Chapter 15.5:

Dull light pierced Verona's eyes. Ever since she was little she always woke up at the slightest amount of sunlight, and today was no exception.

Despite 'waking', it still took her some time to become fully alert. As she was sleeping on her left side, she twisted her head and looked to her right out the window, the soft fur covers brushing lightly and tickling the skin on her.

Through the wooden slats of the window, she could see that it was still raining outside.

Oh, right. I had lots of food, felt really tired, and then went to bed. Guess that storm still has not gone then.

Usually, the rain and lightning would make her panic and her heart to pound in her chest. It was different today. Something was warm underneath her neck and along her back. She turned back and saw Anton lying next to her, his right arm underneath her and gently resting against her back. His left was resting along her waist and ended just below her shoulders.

“Why?” Verona managed to squeak out, as she reached and tried to grab his arm.

Anton murmured something as she tired to move. His eyes were still closed and his mouth was slightly agape. He was still asleep.

“Oh.” Verona mumbled to herself. “I guess this is my doing then.”

Sometime during the night, when she was only half awake, she had moved across the bed to somewhere where it was warm. She knew that this was probably Anton but, at the time, she did not care. This was not the first night that she had ended curled up in his arms.

She could not feel his skin through the night-gown that she wore, but the warmth still felt nice, though a little strange for her heart. Even with covers, she could see that Anton was not wearing a shirt. She moved her feet and touched his pants, confirming that he was not completely naked.

Her heart started to race. Usually when she woke up she would move away as silently and quickly as she could, to calm her body down. Today felt different.

She looked at his sleeping face and found that he looked quite vulnerable. It brought back memories of Anton being stabbed by Cara, the anger and emptiness she felt at the time coming back.

That time had changed quite a lot of what she had thought of him.

She brought up a hand and stroked his lightly bearded face. The warmth traveled through her hand and through to her chest, quickly spreading throughout her body. A smile came to her face.

“You know...” Verona barely whispered, hoping to not wake Anton. She could have remained silent, but it felt like it had to be said aloud.

“When you first came here, as I saw you using that lightning as the goblins attacked,...I thought you were a god. That's why I followed you. After a while, I realized you were anything but.”

She chuckled, retracting her hand as she thought he would wake. A few moments passed of silence continued as he continued to sleep.

“When you were stabbed, and I saw the blood, I knew that you were not. Then there are your...other issues.”

Vivid memories of Anton kicking a dying woman in the head resurfaced. It happened whenever she let her mind wander too much when she thought of him. Instead of revulsion, she felt concern and worry, though on reflection she may not have showed it properly at the time.

“Every night, you twist and turn while trying to say something. And there's that mark on your back...”

She sighed again, bringing both hands to hold his face.

“You know, you make me worry so much.”

Anton, still not waking, murmured something and pulled her closer to him. She yelped in surprise as her face was brought within an inch of his. Her hands were now resting on his bare chest, his warm breath on her face.

She felt her eyes widen and body stiffen in shock, trying her best to remain as quiet as she could. The warmth from his body quickly started to flow through to her. Slow and rhythmic beats from his heart resounded through her arms and to her head.

The knowledge that she was this close to him, in a bed they both shared, caused Verona's face to quickly redden.

Anton's mouth twitched, bringing her attention to his lips. The same ones that she had kissed deeply while at the lake. That was definitely a spur of the moment thing, with a voice in the back of her head telling her that she would enjoy it. She did not deny that it felt truly amazing. Some of the things she had done had not felt like she was entirely under control, though it never seemed to be something that she would hate.

Sam's words the other day, about her and Anton and what it looked like to everyone else, began to swirl through her head and pushed out all other thoughts. The sort of things she said, about being with another person and what that meant doing, sent her mind into a wild and uncontrollable spin.

Anton's continuing embrace only made her feel hotter, both from within and that which flowed from his body. It continued to grow in her body, gathering on her face and nether regions. There was an itch starting to grow within her, one that she wanted to be scratched no matter what. As she could not move her hands, she rubbed her thighs. It did not help.

