Got a little euphoric buzz going on soon as I opened my eyes and saw a pair of clouded white ones staring approvingly at me. Felt like hot shit for a moment there, didn't really know what to do with myself for a second so I just kept my hand on her head, petting her hair like she was some kind of vampiric feline.

But if I was expecting to hear her purr in delight, then I've never been more dead wrong.

"You… did it…" she muttered blankly, significantly less enthused than I was to the magical hurdle I just overcame.

Was a little confused about her indifference towards my accomplishment, that was until she decided to elaborate a bit further on the scale of what I just learned.

Apparently sensing the innate magic in others was pretty much the one plus one equivalent of the fantasy world, meaning to say, everybody, from recent newborns to the old ancients - this sixth sense thing came to them as naturally as breathing did.

So all I did was basically taught myself how to use my lungs.

Adalia didn't even veil herself with any illusions throughout the whole test. Barely any magic was even utilized against me, just a little deception, throwing her voice around to try and disorientate, while occasionally shifting her position about somewhere else.

Hide and seek, she called it. Yeah right...

"Isn't that just tag?" I asked.

She looked at me, blinked. "What's… tag...?"

Nevermind.

Still, I wasn't gonna let the triviality of the whole thing detract from my achievement. Baby steps or no, it was still gratifying to know that somewhere within me exists some magical potential.

Just wished I knew about this sooner. Thanks, Mom… Dad. You hiding this from your daughter too?

In any case - magic, I could sense it now… and it was a very strange sensation to be sensing, best way to describe it would like the force of the wind - more potent the magic, the stronger the breeze… least it felt that way.

My 'magic' was as if a standing fan was blowing at full speed, whirring away inside of me. Almost like a humming...

Adalia on the other hand, felt like a small draft funneling through a door that hung ever so slightly ajar. In a way, she felt… feeble, impotent, guess that was just a given, wasn't it?

The vampire before me continued to take in huge gulps of air through wide-open trembling lips, baring the shimmer in her sharpened fangs to the open air.

Caught a glimpse of them and impulsively took an involuntary step back, drawing my hand away from her. Didn't even realize what I was doing until it was done, so I just stood there in silence hoping that she wouldn't notice my show of fear.

I think she did.

She always does.

"Moving… on…" Adalia sputtered out, slowly turning her body towards the flower garden. "You've learned now… how to passively sense… the magic… from others… and within yourself. Next… you must… actively control… and channel that… magic…"

Took more time than I would have liked for her to finish that sentence. Every strenuous gasp in between words grew my concern over her well-being by over a dozen.

I wanted her to stop, let her simmer down for a moment, and rest, 'take a break', I very nearly said, but in the end, I have to leave those words as only unspoken thoughts in my head.

The flashes and rumbles from high above our heads wouldn't dare let me speak them to her. So in silence, and in deep apprehension, I continued to listen.

"Now magic… is only as strong… as the person that… wields it… you are your own… catalyst..." Adalia took a haphazard stroll along the swaying meadow. I followed after her. "Listen… flowers rustling… wind howling… the thunder… hear… them…?"

"Yes, I hear them," I said, straining my ears, anticipating for something to happen at any moment. "What are you…?"

Tearing away from any ails or afflictions, Adalia's arm weaved through the air in a motion so swift that it could be easily missed in a blink of an eye.

Speaking of motions… that was all there was now as she lowered her arm back to her side. Flowers swaying with no rustles, the gust of wind with no whistling breeze, the crackle of lightning brightened briefly the murky skies… but no booming thunder to follow after.

I couldn't hear a single thing.

Adalia was moving her lips, shaping words that only spoke out dead silence. Even to me, my own voice, nothing. No heartbeat in my chest, the scrunching of grass under my feet… total sound deprivation. It was literal and metaphorical a deafening experience.

Adalia waved her arm again and audibility rolled back into the fray of five senses as sudden as it had left it.

I heard myself give a sharp gasp, the thundering beats of my heart bashing against my chest, the crispy crunch of dewy greens as I wobbled unsteadily in place.

"Okay, that was…" I said, hearing myself, vigorously rubbing both my ears. "That was something, alright."

Now I kinda understand how Amelia could have abducted all those victims without raising the slightest hint of suspicion from anybody else during the vampire incident. Can't very well notice what you can't even hear in the first place, can you?

Matriarch magic is something else, man. Now, here I'm left reeling wondering what other tricks do they have up their sleeves that I have yet to see?

But I suppose that was also a question that's going to be left unsaid… maybe next time, a better time.

"Your nature… defines which essence… of magic … you most specialize in. Matriarchs… such as myself… have a unique affinity… for illusions… misdirection. That is not to say… we can't learn… other types of magic… but it'll take a little bit more… time… to master others…"

Adalia took a moment to heave away her fatigue.

"Now… it is your turn… to use your body… to channel the magic… you hold within. Remember… like breathing… like moving… magic is simply a part of yourself… that… that… you will to your… your command..."

It actually physically hurts watching her trying not to stumble. I wanted to reach out to her again, suddenly I didn't really much care how brazen her fangs and claws were showing right then - the pain in her expression scared me more than any sharpened edge.

Then suddenly she was holding herself upright again, and that wanting impulse inside me was gone to the wind.

Adalia's misty eyes, blank and vacant as they always were, struck me as a bit more… how to say… tenser than they usually were.

I thought it was merely my imagination - until her lips quivered open once more.

"You have to… bring me… to my knees…"

Needless to say, I was more than just a little perturbed by what was just said.

"What?"

"Use… your magic…" She explained, stifling her shakes beneath closed fists. "Bring me to… my knees."

Tried to blink back my surprise. "Wait, how exactly do you expect me to - ?"

"Subjugation..." She whimpered an explanation. "Terestra's… specialty. She's… always been able… to bind… anyone… and anything… to her will. It is magic… that is well beyond… most… most others."

What she was saying was a far cry from just sensing one another in the dark. Talk about starting small and ending big - I'm not sure if I'm even able to…

"Magic of that caliber… is in her nature…" Adalia said, reading my thoughts like an open book, as always, "Naturally… it is also… in yours. What she is capable of… so are you..."

What she is capable of, so are you

Hearing those words from her, uttered in that tone of voice. I felt the magnitude, the gravity behind them. The things my mother could do, did do… and the vile things she decided to do with them.

Subjugation was her specialty… what else was her specialty? What else was mine?

"Why subjugation?" I asked, feeling every hiss of discomfort she was taking in. "Isn't there anything else I could do that wouldn't involve you being under any form of stress? Can I just make a rock levitate?"

Adalia gave a slow blink. "If you are able… to subject me... to your will. Then logically… you too will be able… to bound the weather… to your wishes. Make the storms… disappear. Subjugation… is… it's the only… way… now..."

I couldn't stand it anymore - I was done leaving these words I wanted to speak out to be left unsaid.

"You're not fit for this, Adalia. Look at yourself, you really need to feed now, or else you'll just - "

"I'll resist…" She said. "I'll be… resisting… you. You have to break… my resistance… bring me… to my knees… keep me… to the ground… understand?"

Quiet words, sharp words, spoken under a restraint whisper. She doesn't care at all, does she? Not one bit. The end justifies the means… if it was for her sister, no risk was too great.

I was starting to understand now.

"Are... you… ready?"

I hated that I did.

"Ready."