Embracing the Flames (6 page)

“I want to be present when it happens,” I interjected with a sudden boost of confidence. I needed to be there if I wanted a chance at learning the truth.

My father nearly jumped out of his seat. “Outrageous, Aurora. You will not be present for that. He doesn’t deserve to be in your presence.”

I rolled my eyes.
Here we go
.

“I agree one hundred percent,” Fenn added murderously. I shot him a look.

“Ladies shouldn’t be present for that kind of thing,” Gabe stated diplomatically.

Really?
I thought to myself.

Lexi popped her head from around the corner of the hallway and scoffed, “You men are so stupid. So inconsiderate,” and then she disappeared. She took the words from my mouth.

“Aurora?” Astral questioned, leaving the floor open for my thoughts.

I stood up to make my point clear. “Every one of you knows exactly what I’m thinking,” I said sharply. “I don’t need to say it.” I turned from them and looked Astral straight in the eyes. “When you are ready to speak with him, come and get me. I need to be there,” I reiterated.

He smiled and nodded. At least he let me in on one thing.

I heard the three men gruff in unison as I slumped off to my room. Lexi popped her head from her door and asked warily, “You got a minute?”

The inevitable apology.

“Sure.” I walked into my room, leaving the door open for her entrance. She closed it and sat on the bed facing me.

“I’m sure you know this is about Fenn.” Her eyes were troubled. “I wanted to apologize. I um —” she waited a moment as if searching for the right words. “I didn’t know who he was to me when I first met you. Honestly,” she assured. “I don’t think my mother wanted you to find out.” Her face went rigid at the word mother.

I reached for her hand.

“There was too much at stake, and well, you know how my mouth is. I can’t keep it shut to save my soul. I would’ve blurted that out, and she knew that, so she erased it from my memory before I came for you.” Anger flared in her eyes. “It wasn’t until I crossed back over to this realm that I remembered, and at that point, I knew that seeing Fenn alone after all that you had went through to find him would be enough of a shock for you. After that,” she paused, “well, I just didn’t know when the right time should be.”

I let out a deep breath.

“It’s okay, Lex, I get it. Say no more, okay?” I petted her hand in reassurance. “We’re good.” I leaned in and hugged her, thankful that we could clear the air. At least I had someone I could count on to be honest with me. I needed her in my life. She was my family now.

Her tense shoulders dropped as a broad smile stretched across her face. “I am so relieved! I thought for sure that you were going to hate me,” she admitted. I wanted to kick myself for making her feel that way.

“I could never hate you. I was mad, definitely, but not even close to hate. You’re such a dork.” I leaned back against my pillow.

“So, um, how are things with Fenn?” she asked sheepishly, rolling onto her belly and dropping to her elbows next to me.

“There isn’t any “thing” with him. At least, not right now,” I replied, trying to hide the regret that I felt. “He can’t seem to trust me, and I won’t be in a relationship built on mistrust.”

If only it were that simple. Being soul mates didn’t make staying away from him easy.

She sighed and then said, “I wish things could be that clear and concise for me.” Her eyes peered over at me expectantly. She was waiting for me to ask her to explain. I could tell because that’s how she was, dramatic.

I played into it. “Explain.”

She began picking at the frayed ends of the pillow I was leaning against and sighed once again. “I really like Logan. I don’t know what it is about him.”

“Me either,” I muttered under my breath.

She glared at me. “Are you going to let me finish, Miss Smarty Pants?”

I nodded, laughing when she nudged me.

Her face dropped a little as she looked back at the pillow. “Brohm will be here tomorrow,” she said softly.

That explained it all. That explained her desperate need to talk to me about this. I thought back to the night we spent in the hotel in the other realm. That was when I had first learned of her proposed marriage to Brohm. The man she didn’t know or love.

We had discussed this situation a few days ago, searching for a way to get her out of this unconventional situation. I had reminded Lexi that he worked for Zordon. With everything happening after Zane’s attack against me and Zordon’s war, I figured she could get out of it based on that mere fact alone. No mother would let her daughter marry someone on the wrong side of the war.

But then again, her mother was Eve.

“What about what we discussed?”

“It didn’t work,” she said sadly.