Sam mentioned something about that feeling, though Verona had started to get so embarrassed by that time that most of what she had said was a blur. She was so glad that she had calmed down before Anton saw her again.

Verona rubbed her head hard into the pillow.

Okay, time to get out of bed....I don't understand much of this. I can't be the only one that has ever had these feelings...Sybil and Sam should know. I hope that these are normal.

She tried breathing slowly and deeply. Her body starting to feel a little more normal. As she slowly pushed away, trying her best not to wake Anton, she managed to make some distance between them.

Though her heart and body were no longer burning, she did feel a little saddened. Curled up in his arms did give her a feeling of safety.

The fact that she could feel any of these feelings was still a constant shock to Verona. Her life, until incredibly recently, was just a constant struggle to scrounge enough to survive each day. Every day it became a little harder as there was less food to steal and, by judging how Anton had healed her after her first fight, she was becoming increasingly sick.

She took another deep breath and brought both of her hands into her chest.

Images of the life she had before slowly went through her mind; she and her parents working hard in the field, playing with the other children of the village, and sitting at a table with them sharing a simple meal. Until a few days ago, thinking of such good times was something that she could not afford.

“I still think this is a dream,” Verona started whispering again, “Any moment, Everything's going to stop and I'll wake up underneath the table in my old house. Before this, I was beginning to wonder how it was all going to end. Whether it was going to be starving, the goblins...or by my own hand.”

“You shouldn't ever think like that.” Anton mumbled. His eyes were closed and his speech was slurred, he had only just started to wake up.

Verona lifted herself up off his arm and shuffled further away, far enough that his hands were no longer touching her.

“Good- Good morning Anton.” Verona blurted out. She had not been this nervous is years, hoping that he would not realize where she had slept.

“What were you talking about?” he asked groggily.

She was about to answer when something Sam had said resurfaced.

“Men can be simple creatures at times. If you tell them 'everything's fine', they'll believe that. So don't, take it from me, and just say what's wrong.”

“Um...” Verona mumbled, deciding that she should just tell the truth, “I was having a bad dream.”

“Not that one where everything's on fire again?” he asked, raising both arms into the air and stretching them.

“No, thankfully. I was just remembering how things were before...everything went bad. My parents...”

She felt a tear well up in her eye. Anton lowered his hands and rested them on the covers.

“You okay?” Anton asked, staring straight into her eyes.

“I'll be okay.”

He did not answer but placed his hand on her head. It tickled as he rubbed her head. She wiped away the tears and she buried her head into the pillow.

“It's still raining.” Anton kept his hand on her head and looked out the window.

“Yeah.” Verona replied, subconsciously moving his hand so it continued to pat her head.

“I take it that nobody's tried to get us?”

She shook her head. There had not been any noise, apart from the sound of rain. If the Yellow Goblins had attacked, others would have surely have got them.

“Nobody.” Verona replied.

Anton brought his hand back and rubbed his eyes.

“Well, come on. We better get dressed. I've got no idea what time it is thanks to this rain.”

He threw off the covers and got out of bed. She found herself looking at his body for longer than she expected, looking away as he turned towards her.

“Since we can't do all that much,” he reached down and grabbed his spare shirt. “I thought that it would be a good time to continue with your training.”

“Yeah...could you turn around just for a moment?”

Anton nodded and turned around. Verona threw the covers off and got out of bed. She knew that Anton would not look, giving her some measure of privacy.

The night-gown, that Sybil gave her, felt extremely good against her skin. She would have liked to wear it all the time. However, it was only one of the three sets of clothes that she owned.

She took it off, folded it neatly and placed it beside her bead. It left her two choices to wear; one was normal while the other was soaked in blood.

I guess that I'll use the clean one. The bloody clothes might mess up the tests that Anton wants to do.

She picked up the clean one and brought it up to her face, took a small sniff.

Oh, that stinks.

She took a sniff at the rest of her body.

I never really noticed it, until after swimming in the lake, but I really stink of sweat. I wonder if Anton would allow us to build some sort of bath, like we used to have.

