I foldedmy arms and fought the urge to wince as Aflora fell to the floor on a gasp.
“Again,” Zeph demanded.
He’d escalated Aflora’s training to a whole new level after Zakkai’s pep talk the other day. No more coaching. No more words of praise. Just harsh spells and commands to keep going.
Aflora didn’t complain.
She merely stood back up and started over.
Again. And again. And again.
I admired her tenacity and drive, but I also wanted to kill Zeph and Zakkai.
Phoenix fires, Kols whispered into my head as Zeph nailed Aflora with a particularly painful spell. He’s taking this a bit far, yes?
Yeah, he’s being an ass. I understood why. I even agreed that it had to be done. But that didn’t mean I enjoyed watching it happen.
“Atlaqi Sarahee.” Aflora breathed the words and made a circle with her finger.
They were practicing defensive spells without wands today—Zeph’s idea to prepare her since she didn’t have a magical conduit of her own.
The snakelike enchantment from Zeph dissolved, allowing her a sigh of relief.
Until he followed it up with an even more powerful charm that slammed right into her chest.
Kols stepped forward but a glare from Zeph kept him from interfering.
He’s in quite a mood, Kols muttered.
I’m taking Aflora later, I replied. I don’t trust him to give her what she needs after this. Not in his current mood.
No. He needs someone who can withstand his aggression and return it. Kols’s bronze irises flared. I will gladly be that partner as it’ll provide an excellent opportunity to kick his ass.
I smirked. Good.
Zakkai leaned against the wall, his hands in the pockets of black pants. He was shirtless like the rest of us, dressed to spar. Aflora had on another tank top and pants of a similar stretchy fabric. She was barefoot and sweating, her dark hair pulled up into a ponytail at the back of her head.
“Dayani Adhabat,” she snapped, her finger drawing a dash across the air to dismantle the strangulation charm Zeph had released. “Asqati Mayatun.” Her hand flexed with the words, a dark ball appearing in her palm. She threw it at Zeph, the deadly ball disappearing before it could hit his face.
She followed it up with another sphere right after it, aiming for his abdomen, then added the strangulation charm on top of it all, bringing the Guardian to his knees.
Zakkai grinned in amusement.
Aflora growled and hit Zeph with a fourth spell, one meant to be a punch to the gut.
Zeph deflected most of the power with a few defensive shields.
Then he lashed out with another offensive enchantment that knocked Aflora on her ass again.
She released a frustrated noise, but didn’t otherwise speak. Cerulean flames engulfed her from head to toe as she fought his new spell.
Then Zeph cursed as a burning thwomp shot up from the ground beside him. “No thwomps,” he reminded her.
He dismantled the tree before it could set the room on fire. Given the floors and walls were all obsidian, I doubted it would do much damage. But better not to tempt fate.
Their lethal dance continued, Aflora’s outfit tarnished and nearly destroyed in the process. By the end, all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms and hold her for hours.
Zeph vibrated with irritation. He hated doing this to Aflora, but he and Zakkai were the best suited among us to teach her.