“Even when she is running?” Kole asked, earning a look of disgust from Kiora.
“Do not insult me, Lysian,” Kiora said, pursing her lips. “We are Sparrows. You’ll see soon enough what that means.”
“When will all of this be set up and ready?” I turned to Willis.
“We spent most of yesterday laying out the plan and scouting an area. We are ready now if you are.”
“Well.” I stood from the table. “No time to waste.”
They led me out of the city to where training would take place. Kole and Willis alternated how far up the trail they waited for me to help keep an element of surprise. Everyone took their positions, and then we began. It took me several attempts before I could finally get a decent distance before being hit by one of the Sparrow’s arrows. My sides and back hurt from the previous blows while I ran forward. A thick wall of mist surrounded me, forming a barrier. Unfortunately, it also obscured my vision. I tripped, the dense fog fracturing enough for an arrow to cut through the cracks, hitting my lower back.
“UGH!” I fell, rolling onto my side and panting.
Erik appeared out of nowhere, holding his hand out to help me up.
I flinched, startled by his sudden presence.
“What are you doing here?” I asked while still on the ground, trying to catch my breath.
“It seems like you will never make it to me at this rate,” he commented.
I grunted, rolling over and getting to my feet without his help.
A smile tugged at those talented lips, and the thought of it warmed me from within. “You disagree with my assessment?”
“Get lost,” I said through clenched teeth. I needed to maintain my focus, and he wasn’t helping.
Kiora’s voice came from somewhere amongst the trees as she yelled out. “Hey, loverboy, we are in the middle of training!”
“Loverboy?” Erik’s eyes sparkled as he turned from the forest to me.
Exhaustion and irritation protected me from feeling an ounce of embarrassment.
I turned to leave and go back to the start of the course. Staying too long in one place without a distraction, and my mind wandered back to thoughts of Landin. The pain would again encase me in its stiff embrace.
“I can help you,” Erik said from where I left him standing, his tone losing all its amusement. Something about his voice drew me, the finality of that statement.
“How?” I turned.
“Your conjuring. You can use it to sense the arrows while not hindering your sight so much as creating a solid wall around yourself.” His eyes harbored such certainty that I didn’t even question whether it was possible.
“Show me.”
He smiled, closing the space between us. “The archers, how do they land their marks without having to see them with their eyes?”
“Their conjuring.”
“They use the breeze to help carry their arrows, but that also allows them to see through feeling. I can do the same with my flames, and so can you. At the ceremony for Landin, you used your gifts to clear the mist path for the Bavadrins carryingthe pallet without even looking at them. You did that by feeling. You need to sense the world and not think so hard.”
I shook my head in disappointment. “I don’t know if I have time for this, to learn this.”
His eyes sparkled with the way the sun hit them. “You are already doing it. You just haven’t realized it. Close your eyes.”
I stared at him.
His lip twitched. “Go on, I won’t bite.” Something about how he said it caused my heartbeat to pick up its pace. Hewinkedat me.
I suppressed a smile and obliged.
