Heart Over Sword - Chapter 117

Arawn was stunned by Evanna’s first attempt at using her gift. He wanted to test the strength behind her power; he never expected the stems of the flowers to grow healthy once more. She was not even trained, and after a few seconds of hovering her hand over the plants, he saw the small gold sparks leave her hands and pour into the plants’ roots.

When an elf first retrieves their gift, they need to train their bodies to wield it. It takes a great deal of energy, so like sword fighting, it needs to be practised each day to get better. The skill and strength used behind it will improve.  Evanna seemed to have some power behind her already; she just needed some direction in calling on the gift, only wielding enough of the gift dependant on the task and how not to burn out. They would definitely start on small tasks such as this.

Though, what he asked of her was not a minuscule task. He just wanted to assess her capabilities. Arawn nodded his head then reached his hand out for Evanna to take. She had been staring at her hand momentarily and seemed to forget all about his existence. Well, that just won’t do!

Arawn helped her back up; she was still dazed and almost fell into him. He wouldn’t mind it, but he knew Evanna would become flustered, and she needed to focus on her gift. When he was teaching her, the prince would be merciful, or as much as he could be. Evanna steadied herself, stepping out of the prince’s reach and dusting herself down.

“*You did well on your first attempt,*” Arawn praised with a small smile. Evanna looked at him with widened eyes. Was he for real? Her powers barely done anything. The prince chuckled at her disbelieving look, “*I was not expecting much, considering you are only part elf. Plus, a lot of elves fail on their first attempt using their powers.*”

“*Did you?*” Evanna queried. Even as she asked the question, she already knew the answer.

“*Pfft. Of course, I did not fail.*” And as if Arawn needed to make a point, he opened the palm of his hand, and a small swirling snowstorm twisted flurries around in chaotically until it all but disappeared and leaving in its place, was a frozen rose ice sculptor. Evanna looked at it in wonder before staring up at him. Arawn smirked and held her hand before placing the icy rose on it.

Arawn turned his back on her, and Evanna couldn’t help but be in awe of him and, at the same time, think of how much of a show-off he was.

“That’s not fair!” She marched up to him, being careful with the rose in her hand and whisper-shouted, “You’re an actual elf and a royal at that! Of course, you’re going to be amazing!”

Arawn turned around with a broad smile on his handsome features, “You think me amazing?”

Evanna narrowed her eyes at him. “I said your gift wielding was amazing..” She trailed off nervously.

The prince chuckled, “I am quite certain you said I was amazing. But even if you meant my wielding my gifts were amazing.. That still means I am amazing to be able to wield it..” Evanna tried to interrupt, but he continued ignoring her attempts, “Do not worry, princess,” He grabbed her free hand and brought her knuckles to his lips, “There is no need to be shy in complimenting me.” He smiled against her hand before she pulled it away and pouted.

“We should continue with the lesson..” Evanna abruptly changed subjects. Arawn smirked and nodded his head.

“Very well then..” He replied before changing his stance. “I will not ask you to try and attempt healing the flowers again for a while. We need to build up your stamina at using this gift. Now, the first part of your training might be boring, but if you wield too much of your power before your body is ready.. Then you could be bedridden for days, weeks or even die.”

Evanna gulped and nodded her head in understanding. She wondered what was so boring?

“Watch closely. But do not come near,” Arawn added. Evanna stilled and watched as the prince closed his eyes, his hands clasped together at the centre of his stomach. A few seconds went by until Evanna heard a small crackling noise fill the air and felt a cold energy pass through her as the wind swept her hair back.

Arawn slowly brought his hands apart as though he was holding a small ball or an apple. But inside of his hands was that black mist. His eyes snapped open, and he brought his hands further apart and faced them outwards before moving them simultaneously as though he was rotating a wide circle. His hands continuously would go clockwise then anticlockwise, his gaze locked ahead as though he was in a trance. The mist made a circle in front of him where his hands kept moving.

Arawn continued with the motions, and Evanna watched and refrained from gasping when suddenly the mist split off into little glowing symbols still in the circle. They were so clear, even as Arawn still moved his hands over them. He was so elegant in the motion, it could have been some strange dance routine, but she knew what he was showing her was something very powerful. Evanna could feel how much power was radiating off him.

But that mist was deadly… If Arawn was such a ‘cruel’ prince, he would have wielded such power on anyone that annoyed him. And she knew on a daily basis he became upset with at least one person.

“Do not get distracted now, Evanna. *I am only showing you enough for what you should aim to get to. This is a lot of power. It usually takes years until you will see these symbols. Once you see the symbols, it means you wield enough to control the greater power of your gift. But keep watching,*” Arawn said through clenched teeth while his gaze was still ahead.

It was then Evanna realised that the prince, though he was strong and always looked perfect without a strand of his annoyingly gorgeous hair out of place, had the tiniest bead of sweat at the top right corner of his forehead. This was indeed powerful elven magic. She hoped he wasn’t pushing himself too far, all for her benefit.

Evanna’s eyes then widened as the symbols glowed a brilliant gold and swirled together before crashing into the middle, and a thunderous sound resounded the grounds. All at once, a mighty wind blew her back a few steps causing the princess to scrunch her eyes shut momentarily before the symbols and mist disappeared completely.

Arawn lowered his hands, and from Evanna’s position, she could see his chest heaving slightly. She rushed over to his side, her eyes searching his features for any signs of pain. She could still feel the energy spilling out of him; it was cold and dark. A shiver went down her spine, and she knew her sense was telling her not to touch him right now.

“*Do not come any closer. For safety reasons,*” Arawn said through ragged breath before clearing his throat and staring intently at her. “As you can see, it takes a great deal of energy to call upon the greater powers. Not many have achieved as much as I. Once those symbols glow, it means that all of your gifts are at their strongest. So..”

He placed his hands behind his back as he continued his explanation. “For the next couple of days, you will be developing your power after activating the ‘gifted circle’. It will be strenuous work, doing it a few hours at a time. But I will be here to guide you as well.”

“The gifted circle..” Evanna murmured. There wasn’t much to the name; it made its point clear.

“Yes, this is what we are taught first for the first six months of training our gifts-”

“Six months!?” Evanna exclaimed in disbelief. She did not have six months only to do a damn pretty circle.

Arawn chuckled in amusement, “Yes, six months. But maybe after a few weeks, we can test how far you have come along with your gift.”

Evanna sighed in response. Her mind was already calculating her next moves. She was very impressed by how much power Arawn wielded, but she also knew he was much, much older than her. Stupid elves and their deceiving youthful, good looks. Anyway, she would not get to his level of achievement anytime soon, or even at all. She would stay for at least another two weeks, learn as much as she can in that time, then leave.

Though, she wondered if her mother was to recover.. Could Evanna return to the Flori? Nope, she could not imagine them giving her a second chance when the first time she came in contact with them, she stole from them and, after gaining intel, then fled. Was she wicked for thinking such things?

“Oh, how many gifts do you have? It took a while for those symbols to glow..” Evanna suddenly burst out with the question bubbling in her mind.

Arawn tilted his head to the side, “Many. Now let’s begin.”