Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) (42 page)

Solomon raised an eyebrow, “Then why don’t you tell us?”

“I would love to if you all would just shut up for a minute. There are only a few people here that can actually go into battle, therefore, I’ve had to plan accordingly. I want groups of four; each group takes a different route through Unith, hits the targets I’ve marked for them, and rendezvous just outside of Ateri. If all goes well, we will only need to do minimal fighting before we get to the capital and we can cut off reinforcements.”

“What’s the spread looking like?”
Said Darcia.

Mathieu sat back in his swivel chair, “Okay. My unit will consist of myself, Erik, Enak, Solomon, Jo, Lione, and Kiev. Darcia, you are in charge of Unit Two which consists of yourself, Adele, Josette, and Zanika. Zerieve, you’re with Lenore, Narrie, and Akira as Unit Three. And finally, Avanon, you’re in charge of Elric and Ayame.” He ignored the sounds of discontent. “I’ve thought this through. It’s what is required. Also, for communication and timing purposes, Darcia’s unit will take Nikola, Unit Three will take Niveus, and Tesla goes with Avanon’s group. Those three and I can communicate long distance in case of order changes.”

Zanika was shaking her head. “No. I refuse to be away
from Zerieve.”

“And separating Ayame and Akira would be a bad idea,” Solomon said.

“Enough.” Mathieu said. He was too tired to deal with their complaining, and he had spent the last three days analyzing every aspect of the plan. This was the most logical and intelligent break down of his forces. “My job is to tell you what to do. Then, you do it. I have a reason for everything I’ve done, so quit arguing and just do it.”

Enak giggled. “I think his plan is wonderful.”

Mathieu nodded. “Thank you. I also have a plan to help strengthen everyone’s gifts. I want to start on that today.” He said around a yawn. His suspicions about his helping book were right, and it had expanded its tutorials to include other gifts. “Today, I need Jo, Zanika, and Zerieve.” The clones nodded to him in understanding.

“Does that mean the rest of us can go?” Avanon asked, smiling.

“Yeah, go for it.” Everyone but Solomon left the room. Mathieu closed his eyes, thumping his head against the back of his chair.

“You look like hell…” The blond man said.

Getting to his feet, Mathieu made a soft sound of protest. “That would be because I haven’t slept in three days.” His mind had been a whirlwind, unable to sleep. If it wasn’t the plan, it was Erik; if it wasn’t Erik, it was Solomon. His mind had been going in circles over and over until he had given up on trying
to sleep
. So now, he
was in a perpetual state of half-conscious.

Solomon stood from his seat, too, pulling Mathieu against him. Then he kissed Mathieu softly, stroking his lower back.

Mathieu didn’t have the strength to fight, to try and understand why Solomon was now acting like this; so he kissed the blond back, arms sliding around the man’s neck before gently nibbling at his lip. Somewhere inside him a fire was being lit and fueled, his body warming up and a light flush sweeping over his skin. A soft whimper left his mouth as Solomon lifted him by the back of his thighs, setting him on the table.

Hot lips were pressed against Mathieu’s throat, whispering, “Shit, Mathieu. I’m sorry.” Solomon kissed his pulse. “Pushing you away was just stupid…I know I shouldn’t have been worr—”

“Shut up. Talk later.” Mathieu threaded his fingers through Solomon’s hair, crushing their lips back together. His body was far too interested in what those lips could do, not what they could say.

~*~

Yawning, Mathieu cuddled against the blond next to him, placing a kiss on Solomon’s ribs. Politely, no one had disturbed them for what he was sure were the past twenty-four hours.

Solomon ran his fingers through Mathieu’s hair. “Now can we talk?”

“Don’t get all mushy on me. I get it, Solomon. And as
long as you don’t do something stupid, like freeze me out again, then I’m pretty sure things will be just fine. I don’t plan to go anywhere. Do you?” Mathieu asked.

“No, no I don’t.”

Chapter

Nineteen

“Okay, you two. Get your asses up.
Seriously.
Mathieu, you have work to do. And Solomon…well, you have to surrender our leader.” Jo’s hands were on his hips while he stood at the end of the bed, having woken them up from a dead sleep.

Groaning, Mathieu reached out for any article of his clothing he could reach. The first thing he found was a shirt and pulled it on, then realized it was Solomon's. He didn’t really mind. Next he found his boxers and was soon fully dressed. He kissed the blond on the forehead before following Jo out of the room and down into the kitchen.

Which was where he was met with a roomful of pointed grins.
"Oh, shut up, all of you." He muttered, folding his arms and turning about fifteen shades of red.

"Eat." Erik was the only one not smiling. His face was
etched with lines of concern and annoyance. He pushed a plate of food at Mathieu.

"Thanks." He sat at the counter, "Jo, go get my book, will you? And don’t bother Solomon." Mathieu ate while Jo was gone, then reached out for him book once he was back. "Okay, Zanika, Zerieve, and Jo. You're my first victims. Come on, you three." He patted Erik's shoulder as he passed and went outside, a half eaten piece of toast hanging out of his mouth.

One of the benefits of where the resistance headquarter was located, at the top of a cliff, was that it provided large areas of space without compromising privacy. Mathieu went to a circle of large, flat rocks and sat down. The three darkness users sat as well, along with Lione. "Oi, Lione, I didn't invite you."

