Lux
The explosion sent shards of rock scattering across the field and air. Only the shield Lux created protected her body from the debris, but the pain they could cause had nothing on the hurt rioting in her heart. When the dust settled, she dropped the shield and stomped over to the table where she placed an even larger stone on its surface. Its craggy surface and heavy weight felt good in her hands, and if she succeeded, it would be the largest one she'd ever destroyed.
Back in position, she blew warm air in between her chilled palms. January was a capricious month. Last week she'd been able to wear leggings and a long sleeved shirt outside. Today, she wished for her gloves, and when she studied the slate-colored sky, she thought the weatherman might get it right for once. Snow and sleet would visit tonight, and as she drew on her power, she wished she could draw on the cold as well. To coat herself with it like an icy shield that could protect her foolish heart from further aches.
"Did the stone do something to you?"
Concentration shattered, she spun around to face Calum, the Guardian Declan brought back from wherever the hell he'd disappeared to for months. She was sure Calum and Percy were nice enough, though Percy's immaturity wore thin after a while. Calum was almost uncomfortably beautiful, surpassing even the Sylph's ethereal handsomeness, but he was withdrawn and taciturn on his best days. She'd caught him watching her and Declan, and it was only then that she spied true emotion churning beneath his cerulean gaze. Heartbreaking emotions like longing and grief all knotted together by a thick cord of rage, and in a flash of Knowing, she saw that he would burn in that rage if he stayed on his current path.
"What's it to you?" she asked, refocusing on the stone. The lack of manners would appall her mother- Calum was a guest- but Lux didn't care. She was cranky from lack of sleep because of the dream, and the tension in the house was enough to drive anyone insane. Three days had passed since Declan came back to her, and he felt farther away than ever before.
Her channeling stone heated and magic swirled to her fingertips. All the elements called to her, none stronger than the other, the way it was for most witches. It made learning easier and harder.
Easier because she had more tools at her disposal. Harder because other witches poured all their training into honing their skills with their strongest elements until they could wield that magic like a blade. They learned how to be crafty with the tools they had, often achieving more with less because of it.
During one training session, Audra told Lux she wielded the elements the way a toddler wields a stick- too much force and no finesse. So every week Lux chose one element to be the power behind all of her spells, whether it was the best or obvious choice. Then she started over.
This week, she worked with water. Fire would suit her mood better, but in many ways, water was far more destructive. It could overwhelm and drown a person and flood the land, but it could also snuff out flames or erode mountains if given enough time.
Calum's shadow fell across her as he stepped behind her. She resisted the urge to look over her shoulder, and worked on pushing water through every vulnerable place in the stone. No crack or flaw was left alone, and when she was certain she could push no more inside, she froze it.
"Was something supposed to happen?" Calum whispered, something other than his usual apathy changing his tone.
Lux didn't respond. She'd done the same thing just moments ago. Freezing the water rapidly and then using her telekinesis to intensify the splitting of the stone so it acted like an explosion. But the rock remained intact.
Shield remaining up, she crept to the table. Fine lines rimmed with frost ran through the stone in every place she'd filled with water. The fissures were deep. The stone wasn't a single stone any longer, but it remained in a single piece.
Until it didn't. She dropped to her knees and threw her hands over her head as the rock blew apart, bits of it hammering into her shield- a few slipped through, cutting through the tender flesh of her cheek. Within seconds it was over, but she remained on the ground with her eyes closed until her rate slowed.
It wasn't until she rose to her feet that she realized Calum stood in the same place, his expression hard and unsurprised.
"Did you have something to do with that?" she demanded.
"You've been blowing up rocks for over an hour. It doesn't matter how big it is. The process is the same every single time. How is it making you any better? You know how to do it. Move on."
Lux gaped at the Guardian. "Just because you know how to run a mile doesn't mean you can run a mile. You have to train and build stamina. Magic is the same way."
Black hair fell into his eyes as he shook his head. "Stamina is rarely going to be a cause for concern for you. I've been around a lot of witches in my time, and you are by far the most powerful I've ever encountered. Even the Fae Queens would give pause before engaging with you. You lack skill."