I sat up. “What!? So your mother would let you marry someone on Zordon’s side?” I didn’t try to hide the disgust that curled my tone.

“Actually, no,” she said incredulously. “For once, I can say that she is a good mom. She would never let me marry someone who supported Zordon.”

I was confused.

After noting my curious stare, she quickly added, “He left the Magium a few weeks ago to join the Draconta’s army. I don’t think my fate could get any worse.” She sounded troubled as she rolled over and began flipping the pillow around in her hands.

“What are you going to do about Logan?” I asked, trying to take the whole thing seriously.

“That’s the thing, I don’t know. I think I may be in love with Logan. Brohm won’t agree. He is an honorable man.”

“Lexi, you’re not in love with Logan. You’ve only known him for like what, a few weeks now? That’s not enough time.”

She huffed and then said, “Yes it is,” and folded her arms across her chest like a pouting child.

“Oh yeah, well, what’s his middle name?”

She stuttered and then said, “That is so irrelevant to love.”

“No, Lexi, those things are important. Maybe if you stop thinking with your lips and start thinking with your heart, you would understand that.” I made her face me. “Love is not just a physical thing you feel for someone.”

I felt my cheeks blush. Of course Fenn’s mouth and hands had to pop into my thought process.

“And if your mother, or anyone for that matter, found out about what you two were up to, I doubt he’d still exist. We need to get him back to the other realm.”

She sat up, hopeful. “You’re right, Rory. Wow. You are so smart with these sorts of things. You know what?” She stood up, looking rejuvenated.

“What?” I asked, my voice suspicious.

“I’m going to march into my room right now and get to know Logan. Really get to know him. Friendship is more important.”

She started for the door.

“That was not my point!” I called after her.

Chapter 4

Finding my Heritage

THE REST OF THE DAY moved painfully slow. I buried myself in studying. Fenn opted out, choosing to spend more time practicing his magic out in the field. He had taken a keen interest in the air element which made me chuckle every time I thought about it. I rolled over, thinking back to when I first realized how fitting it was.

“Why is it so funny that I am good at tapping into the air element?” he had asked me.

I looked at him, waiting for it to hit him. When he didn’t come back with anything, I said, “What is air?”

“Oxygen.”

“And what does oxygen do to fire?”

His smile grew as the answer finally hit him. “Fuels it.”

I rolled back over, still smiling from the thought. My eyes burned from a lack of blinking. I had finally finished reading the last of the training manuals given to me by Astral. I willingly tossed the book across my bed, glad to be finished with them all. It landed with a light thud amongst the pile of other books. But even with all of this freshly learned knowledge, I still didn’t feel any different, any more in control of the battle that was sure to come.

This bothered me. I had no idea what was going to happen, or even what was happening. Zordon was out there, doing Fate only knows what, to get one step ahead of us, while I’m stuck here reading. It wasn’t right. I should be doing something about it…trying to stop him.

I rubbed the throbbing pain from my eyes, revelling in the feel of my eyes being closed. When I opened them, the four walls of my room seemed to collapse in around me, confining me to boredom. I sighed and stood, sulking over to the door. There was only one person I wanted to talk to right now.

I lightly knocked on Astral’s door and waited a moment before cracking it open.

“Come in,” he said, his head bent over, closely inspecting a small box on his desk. He was inscribing something on the sides. I shut the door behind me.

All his trinkets were still floating about the room, dancing whimsically to a silent tune. When he finished with the box, he tucked it inside a drawer and looked up at me. His eyes were glowing brightly.

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing in the general direction of where he placed the box.

“Hmm...that?” he said absently, “just a little reinforcement.” He finished the thought with a smile. “What brings you to this side of the house?”

I fidgeted. “Can I tell you something?” I asked hesitantly.

His brows rose.

“I feel like going before the Council is a waste of time.” I tried to keep from sounding like a teenager who was told to clean her room and straightened my shoulders, hoping that he would understand. “Don’t you think we should be focusing more on weeding information out of Zane?”

He sat back with a shocked look on his face. “Your title does matter, Aurora. It is a matter of gaining respect. If you want to be viewed as a respectable Mage, then you need to go before the Council and be granted a title. If you want to be able to lure other Mages to our side, then you must first earn their respect. A Liege won’t even consider listening to you if you don’t have a title.”

