It was the next day before I recovered from the strange weakness caused by my first use of Larana’s power. I didn’t understand why it had happened, Larana had said I was ready, but was that really true.

I woke up in the early hours of the morning hearing the last of a conversation between dad and Larana.

“He is ready, you know,” said Larana.

“He may be ready to use your power Larana, but at the moment he lacks the stamina for long durations of use, or the amount of energy to use it,” responded dad. “He was giving you too much of his own energy for something so small.”

“He’ll catch on quick enough, you did,” commented Larana.

“Dad.” I called out his name.

“Alex.” Dad kneeled down, smiling at me. “That was very impressive control yesterday, but you need a little more practice on how much of your energy you give to Larana during the use of her power.”

“Is that why I passed out?” I asked.

“Yes,” he nodded. “When someone uses too much or even runs out of their own energy, the talisman spirit can no longer summon their power and can result in what happened to you yesterday, or even worse when it is all used up.”

“Worse.” I glanced between the two of them.

“You could die,” answered Larana. “That’s why not everyone is capable of using talismans, you need to have a high rate of energy transfer and a deep spiritual connection.”

“Die,” I gulped.

“Don’t scare him Larana,” snapped dad.

“Your dad never sugar coated it for you,” responded Larana slyly, she glared at dad, then turned to me. “Don’t worry I would never allow you to die. I can sense the drain on your power and can cut the energy flow at any time.”

“Are you sure it’s safe?” I asked. Larana nodded.

“But remember this Alex. A talisman draws its power from their masters. It is the only way to get full access to the talismans power without putting too much strain on the spirit, if she cannot use your power then she cannot use hers.”

“Strain on the spirit,” I repeated not quite understanding.

“Without accessing power from you, there is a danger to the talisman spirit,” replied dad. “As their power is directly linked to their life force.”

I looked at Larana. “It is true, talisman spirits did not choose to become talismans, our power restricted by these forms we were given.” Larana held a sad smile. “With no master to summon our power, we could not use it without our own lives eventually being extinguished, we would sis to exist, we would die.”

“No!” I cried, shocked to learn it was the only way to use them without putting the spirit’s life at risk.

“Alex, there will always be Animalia who see talismans as just tools, to force them against their will, even that is dangerous and can end a talismans life, but only when a talisman and their master bond together in mutual understanding and friendship, to trust each other unconditionally can one become in full sync in both mind and body.”

I nodded. “Larana is my friend.”

“Yes,” nodded dad. “One day you’ll be able to summon Larana’s wind without even thinking about it, only then will you realise her true power.” Dad’s words gave me encouragement. “Shall we have another go at training today?”

“Yeah,” I nodded.

“If you do well over the next few days, we’ll go on a little trip,” mentioned dad.

“A trip.” My ears twitched at his words.

“Yeah.” He swayed his head a little. “Well, it will be a survival trip, but I can guarantee it will be fun.”

I jumped out of bed, standing up proudly. “Let’s do it,” I cheered.

Dad smiled. “Alright.”

Dad and I headed outside the castle, just off from the training grounds. I started off with the usual warm-ups, my usual twenty laps. Without thinking about it I had finished up in record time and not even out of breath, I felt quite proud of myself.

There had been a gentle breeze out today, which was quite refreshing. I hadn’t realised I had been using Larana’s power as a little speed boost, until dad mentioned it.

He was standing there quite stunned. “You do know, you were accessing Larana’s power as you were running?”

“Really.” I looked around, finally sensing her wind. “Oops.”

“Oops…” Dad smirked, then let out a small laugh. “A genius without even knowing it.”

“Genius?” I cocked my head to the side, giving him a weird look.

“Let us try what we did yesterday, but don’t use as much of your energy this time,” instructed dad. “Picture the bracelet, but only touch its power for a second, don’t hold on to it like you did last time.”

I nodded, as I repeated what I had done yesterday. I noticed our two powers again, like last time, but it was already connected. “A little less.” I loosened our connection by picturing a thin strand from her to me.

I opened my eyes to see the wind blowing around my hands, almost like it was dancing. I smiled as her power felt so comforting. I moved my hands from left to right, instructing the wind to move.

“That’s it,” nodded dad. “While using her power, you need to feel your own, always assessing how much you have left to give.”

“I still have some left,” I said sensing my power which was connected to Larana’s. I could feel it getting smaller, the longer I let Larana’s power loose.

“That’s enough,” said dad.

I nodded struggling to release the connection, so much so that Larana had to do it for me. It was easy enough to summon her power, but I didn’t know how to stop it. I stumbled forward, down to my knees.

Dad rushed over. “Alex.”

“I couldn’t let go,” I admitted.

