Blue Stone

“Micah, thanks for staying with me.”

“No problem. You would do it for me.” He shrugged on his jacket and headed for the door.

“Wait, can you find Kayne? I need to talk to both of you. There is something the two of you can help me with. If you’re willing.”

“Sure thing, give me a couple of hours and we will be back.” Micah disappeared through the door.

It’s incredible, the way I feel. Normal but my senses seem sharper. Except for the pounding in my head everything feels right for once. A long, hot shower should fix the headache.

They were back and arguing as usual. “Look you two have to stop this, we can’t work together if you’re always fighting like children.” They both looked at me like I’d lost my mind.

“What do you mean together?” Micah spoke through his teeth.

“Well, I’m supposed to be this slayer, hunter, whatever, but I have no clue how to defend myself much less win a fight. The two of you have those skills and I was hoping you could train me.”

Micah ran his fingers through his hair mulling it over. “Fine, but we can’t do it at the same time. Kayne can go first I have some things to take care of. I’ll teach the advanced course.”

“Speaking of courses, I have to go to class tomorrow. Kayne can we start now, and tomorrow we will practice after school. The sooner we do this the better I’ll feel. I’m afraid that if I sense others that they sense me too.”

Kayne finally speaks up. “How is self-defense going to help against magic?”

“Well that is the second phase, self-defense now and later I will get the magic training. The hard part of that is finding someone I can trust enough to do it. Of course no one will know the whole truth but the two of you.”

We went to the now empty barn so no one would notice. Kayne turned towards me with his arms crossed looking incredibly serious. “We need to start with basic fitness. Strength, flexibility, and reflexes are the as important as technique. I want you to run and stretch every day, we will work on reflexes and technique together. Show me your stance.”

Apparently I wasn’t intimidating because he started laughing. “What am I doing wrong?”

“Well, don’t spread your feet so far apart, they shouldn’t be more than shoulder width apart. Lead with one foot and keep the hand on the same side up to block. Your stance should always mirror your opponents. If I am leading with my left foot you do too. From this stance you can throw all your punches and kicks. So, practice your stance, keeping your balance making it solid.”

“Like this?” This is not too hard, but then again he isn’t trying to kill me.

I swung feeling like an idiot.

Kayne paced assessing my stance. “Yes that’s perfect. Now, throw a punch. Not bad, now three basic jabs that will work for you. High is the nose, middle the chest and low the belly button. A shot in any of those areas will give you a chance to get away. Practice that for now and we will work on more tomorrow.”

Kayne and I walked back to the house, we hadn’t had a chance to be alone in a long while. “Braeden, I was wondering, is there something going on with you and Micah? He’s been here a lot lately. You don’t seem to get how dangerous he is.”

“First he has been here helping me because you were nowhere to be found. Second, I know exactly how dangerous he is, but no more so than you are. Honestly, there isn’t anything going on with anyone. Right now I’m just trying to figure out how to survive.”

“Well I hope you trust me. I’d die before letting any harm come to you” Kayne wrapped me in the biggest bear hug he could muster.

“I do that’s why you need to see this.” He sat patiently waiting for me to return. As soon as his eyes hit the box he gasped and if possible turned even whiter. “Good so you know what these are and that they are why everyone is after me.”

Kayne looked at me a moment absorbing the weight of the information I unloaded on him. “We need to protect the stones at all cost. In the meantime I know someone that can help you learn to use them.”

By the end of his sentence I had him in a bear hug. “Who?”

A huge grin creeping across his face and thumbs touching his chest, “Me.”

“You! What do you know about magic?”

“Plenty!” Kayne looked so proud of himself.

“How would you know about magic?” Not like he or his family are witches.

“Angelika taught me some, but you have to be born with the gift the really use it.” He started magic 101 without skipping a beat.

“So, first you need to learn to manipulate the elements. For example can you light a candle?” Kayne disappeared into the kitchen and came back with a candle. “Concentration is the key. This will help you focus your energy. Magic is only as strong as your will. Focus on the wick and will it to light.”

Eyes closed, breathe steady, pulse calm, I can do this. Now, focus on the wick, first a little smoke. Focus harder, an orange glow, “A flame! I did it.”

Kayne smiled with such pride. “Okay, okay just practice till you can do it with ease, so that the moment you think flame it lights.”

Weeks went by without so much as a word from Kayne. Until one day on my way home from school I saw him at Bluestone Park. I had almost reached him when I realized he was trying to light a campfire. So I lit it for him. The instant fire came to my mind it lit and grew into a roaring flame. He was so surprised that he fell backwards looking around to see how it happened. Once saw me and his features exploded with pride.

“Lesson two, earth. You can give life, take it away or simply manipulate elements of earth. Find a plant work on making it grow, die, and change its color get creative.” Kayne took my hands and looked at me with amazement. “You are powerful and a quick study. I never expected you to harness fire like that.”

“See me in a couple of weeks and I might make flowers sprout from your nose.” He laughed and I walked away on a cloud.

Over the last several weeks they have orchestrated surprise attacks, some of which left me a little worse for wear. Between school and training there hasn’t been time for much else, but lately it has been rather quiet. Feels like the calm before the storm.