The usual clothes that she wore, several years old with repair patches, felt quite rough and scratched and itched at her skin. It was quite a refreshing feeling, telling her that the day was truly about to begin.

“Can you help me with the armor? I've finished changing by the way.”

“Right.” Anton said as he turned around and walked towards her. “I don't think this will be necessary to perform the tests that I want.”

Verona shrugged dismissively. “Maybe, but I feel a lot safer with these things on.”

The arm and leg pieces of armor were quickly assembled. She could do those by herself, but it was quicker to get some help.

That left the chest armor piece. This one needed help to get on properly.

Thankfully, she did not have to say anything. As she turned around, she held the armor on her front while Anton did the clasps to hold it tight.

“That tight enough?” Anton asked.

She stretched and turned, the armor was still quite loose.

“A bit tighter please. It helps me move around easier, without it moving about.”

Anton continued to pull tighter until Verona nodded, letting him know it was tight enough.

“When you say easier...?”

“I mean that, as I swing my spear,” Verona mimicked the swinging action, “My breasts move about as well.”

Anton's eyes widened in surprise. Verona felt even more surprised that she said it out aloud.

She guessed that he understood what she meant, before she had answered.

He had seen them before. Sam seemed quite surprised and excited when she told her that, though Verona did not mention that it was when she got her mark. Under the blinding and burning pain ripping through her body at the time, it was hardly a priority.

“They hurt when I run...And...they make...it difficult...to...fight...properly...” Verona felt her face turn scarlet as she started to stammer and quieten near the end. She had no idea why she was saying those things. By the time she regained her composure, she realized she was holding the Armour where her breasts were being held underneath.

She had often wondered to herself why they were so large. She knew that they were to nurse babies, but no one in the village had them of a similar size, except her mother. They had developed quite early in her life and seemingly had not stopped growing.

They were a distraction for her at times. When she tried fought the first time, at the quarry, they had been a liability. As she ran they hurt, and they had nearly thrown her off balance when she attacked the Rock-Rat that was about to kill him.

After that battle, and every time she had to have some physical exertion, she would have to massage the ache away, especially on her shoulders. Even with the armor it was still there, though considerably less.

Sam had tried to ask about them, but Anton and Jeff had reappeared just before she could get a proper answer.

A cough brought Verona back to reality. As she looked up to Anton, she saw that he too looked red, bringing her a tiny bit of relief.

“I guess they don't have sport's bras here.” Anton said as he turned to remake the bed.

“What's that?” she asked.

“Oh,” Anton stood up after fixing her side of the bed. “It's...”

This isn't the first time you've said something odd.

He turned and looked at her face, though Verona did not miss the glance at her chest.

“Something that may help you.”

She knew that he was talking about her breasts, but that was not the most important thing to her.

“More memories?” she inquired, raising an eyebrow.

Anton turned back around and looked her in the eye.

“Maybe.” He turned back, finishing making Verona's side before moving around to make his own.

I saw that. That look on your face.

There was something she thought she could see in his face when he talked about those strange things and ideas. Almost like he could remember everything that he said he could not. That he was lying.

It did worry her that he kept secrets about something so important, where he came from.

Are there people waiting for you? People that love you? Hate you? You have said virtually nothing about yourself. And even me, who's a bit slower than the rest, has figured out that you know more than you say. What do the rest think of this?

Verona said nothing, trying to keep as straight a face as she could, as she fixed her side. Anton quickly finished his side, turning his attention to the table.

Around the base of the table lay the broken dinner plate and the dried and damaged remains of the purple flesh. The same flesh that Anton had painstakingly removed, and Verona inadvertently had broken when she had acquired her own magic. There had been little time for Verona to clean it up since then.

Without saying anything, she started to pick the pieces up. Anton moved and helped her pick up the pieces. Before, she only had a glancing look at the flesh that he had collected. Now she could see that a lot of work had gone into this, and she had destroyed it. A part of her felt she should apologize.

“Sorry about this, by the way. I know I really wasn't myself, but I still feel I should still say something.”