Around her the pieces of stone lifted. It was just Calum and her. Irritation dripped from her tongue as she said, "One of your Talents is Telekinesis? Am I supposed to be impressed? Every witch possesses the ability to move things with her mind."
"No, I don't suppose Telekinesis should impress you," he answered, his eyes blazing bright as the rocks surged toward her.
Lux reinforced her shield, but the fragments made it through, stopping just before striking. She had only to breathe too deeply, and she would feel their sharp points. It made little sense. Telekinesis shouldn't have given him the power to penetrate a Spellcast shield.
"If you fight like the outcome is going to be the same every single time, you're going to lose."
Lux licked her lips and swallowed hard. She still couldn't understand how he'd broken through her shield. She thought only another witch could do something like that, and it was a complicated spell that required unraveling.
"How?"
"Like you said, Telekinesis is my Talent. What good is it to me in a battle if my opponent can walk around shielded? I can't strike them from a distance, and it's often too dangerous to get right up on them," Calum answered, allowing the stones to drop while he settled himself on the ground.
He picked at the blades of yellowed grass, shredding them between his fingers before going back for more. Lux approached cautiously, lowering herself to a place beside him only after he nodded.
Without prompting, he started speaking again, "I disappointed my father when that was the first Talent I presented. Most Guardians think the first Talent is your major Talent. I am Lancelot's great-grandson. He was second only to Arthur in power, and here I am, stuck with a terrible Talent like Telekinesis. Such a common power."
He arched his brow when he said that, and his lip twitched. It was a rare sign of humanity that made Lux suck in a deep breath. Proof that the man she knew now was not the man he'd always been. What terrible thing had befallen him that resulted in this shell?
"He wasn't wrong. It is a common power," he continued, "But no one had ever really tried to do much with it. It's good for moving things. The end. But I studied it the same way a witch studies her element. I stopped looking at my ability as a way to move things, and instead thought of it as a way to manipulate things."
Lux tried to wrap her mind around what he was saying. She looked at the rocks, then touched the stinging wound on her face. She raised her shield and appraised its shimmering surface.
"Do it again. Just one this time and slowly."
A flash of pride whisked across Calum's face, but it was gone as soon as he straightened. A single rock lifted in the air and pressed in against her shield. The point pressed into the surface, and a slight indentation formed around it. She poured more power into the shield, but it only seemed to make it worse. Cracks spread out across the surface the way they did on a windshield until finally the rock pushed through.
"You weren't just attacking me with the rocks," she said, eyes and mouth wide. "You did something to my shield."
Calum clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Very good. Most witches form their shields like actual shields- hard and unyielding. Witches think of the shields as spells that can only be destroyed by unraveling, but I think of it as something physical that I can change. I can feel the weak spots and exploit them. When you poured more power into the shield, you just made the weak spots that much worse."
She rocked up to her knees and placed her hands on her thighs as she leveled her gaze on him. "What can I do to avoid that then?"
He paused, then looked back at the house. Declan stood on the front porch, his arms crossed, and his face dark. The bond between them buzzed with unhappiness, but he didn't make a move to join them.
"Don't worry about him," Lux said. "He doesn't get a say in how I train. Not after leaving me like that and then coming back without offering an explanation."
The Guardian exhaled and dragged a hand over his face. He looked years older, and the bit of light that had flared while he talked to her about his Talent extinguished. Once again, he was the haunted man.
"Lux, do yourself both a favor and don't create tension between the two of you. The world does enough of it on its own. It doesn't need help. Be grateful he came back. Sometimes the ones you love don't."
"Is that what happened to you?" she asked. He jumped up and dusted off his jeans. She expected him to walk away, but he held out a hand to help her up. "I'm sorry, Calum. I shouldn't have asked that."
"No, you shouldn't have, but it is why I'm out here right now. To stop history from repeating."
"Has something been Seen?" she asked, confused by the harsh way he spoke.
"What is Seen is not set in stone," he reminded her. "Now, let's talk about that shield."