I pushed up from my chair to greet her, and my monsters followed me.
“Yes, this is Alexandra, Elwin, Kylo, and Lucien,” Raph answered, introducing us each as we approached.
I wasn’t sure of the formal greetings here, but I placed my palms flat on my thighs and gave her a quick bow at the waist. “I’m so honored to be able to learn from you, Archangel Ariel. Thank you for taking the time to come here to teach me.”
“Is she always this formal?” Ariel asked, making me straighten and scowl as she looked at Raph with something akin to displeasure as her light faded enough to see her facial features. “You know I can’t handle that shit for long.”
Seeing her personality versus the soft-spoken sound of her voice was like having a bucket of ice cold water dumped over me. The difference didn’t jive to my brain, and I wouldn’t stand to be disrespected when all I did was show her my appreciation and manners.
My mouth opened, and I took a step forward before I even thought it through. My voice was tight as I said, “Excuse me, I’m right here. If you want to ask something about me, you can address me.”
Her golden gaze turned on me once more, running the length from my face, down to my feet, and back up. As our gazes clashed, I lifted my chin higher. I sensed her challenge, and I wouldn’t back down. I hadn’t come all this way just to be found lacking by my new teacher.
“Alright, maybe there is enough bite to you to do what needs to be done,” she surmised with a raised eyebrow. “Hold out your hand so I can take you where we’ll be training for the next few weeks.”
A lot happened all at once as she spoke.
Zurie exploded suddenly, yelling at Raph about how that’s not what they discussed. Meanwhile, Lucien grabbed my arm and yanked me firmly against his chest with a growl.
Ariel rolled her eyes and was suddenly in front of me, wrapping slender fingers around my wrist as she announced, “Calm down, I’ll have her back each night, per Raph’s instruction.”
Less than two seconds later, my vision was completely obscured by a bright white light. Lucien’s grip on me disappeared as Zurie’s voice faded away.
Chapter 11
ALEXANDRA
As we landed,I realized that whatever portal or magic Ariel used to travel didn’t give me the same type of nausea and sickness that traveling between realms did. Relief washed over me when she dropped my wrist as I found my feet and managed to stay standing.
“Follow me,” she demanded before taking off straight into a mass of clouds.
I began to quickly lose sight of her, so I took off after her, trying to not overthink the fact that the ground behind me felt solid. The last thing I needed was to get lost here and fall straight off the edge as I tried to escape.
“Keep up, Alexandra,” she drawled, her apparent annoyance with me not at all veiled.
Thankfully, her voice led me to pivot slightly to the right as I tried to find her. Unfortunately, with her bright appearance, she blended in a little too well with the clouds engulfing us. Unlike a normal person, there was no shadow or darkness present in her figure to help track her movement. If the cloudscape wasn’t already so bright with the sun refracting light amongst the clouds surrounding us, her light would have made it easy to follow along behind her.
Huffing out a breath as I slowed my pace behind her, I snarked back, “Trying my best.”
She didn’t miss a beat. “Try harder.”
I couldn’t decide if her tone annoyed me or if it made me want to prove whatever her opinion of me was wrong. Maybe a little bit of both. I wasn’t sure why the hell she seemed so set against me already. Why even offer to help me then?
Soft billows of clouds began to part in front of us, revealing an awe-inspiring sight. An arena, of course suspended on a cloud, appeared in the space before us. Its curved walls were made of bright white marble stones, and it glittered brightly in the light of the sun beaming down upon it.
“This is the Cloudborne Coliseum. It’s the furthest spot away from anyone’s home that you can get within our system’s area. I wasn’t sure what you could manifest with your powers, so figured it was best to give us a wide berth for safety purposes.”
The coliseum's entrance was framed by two towers that seemed to extend straight into the heavens as we drew closer, and the sheer size of this place became apparent. I was the size of an ant in comparison to it. The coliseum was a testament to both architectural mastery and the enchantment that somehow held something this heavy aloft on clouds.
Lost in my inspection of the coliseum, I didn’t pay close attention where we were heading, following blindly behind Ariel instead. When a sensation like mist caressed my ankles, I startled and glanced down and suddenly stopped dead in my tracks. My mouth dropped when I realized we were on top of a shimmering, opalescent bridge that traversed the divide between the current cloud we were on and the one the arena was suspended by.
“If you’re afraid of clouds and rainbows, there really is no hope for you,” Ariel called out, not bothering to look over her shoulder as she stepped onto our destination cloud.
Seriously, what the hell did I ever do to her? If she didn’t want to train me, I wasn’t sure why she told Raph that she would. Maybe she owed him some kind of life debt. It had to be something lofty, if her displeasure with me was any indication.
Her words spurred me on, and I ran the short distance, trying not to overthink the sensation beneath my feet that left me feeling like I was walking on air itself. Each step was cushioned by the gentle embrace of mist. I never thought I’d feel this way, but the second my foot touched the cloud, relief washed over me.
Colossal gates were spread wide open before me, and I had to wonder if they stayed open or if there was some system in place to open and close them when needed. Truthfully, I was just happy we didn’t have to figure that out, otherwise I had a sinking suspicion that Ariel's solution would be to pick me up and fly us over the top before dropping me to my death.