"Nope.
I did." Jo smiled, looking at his pet.

He sighed.
"Fine, fine.
Hold on a second." Mathieu took a moment to open his book and read to himself:

After Shapers come the Elementals. Within these groups there are also classifications or subcategories. The elements follow the path of life: Darkness, Air, Water, Light, Earth, and Fire.

Beyond the Elementals, there are Sensers and Seers, and the more common Magic Users. However, the three latter
tend to be aware of their limitations, allowing them to access their full potential without guidance.

"That's not helpful at all, you useless book..." In response to his words, the book provided a few choice phrases before it headed a new page "Conduits and Insulators".
The element users of darkness are referred to as Conduits and Insulators. There are a few key differences in the types of users.

"Okay, this is what we need." He skimmed all the information for a moment. "Jo, hang tight. Zanika and Zerieve, this is for you. Darkness users are called ‘Conduits’ and ‘Insulators’, blah blah blah.
'Conduits are those who can funnel the darkness into any form they require it to take, however, they must be able to interact with it. They tend to be dependent upon their powers instead of their non-darkness skills. This can be a weakness for them.'

'Exercises for Conduits need to center around their ability to regulate the flow of darkness. Also, developing fighting skills that don't involve their element is essential to success.'
"

Zanika, who had lain back on the stones while Mathieu read, stuck her hand straight up in the air, "We know how to use swords; Darcia taught us. I just don't like them."

"That's good. It means that you just need a refresher course.
Talk to Darcia.
As for learning to regulate your darkness, I think I have an idea. Get up." Mathieu got to his feet and stretched,
then
he created a dense, medium sized ball of energy. He tossed it in the air and caught it a
few times. This had been an exercise that he had done when he was working on strengthening his own magic. "You see this ball? Don't let it touch the ground. And you can't touch it, either. Work together." He smiled and tossed the ball higher, stepping out of the way.

"Eck!" Zanika scrambled to her feet, pushing at the ball with her darkness as it fell towards her. "Holy! What's this thing made of?
Lead?"
She must not have realized how heavily it was because she had to catch it to stop it from hitting the ground. Mathieu smiled as she gave a twitch when the energy ball touched her skin and sent a jolt through her system. Zanika dropped the ball.

Mathieu rolled his eyes, picking up the ball. "I told you not to touch it."

She swore and got to her feet, "Again!" Her forehead was furrowed in annoyance. This time, she managed to stop it a few inches above her hands,
then
used her darkness to push it back up into the air, sending it towards her sister. “This is cool!” She said, beaming after not being zapped again. Zerieve grunted as she forced the ball back into the space above their heads.

Mathieu rolled his eyes. "Don't try to adjust your darkness to be strong enough. Use your instincts to tell you how much power you need. Quit second guessing yourselves."

Both gave him an annoyed, 'butt out' look, but he just smiled and waved them off. Then he turned to the other two, hands on his hips, "Okay, Jo. You're up."

"I already know what my section says.
Meditation and learning to control the release of my darkness.
I can do
that by myself." Jo wrinkled his nose.

"Excuse me? I didn't tell you what you're doing yet," he grinned at them, "you, my dears, are going to play a game of capture the flag." Jo snorted as if it were a joke.

Lione, who had a tendency to stand in the background and be invisible, nodded in silent agreement.

Jo, realizing Mathieu was serious, frowned. "That'll be boring with only two people."

"But you aren't playing regular capture the flag, Jo. Lione is going to be the flag; a human flag that can prevent you from touching him with his wind.
Which is the point.
You need to learn to be selectively vicious." Mathieu smiled, "if you can get a single tag on Lione by the time Zanika and Zerieve's practice is over, I'll let you do your training by yourself. If you can't, I get to supervise
all
of your meditation sessions."

"Waa!"
Jo's botton lip stuck out. "Fine, Mathieu! You just wait and see!"

"Lione, stop him and the first drink is on me tonight."

The raven gave a small smirk before raising a hand in front of him. Mathieu felt the tingle at the base of his skull again, but he ignored it, realizing it was the shift in air pressure around him caused by Lione. "Come at me, kid. And try to be a challenge."

"Don't worry there, pet. I'm surprisingly mean." Jo grinned sweetly at his counterpart. They were well balanced against each other, in both personality and stature. While Jo was outgoing, childish, and sweet,
naturally appealing to people; Lione was quiet, shy, and tended to put people off. Jo was cute with his button nose and short height, whereas Lione was tall with a hard jaw and sharp eyes.
Yin and yang.
But it was more than that. They understood each other. Jo made Lione feel comfortable enough to come out of his shell a bit, resulting in a smile here or a chuckle there. And Lione gave the brunet the devotion and attention he needed, never leaving his side.

The time they spent together was reflected in how they moved in sync with each other. Jo would feint this way, spin that way. Lione would retreat, always just out of reach even without his wind to protect him. On the rare occasion that Jo got close to the raven, Lione would just smile and stop his hand in its tracks.

Around and around the two went. Not far away Zanika and Zerieve were in a silent struggle of their own, but not with each other. Whenever either of the girls seemed to be getting the hang of it, Mathieu would adjust the density of the energy ball. Sometimes lighter.
Sometimes not.