“It's fine.” Anton said, as he collected the pieces from Verona. “That was an 'interesting' night for all of us. “

“Besides,” Anton continued as he made his way to the window and tossed the pieces outside into the rain, “I found something more interesting.”

She did not know if she could take it as a compliment, but there was no malice behind his words.

“That's...anyway. Can we start the training here?” she asked.

The room was quite large by her standards. However, judging by how much space Anton wanted the other day, it probably would not be big enough.

“I don't think so.” Anton replied, seemingly agreeing with her suspicions. “I really don't want this place damaged if something goes wrong. Besides, we haven't had anything to eat yet.”

Verona became acutely aware of how hungry she was.

“By the way,” Anton asked, “What did you do for food before?”

“Um...” Verona did not really want to answer. Admitting that she stole and scavenged whatever she could from her neighbors probably would not impress him. Although, Sam's words came back again.

“I had to steal most of it. It wasn't that much.” She waved her hands as Anton raised a questioning eyebrow. “Just enough so that I wouldn't be hungry.”

Anton smirked and nodded. “I guess this all feels pretty different to you.”

Yes. Yes it does.

---[]---

Anton led them to the Council room. There was no-one outside and, when Anton opened the door, there was only Bertram and Sybil. She had hoped that Jonathan and his children were there, she liked to talk with them. Zac seemed a bit distant to her. Jeff not so much, and Sam was difficult for other reasons.

Nevertheless, she followed him in. Anton waved to Bertram, which he returned.

“Did we oversleep, or has it been called off today?” Anton asked, taking a seat and pulling one out for Verona. She readily took her seat next to him.

Usually she felt more comfortable standing just behind him, mimicking what Avery did to Jeff. She just naturally took that as her position. From there she could look at the others to try and figure out how they thought about Anton's words, not that she felt that she had much success so far.

Sitting next to him felt so much more pleasant.

“Sort of,” Bertram replied, looking up from a small stack of papers, “They've already been. With the rain there hasn't been any movement to the north. It's also given everyone time to do some indoor jobs, so they went back to work.”

Anton leant back into his chair. “I need to wake up earlier. Anyway, where do you guys keep the food? We're starving.”

Bertram slowly rose out of his chair and guided Anton out of the room. This left Verona alone with Sybil. She had nothing against her, it just felt a bit strange to talk to her. Getting the clothes had been rather quick and curt, and even then Bertram had been there, so they were not alone.

Sybil had know her mother quite well, often she would see the two of them talking merrily together. Seeing her know just made Verona fell her loss so much more.

“So, Verona...how are you doing?” she could hear the awkwardness in Sybil's voice.

“I'm doing good. Um, sleeping better for one. And I'm no longer coughing up blood every day. So everything's going much better.” Verona replied.

Sybil sighed loudly, the wrinkles on her face becoming more evident.

“We should have taken you in as soon as we could have, instead of waiting.”

Verona did not retort. She, and many others, were left to fend for themselves. That had left a mark on her mind. Several thousand people had already died, people Verona knew quite well, before Anton arrived and gave them some respite so things started to get better.

“Anyway,” Sybil continued, “I wanted to ask because of the other night. When you were...changing...”

“Oh, we're going to be doing some more tests latter. I'm actually looking forward to it.”

Sybil gave her a questioning look. While she did not know the exact details of what Verona's new powers required, she probably had a rough idea from what Anton had told her.

“And, you're comfortable with this?”

Verona did not know exactly how to answer that.

“When my marks came in, I was scared. Very scared. But now it feels like I can stand beside him, and not just something in the way, but as an equal.”

Sybil said nothing, but smiled warmly.

“I remember something like that. A long time ago, though.”

Verona was about to question what she had said when the door opened. Anton and Bertram entered the room, Anton carrying two large plates brimming with food. She felt her question leave her mind, now consumed by a ravenous desire to eat.

“What have you got?” she asked, brimming with excitement.

“Ah, let's see. Some meat, looks like dried Razor Pig, some cheeses, bread, something that looks like carrots and potatoes. It all looks very good and healthy.”

