Free Your Soul to Take (Rise of the Fallen) by Sean Hayden Page B

is one of the sources of our
powers.”
    “Oh.
Okay,” I said and relaxed a little.
    “I
am pulling so my body will absorb the magic that you throw off. That way there
will be no…accidents.”
    “Ahhh.
Gotcha.”
    “Now,
push with your magic like you wished to do me harm.”
    “You
can do that?”
    “Yes.
As long as you’re touching your opponent, your magic can be quite
damaging.”
    “Can’t
shoot it though, huh?”
    “Pardon?”
    “Shoot
it. Like fire lightning bolts or magic missiles from your hands.”
    “Some
can, but only the very strongest of us. The ones you would have considered
archangels before the Rift.”
    “Damn.
That would have been cool.”
    “More
likely, dangerous.”
    I
nodded and closed my eyes. I pulled the magic from inside me and hurled it with
everything I had from the center of myself and outward through my arms. One
second Raven was holding my hands and the next, she wasn’t. I opened my eyes to
see her sprawled out on the ground five feet away, rubbing her hands
vigorously.
    “Are
you okay?”
    “Yes.
I wasn’t expecting that, I will tell you.” She stood and walked back to
where I stood. “Again, but this time try and control it. You want me to
feel it, but you don’t want to cause damage.”
    I
concentrated again and let the power trickle outward. Again, her hands flew
from mine. Again, she was on the ground rubbing her hands against her pants.
“I did it again?”
    “Yes.
But I noticed something.”
    “What?”
    “The
amount of power was still incredible, but it was a different sensation.”
    “And
that means what?”
    “I
don’t know, but we will find out. I have a theory.”
    “Oh
good. Theories are good.”
    She
nodded, not understanding my sarcasm. “Again, but I want you to try
something different.”
    “What?”
    “I
want you to… I want you to imagine sticking my hand with the smallest of
needles.”
    I
nodded, closed my eyes and gave it another shot. She said nothing. I opened my
eyes and saw her grimacing in pain, but holding on. I stopped pushing. “I
guess your theory worked.”
    “It
did. This time keep your eyes open. Do the same again, but picture more
needles.”
    I
did what she asked. Her face went from grimacing to contorting with pain.
“Want me to stop?”
    “No.
Picture more needles. Longer ones.”
    I
did exactly as she asked. Quickly, she gave a shout and let go. At least
I didn’t blast her away from me this time. “Did I do it right?”
    “Yes.
And we have the key to your control.”
    “Needles?”
    “No.
Intent.”
    “I
don’t understand.”
    “Your
magic is too…raw, for lack of a better word. Instead of controlling the magic,
control what you intend to do with it. For example, when you turned the boy
into a vampire, instead of focusing on turning him into a vampire, you should
have focused on telling his body to turn him into a vampire, slowly. Does that make sense?”
    “Oddly
enough, it does.”
    I
thought about it, and instead of screwing the idea up, it actually began to
make even more sense. “Give me a second, I want to try
something,” I said to her and walked over to my scooter. I raised my fist
and punched the metal fender, putting a nice sized dent in it. The last time I
had tried this, I left a molten hole. This time, instead of throwing my magic
at it and telling it to fix itself, I ran my hand over the dent and slowly
imagined tiny hammers making it whole once again. When I no longer felt the
dent, I moved my hand. The paint was still messed up, but the fender was fixed,
and more importantly, not melted.
    “Better?”
    I
turned to Raven and nodded. “So far. Now I just have to fix the
paint.”
    Again,
I held my hand over the damage. This would be a little tougher. I imagined all
the paint molecules letting go and doubling in size. As I felt it squirm
beneath my hand, I imagined it hardening once again.
    This
time, when I moved my hand, you couldn’t tell there had ever been any damage to
the area.