Total pages in book: 177
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171450 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 857(@200wpm)___ 686(@250wpm)___ 572(@300wpm)
Chapter Forty-Six
Kierse’s hands trembled as she reached for the portal for what felt like the hundredth time today. She opened the door, and Walter’s force field disintegrated into a burst of golden light.
“We’re getting nowhere,” he said with his hands and knees on the mat. His curly hair was sweat slick, and a line of sweat ran under his glasses and down the bridge of his nose. “Halloween is in five days! Kingston will be here the day before. I’m not strong enough for this.”
“I wouldn’t say that too loud or Graves is going to hear you. I promise I’m nicer than him.”
Walter snorted. “The devil is nicer than him.”
Kierse burst out a laugh as she headed for the rack to grab a bottle of water. Their training was utterly draining. And while she felt like they were closer, they still weren’t there yet, and they were running low on time.
She and Walter had tested his force fields a hundred different ways, and he still couldn’t stop her. Nothing could stop her from portaling out of a room. But Kingston made it look like breathing. Kierse felt more like dying.
As if summoned by the sound of his name, Graves cracked the door. He leaned against it, looking much like the devil himself.
“By the cursing, I’m guessing it isn’t going well?” Graves asked.
“I can almost get ahold of it,” Walter said, “but then…”
Kierse shrugged. “It feels like a pulse right before I open the door. It’s not strong enough to stop it.”
“All right,” he said with a smirk that said he planned something dangerous. “Time to try something else.”
From behind his back, he brought out her spear. Her body lurched toward it a second before she stopped herself. It didn’t look right in his hands. Even though, of course, he was much better at wielding a weapon than her. It was still hers.
“What are you doing with my spear?”
He grinned. “Practicing, Wren.”
Walter looked uneasy. “Can’t that thing cut through my force fields?”
“Probably,” Graves wagered. “Would you like to give it a test run?”
She took the spear with relief. The spear’s insidious words seeped into her mind. “Hello again, murderer.”
“Oh, it’s in a good mood today,” she said with an eye roll.
Walter’s clinical brain clicked on. “Is it talking to you? What did it say?”
“Hello again, murderer,” Kierse repeated.
Walter swallowed. “Great.”
Graves just laughed. “Don’t kill my apprentice on your first swing, but make him work for it.”
“Uh…you want me to hit him?”
“His force fields.”
Walter flexed his hands as his magic came to him in a fast rush. The force fields turned a glowing golden light around him. He widened it so that there was more distance between him and the spear.
Kierse shrugged and thrust the spear home into the force field. It shattered into a million little pieces. Walter’s eyes widened in alarm as he hastily made another one.
“Too slow,” Graves said. “Again.”
Kierse pierced each force field, breaking them repeatedly until Walter was panting and Kierse was inches from his face. She reached through and booped him on the nose with the end of the spear.
He rubbed his face. “What is this teaching me?”
“Your limits,” Graves said. “You want to imbue your force fields to stop additional magic. Here is a magic that you cannot possibly keep out. Even an inch of give on that spear would be a mile with anything else. Again.”
So they went again and again and again until Walter’s magic flagged and they all thought that they would pass out. Even Kierse’s arms felt like jelly from holding her precious spear so long. The voice inside went dormant when it realized she wouldn’t let it have any fun.
Kierse hacked at the next force field that came up, and Walter raised his hands, defiance in his features like fire. Kierse had never seen it before.
And for a split second, the spear moved into the force field an inch like sinking into rubber. Kierse’s mouth popped open as it held a second longer before bursting.
She fell forward to her knee. “Oh my God! You did it!”
Walter collapsed to the ground, panting. “How did I do it?”
“You wanted it more than anything else in your life,” Graves said. He held his hand out for the spear. “Now do that with the portaling.”
“How?” Walter asked, reaching for a towel and wiping his brow dry, his curls plastered to the side of his head.
“Intent,” Graves said as if it were obvious.
“Intent, right,” Walter said. His eyes focused as if for the first time he could see what Graves meant. “Let’s try.”
Kierse got back into position. She held her hands up and waited for Walter to say he was ready. Then she drew a door. It shimmered gold in the center of the room. It would open to the hallway beyond as all the others had.