Chapter Five
The Walla Mountains came into view just over an hour later. If he hadn’t told me how they had come to be I would have said they were breathtakingly gorgeous. However knowing the story of how people had to die to make these mountains what they were, the beauty was now muted. Large rocky peaks shot from the barren grounds for hundreds upon hundreds of miles into the deep purple, now almost onyx sky. Like a shadow of a monstrous creature they stood out against the clouds warning anyone who dared look at them they were nothing but trouble. With that thought first and foremost in my mind we landed on the upper most peak. Not a gratifying thing to do.
Although my movements and strength had returned the boys made me stay seated while they unloaded a bag I had not realized they had brought. When I questioned them they explained the person who did not have me, had the bag. While they set up a small tent and pull out some of the strange food cubes I concentrate on a cool glass of water. The long flight and pain had left my lips cracked and my mouth parched.
Doing as I had before I close my eyes and imagine the glass in my hand, the condensation dripping from the outer lip caused by the cool ice water. A heaviness in my hand makes me smile. When I open my eyes it is there exactly as I had envisioned. Taking a long drink, I sigh with contentment till my back flares in pain.
“Ahhhh!” I drop the cup and reach for my back as footsteps come from the other side of me.
“What is wrong?” A rustle at my feet makes me open my eyes to see Axel examining the cup, unfortunately the water had spilt out on the ground. “What is this made of?” He asks curiously looking at the cup.
“She did that in the room also. It just appeared in her hand then she drank out of it.” Xavier grins at me as Axel looks at the cup skeptically. It is then I realize he didn’t know what a cup was.
“It’s a plastic cup. What do you drink out of?” I ask just as skeptical as him. He stands and returns to where he was retrieving our evening meal then returns with a light blue cube which he hands to me. I take it with some hesitancy. “I said drink, not eat.” He laughs at me.
“Put the whole thing in your mouth, Sam.” Shrugging my shoulders I do as I’m bid. To my surprise as soon as it hits my tongue it bursts into liquid quenching my thirst properly for the first time since I arrived here.
“Amazing!” I exclaim as I stare at them both. “Why didn’t you tell me that in the room?” I turn to Xavier who has turned a little pink.
“I was too fascinated with your cup and how it came to be there.” He glances at Axel who glances at me.
“Can you do it again? Maybe with something else?” Axel asks.
“I don’t know, every time I do, it makes my back hurt. I think the magic is what is making the wings grow.” They look at me dumbfounded.
“You bring something else and I will watch your back, I have seen you do it, Axel hasn’t.” Xavier suggests although I give him a dubious look. “The only way to know is to try it.”
“Fine.” I say with a sigh. “Another cup?” I ask as I look to Axel.
“We know you can do that, try something else. A bow or a sword?” I give him a funny look.
“I have to know the object well enough to focus on it, like the glass of water. Hold on, I know something.” Picturing what I want in my head I see the bristles, the handle, the back forming to hold the bristles in place. When my hand becomes heavy I open my eyes to see the hairbrush I’m holding, then the pain hits. “Ahhhh!” A gasp from behind me at the same time confirms my suspicions; they were growing with the magic.
“You were right, they grew.” He lowers the bandage back over my nubs then comes to see what is in my hand. “What is that?” I chuckle now that the pain subsided.
“A brush.” I clarify before I undue my braid and run the brush through my hair. The boys break into laughter then leave and return with our food. “So Axel, would that be conjuring?” I ask as I shove a red cube in my mouth, apple, yummy. I don’t miss the stern look Xavier shoots to Axel before he answers.
“Yes, Sam. That was conjuring. Would you like to try another?” I raise my brow as I slip a yellow cube in my mouth, banana this time. Did all of them taste like fruits? If so this could get boring, fast.
“Like what?” He cuts a look to Xavier then back to me.
“Call the wind Xavier. Show her how it’s done.” He says quietly.
“You weren’t supposed to tell her anything.” He argues.
“And have her killed at the first Ranoy attack? No, better she is informed a little and live, than die because she isn’t. If she has skills other than conjuring, she will need them where we are going. Now show her.” Xavier frowns but doesn’t argue more.
His eyes close and he sits silently for a few moments not moving. I’m about to ask Axel if he was okay when the wind begins to pick up speed above us. It wasn’t low enough it messed with us or the tent but it was still kicking pretty hard above us. Then as sudden as it came it was gone. Xavier opens his eyes then continues eating without a word.
