“You finally see the difference now?” Faustus asked, something in his tone setting me off.
The others sensed the eagerness in him too, and my mates released growls. They quickly viewed him as an enemy as they turned to him. Faustus’s hands went up as he took a few steps back. He did this while smiling.
“Relax. It is good that she now understands the difference. It will make it easier as we try to break this habit. Let us try this; maybe it will be easier because you are not directly connected to this one over here. Zilon, breathe your fire. Rayna, do not let him do it. Keep that magic for yourself. Hold onto it tightly.”
‘Are you really okay?’ Zilon asked. ‘I don’t want to hurt you.’
‘I’m fine. Just do it.’Determination grew in me. I wanted to get this down. Had to.
I tried. I really did. I held on with all my might, and yet still, my magic slipped through my fingers as Zilon was able to breathe fire. I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my emotions in check. My mates would pick up on it quickly enough, and I didn’t want them feeling bad.
We tried again and again until Faustus said stop and scowled.
“Rayna, get down from there now!”
“What’s wrong?” I asked, sensing a tightness in his voice.
“We can’t risk you losing too much power. Get off them.”
“We’ve done more than this during our battles; this is next to nothing,” I said.
Faustus’s frown seemed to deepen. “Are you sure? How are you feeling?”
“I feel okay. Maybe a little tired but not abnormally so.”
“Just get down. Let me see,” he replied.
I sighed and did as he said, sliding down from Landers. As his body released mine, I felt oddly empty, and my legs shook as I supported myself. Faustus stalked over, not caring how he made my dragons growl in warning.
“Let me check.” Without saying anything else, he placed his hand on my head. Heat traveled through my skull, coating my shoulders and dripping down my body. Then, it was gone, and Faustus took a step back. “You really are okay.”
“Told you,” I said, trying to shake off the intrusive feelings.
“We will continue with you not riding them. No reason to put you through that again.” The way his nose scrunched clearly said what he thought about that whole process.
We continued another round, still not working with all three of them easily able to rip my magic away from me. The practice kept hammering in the fact that they were taking that magic against my will. If my hands could manifest what they currently felt like, they’d be a bloody mess, torn up from trying to hold tightly onto my power.
“Okay, pause,” Faustus said. As we continued to fail, he seemed to lose his patience with the dragons while checking on me periodically to ensure my magic was still fine. His lips pursed now as he thought hard about something. He rested his hand on my head. “Do it with Philit. I will monitor it like this.”
“What exactly are you monitoring?” I asked suspiciously.
“The flow of magic. Just do it.”
I took in a deep breath, and we did it again. Like with the other attempts, Philit breathed fire.
“I think I got it now.” His eyes narrowed as his expression hardened. “Do it again, but with Zilon this time. Zilon, you are not to accept the magic.”
‘Not accept?’ Zilon gasped.
I translated his question for Faustus.
“Yes. Do not accept it. You currently have full access to her magic, so while she tries all she wants to stop the flow, it’s like trying to stop the flow of a river with her body. It will not work. We will have to look at the why behind it another time, but for now, since the flow is there for you to freely draw from, then we need to teach you not to draw from it. Build a dam between the two of you, and your job is to only take what you need. Nothing more. Even now, you overdraw from her. Think about what you want to do, how much magic it takes to do it, and only take what you need. Stop being greedy bastards.”
‘I think I understand,’Zilon said as he nodded his great head.
“Great. Now go. Rayna, feed your magic to him as you do. Zilon only take what you need from what she offers you. Think of it like a drink. She’s handing you a bucket of water, but you only need a sip. So take a damn sip.”
Zilon didn’t say anything for a long time. Faustus put his hand back on my head again and while we waited for Zilon to be ready. I took the moment to feel the subtle flavor of Faustus’s magic. It was definitely subtle, soft, and gentle as it waited. There was the slight discomfort of having something foreign in my body, but it wasn’t intrusive, just waiting right there at the surface instead of trying to go deeper. It was clearly waiting for its master to conduct it.