“I'm not a warrior,” I whined and let my sword drop.
“Never rest your sword on its tip!” Xae used his sword to lift mine. “You'll dull it.”
“Ugh! It's just wood!” I tossed the thing at the rack that held the practice swords.
“Yes, we train with wooden swords, but we treat them like steel so that we instill good habits.”
Since Xae insisted on teaching me in the training yard, I had plenty of witnesses to my poor performance and temper tantrum. Which made me even angrier. My face was already flushed from my efforts but when I noticed all the Wraith Lords chuckling or smirking, it went even redder.
“This is futile,” I said. “I'm done.”
“The fuck you are,” Xae growled and picked up my sword. “You need to be able to protect yourself.” He shoved the sword at me.
“Icanprotect myself!”
“Without magic,” Rath added. “Ember, this is important. We may not always be around to watch over you.”
“I'mthe one who empowersyou!” I pointed at him. “I don't need you watching over me.” To emphasize my point, I tossed the wooden sword upward, caught it with Air, covered it in Earth, wet the dirt with Water, then baked it with Fire. When the clay was hardened, I let it fall, sending shards flying when it hit the ground. “You see? I can do what I did to the Corrupter on command now.”
“And what if your magic fails?” Xaedren asked.
“It won't.”
“What if a Corrupted rushes you before you can project magic at it?” Rath demanded. “Or what if the Corrupter engages you? You saw me fighting him the day we met. How much good did my magic do against him?”
“I remember him deflecting your wraith, but you landed some blows with your other magic. And you can't do what I can with the elements.”
“Pride,” Xaedren muttered and shook his head.
“It's not pride. I'm stating a fact,” I said.
“It is pride, and it's not unwarranted,” Rath said. I started to smile, but then he added, “But pride is a weakness. It gives you too much confidence.”
“And too much confidence can get you killed,” Xae said.
“Fine,” I huffed and brought the sword to my hand with Air Magic. “I'll keep going if that's what you want. But I'm not going to get any better.”
“Yes, you will,” Rath said.
“You've been spoiled by magic,” Xaedren said. “You were born with great power and had years to adjust to it which made learning to use it easy. Now, you think that learning all new skills should be easy. It's not. This is hard work, Ember. We've all trained tirelessly to become warriors. And we continue to train every day. You will train daily too. You'll do it because I can't be at my best if I'm worried about you.”
“I already said I would,” I grumbled.
“Then hit the fucking pell!” Xaedren pointed at the thick wooden post, set upright in a sturdy base.
I squared my shoulders, lifted my sword, and swung from my hips as they had taught me.
And the pell, that inanimate object, knocked the sword right out of my hand.
“Fuck me,” Xae muttered.
Chapter Forty
“Why haven't we been summoned yet?” I asked as I sat down for lunch with Rath and Xae. “I thought we'd be the first to get sent, but I keep watching other Lords fade off to missions.”
“You're not ready,” Xaedren said. “You're still helpless without magic. The Emperor's summoning crystal must sense that.”
“Or it's finding the right mission for us,” Rath said. “Be patient. We will be called.”
