“Take me with you,” I offered firmly, and his surprised expression almost ruined my serious request. Being able to provoke those kinds of reactions on his stone-like face was something truly amazing.

“What?” he asked, even lower than usual, and I raised my head as if that could grant extra strength to my words.

“Take me with you!” I repeated and, before he could refuse, went on. “You’re always talking about that barrier of yours. I want to see it.”

“You’re tired. Another time.”

“I can rest afterwards,” I insisted. “You won’t be letting me go to school tomorrow anyway,” I guessed and knew that, even if he did, I wouldn’t be in any condition to survive the day. He didn’t deny it and I faced him firmly, aware of the influence my will had over his actions. “I want to go with you!”

He seemed to consider it for a moment.

“You’ll have to bear my proximity until we get there.”

“That’s not a problem,” I quickly answered.

“And you’ll probably feel sick,” he warned me and I smiled since I could already see that I’d won. He sighed and stretched out his hand in a silent invitation.

I hurriedly put on my boots and grabbed the coat left over the chair. I tucked the golden ring in a pocket, since it was too big to fit any of my fingers, and went to accept his invitation. My body was trembling even before I could reach him, my heart beating too fast, but none of that was enough to make me hesitate, not even for a second. His arm surrounded my shoulders, practically without touching me, and yet pulling me close enough that I could feel his sweet scent.

“It will be quick. Close your eyes and take a deep breath.” I obeyed and the vertiginous sensation that came over me made me hold on to him, in search of something solid that would push away that feeling of an endless fall. However, in the next second, the ground below my feet was solid again, and the cold wind that brushed against my cheeks helped me refocus my mind. “We’re here.”

I opened my eyes and the first thing I noticed were my fingers, securely holding on to his new shirt, clenching it with all their might. I blushed and released him immediately, and Gabriel stepped back, enough to help me stop trembling.

The wind blew again, making me shiver, and I looked around. To my surprise we were in a considerably wide terrace. The floor was covered in what once had been white tiles, now stained gray in many areas from the consecutive days under the weather. In the center was a rusty door, undoubtedly leading to some stairs and to the inside of the building.

I carefully walked over to the edge and peered down, stepping backwards the next second. Too high, I thought, especially taking into account the amount of vertigo and dizziness I had suffered that day.

And then it hit me, how we’d gotten there. And I turned towards him in disbelief, only to find him staring silently at me, as if I were some kind of strange animal, which made me quite uncomfortable.

“Did you make us appear here?”

“Yes. Here it’s still considerably far from your house,” he told me and looked at the mass of buildings we could see from there, mixed with some smaller green areas.

“But we’re still in Lewisham,” I guessed and Gabriel nodded. “And the barrier?”

“It’s all around us, passing far from here. You can say that here is the center of the area it protects. We’ll probably be able to see it soon.” He looked up to the sky. The sun was setting and it wouldn’t be long until it was dark. “Are you hungry?” he asked me and I followed his white finger pointing towards a plastic bag, resting on the small ledge surrounding the entire terrace.

I looked curiously at the bag and knew he was right. I was starving. I walked up to the bag, aware that it hadn’t been there just a second ago, and sat on the ledge, looking inside. My laughter echoed like a lost sound. It was obvious he, himself, had gathered our provisions.

“What?” he asked defensively and I wiped away an invisible tear.

“Nothing, really,” I replied, still laughing, and started pulling things out of the bag. “One poor lonely yogurt,” I announced, putting it down beside me. “And then, one packet of chocolate cream cookies, one packet of strawberry cream cookies, hmm.” I hesitated reading the next packet. “Oh, yeah ... one packet of caramel cream cookies and, of course, three packets of vanilla cream chocolate cookies,” I finished reading and smiled. Those were the same ones he’d asked me to buy when we’d gone to the supermarket.

“They’re good!” he countered, as if I were somehow doubting the quality of the food he’d chosen and I nodded, opening one of the packets, the vanilla cream ones, his favorites.

“I’m sure they are. But there’s probably more than enough cookies here to last us for a month,” I mocked and he seemed embarrassed, which amused me even more. “Want one?” I offered but he didn’t even answer, making me give up on my taunting. “So ... what were you discussing with Alexander when I woke up?”

He sighed, as if he had hoped I’d forgotten all about that, and I watched as he walked up to the edge in his usual controlled steps, and also sat on the ledge facing the dying sun, his legs dangerously hanging towards a fall of numerous feet. His pale skin seemed to gain some measure of color, when touched by the fire of the setting sun, and the wind blew, gently playing with his hair.

