

"...deal," I state, starting to refocus.

"What kind of stupid ass idea is that?" Magnus asks from the sidelines.

"Stay out of this, loverboy." Nixi says mockingly "This is between me and the new angel of darkness. Now, let's do this." she smiles menacingly. I glance at Magnus who seems completely dumbfounded by what we're doing, but Nixi is right. The only way you can learn is through experience. This time with my eyes open, I focus on Nixi and start to glare at her, studying her eyes as she starts to take a fighting stance. The static feeling starts to return, but before I can go deeper, the sky above us starts to become cloudy, and I know what's coming. Just as she cocks her head to the side, I dart out of the way and a small bolt of lightning hits the ground near where I had been standing.

"Focus!" Nixi states, casually walking to one of the weapons stands and picking up a curved sword "Try and stop me." she shouts, twirling the sword and holding it out, slowly approaching me. Breathing heavily, I try to tap back into her mind, but everything feels blurred. Suddenly, she slides her left foot back, lunging forward and dashing toward me. In fear, I push my hands forward, casting a heavy gust, pushing her back on her ass.

"Damnit Breeze, no wind!" she growls, quickly jumping to her feet. At a distance, she wings her sword toward me, casting smaller bolts of lightning to strike near me, and I quickly have to dodge them all, running laterally until they stop.

"What do you want me to do?" I shout, catching my breath.

"Don't think, just act!" she orders, coming at me again. I'm prepared to dodge, but stop, closing my eyes and deciding to face her head-on. I feel my aura begin to build up, and as I open my eyes, I expel it from my body, forcing my palms forward and creating a cloud of thick smoke that pushes her back, throwing her weapon out of her hand and making her fall to her knees. When I look at my hands, I see the symbols glowing violet, and as the smoke clears, they begin to fade.

"Whoa..." I gasp, starting to chuckle "Now that's more like it!" I shout, and as I clasp my hands together in front of my chest, the energy builds again, and I feel myself being lifted off of the ground. I can see a thinner smoky aura swirling around me, and as I swing my arms down, the same smoke erupts downward in a strong gust of wind, knocking Nixi, Magnus, and the two guards down. As I gently return to the ground, they all seem shocked, yet excited. Suddenly, Nixie starts to clap slowly.

"Good progress, good progress." she states, slowly climbing to her feet and brushing herself off "I can't say that I was expecting anything like that," she explains.

"Ditto." I laugh, making my way to Magnus and helping him up.

"Can you just, um, make those glow at will?" he asks nervously. I look down at my hand and open it, looking curiously at my palm. Suddenly, it begins gleaming.

"I suppose so." I smile excitedly, watching a small smoke cloud form around it "Fascinating."

"Gael's aura became dark smoke over the years, but the interesting thing here is that this doesn't feel at all similar." Nixi explains, reaching into the smoke and gently touching my hand "It's all you."

"Now we just need to get my parents to see it that way." I sigh "They can barely look at me."

"Give them time to see that you are the same you," she explains reassuringly "Knowing that he tried to corrupt you was hard enough, so seeing that he succeeded in touching your soul makes them feel like they failed to protect you. I don't think you being okay now changes that fact in their minds." she sighs.

"Gael was only corrupted because of the ancient freaks," Magnus states irritatedly "I'm sure they should be more focused on that right now."

"Oh, they are," Nixi states, heading toward the guards "And if you take Ember off of the table, Arsen seems to want to face one of them more so than the rest," she explains as they part themselves, letting us through.

"Which one?" I ask nervously.

"His 'old friend' who influenced his past and in the recent weeks, imprisoned his daughter."