Lessons

~

The next morning, Riya woke up first and watched Rick for a while in his sleep, she then smiled as she remembered the previous night's exercise. She got out of bed and opened the curtains using the remote. The curtains opened wide as Riya walked towards the window in smiles. She stood at the window and looked at the vast land and hills behind it, like they were literally in the middle of nowhere.

"Perfect, just perfectly silent." She said and smiled.

Later on, Rick woke up and they had their baths and went downstairs to join Voleth Meir and Elijah as they sat down in the dining area to eat while the butler served breakfast. Riya commended their cooking as they had stake and wine for breakfast with brownies and other confectioneries for desert.

They moved to the living room after eating to sit down and relax.

" We should take a tour round the property later Riya so I can show you your makeshift training area." Voleth Meir said.

"Rick and Elijah will go to town to shop as we have places we will be going and occasions we'll be attending while we're here." She added.

"Alright." Riya said.

After sitting for a while, Riya and Voleth Meir decided to start their lessons while Elijah and Rick set out to go to town with Jimmie finally showing up, hesitant to go with them.

Voleth Meir took Riya round some parts of the property, showing her the stable that wasn't quite obvious because it was way behind the house. She rode with Voleth Meir for a while through a mass of fields till they got to a small beautiful stream that had its main source coming from a split open space in a rock.

"This is just beautiful, magnificent." Riya whispered in awe.

"You bet, this is where we'll be training." Voleth Meir answered.

"Okay." Riya replied, jumping like a kid.

The stream was in the middle of a beautiful garden that was big enough to hold three hundred people all at once and they'd still have enough space to spin without touching each other.

"How do you maintain this place?" She asked in awe.

" Magic." Voleth Meir replied laughing.

"Ohh wow." Riya said still looking around.

"So today we'll learn how to control and move simple things around." Voleth Meir said

"Okay." Riya said and took a deep breath

She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate again like last time to summon her powers but instinctively moved aside with speed when she felt something come at her. She opened her eyes and saw a rock whoosh past her face. She stared in horror at Voleth Meir who stood there

casually, still holding another rock in her hands.

"In battle, you don't have time to think or close your eyes to summon your powers." Voleth Meir said.

"That could have smashed my face." She said, still shocked.

"Yeah, think about that next time before closing your eyes." Voleth Meir said with a straight face.

Voleth Meir walked up to her and gave her the rock she was holding.

"Here, throw it at me." She said.

Riya waited for her to go back to her previous position and threw the rock at her. Voleth Meir just raised her fingers and swiped them sideways, and the rock fell to the ground not too far from her feet. Riya watched in awe.

" It's nothing too serious, just flow with the wind, as light as a feather." Voleth Meir said and spun lightly.

Riya relaxed her shoulders and flexed her fingers. She immediately felt it, that surge of power from her upper arm down to her finger tips. Voleth Meir smiled and came to her, she took her hands and led her to the stream.

"Look at yourself." She said.

Riya looked into the stream and saw her reflection. Her eyes went wide when she saw the symbol on her forehead glowing alongside her eyes.

"You finally get it." Voleth Meir said and pat her lightly on the shoulder.

"You are a strong witch from a strong bloodline, I don't need to teach you magic,I just need to help you find a way to merge both your demon powers and witch abilities together in harmony." She added.

Riya stood up and closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, they had gone back to being plain silver.

Voleth Meir picked up a rock and threw it at her, Riya squeezed her right hand and the rock stopped mid-air and crushed into little pieces before dropping to the floor.

"Good girl." Voleth Meir said smirking.

Voleth Meir continued to throw rocks at her and Riya kept on crushing them one by one and other times even waved them aside.

" Now that your reflexes are no longer stiff, let's practice real magic." Voleth Meir said.

"How much of your memories are back?" She asked her.

"Everything." Riya said.

"Perfect." Voleth Meir said.

Voleth Meir walked up to her and brought out something from her back pocket. She unwrapped it and revealed a dagger, a silver dagger with intricate and ancient designs on the hilt and scabbard.

"My dagger." Riya whispered with tears coming to her eyes.

"I promised your grandmother to keep it for the right time and give it to you when I find you again in another time." Voleth Meir said, giving her the dagger.

Riya hugged Voleth Meir after collecting the dagger. Voleth smiled and patted her back slowly as they stood there quietly for awhile

Riya stepped out of the hug and smiled before looking at the dagger.

"Thank you." She said and assessed the blade.

Riya continued to train with Voleth Meir guiding her as she cast spells upon spells and sparred with Voleth Meir. They continued for a while and then sat down close to the stream to rest.

"Does the Butler and the maids know you're a witch?" Riya asked as she bit into an apple she took out of the bag of snacks they brought along.

"The maids don't, but the butler does, he's a shape shifter I met and saved twenty years ago from slavery and a cruel boss." Voleth Meir said.

"Ohhhhh." Riya said.

"Let's call it a day then." Voleth Meir said standing up.

"Alright". Riya said and got up.

Voleth Meir got on the horse and left with Riya running after her, but the horse was too fast.

"Get home yourself." Voleth Meir shouted over her shoulder.

Riya cursed out loud and gritted her teeth in frustration.

"That petty old woman." She whispered almost in tears.

Riya whispered a spell and closed her eyes, and when she opened her eyes, she was back in the living room with the butler standing there unmoving like she didn't just pop out of nowhere.

" You should be more discreet miss." He said and bowed slightly.

"Yes I know, thank you." She replied smiling.

"Where is the Lady?" She asked.

"She's not back yet." He replied.

"Yes, right in your face Kayla!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed and jumped up.

The butler didn't even flinch, he just stood there still, like he was waiting for someone.

"Is this how you stand permanently?" She asked him

"Not really, I got a message from the Lady, she asked me to be on standby for her return." He said smiling

Riya took time to assess the man, he wasn't quite young, he looked like he was in his 50s with some streaks of gray hair in his dark mass of hair. He was of average height and had green eyes just like Voleth Meir too.

"Alright." She answered, snapping out of her thoughts.

Not too long, Voleth Meir appeared and the Butler went to kiss her knuckle rings and took her jacket while she smiled at Riya. Riya twisted her fingers and a cloud appeared above Voleth Meir's head and it started to rain on her head, wetting her down to her toes. Riya burst out laughing with the butler turning away to hide his. Voleth Meir just sighed and snapped her fingers and the cloud disappeared.

" What a show off." Riya whispered

" We should go to my library so I can give you some book of spells to study in your free time." She said and began to walk up the stairs.

Riya followed her quietly up the stairs and through the hallway, passing her room and going further. They got to a door and Voleth Meir opened the door and walked in. Riya immediately recognized the room when she walked in, it was the same room they appeared in last time. She followed Voleth Meir further through the hallway of prisons and to the elevator that took them down to the library.

The elevator door opened and Riya walked into the library with Voleth Meir. She sat on a chair while Voleth Meir collected the books silently, using spells.

"Why do you bother keeping them?" Riya asked.

"The prisoners." She added.

" If I discard them, they'll cause quite a mess." She replied.

"Why not kill them then?" Riya asked.

"Death is too merciful for them." Voleth Meir said casually.