“What happened today ... what you did. I don’t want you to do it again,” he simply told me but his firm tone wouldn’t allow for any kind of question.

“What happened today?” I mused, nibbling one cookie as I forced my mind to quickly go through all the things I’d witnessed. He looked at me and the intensity of his gaze made my heart jump. “Those lights ...” I muttered and a shiver went down my spine. “I did them.” I wanted it to sound as a question but, when I realized, I’d stated it without a doubt. Gabriel nodded.

“It’s you.”

“It’s me?” He sat in silence while I struggled with the concept, and then many other things started to make sense. “Was this ... the power you wanted from me?” I asked, not even knowing if I could call it that, and he looked away, again towards the horizon that seemed to have lost some of the brightness it had just moments ago.

“In the beginning, yes.”

Unexpectedly his confirmation made me feel sad and my mouth tasted bitter, to the point that not even the sweetness of the cookies was able to erase it.

“That’s good then ...” I managed to say, hoping he wouldn’t notice how his simple answer had disturbed me, and I almost jumped in my seat when he raised his voice.

“Not good at all!” he claimed and I couldn’t help stare, completely stunned, at him. “That light is you! Your Soul! You cannot use it like that!” he went on, in completely scolding tone, and I blinked even more confused than before. “Do you understand?”

I did not understand. Not at all! But still I nodded just to appease him.

“Sigweardiel never told me anything about any of that!” he grunted, now sounding annoyed. “The only thing he told me was that Gaalgha possess gifts that no other Human Being possess. And that because of they exist outside the Law, they’re able to easily surpass both Deiwos and Merifri Magic. He never told me anything about the use of those gifts burning through the user’s vital energy. Because it’s how he says, Human Beings don’t possess other sources of energy. Only gifted Magic Users are able to gather energy from other sources, like we do. I had never even thought about that, because the energy I have at my disposal is nearly endless. and so I only worry about keeping it under control. It never crossed my mind that things like that could be depleted.”

He was quiet for a moment, as if he didn’t know what else to say, and I sat very still, my half-eaten cookie forgotten in my hand.

“Do you understand, Mari? Every time you do something like that it’s your own vital energy you’re using. And, although Sigweardiel says that you usually recover faster than others, he knows perfectly well that it’s only your immortal part, your Soul that recovers.”

I swallowed hard, feeling my throat rough, and smiled since I didn’t know what other expression I should show.

“That means ... that my life will keep on diminishing every time something like that happens,” I summarized and his silence confirmed my conclusion. “How much?”

“How much?!” I only noticed just how dangerous that question had been when his eyes flashed for a split second.

“It’s not like I’m thinking about dying!” I quickly explained. “In truth, it’s quite the opposite. This ... gift is something that I can use to defend myself, if needed, right? But I need to clearly understand how much that will cost me.” He seemed calmer but still displeased with my line of thought, looking away before he replied.

“Sigweardiel says one year, give it or take.” A lump cluttered my throat. So, that morning, in those brief minutes, I’d lost one year of my life, I told myself and I just couldn’t grasp the idea. “But, if I do as he wants, there won’t be a need to defend yourself anymore.”

All the doubts and uncertainties I felt were immediately replaced by a deafening anger and, unthinking, I threw one of the cookie packets at his head. He easily grabbed it in midair, before it could actually hit him, but the cookies were immediately turned into dust, since he’d grabbed them with too much strength.

“I’d much rather hear you laugh, like before,” he told me, in his usual velvet tone, and placed the smashed packet beside him.

“If I could hit you! I swear I would!” I grunted. How could he still say something like that?

He seemed amused by the idea.

“You’d only end up hurting yourself, even if I let you hit me. My bones are too hard.”

“I’d use a big stick! A huge stick! A freaking baseball bat if needed!” I countered, still boiling, but his laughter easily erased part of my fury.

“Now, that would be funny. You, little as you are, with a giant stick trying to hit me,” he said, genuinely amused.

Gabriel looked up at the sky that grew darker by the minute, and I recalled seeing him just like that on a rainy day. And yet, something had changed in his expression, and it was as if part of the pain that had been there had disappeared, making him look somehow younger and more at peace.

* If you want to know more about this book or simply access earlier updates, please visit the official site at http://carpersanti.net/gaea/