Be careful! Oberi yelled.
A spell bounced off the wall and ricocheted in our direction.
“Everyone down!” I cried. We all ducked, and the spell hit the wall behind us and fizzled out.
“Um…” Ava sounded nervous. “Maybe aggression isn’t the answer. That was dangerous.”
“Aggression is what gets things done when you’re in battle,” I countered.
“Not at the expense of your teammates,” Marcus pointed out. I smelled the faint scent of burnt hair and realized the spell must’ve nicked him.
“If I may offer some advice,” Takahashi said kindly. “Your goal is not to hit the target. It is tonot miss.”
I paused. That was definitely a fresh perspective I hadn’t considered before. I had to stop thinking like some guy in the ring throwing punches and playing dirty. I had to start thinking like a demigod. “All right, Kallie. Give me your worst.”
The air shifted again. It seemed there were at least a dozen targets hovering on the other side of the room, moving at random speeds and directions. It was a lot to take in with my senses alone. I couldn’t tell where they’d end up by the time my spells made it to them.
Instead of shooting off spells right away, I turned my focus inward. When I tapped into my Elven magic, I could sense the energies around me. It was easy to pinpoint Kallie’s fae illusions. I tangled my Elf magic with hers, until I could physicallyfeelthe targets on the other end of the room. Kallie must’ve not noticed what I’d done, because she didn’t pull back.
In one swift motion, I blasted battle magic toward the targets. Oberi shouted quick instructions in my mind, and I instinctually split my magic into twelve pieces. The magic slammed into the targets so hard that Kallie’s illusions broke instantly. The targets disappeared on impact, and Kallie stumbled back a couple steps.
Marcus grunted as he caught her. “Holy shit. What happened?”
Kallie groaned, like my magic had been too much for her. “Charlie cast one hell of a spell. That’s what happened.”
I reached out for her. “Did I hurt you?”
“No, you did a great job, but fuck, that tired me out.” Kallie slumped into a nearby chair. My last spell was stronger than I realized, and I must’ve siphoned some of her powers to do it.
“This method shows promise,” Takahashi said. “You’ve shown you can dodge spells and hit targets, but you will be required to do both in battle. Let’s see what happens when your target fights back. Let’s get Ava on Oberi’s back, and see how the three of you fare against an opponent. Marcus, if you will.”
Marcus took a spot on the other side of the room. Oberi shifted into a unicorn, and her saddle appeared on her back. I helped Ava out of her chair and hoisted her up. She was wearing a dress today, and the hem caught on the edge of the saddle. My hand accidentally slipped beneath the fabric as I was positioning her, and my heart skipped a beat when I felt nothing but smooth skin.
I smirked as I leaned forward and whispered, “No panties?”
She snickered lightly. “You like that?”
“Hell, yeah,” I whispered. It’d been a while since we’d had sex, and she really knew how to tease me. She’d skipped the panties onpurpose, waiting to see how long it’d take me to notice. I sure as hell noticed now.
I straightened her dress, then secured the straps around her legs.
“You’re going to have to be quicker than that,” Marcus pressed. “A battle could break out without warning, and you’re not going to have time to get it perfect.”
He shot a stunning spell across the room. I shot another spell back, and they collided mid-air and exploded in a loudboom.
“Let’s keep our spells safe for training,” Takahashi reminded us. “We’re not here to hurt each other.”
I threw my leg over Oberi’s back. Marcus had already shot another spell across the room, and Oberi jumped out of the way, nearly knocking me off her back. I quickly settled in, then started shooting off spells at Marcus. Oberi focused on dodging spells, while Ava and I cast our own magic back at Marcus. We weren’t trying to hurt him, so the spells weren’t very strong. It was like throwing tennis balls at him, at best. It was child’s play compared to a real battle, but I found that we were working in sync more than ever.
Ava opened her mind to me. As spells whizzed around the room and my senses became overloaded, her perception filled in the gaps. I could make sense of where the spells were, and how much of a threat they posed with greater accuracy. I no longer had to rely solely on sound and Air magic to pinpoint Marcus’ location as he dodged our spells and moved around the room, because Oberi’s commentary and Ava’s awareness made it easy.
“Again,” Takahashi instructed as Oberi slowed to take a breather.
We fell into a pattern. Marcus threw up shields to deflect our spells, but Ava quickly let me know. She didn’t speak in words,per se, but I instantly got a sense of what she was feeling. I tossed spells overhead, bypassing Marcus’ shield and bouncing them off the walls. I must’ve hit him in the back of the head, because he cursed and dropped his shield. Ava blasted off a spell, and he gave a heavyoofas she hit him in the chest.
“I think that’s enough for the day,” Takahashi said.
Ava, Oberi, and I could easily keep going, but Marcus panted like we’d tired him out. Itwasthree against one.