“It’s alright.” He held a gentle smile on his face. “Making the connection is the same as breaking the connection between your powers. When you master Larana’s power you will learn you can still keep this connection without summoning any of her power, this will increase with your sync rate.”

“Sync rate.” I nodded, understanding more every lesson I had with him.

“We’ll take a short break to allow your energy to return and try again,” said dad.

Dad took me into the city for breakfast at one of the local restaurants, the owner knew him, so we didn’t have to pay. We both got a plate of mackerel and turned it into an eating competition. Dad won; he had a bigger mouth than I did.

After an hours break we return to our training spot where I tried again, this time ended up like the last. I made the connection faster this time, but when it came to stopping her power I couldn’t.

I felt my energy draining to almost nothing, my vision blurred as Larana cut it off. I fell forward, blacking out again.

“Alex.” I heard dad’s voice, feeling myself fall into his strong arms.

-

I woke up again the next day, this time in the afternoon.

“Not again,” I yawned waking up. “Why is it so hard?”

“You have no energy control yet.” Larana appeared on my shoulder. “You’ll get it, it just takes time.”

“Yeah right.” I rubbed my head. I knew it had only been two days, but I felt I should have grasped it by now.

“How about this then.” Larana flew off, landing next to an empty glass. “Come on.” I got up sighing, this was pointless. “Now you will use my power, but only long enough to push this glass.”

“But it’ll break.”

“So.” Larana shrugged, she wouldn’t be the one who’d have to clean the mess up.

“Alex.” Larana tilted her head to the glass. “You must. You’ve only been playing around with my power, moving it, but for things to work better, it must have a purpose, once that purpose is fulfilled my power will stop.”

I looked at the ground to think about it, if I did not learn to use her power then I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise. “Fine.” I would at least give it ago.

“You want to push with your hands, without touching the glass, and you should be able to just push it away.” She grinned, making it sound easy.

“How am I supposed to do that?” I questioned.

“Focus on drawing your power and mine into your hands, then push.” I was not convinced this would work, considering the other attempts had been a failure. “Trust me.”

I did as Larana had instructed, focusing our power into my hands. I felt the wind around me, then I pushed my hands at the glass. I gasped as the glass flew across the room, smashing on the far wall. The flow of power stopped, and I was left panting.

“Nicely done,” cheered Larana.

“Alex.” Mum came rushing in. I just smiled at her. “What happened?”

“I knocked a glass over.” I rubbed my head. Mum glanced at where the glass had smashed and where I was standing.

Mum smiled. “Please refrain from using your power in the house.”

“It was Larana’s idea.” I pointed at Larana.

“Hey.” Larana pouted. “You’re the one who did it.”

Mum let out a sigh. “You’re late for training, your dad’s waiting.”

“Oh.” I rushed past, giving her a quick peck on the cheek. “Later mum, sorry about the mess.”

Dad was waiting for me at the training grounds, most of the knights who also used the grounds had already shown up, I had to wonder how long dad had been waiting for me.

“You’re late,” he snarled.

“Sorry.” Dad came at me, claws bared, ready to strike me down, had I made him angry?

I moved to the right, avoiding his attempt to wound me, but dad didn’t stop, following my moves, he wasn’t going to let me escape. “Dad!” I cried surprised.

“Alex.” Larana appeared beside me. “Try what we did this morning.”

“But…” I glanced at her, but that was a mistake as dad caught my arm, drawing blood; he was serious. “Alright.” I lifted my arms to defend myself from another swipe, but just as dad came closer, I infused Larana’s power and pushed.

Dad held surprise on his face as he was pushed back at least a meter. Panting I held strong prepared for him to come at me again. I didn’t understand what he was doing, I had no combat training, why would he attack me?

“Finally, some progress.” Dad was pleased. I was now confused, just a moment ago he was trying to harm me.

“Rough as always,” laughed Larana. I looked between the two of them.

“It was your idea,” commented dad.

“You planned this.” I stared at dad, then glanced at Larana.

“Well yes,” he nodded. “We thought we’d try a different approach to your talisman training.” Dad took a breath, lowered his body ready to attack again. “Let’s see you do that again.” I saw the proudness in his expression and determination.

“Okay.” I nodded.

We spent the next few hours sparring in this way. I managed to avoid any attack and send dad away from me multiple times. I finally understood why he had made me do all the running and avoid the sphere training; my body moved on its own just from memory.

“Well done.” Dad patted me on the back. “We’ll continue this right up until the entrance exam of the knight academy.”

“Right.” And that is what we did. I worked hard with dad, spending hours every day just me and him.

Tigra would come to watch me on numerous occasions, she cheered for me and even joined in a few times, getting up early to run laps around the castle with me, but she also had her own preparation to do before the entrance exam.