I sigh. “Adrian, if you must know.”
She laughs. “What, he loses one fight and suddenly you’re not interested? He fought admirably, that dragon was just incredibly fast.” She flips her shiny hair back. “I didn’t know you were so shallow, Elysande. I’m impressed.”
I scowl at her and she laughs.
“Okay, well if we’re avoiding him, we should probably get out of here.”
“You’re right. Let’s go.”
“Lead the way. I have no idea what you’re up to now.”
We make it out of the dining hall without running into anyone, and then we exit the castle into the dark gray morning. I shiver. The air feels cooler today. “I think it’s going to rain soon,” I tell Meela as we walk farther from the castle into an open field.
Sometimes the clouds pass through the veil and hang below them, releasing rain or snow. Other times, the clouds don’t get that low, but they still release rain through the veil. Either way, I can always somehow sense it. I’ve always thought it has to do with my water magic.
“Great.”
I stop in the middle of a field, pulling my bag off my shoulder and taking a few books out.
“Really? We came out here to study? It’s warmer in the library.”
“No, look. We’re practicing.”
I show her the books I brought, which are all about different methods to use your elemental magic as a warrior. I thought of the idea last night and snatched them before we left the library. I hand her the one that focuses on fire, and we sit and begin skimming through them.
She goes silent for a while, engrossed in her book. “Okay,” she finally says. “This wasn’t a terrible idea. There’s some pretty great stuff in here. Stuff I never even knew I could do.”
My book is interesting too. One page details how to control the water in a swirling ball, and when it’s big enough you can even trap enemies in it. Another page talks about freezing the water as you spray it, making lethal, sharp icicles. Another talks about even being able to freeze the water that runs through a person’s body, as long as they don’t have magic. That’s a terrifying thought. Most species still surviving today have magic in their blood, though, so I don’t know how useful that one will be. Plus, it says it takes extreme practice, with most water elementals never being able to achieve such a thing.I don’t even want to know how they practiced that one to know if they could do it or not.
“Look at this!” Meela calls out with excitement. She created some distance between us while I was immersed in my books, apparently so she could begin practicing.
She’s created a swirling blue fireball that’s floating in front of her.
“Wow. I’ve never seen you make blue before.”
“I never have,” she says with disbelief, studying her faintly glowing hands. She glances at me. “Why have we not done this sooner?”
“The curse of the lazy elves,” I say sarcastically.
“I guess there’s no point. I mean, it’s fun for a minute, but when would we actually need to use any of this,” she comments absently as she focuses on her flame.
“Right.”
It’s then that her fire sizzles, and I feel the first few drops of rain. I shove the books back in my bag quickly and throw it over my shoulder. We run back to the castle, already dripping wet by the time we reach it.
Meela smirks at me as we slow to a walk inside, her eyes fixed on my chest. “Darling, you’d better go change or you’re going to catch the attention of not just Adrian, but every male with eyes.”
I look down and realize my soaked light purple dress is slightly see-through and my nipples are visible through the thin fabric.
“Damn,” I curse. “Yeah. I’ll meet you back down here. I’m going to change.”
“Same,” she replies. She dressed in pants and a thin black shirt thinking we were heading to the training grounds again today, and though it’s very much not see-through, it’s still soaked.
I cross my arms over my chest as best I can, passing several people going to lunch. I hurry toward my hall without actually running.
When I’m halfway down my hallway, I stop for a moment, surprise taking over at the sight of a figure standing there.
Why is there always a male outside my door?