“You know what, we’ve been working hard and you’ve gotten two of the elements down, how about a break?” Kayne must be tired, we’d been working on manipulating the ground, plants, and controlling animals.

It is nice to see spring finally settling in. “Why don’t we go to Lilly, it’ll be quiet and secluded?” I thought it would be relaxing.

“That’s a great idea, and we can start on working with water.” I gave Kayne a dirty look before going to the kitchen to fix a picnic lunch.

Lilly was a small town built around timber. My ancestors cut trees and floated them down the river to the rail yard in Hinton. It is a beautiful place, but it holds a sense of sadness. The Little Bluestone River that flows down the mountain like a tear on the face of a giant. Spilling into the larger Blue Stone River that was backed up by the dam and covered so many homes. The old Bluestone turnpike is still there but is only used by park rangers and hikers now. You can still see some of the foundations from homes not swallowed up by the swell of the river. They stand out like the bones of the dead striving to not be forgotten.

“I’m hungry, you ready for a picnic?” Kayne just looked at me like I had three heads. “Okay, okay, so ham sandwiches aren’t your thing. So, what is on the menu?”

He stepped out of the truck sniffing the air, and caught the scent of something. “Rabbit, they are at the peak of perfection in early spring.”

Lunch was good, but Kayne hadn’t made it back yet so I busied myself by trying to restart a fire in the stone circle I’d found. It just wouldn’t light. My pride now bruised I kicked the leaves away to see that there had never been a fire in the pit.

“What are you looking at?”

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of his voice. “Trying to restart a fire in the pit but looks like it wasn’t used for that. What would it have been used for?”

“Hard to tell, we are here for water anyway.” He motioned for me move to the river. “Shall we?”

Water is harder to control, it responds to my emotions. Calm, angry, powerful a living force in its own right. Controlling the elements is as much about controlling myself as it is them. Water is the most fun though. Dumping a tsunami on Kayne was quite amusing. He must have gotten tired of being wet and decided to work on air. It wasn’t to his benefit. I would dump water on him dry his clothes and then drench him again. By his expression the fun was over. “I think you have the hang of it. So, you can control the elements individually, now you need to work on combining their energy. Once you can do that you will be ready for the stones.”

“The best way to do that is to meditate. Make a circle of stones or better yet salt for protection, that way the only things that get into the circle is what you invite. Close your eyes, pull up each element by itself and concentrate on it, the power of it, the way it makes you feel. One you have it try combining that power.”

Every afternoon I came home and practiced meditating. Fire was first, feeling the warmth of the sun and sensing the light. Then air, feeling a light breeze and hearing birds flapping their wings. Earth was easy since it is all around us. The feel of the dirt below me and the sounds of animals in the woods. Water was last concentrating on the blood coursing through my own body, and hearing the fish in the pond splashing.

I took weeks of practicing, every time sensing something new. At times it was overwhelming, but that was how I learned to use earth to ground myself, pun intended. That was the beginning of combining the elements. The craziest thing happened when I concentrated on earth and air, a bird flew overhead and suddenly I was seeing through its eyes. It was so cool. So I tried with other animals and fish. It worked. A branch suddenly broke and startled me so bad I nearly incinerated Micah.

“Whoa! Watch it witchy. Guess I don’t want to piss you off now. Does Kayne know you can do all of this?” He was dusting ashes off his clothes as he walked toward me.

“Not, yet I’m going to show him tomorrow. Why?”

“Well, not to be Johnny rain cloud or nothing, but you need to keep an ace up your sleeve, so to speak. You know his coven is trapped in the water right? If you become as powerful as we think you will, he’ll want you to release them.”

“Why would he want me to do that? There is no way to do it without releasing everyone.” Sparks were coming from my fingers and clouds were stirring.

“Calm down no need to create an apocalypse. Believe me or don’t, do what you want.” With that he was gone.

Suddenly the sky darkened and the wind howled. A ball of fire came at me but fell short. I was still setting in the circle, it does work. Another branch broke, cloaked men appeared like a mist out of nowhere. “What do you want?”

A long, bony, white finger pointed at me. “You!”

“Me? Why?”

“If you release the trapped souls we will come for yours. We are the coven leaders here and we are watching you. Your power and unwillingness to join us is concerning. One wrong step and we will alleviate that concern permanently.” The howling stopped and the sky lightened and they were gone.

That was a bit ominous. Maybe I should step up my practice. Hmmm. I wonder, yeah spirit why not. Still, setting in the circle I focused on the heat of the sun, the sound of the river, firmness of the ground and finally my own breath. Calm, relax, let go. Another bird, well it’s something. Might as well use it to search the woods. Everything is beautiful from up here, a neat perspective. Who is that by the river? I’m going to get a little closer. It’s Kayne! I wonder if I focus on him if his thoughts will come through.

“Yeah, she is almost ready.” Looks like he is talking to the river. “The Spring Equinox? I know, you will be free soon. No she has no idea, she thinks I’m just teaching her to use her magic. I have to go.”

Wow. Micah was right. What do I do? Let’s try this spirit thing again. Concentrate, send, loud, MICAH! He can’t be that far.MICAH!

There he is. Micah, meet me at my house, need to talk. He nodded so it worked. Too many emotions going on betrayal, anger, fear, excitement. This is nuts.