“Okay, so how do you do it? When I conjure I think of the object I want, is it the same?” I ask with genuine curiosity. He shakes his head but stays silent.
“Oh come on, Xavier.” Axel punches him playfully on the arm but still he doesn’t talk. “Fine, when I call the water to me I do as you are saying, in a way. I see the water coming up and out of the lake or pond or wherever, in my mind first then I give a verbal command to rise, when it does I imagine the rest of what I want before speaking the words aloud and it obeys.” Grabbing my cup he hands it to me. “Can you fill it up?” With a sigh I do as he asks knowing it was going to hurt, but if I was going to learn then it would all hurt. Might as well get used to it. With a though the cup fills with water. He gives me a minute for the pain to pass then instructs me to watch.
He holds a finger a few inches above the cup then begins to swirl it, the water in the cup obeys making a mini-whirlpool. The higher he drags his finger the higher the water rises from the cup till he has every last drop spinning above the top. Then slowly he lowers it back down and stops his motion, stopping the spin. The entire time he is mumbling the actions he wants the water to obey.
“Now you try it.” He hands me the cup as I look at him skeptically. Repeating his actions I do exactly as he did, moving my finger and mumbling words, nothing happens. Again and again I try but nothing happens. Aggravated I am about to throw the cup when Xavier’s voice breaks through my anger.
“So far you have done nothing like us. Try doing it your way”
“And what way is that?” I bite out.
“Whatever feels right.” I glance to him in time to see his small smile before it fades.
“Fine.” Closing my eyes I think about what he said. ‘Whatever feels right’. An image of the cup comes to me and I go with it. Moving my view to where I am looking at the water within, I imagine it spinning, slowly at first then faster. Once my imaginary water is moving I gradually lift it from the cup, higher and higher and higher.
“Open your eyes, Sam.” Xavier whispers. I let them flit open to see a water tornado spinning three feet above the cup just as I had imagined it. In my excitement I squeal out a laugh breaking my concentration and the water immediately breaks apart falling in my lap, drenching me. Then the pain hits. I bite my lip and try to hold in the groan as it feels like my back is being ripped open again. My breathing grows ragged and stars dance behind my eyes before it dissipates into nothingness. My bandage is now so tight around my chest it is restricting my breathing instead of the pain doing it. I try to tug at it but that only makes it hurt worse.
My eyes flit to the guys but they are only watching in shock as I grapple with it. Finally I find my voice and beg for help. “Too tight, can’t breathe.” Snapping to attention, realization hitting them, they both jump up and come to my aid. Axel unties the knot while Xavier repositions the bandage but not before taking a look.
“Wow. They were only protruding about an inch from your ski
n, now they are almost four. That must have required some serious effort on your part.” He then covers them and secures the cloth.
“She is new at this. Where it takes nothing from me to do it, it takes a lot from her.” Axel surmises.
“Yeah well whatever it takes, I’m done for tonight. I can’t keep my eyes open again.” I say as I fight to keep them from shutting. “This is how I felt right before you couldn’t wake me last time. If that happens again please do not use the connection unless you have to. It does the same thing the water did, makes it hurt.” I say while eyeing Xavier’s chest. It was a nice chest and if I couldn’t look at his eyes then it was a wonderful place to look. A chuckle from Axel draws my eyes to him as I fight a wave of dizziness. “What?” I mumble.
“Oh, nothing.” But the look that he gives Xavier says it’s something. “Xavier, get her to bed.” His grin is breathtaking as he teases his friend. I feel Xavier slip his arms around me but I’m too far gone to care at this point so I rest my hand on his chest to feel his rippling muscles tighten under my touch, heaven. I smile and let him lead me stumbling to the tent. It was small, not even five by five; however once we step through the door it seems much bigger. Three bedrolls were laid out on the ground and Xavier leads me to the furthest from the door before he helps me down. As I was still wet from the water I try to ask him about a change of clothes but once again my voice wouldn’t work. As soon as my body hit the bedroll neither would it. Deciding it wasn’t worth the pain of using the connection to ask about trying to change them I ignore it while Xavier pulls the covers over me and tucks me in. I am out before he stands back up.