Anton laid a plate infront of her, bristling with food. She barely waited for hers to be placed on the table before she started to eat. Her mother had always said she ate messily and today was no exception.

She ate with a ferocious hunger, every bite filled her mouth with flavor. Even though it was the same as what she ate with her family, it tasted so much better than when she stole it.

Everything around her became of secondary importance. Anton was talking to Bertram and Sybil, though she could not hear them.

After she was finished, and feeling very satisfied, she lent back in her chair. She had no idea how much time had passed, but guessed it was a bit. The others were continuing to talk.

Damn, I should have been paying attention.

Anton was the first to speak.

“So how much are we talking in total, hidden in the capital, do you think?”

Bertram looked rather happy, jostling about in his seat.

“Several thousand Gold, just in coins. That's not taking into account the gems, paintings, which are probably all gone, metal reserves and of course the amount of granite used to build it. If we ever get it back and find someone to trade it all with, we'll have more than enough to get just about anything done. They were hidden in an Adamantian vault, so nothing short of a thousand mages working together could break something so thick.”

His expression changed to a quizzical one.

“You still haven't told us what you would want to do with such riches, not that we could get them yet.”

Anton nodded in agreement.

“I'm just thinking about the future of this place. If the other kingdoms are still functioning, we may be able to buy quite a lot of materials and equipment. Money is of no use unless it can be spent.”

“So you're not thinking of leaving once the situation has been...resolved?” Sybil asked tentatively.

When did this happen? Are you going to leave?

Verona looked at Anton, her face and heart was filled with worry.

“In a sense, maybe. But I see this as the beginning of something much larger. Maybe even a start to rebuild the Kingdom...of a sort.”

Bertram raised a brow.

“I really don't think it should be like it was.” Anton continued. “Though I am intrigued by your stories of the capital. It sounds like an interesting place to have lived.”

“They're just stories now.” Bertram had a distant look in his eyes.

“Aren't you boys getting a little ahead of yourselves?” Sybil asked, looking a little concerned as her attention darted between the two. “We still don't know if we will survive the Yellow Goblins and you're talking about expanding the city already.”

Anton and Bertram looked blankly at Sybil, who sighed loudly and stared at the ceiling.

“Why did you even bring this up Anton? You've made him all giddy.”

Anton leant back and scratched his head.

“I remembered something, when I saw Verona's marks. It's starting to become more clear the harder I look for it.”

That was...sort of a lie.

“There is something dangerous, coming to kill us all-”

“The Yellow Goblins?” Sybil chipped in.

“Hah, something far more dangerous. I see it every night. I can't seem to see it properly yet, but I know that what you've faced, what this dead kingdom has faced, will be nothing compared to what is coming. That is why I ask about the potential treasures hidden in the capital, we'll need them to build our strength.”

You lied when you said you see it every night, but the rest seems true. What is coming for us?

Bertram and Sybil remained silent, Verona simply regretted not paying more attention.

“Do you think the Yellow Goblins could have some treasures hidden in the mountain?” Anton asked.

“Could be.” Bertram replied. They all seemed to be relieved to be talking on a different subject. “They took those gems as trophies, and there were lots of people fleeing the capital with all their valuables. It's more than possible they could have kept it in the mountain as a trophy.”

“Then that sorts that out as well.”

“Sorts what out?” Verona asked, feeling increasingly lost.

“When the rain stops, we'll be going on a raid. Right into the mountain and at the heart of the Yellow Goblins. With my and your magic, and a little luck, we should be able to deal them a serious blow. One they won't recover from when we go for the final battle.”

The blood started to pump furiously in Verona's head. The very mention of those disgusting yellow dwarf and mutilated humanoids was enough to make everything go red with anger. Knowing that the creatures, that took her family and friends away, were still alive was utterly infuriating. Her fingers crunched against the wooden table, not going unnoticed by Anton.

“To that end,” Anton coughing to regain Verona's attention, “We'll start your training now. They'll regret ever trying to take these lands.”

“Ah, okay!” Verona replied.

