Free Shattered by Kailin Gow Page B

what about the safety of my family, my friends? How long do you expect me to sit here sipping tea while they suffer? For al I know they could already be dead.”
    Torrid nodded, but was far from convinced.
    “Give yourself a few more days. Give yourself a chance to real y perfect your skil s, especial y barrier erection. It’s stil hit and miss, and a miss in a battle could mean your life.”
    “Fine, a few more days… then…”
    “We’l see,” he muttered.
    I knew that I stil had a lot of convincing to do in order for him to al ow me back into Arcadia. We set off for the day’s lesson and I was more determined than ever to prove I was battle ready.
    “I want you to be able to erect a barrier on a second’s notice. You can’t just walk around with a barrier constantly up. It’l exhaust you. So you have to be able to think quickly and erect a barrier the moment danger arises.” He stood several yards back and picked up a handful of pebbles. “I’m going to throw these at you, one by one. They are smal and non-threatening and you can let them come to you, but the moment I say danger, I want you to keep the pebble from reaching you.”
    Readying myself, I nodded and concentrated on the coming pebbles. They painlessly nicked me on the legs and arms, some lightly tapping my abdomen, and when he cal ed out danger, the pebble fel to the ground just inches before reaching me.
    Torrid cocked a brow. “You got it on the first try. I’m impressed. Let’s try it again.” Over and over he tested me, throwing the pebbles faster, cal ing out the cue word later and later until he was cal ing danger while the pebble was already airborne. I didn’t miss a cue and not one dangerous pebble crossed my barrier.
    “You real y do want to get back to Arcadia,” he said. Then a look of jealousy crossed his face as I thought of Liam.

    thought of Liam.
    “I do.”
    “You did wel , Kama, and I’m proud of you, but in a battle no one is crying out danger. No one warns you of what’s coming. While this is al good, it’s not yet enough.”
    My shoulders slumped and I felt a bal of frustration rise to my throat. “If you have it your way, I’l never be ready.”
    “Please don’t say that. I admit I fear for you, but I don’t want to intentional y keep you from doing what you think is best.”
    “I’m General Adar’s daughter, Torrid.”
    “I know.”
    “He was once ready to sacrifice me.”
    “I know.”
    “It’s my duty to return, and General Adar should understand that.”
    Torrid grasped my shoulders and looked into my eyes. “He may be ready to sacrifice you Kama, but I’m not. Not yet.” He held me tightly before brushing his lips across my temple and whispered,
    “Not ever.”
    Behind the trees we heard a sudden rustling of the leaves. Torrid instantly set up guard, his eyes focused on the intruder.
    A Magical One cut through the dense underbrush and rushed towards me. In a flash I was caught behind a barrier with the devilish genie, bond and unable to move. For a second, panic fil ed me and I momentarily conceded; Torrid was right, I wasn’t ready. But an inner strength suddenly pushed through and al the lessons he’d taught me, al the days spent perfecting my skil s came to me.
    I pushed the barrier back, much to the surprise of the Magical One. He put up another barrier, but I quickly smashed it, al with the power of m ned ty mind. Stil bond by the force of his magic, I concentrated on the tightness I felt around me. My arms held tightly to my side, I closed my eyes and slowly unraveled the ties that held me.
    The Magical One snickered and threw a firebal my way. It was quickly extinguished and I’d barely focused at al . My skil s were honed, almost to the point of being automatic and instinctive.
    I boxed the Magical One in a cylinder barrier much like the one Liam had erected when he was catching the Magical One and proudly put my hands on my hips. Turning to Torrid, I noticed his grin and realized