5 Chapter 5

Kariah is only twenty years old, a mere three years older than the three of us. Although any man would melt at Dany's touch, she only craved the attention of Kariah, but they kept their relationship a secret. Although Kariah, Dany, Caeden, and I had grown up together, Kariah had to maintain a professional mentality in her training courses. I knew the fact that we messed around a little too much in her class irritated her, but we couldn't help but tease her. Kariah instructed us to form groups of three, and to concentrate reaching a state of complete calm, in order to practice our abilities on different objects.

We scampered towards the left corner of the arena, the furthest away from any of the other teams. On the pedestal lie a bow and arrow, a sword, and two daggers. All of the weapons we used for training had been created by Inok, who can create objects that represented the weight and feel of something, but would disintegrate upon contact with another being. This way, we could stab, slash, or aim freely, without worry of causing our classmates harm.

Caeden grabbed the dagger, and challenged Dany to a duel. As they sparred a few yards away from me, I levitated the bow and arrow into my grasp from a few feet away. I clutched the bow and arrow between my fingers, feeling the delicate wood particles come to life beneath my finger tips. I could've sent the arrow into the target without the bow, by sheer force of my mind, but I enjoyed the feeling of the bow in my hands. I mentally set myself apart from the sounds of metal clashing and the loud voices, and I cleared all distractions, letting the sound of my slow exhale fill my eardrums. I lined up the arrow in the nock in the string, and aligned it with the center of the target. Swiftly, the arrow connected exactly where I had imagined.

A smile played at my lips. I knew I was skilled with the bow, but every time I hit my marks, a rush of pride flowed through my veins. I glanced over at Caeden and Dany, whose arms were tangled with one another as they attempted to push the other to the ground. As I strode over to watch the show, a feeling of calm greeted me, and Caeden melted to the floor, apparently feeling the calm just as intensely as I had.

"No fair," he smirked at Dany.

"I can't help that I'm so awesome, Caed." Dany's eyes assessed him as she reached her hand out to help him up, a confident smile tugging at her lips.

He graciously accepted her hand, and upon contact, she yelped in pain and shook her hand. Her icy eyes fixed on him and she smacked him in the chest. He chuckled, voicing apologies in between breaths as she proceeded to smack him again and again.

Caeden has the ability to create and control fire and heat, and he's mastered his energy so well that he can even control his own body temperature. This proves useful when dealing with Dany, who is almost too confident to deal with sometimes.