Finally, I can get better with this blood power, and get back at those fuckers for what they did.

She did not notice the vicious smile she wore on her face, the others did.

---[]---

The council chambers was cleared of the all the furniture, except for two chairs placed near the door, creating quite a large open area. It was larger than their current bedroom, and far larger than her old one.

Bertram and Sybil had left, both saying that they needed to catch up on some much needed sleep. She was not sure if that was actually true, but it would give them some more room and privacy. The way her magic seemed to work would definitely seem odd and disturbing to others, considering how the others had reacted when Anton had explained it.

Anton had returned to their room and retrieved her spear and knife. The small shock ran through her back when she grabbed the knife first, and then again when she grabbed her spear.

That aspect of her magic seemed simple enough, Anton had hinted before that today would be about control and testing her limits.

“Today, we'll continue where we left off. Are you ready to start?” Anton asked, starting to roll up one of his sleeves.

“Um...yes.” Verona replied, her hesitation clear in her voice.

“Something wrong?”

“Well...” Verona looked down and began to fidget uncomfortably, “I'm going to need blood, quite a bit of it, if you want me to find my limits. And...I don't know how much I can take before there's a problem.”

Anton nodded in agreement.

“I'm pretty sure that the body can loose a little blood and still be fine. Besides, I'll tell you if I'm starting to feel it.”

“Okay. I'll try my best.”

The thought of having to cut Anton to find out her power made her feel a little sick inside. However, she knew that he would not let it go, and that he had healing magic for the wounds.

She held the spear with both hands, closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Time to start the 'fire'.

Searching inward, with her mind, she found something small. She could only describe it as a small fragment of her soul that felt like it did not belong. After pouring, what she felt she could only describe as mana, into the fragment her whole body began to heat up. It was like a fire raging within ever inch of her body. Different to the one she felt this morning, but nonetheless, immensely pleasurable.

As she opened her eyes, she saw and felt the marks begin to glow. Her ears started to sound like they were filling with water, rushing louder and louder until they popped. Everything began to seem so much more clear to hear, both what she saw and heard.

“You look ready Ver.”

Anton held out his hand, ready for Verona to collect the blood.

With some trepidation, she used the edge of the spear to make a small cut on his hand. The moment the blood started to flow her heart began to race, different to when she kissed him but no less intense.

She held out her hand above the blood, drawing it up. It felt like it was just another part of her as it started to swirl into a growing ball. She could feel the blood flowing around the wound, though she could not control it. Once it left his body, it felt like it completely changed and was now hers to control.

As the blood moved into her palm she watched Anton with trepidation, watching for a sign for her to stop. Instead, he watched with fascination as the ball grew to the size of an egg.

“Is, this enough?” she asked, stopping the flow of blood from Anton as a cap of liquid blood, keeping the wound from continuing to leak blood.

“Oh, that's a handy trick.” Anton commenting on her new-found ability to stem the flow of his blood.. “But, no. I don't think so. I don't feel anything bad yet. I'll let you know when it's about enough.”

She restarted the drawing up of blood, keeping an eye on Anton's expression, wondering when he would tell her to stop.

The ball continued to grow larger and larger.

“I think that'll do.” he said.

Verona stopped drawing up the blood as Anton moved his hand over and healed himself. They both looked at the ball of swirling blood, now about half the size of her closed fist.

“So, what's the plan for today?” she asked.

Anton looked at the blood for a moment before speaking.

“Basically, exploring what you can do. For starters, can you make the blood solid and as sharp as you can?”

She nodded, focusing her attention on the blood. With the tiniest amount of mana used, the blood quivered, Verona feeling that through her connection, and turned into a long and sharp crystal. She started to move it between her hands as she started to get a feel for it.

The other day she had not had to control something this size. She had told Anton that it felt incredibly easy to control the crystals, but those crystals were incredibly small. This one took some noticeable effort.

“Great.” Anton said.

He held his hand up to the crystal and flicked it with the back of his finger. A high pitched clink resounded every time he flicked it.

“Verona, where's your knife?”

