Training the Magic
Training the Magic:2781words
Update Time:2024-11-01 09:40:34
[Carmen]I had less of an issue with nudity than other werewolves did, because I couldn’t see other people looking at me. For the most part, my people ignored nudity as much as they could, but they weren’t exactly nudists. Wearing a dress with nothing under it was new to me, though. The only time I had done it was when I needed to shift to talk to Pyla yesterday. I felt a blush come over me. It felt a little lewd to know I would be entertaining company like this. If I really had a real problem with it, Rock would have probably let me wear either a bra or panties… maybe. I knew he wouldn’t change his mind on something just because it made me uncomfortable. I had to give him a real reason. He released me from his embrace and took my hand. I let him guide me out of the closet and our room. When we were about halfway down the hall, the doorbell rang. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Rock left me by the couch before going to answer the door. I heard the door open and him invite more than one person in. I thought it would only be the one healer. Rock didn’t seem surprised. “Ladies, this is my mate, Carmen. You have met her before, Orella,” Rock said. “Yes, this is Sadiya. When I told her I would be coming to meet you she insisted on coming. I will be your teacher, but she will be here for your first lesson,” Orella told me. The door closed and I heard people moving. I knew they couldn’t see me, but I bowed anyway. It was how I was raised. “I appreciate you coming to see me,” I answered. “Tell me, Carmen, what do you think of the fae?” the other woman asked. “That’s a hard question to answer. I’m guessing you’re asking because my parents have negative feelings toward the fae.” “Precisely. I want to know what you think, having been raised by them and finding yourself mated to one.” I wasn’t lying when I said it was hard to answer. The fae community wasn’t just one species. Each of them was different in history, culture, and behavior. I felt that answering this question incorrectly might cause me more problems.“I don’t know all of the fae and I don’t know someone from every species. I don’t hate them because they are fae, if that is what you want to know. My like and dislike isn’t based on species. It’s based on my experience with each individual. My father thinks Rock is a monster, but hunters are the only monsters I truly fear. “So far, I only dislike one troll that I’ve met. She is rude to my mate and to me. I don’t care what she says to or about me, but I don’t like her for the things she has said to and about my mate. I hate anyone who tries to hurt Rock, it doesn’t matter if they are werewolf, fae, or human,” I answered. “Even your own parents?”“If they don’t see that my happiness is tied to my love for Rock, then they aren’t worthy of being called my parents. I’ve told them all they need to know. Now it is for them to decide that my happiness is more important than their prejudice.”“And how do you feel about having a troll mate instead of a werewolf mate?” she asked. I turned my head to where I could feel my mate. I didn’t know where the feelings came from, but I did know he was there. Rock was my sun, he was warmth, happiness, and light to me. “It never mattered to me that Rock was a troll. Even if I could see, it wouldn’t matter. I love him and I trust my goddess to have picked the best possible mate for me. Rock has only ever made me feel safe and complete. He is my heart and soul. My feelings for him have only become stronger since the first moment I heard his voice,” I replied. Though I couldn’t see him, I knew my answer made Rock happy. It was the truth of how I felt and I would never pretend it wasn’t. He might not be able to smell if I was being honest, but the honesty of my words had to come across in my voice. “Good. I will wait until your lesson is over and we will talk more,” Sadiya told me.“If you’re not going to be teaching Carmen anything, can I get you some tea or coffee? We have some fruit as well if you’re hungry,” Rock offered. “A drink would be welcome while we wait.” I could hear him take her to the dining room and turned my attention to Orella. She took my hand. It was confident and sure. I was never able to reach for anything with that sort of confidence. “Come, sit on the couch,” she said. We sat on the couch and I turned toward her. There were no little flashes this time, but I trusted that it would happen when it was intended to. Orella took both my hands in hers. Her hands were soft and warm. I could almost feel the buzz of her magic. “Carmen, I want you to close your eyes and focus on the connection of our hands. I want to feel your magic,” she told me. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on just the touch of Orella’s hands on mine. I shook my head and then turned my thoughts inward, seeking my magic. At first, I felt nothing, but after a moment, it felt like my fingers were tingling. Another moment and the tingling was gone.“I… I can’t do it,” I said after a few moments.“Don’t worry, you’re not ready yet. When you are ready, you will be able to do it without even thinking about it. Here, try again,” Orella replied in a calming tone.Again, I focused on that feeling. The tingling of my magic was similar to the feeling of the tingling in my mate bond. It wasn’t exactly the same though. The electric feeling I had when I touched Rock was different from the warm tingle in my hands that started to build up. It was starting to become stronger and there was something like a light behind my eyelids. It was like the first time I saw the sun when I was in my wolf form. Back then, I closed my eyes and could almost see the light of the sun breaching my lids. “I see something,” I whispered as if it would disappear. “Keep your eyes closed, be still and imagine that magic moving through your hands. Feel the magic coursing through me,” Orella said in a low voice.I focused on the feeling of her presence in my hands. It was almost as if magic was a tangible thing. My hands were almost buzzing with it and I could almost see it wafting through the air. I could almost see Orella as if she was glowing with an aura.“I can see you! But I’m not seeing you, I can almost…” I started to say and then gasped in shock.“That’s it, Carmen! You’re close. Don’t let go of that feeling. Keep feeling the connection of your magic and mine.” Keeping my eyes closed, I focused on the image of Orella’s glowing presence in my mind. I didn’t feel the sensation of the tingling or the glow for long before everything vanished and I was back to exactly how I had been before.Tears formed at the corner of my eyes when everything was gone. “I was so close,” I whispered.“You can do it, Carmen. Keep practicing and you will get it. You will be able to see the magic and feel it in no time. Now, let’s try something else,” Orella said encouragingly.I nodded and tried to push the disappointment of my failure aside. Taking my hands back, I wiped my tears from my eyes. Though I may have had some minor doubts before, now I was convinced that this magic could help me see. “You’re very pretty, Orella. I couldn’t see colors, but I could see your form. Will it ever be better than that?” I asked. “It will. There will come a time when you will see clearly. Color... not so much. There will be things that glow with a comparable shade of magic, but it may be a while before you are able to see that.” “What should we try next?”“I want you to focus on expanding your magic outside of your body. Focus inwardly. Gather your magic in the center of your body. Once you feel that it is powerful enough, I want you to push it out to the rest of the room. Imagine it swelling and expanding outside of you,” she instructed. I sat still for a moment as I followed her instructions. I focused inward and found that I could feel my magic. It tingled and buzzed at my command. I gathered it in the center of my body and then pushed it out. The magic surrounded me. I tried to hold my focus on it and then imagined it swelling larger. Pushing as much as I could, I put everything I had into it. The feeling was like trying to blow up a balloon with no air in my lungs. It was as if my body desperately wanted to inhale. Finally, I couldn’t do it anymore. I knew I didn’t fill the room, but I just couldn’t push it out any further. I let it go and my magic snapped back into my body. It was almost painful. I opened my eyes and sighed.“It will take time and practice, but it will get easier. I am sorry that it hurt, but I am glad that you were able to focus the magic and push it out. If it didn’t hurt, then that would be a very big problem,” Orella said as she patted my shoulder in a reassuring manner.