Unbound by Adriane Ceallaigh Page A

of one right away. She couldn’t understand why she needed to in the first place.
    “It could be anything — a boat on the water, a rock you used to sit on, your bed when you were a child. All I want is someplace you felt safe. When you’ve found it, I want you to describe it to me, where you sit, what you smell, the sounds you hear, so it’s firmly in your mind.”
    She took their dishes to the sink while she listened to him talk. He got up and leaned against the counter.
    “Let’s go to the gym,” he suggested.
    “Okay.”
    They walked, elbows brushing, down the hall to his gym; she loved the hard sleekness of the floors and the gleam of mirrors, though they showed her an image she didn’t want to see.
    She turned her back on them and focused on him while they sat down
opposite
each other.
    “Why do I have to do this?” she whined.
    “Because when you’re working magic, you need to remain calm and stable, even in a turbulent environment. This teaches you to find your safe place, to still your mind, so you can focus on what’s in front of you. So begin.”
    She took a deep breath, closing her eyes. Letting the images flow, shifting through them, she came upon a waterfall where she’d often snuck off to, when she became tired or worried as a kid. She could hear the roar of the water on a hot summer day. The mist sprayed her as the wind blew. She tried to still her mind, grateful to be a part of it all.
    The nature, the smell of the moss on the ground, the tree that gave her shade flowed through her mind. She took a deep breath and stretched out on the deck someone had built. The roughness of the unfinished wood scraped her skin when she moved. The birds singing and the light, the glorious light filled her, the light her world now lacked.
    She opened her eyes and realized they no longer sat in his gym, but in the very spot she’d pictured. “How could this be?” she asked him as joy filled her.
    “It isn’t important how we got here, but now that we are, I want you to close your eyes and clear your mind. Think of what you want to know from the bag you hold.” He placed the pouch in her hand. She closed her fingers around it, held her breath, and just let herself feel.
    She began to describe it to him. “Overwhelming darkness, my lungs feel as if they will implode the pressure is so intense.”
    Her eyes filled with fear. “This is bigger than me. It’s bigger than both of us and I don’t know how to stop it, or even identify what’s causing this unrelenting anxiety.” She shoved the pouch back at him.
    Walking to the edge of the deck, she tried to let the sound of water calm her beating heart. She felt his presence behind her and he put his arm around her shoulder.
    “It alright. The first time is the hardest, but it’s a lesson I thought you should learn. There’s always something bigger than you, badder than you. All you can do is try your best to stand in the way of evil. If you drop the sword, hopefully there’s someone standing behind you to pick it right back up again.”
    It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but she knew he was right. Maybe it’s time to take up the sword again , she thought.
    “Can you take us back now?” she asked, hating that this had intruded on her peaceful spot. The light didn’t seem as bright, somehow. Realizing that this too would pass, she moved on.
    “I guess we should complete the run and find out who held the other string,” she suggested.
    He’d taken them to a combat circle.
    “What’s this then?” she asked.
    “I agree with you, but first I think it’s time to get some practice in before we go. You need to be able to defend yourself until I can fully train you,” he said, twirling a band of darkness around and around in his hands.
    An unidentified terror hit her in the pit of her stomach. “What’s that?”
    “This is what a slave collar looks like before it fits the Mage’s neck. Once it attaches to the Mage, it binds their powers, only