“I got it here-”

“You don't need to grab it.” he lightly touched her hand as she moved for the knife, “Don't want to interfere with this.”

“With what?” she asked as Anton grabbed and admired the blade.

“Something interesting hopefully. Just be ready.”

With a wave of his hand, he told her to move the crystal towards him slightly.

Why?-

Before she could say anything, he gripped the knife to attack and, with all his strength,brought it down onto the crystal.

Verona was stunned. The knife shattered the surface of the crystal, sending fragments into the air.

Anton withdrew the blade, with a satisfied look on his face.

“I take it there was a point to that?! Other than scaring the shit out of me?” Verona said, her displeasure evident in her voice.

“I wanted to see how strong the crystal was, and,” Anton used his free hand to touch some of the blood fragments, “And whether or not you can control it after it has been damaged.”

Verona did not even realize that the fragments were still under her control and slowly reforming without her trying. As they fell back into place there was a strange tearing and squelching sound until it had completely reformed, like it had never been broken.

“You could have just asked, you know?”

“I could, but wanted to see what happens when it's done without warning.”

She puffed her cheeks out, something she did whenever she was annoyed. Not angry, but annoyed. Anton seemed to pick up on this and softened his expression.

“I'm sorry. I should have told you.”

Verona felt her annoyance leave and focused her attention back on the crystal.

“Fine. I'm doing my own tests now,” she glanced up at Anton then back down to the crystal, “That did give me a thought.”

Since the crystals can reform, maybe I can break it into smaller ones and control those. Time to give it a shot.

She focused all her mental strength onto the crystal, remembering what Anton had said about using his imagination to form his magic, and did the same. As she formed the mental image, the blood crystal began to break apart. It formed several dozen smaller fragments, each of the same shape as the larger one. They slowly started to expand, and with a little mental effort, they fanned out and began to slowly circle her body.

Her memories were a little foggy relating to the time she first used her magic, but she remembered something like this. Anton looked quite impressed. The amount of effort to control this many was considerably more than the single large crystal. There must be some relation between the difficulty and the size and number, but right now she had no idea.

Without waiting for Anton, she started to move them around, faster and faster before bringing them back infront of her in a loose clump. With another mental push, the crystals closed together. The tearing and squelching sound reverberated through the air and her connection as they reformed into one large crystal again.

“Impressive.” Anton said, bending over so his eyes were at her level. His eyes darted between her own. “Are you feeling tired yet?”

“Not really. It hasn't taken that much effort to do that. Is that normal?”

Anton shrugged.

“Unfortunately, I don't really know.”

Several lightning balls formed infront of him.

“See, this doesn't require that much effort. But I have no idea how that compares to other people. I think you may just have lots of mana.”

Hearing that, Verona felt a jolt of happiness. Anton's magic disappeared, but he began to frown.

“What's wrong?”

“Just an issue I've thought of. For now, can you form a more complicated shape? Like your spear.”

Verona nodded. She looked at the solid crystal, realizing quickly that there would not be enough blood to form a spear as large as her own. Regardless, she formed the image in her mind.

The blood crystal shattered into thousands of tiny fragments. The fragments formed a vague spear and solidified, about half the length of her current one. There was a noticeable amount of her mana was used when it reformed.

She could not tell if it was when the crystal reformed, as there was no noticeable change after Anton had tried to break the crystal and it reformed.

She tried again, this time reforming it into a liquid. Doing that used virtually none of her mana. Anton raised an eyebrow but did not object. From the liquid, she made the same spear as before. This time, it used virtually no mana.

So when I make it from the crystals, it uses a lot more mana than if it's still a liquid. Guess Anton was right, it would be too easy otherwise. I wonder what would happen if some dirt was thrown into the blood when I'm changing it. Just another thing I'll have to worry about.

Despite the numerous thoughts floating around her head, she pulled the spear so it floated vertically infront of her.

“How hard is that to move about?”

She pushed in up and down, left and right. After that she began to twirl it around her body at great speed before stopping it infront of her.

“About the same as the big crystal.”

Anton flicked the spear, giving off the same sound as before.