“Does it hurt when you do it?” I asked. “Not anymore, but when I was young, it did. I learned how to do this when I was seven. I’m a couple hundred years old now, but I still remember the strain. You are taking to this training very well.” “Thank you.... I mean, I appreciate that.” She chuckled. “You don’t have to fear thanking me during this time. I know you understand the fae, but the strain of this could make you fall back on bad habits.” I nodded then remembered she couldn’t see, either. “I appreciate your understanding.” “When you have completed this training, Carmen, you will be able to see when people nod. You will see the magic of their life. It will be outlined in the magic you put out.” “Really? Is that how you see?” I asked. “Absolutely. It’s not something we are always doing, but we do it in our offices and when we are talking to someone who is more physical than verbal, like orcs.” Being able to see, even in a weird magical way, would be amazing. I wanted that. I could learn to do this and it would help me take care of my mate and pups. The idea of seeing in my human form was exciting. It made me want to work harder to make this happen. I closed my eyes and tried again. I focused inward and gathered my magic. I felt it rise up and spread out like it was before. I imagined it expanding and I pushed as hard as I could.A tingling sensation spread out from my chest as I put more and more of my magic into the effort. I pushed hard and felt the magic swelling out of me. It engulfed me and then reached out toward the room.It was faint, but I could feel it around me. I could feel the magic. It tingled and buzzed ever so slightly.“Open your eyes, Carmen,” Orella told me. Opening my eyes, I gasped. It was only a few feet around me, but I could see lit-up outlines of the couch, the edge and corner of the coffee table, and Orella’s face. “I can see you!” “When you have mastered it, you will be able to fill the room with your magic without having to try as hard. You’ve worked it enough for tonight. I know, it doesn’t feel like we’ve been at it for very long, but this isn’t something you should be trying to work too hard,” she said. “Close your eyes and pull your magic back in.” With a nod, I did what she said. I felt like I had worked a muscle I never worked before. I was a little tired, but I also had a sort of euphoria from it. This was the best feeling I’d ever had in my life. Once I was pulled back together, I opened my eyes again. It was all black, just like it had been my entire life. There was hope, though. I might never see like everyone else did, but I could have something like it. “This is the most amazing thing. I can’t even begin to express my gratitude to you for this gift.” “The gift was in you all along. I am only here to show you how to use it,” Orella replied. “What about the other things I see? The times when I get a sense of the future?” I asked. “Oh, that’s not the future. It was like it. Remember how I told you I couldn’t tell you if your child would be blind? That is because it is not something that is set in stone. It isn’t a truth of the universe yet. You were not born fae, only with a blessing to make you more fae-like. I can see the future, but you can’t.” “But, I told my friend that she would have to teach her mate how to love. We thought it meant that I could catch glimpses of the future. I saw a future of happiness for my other friend. If I can’t see the future, then what was that?” “Your friend, the one you saw happiness for, what was the circumstance?” “She was leaving to go with her second chance mate to his home,” I answered. “A second mate is a blessing. When we are with our mates, they bless us with happiness. Both of them must have lost their previous mates and would be working extra hard to make each other happy. You saw their commitment to loving and cherishing each other,” she explained. “And the other? She hasn’t met her mate yet.” “But we hold a piece of our mate’s soul in our own. Even if it isn’t part of his physical body, it is connected to the rest of him. You were seeing the rest of his soul. A life without love is a powerful pain that can radiate in the souls of others. She must have a great amount of love in her if the goddess selected her for him.”“She does.” “Good. Then it will all be fine. We should call Sadiya and Rock back in. I bet you’re eager to tell him all about what we did tonight. I want you to practice a little every day and we’ll pick this up again next Monday,” Orella told me. “That sounds good.” “You sit here, I will get them.” I sat in the living room and I felt like a storm was brewing in me. I was happy and excited, but I was unsure of what I was supposed to do. I had this ability and I was so grateful to have it, but I wanted to test it out more.They all returned and I was eager to talk to Rock, but I remembered Sadiya wanted to talk to me. I wondered what she wanted to talk about. Everyone sat down. Rock sat next to me and took my hand in his. I didn’t know where the others sat, but I knew one day I wouldn’t have to wonder where exactly everyone was. “Now that your lesson has finished, I was hoping to talk to you,” Sadiya said. “What did you want to know?” I asked. “Do you know why your parents hate fae?” “No. They haven’t told me. My brother doesn’t seem to know, either.” “Well, I’m here to tell you that it is because of me and a deal your grandfather made. A deal your family broke,” she told me.