“Any more tests you wanna run before we get started?” Corian’s feline face wrinkled in disapproval. His silver eyes glinted in the moonlight as he looked the drow halfling up and down.
“No, I’m good.”
“Great. Close your eyes again.”
She did, letting a slow breath hiss through her tight lips as the tingling from the seed in her stomach grew stronger again.
“We’ll start with the shield. See it in your mind’s eye. Remember what you felt right before you summoned it. If you can, remember what you felt when you saw its shape appearing right where you wanted it to be. Then hold onto that and focus on lifting the shield around yourself first.”
“You’re not gonna start attacking me, are you?” she muttered through a tiny smirk.
“Just pull up the shield, Cheyenne.”
With another deep breath, the half-drow tried to ignore the tingle in her belly that was quickly growing into full-on indigestion. Forget the seed. You need a shield.
Her fingertips tingled again, sharp pieces of it shooting up her arms like an electrical current. The burn rose from her stomach to her throat this time, searing its way up and out of her in a giant belch that rolled across the meadow. Cheyenne’s eyes flew open just in time to see the purple, glittering light bursting from her gaping mouth. Her hands only made it halfway to her lips before the light and the belch disappeared, and she froze.
Corian stepped back and covered his laugh with a quick cough. “Haven’t seen that before.”
“You’re not helping.”
“And you’re not trying. You ate something from another world, only half of you is equipped to handle it, and then you burped.” The Nightstalker cleared his throat, his fur-tipped ears twitching as he wiped the smile off his lips with his hand. Then he folded his arms. “Back to the shield.”
She glared at him, then closed her eyes and started all over again. Her body still hummed with all the extra energy from the Nimlothar seed, but it had settled down into something much more manageable. Maybe Peridosh has some magical Pepto-Bismol…
“Remember how it felt to use it, kid. Remember how you felt to see it done. Bring that into this right now.”
Corian’s words were suddenly the only thing she could hear as her mind flew through the memories of only two, maybe three times she’d conjured the black, shimmering shield of drow magic. I don’t need to be hypnotized.
She only noticed there had been a small, gentle breeze rolling across the meadow and ruffling her bone-white hair when it suddenly stopped. Cheyenne slowly opened her eyes and found herself staring at the Nightstalker’s distorted outline, his features, the meadow, and woods around them muted by a dark light shimmering in front of her. Blinking, the halfling leaned back and flicked the wall of black energy she’d conjured right in front of her face. A dull, metallic ping echoed off the drow shield. “I did it.”
“There’s a first for everything.” With his arms still folded, Corian took a step back and nodded. “Now get rid of it.”
“Ha!” She slapped the shield one more time, and it gave a much louder, thicker clang. Yeah, that’s real. “All right. Level one accessed.”
When she tossed her hand like she was brushing crumbs off a table, the shield disappeared like a thin wisp of black smoke.
Corian grunted. “Looks like dropping your spells is the easiest part for you, huh?”
“I’ve had a lifetime of trying to shove it all back down where no one can see. So, yeah. That part feels pretty natural.”
“People usually don’t pay much attention to that side of the coin. They’re a lot more focused on how to make an impression with all kinds of flashy abilities.” The Nightstalker stroked his chin and gave her another appraising look from head to toe.
“You can make an impression by doing the exact opposite, too.” Another of Mom’s lessons.
“Indeed. How confident are you with using the magic you think you’ve already mastered?” Slowly, Corian moved without a sound across the grass in a wide circle around the drow halfling. “In a fight, I mean. When you’re caught up in the heat of battle and have to think on your feet.”
“Pretty confident.” Cheyenne followed him with her eyes until he’d circled out of her view. But she felt him behind her, moving slowly around toward her other side. And I can hear those footsteps. When they stopped, the halfling summoned an orb of crackling black energy and held it there at her side.
The Nightstalker started walking again, and then he reappeared in her peripheral vision, his hands clasped behind his back. “Good to hear. I think it’s to your advantage that the ability you’re working on now is what it is. Defensive magic is just as important.”
“Not if I’m faster than the other guy.”
“You might have been so far.” Corian just kept walking in the slow circle, staring at the grass as he passed in front of her one more time. “But it won’t always be the case.”
“Okay, show me one—”
The Nightstalker’s hand shot out so quickly, she didn’t see him move—just the silver streak of light hurtling toward her before it crashed into her shoulder and spun her sideways.
“Hey! I just got that healed.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem.” He shot another bolt of lightning-like magic toward her chest this time.
Cheyenne activated her drow speed and stepped to the side as the Nightstalker’s spell crackled past her, reaching out with wavering branches of light pretty much just like lightning. Then she dropped back into normal speed and spread her arms. Shadows danced behind her as Corian’s attack flew across the meadow into the darkness on the other side. “I thought you said you weren’t gonna start attacking me?”
“No, I told you to focus on your shield,” he snarled. “You need to listen.”
Two more bolts of silver light pierced the air between them.
The halfling moved with enhanced speed one more time to avoid them both, and Corian laughed. She whipped her head toward