“If that ever happens,” I said under my breath.

Astral’s eyes pulsed, daring me to continue. “What do you mean by that?” 

“I mean, I don’t think you, or my dad, or even Gabe for that matter, will ever think that we are ready. We are still too young to fight in your eyes.”

I looked at him defiantly, ensuring that he understood where this was coming from. “And I really can’t see a silly title changing that or the way I feel inside. It won’t change my insecurities. And it sure as hell won’t protect me from what’s coming.”

“No, it won’t change those things. What you do not understand is, although you are prophesized for something great, you are still here, in the now. Your father and I have worked very hard to give you a normal life. It’s a smidgen of happiness amongst the despair that is sure to come.”

I was taken aback by Astral’s blatant honesty, and I suddenly felt a little selfish. I ran my hands through my hair, kicking myself once again for not thinking before I spoke. As my hands fell to my side, there was one question that popped up amongst my punishing thoughts. “Do you really think I can do it? Stop him, I mean?”

I was almost scared to hear his answer.

With glowing eyes of wisdom, Astral tilted his head. “A cat climbing incredible heights isn't afraid of falling because of the faith it has in the object it climbs, but because it has faith in its ability to land on all fours. Your fear will be the only thing holding you back.”

It was just the thing I needed to hear.

He chuckled as the words continued to replay in my mind. “Are you ready for some more training?”

“When am I not?”

The trinkets whizzed by me and onto the shelves as the chair in front of his desk slid out on its own, inviting me to take a seat.

Astral leaned forward, his eyes darkening, and lowered his voice. “What I intend to teach you is something only for advanced Mages.”

I eagerly moved to the edge of the seat.

After a moment’s pause, he casually leaned back, his eyes mocking my assumption. “But since you feel that going before the Council is unnecessary,” he mused lightly, “learning how to conserve your magical energy is, in turn, pointless.”

I huffed and crossed my arms, slouching down into the seat. “If I am to defeat Zordon, then you should teach me anyway, despite my opinion.”

After a short chuckle, he moved on. “I want to teach you a method the Priests use to conserve energy.”

That piqued my interest. I sat up straight once again. “Fenn read about them last night.” I tugged on my lower lip in thought. “Something about them teaching Mages how to conserve energy and being taken in under an apprenticeship.”

His face grew dark. “You
never
want to apprentice with them. Do you understand?”

My face screwed up in confusion. “Why?”

He ran a smooth hand through his hair. “Though they are wise in the ways of healing and harnessing energy, they are not to be viewed as a kindly race. Once you are taken in, you may never leave. Their sole purpose is to protect the Pool of Virtue. Leaving is punishable by death. Stealing a drop from the Pool is far worse...something that only a fool would try.”

I swallowed hard. Who would steal from them? “Well, when you put it like that…”

He watched me for a moment, like he wanted to say something else, but then his face shifted back to scholarly sternness. “Controlling the use of energy is not an easy feat,” he said, rising from his chair behind the thick mahogany desk.

“The energy inside of a living being is as mysterious as electricity. It is a powerful source that no other race, aside from the Magium, is able to tap into. Knowing this is the beginning to understanding exactly how using this energy works–what the Priests have come to understand. They have experimented on Mages for centuries.” His tone dropped on the last sentence, sounding grave and repulsed.

“Experimented? Where does the Priests magic come from?”

He stopped pacing and turned in my direction. “Priests are trained to harness the energy from the Pool of Virtue. They are able to meditate into a state of mind that allows them to use the Pool’s energy to heal, but it is an artificial magic. It can only be used as long as they are in tune with the Pool. Because their magic is artificial, they are fascinated by the Magium race and how they are able to conjure magic from within.” He didn’t sound too enthusiastic about it.

I was baffled. “Why do they practice healing if they don’t use it for the greater good?”

“The Elder Priests of the Amethyst Temple do on occasion leave,” he said in a tone that implied I should have paid attention to what I read. “When a war is present, that is.” His eyes twinkled with hope. He had been meaning to tell me this. “They have the ability to hold the harnessed power from the Pool within themselves for long periods of time. Those are the Priests you want to meet and bring to our side.”