“I can tell you that these are very strong.” Anton said, straightening back up. “Not so much as steel, but very strong considering what it's made from.”

“Well,” Verona began, “I can change and move it simply enough, though I can't tell in here how far I can move it before I loose control like I did with the water mixing with the blood. There's some other things, like it's uses much less mana when it's a liquid. Anyway, before you said there was a problem?”

“Hmm...oh yes. Just wait there for a moment. I want to get something. In the mean-time, keep practicing with moving and controlling it.”

He scuttled out of the room, leaving Verona alone and a little bewildered.

Ah, okay then.

Her attention turned back to the blood spear. She spent some time learning how to control it, making it fly around the room then stop. It took her virtually no time to gain an increased understanding of how it worked.

The door opened, Anton came through holding something small in his hand.

“Is that...a pot?” she asked, wondering what purpose it could possibly serve.

“Yes.” Anton replied, walking up to her, “Carrying the blood around with you all the time would be draining on you, and it'll look quite scary to anyone that sees that.”

Anton pointed to the blood spear.

It doesn't look that scary to me though. More like it's the way it's always been. I wonder if that's a part of the magic.

“Does yours make you feel uncomfortable?” she asked.

Anton cocked his head quizzically.

“I mean, when you use fire or the lightning, you don't find it...unsettling? Strange?” Verona tried to clarify what she had said.

“Oh, absolutely. But, after a while it just feels very natural. You have that feeling?”

“Yeah, just then.” She felt a little relieved.

Her attention was brought back to the small pot that Anton held. It was not very wide but it was quite long, sticking out either side of his hand.

“So, what's with that?”

“I want you to try to store the blood in this, so you can carry it with you. Should keep the water and dirt out of it, and it'll surprise anyone who doesn't expect it.”

“Ah, gotch' ya'.”

She hated when she let out her little tick. Anton seemed to like it, judging by his little smirk.

The blood spear returned to its liquid form, Verona slowly and carefully put the blood into the container.

Anton handed her a small lid that fit snugly onto the top. She could not help but notice that there was a small chip on the side of the lid, allowing her to just see the blood beneath.

So, I should be able to draw it out, without having to take the lid off. I see where this is going.

She held her hand over the container and drew the blood up. Much to her surprise, she still had control over it, and she could make it flow without taking the lid off the container. After dragging it all out she placed it back into the container.

Anton reached into his pocket and brought out a piece of string. He tied it around one of the clasps of her chest armor and the container.

“I like it.” she said, spinning around.

“Excellent. We can also figure out how long the blood can age before you loose control.”

“Right. Much stronger now...What's next?”

Another rumble of thunder rolled overhead, a momentary pause told them that the rain continued to fall.

“Practice on a living target will have to wait until the raid...Well, there was that other thing. About getting stronger...”

Anton walked to the door and leant outside and retrieved something. They were two small wooden sticks, about the same length in size. He chucked one to her. For Verona, it looked like a short spear, though Anton held his like a sword.

“What better way to spend today than getting some practice in.”

Anton spun the stick in his hand. He looked like he sort of knew what he was doing.

She held the stick as if she was ready to fight, Anton did the same.

“After doing this for a few hours, it shouldn't take too long to get better. Especially with my prayer magic.”

Verona nodded, adjusting her stance accordingly.

“You ready?”

She felt her body with a mixture of pride and anticipation. Anton may be powerful with his magic, but she had no idea how he would fare against her in hand to hand combat. It was exciting to find out.

“Bring it!”

They continued sparring late into the afternoon, only stopping when they could both barely move from exhaustion. Verona had won overall, though not as clearly as she had thought she would. Anton's healing ability was used nearly constantly that day.

As the light faded and the rain continued to pound down, she thought it was a strange, but one of the most enjoyable she had had in a while.

------------------

Hello gang.

This time I tried writing from a different person, trying to show a different point of view.

Apologies for the delay, I was trying to flesh out another story and playing Xcom 2.

Next chp. will be the raid on the mountain, so there'll be some fighting. Look forward to that.

So, see you next time.