“You think they will choose our side?” I asked quietly, hoping that these contradictory Priests would make the right choice.

He sighed. “Hard to say. But no matter, we will deal with that when the time comes. Your first priority is to earn your title. Then we can focus on preparing for war.”

I felt a smidgen of hope.

There was a moment of strong silence. Astral tugged on his beard, then he looked up at me, smiling. “First things first, I need you to focus on the light within you. That is where your energy stems from.”

I stared at him, my mind going blank. “How do I do that?”

“There is a place for every special thing in the world,” he said insightfully. “Your light,” he pointed to where my heart rested, “is inside the very center of you.”

I glanced down to where he pointed, looking for some obvious sign. Everything looked normal.

“It is pumped throughout your being,” he added knowingly, “providing you with endless possibilities. Close your eyes and focus on it, Aurora.”

I closed my eyes as tight as they would go, feeling a slight pulse within me. It was easy to tune the silent room out, but my thoughts were chaotic. Doubts and insecurities surfaced along with the images that supported my failures.

“This is the hardest part, Aurora.” Astral’s voice was soft, patient. “You have to learn to let it all go. You will
always
have to let it all go if you are ever to control what is inside of you.”

I nodded, keeping my eyes closed, and let out a deep sigh. The pulse was there. It had always been there, even when I was in the other realm. It was a constant craving for power. It was as deeply imbedded in me as my dragon.

I cleared my mind of all doubts and began to feel the energy inside me, a light that constantly buzzed. I focused in and realized that I could feel it in a heightened manner, that I could almost see it.

“Good, you have tuned into it,” Astral said. “Now you will need to learn how it works inside of you. I want you to throw a spell at me, but when you do, stay focused on the energy. Watch how it depletes.”

“Okay.” I slowly let the light flow through my veins. It felt like liquid fire as it pulsed throughout me and energy filled my palms. “Occidium!”

The light inside of me flickered in and out of darkness. I watched my energy lessen.

“Another. This time, a stronger spell,” he challenged.

“Obscuro!”

Once again, the light inside of me dimmed. The force I placed behind the spell kept my light on a low simmer. I was trying to conceal Astral, but his presence was so large, it was nearly impossible.

With determination, I tried for something a bit easier. I focused on Astral’s hands and poured my energy into the task, forgetting about watching the light inside of me.

His hands slowly began to disappear and then his arms followed suit. It continued until I reached his chest. For a brief moment, I thought I would be able to make his head disappear. I went for it.

Then I felt fatigue set in. My head began to spin and my vision blurred.

“Tune back into your light, Aurora.”

I let the spell fizzle out. My energy had dimmed to near extinction. I couldn’t do another spell like that even if I had tried.

“Now you understand how easy it is to deplete yourself. Your energy source is like a muscle. It needs exercise and, more importantly, it needs to be trained.” He stood and lightly patted me on the shoulder. “You will train yourself to use it minimally.” It sounded more like a fact than a command.

“How am I going do that?”

“That was the whole point of this exercise — to teach you how. Your energy is restored with rest,” he reassured. “Rest is a state of mind. You must learn to quiet your mind the same as when you sleep. Try this — slow your breathing.”

I inhaled and exhaled deeply, slowing my pace.

“Feel the inner peace that comes with quietness.”

My eyes grew heavy.

“Now focus in on your energy. You will need to remain calm and in control. At peace. That is the only way you will ever be able to slow the depletion of your energy.”

I stifled a yawn as I nodded my understanding.

He chuckled. “It will take time and practice before you can master this technique, but if you practice every night on slowing your energy use while you’re resting, you will be able to do it.”

It made sense.

“Thanks, Astral,” I said, smiling, once again covering a yawn. “If I can do this, maybe it will help with my shift.”

“About that,” he said after a moment’s pause. “I think I may have found the solution.” He looked to the floor. “It may have to do with the binding spell I placed on you when you were born.” The faint sound of regret resounded in his voice.

I glanced down at my necklace, the same necklace I had gone through so much to get from Soothe. It was what bound the dragon spirit to me and what helped heal me when I was hurt.

“How can we fix it then?”

He looked up with promise. “In two days, before your review with the Council, we will meet again to train. I want to try something different.”