Page 22 of Commanding Flame and Shield
“Angels drink?”
“Hah! I’m no angel.” He flashed a cocky grin. “Just the descendent of a rogue one.” Alec winked, then snapped before pointing a pair of cheesy finger guns my direction.
I chuckled. “Hit me, then.” Relief washed over me as Alec pulled two small crystal glasses from the cabinets and poured us each a dram. We drank together, and he began to pour again the moment the glasses were back on the counter.
“Slàinte!” He smiled before downing his.
“A Celt, too?”
“More than once,” he grinned. “I’m excited to hear your stories, mate. I wonder if we’ve cycled together beyond Agincourt.”
“Wouldn’t we remember?”
“Eh—it’s hit and miss. Human memories take triggers. I don’t think we’ve ascended together though. We usually remember those lives when we wake up.”
I shook my head, “I don’t remember ascending.”
He cocked his head to the side. “That’s…intriguing. Maybe you shield yourself—ha!” He laughed.
“Can you do that?”
“I dunno man.”
We practiced our shields again, and then Alec taught me how to open certain memories or thoughts to be read on contact. It was exhausting work. But there was a part of me that felt triumphant. Evidently most souls had to be trained at length to shield their minds. To keep prying souls and phantom hands from getting any information they didn’t wish for them to. As a shield, the role was different. Alec and I inherently had shields in place. It was part of who we were. As I grew stronger, I would be able to expand my shield to the team, or demand it retreat within me. Those were the skills Alec would teach me. A small, human corner of my mind flinched from that notion…but somehow…that just felt…right.
The clock chimed midnight before we took another break, warmth of the whiskey, and glow of the fire long since extinguished. My mind was drained, but my body was still energized, buzzing with the excitement of the day. The reunion with an old friend. Averyold friend.
“Alright,” Alec gave me an approving smile, and poured us another round without so much as shifting his legs from their lazy sprawl over the bar stool between us. “This part is more important than the rest. It’s critical that when we need to, we can communicate to the entire team. You’ve mastered letting me in. You need to master dropping them completely. So, the team can reach you when they need you.”
“So…push it farther out?”
“Yes. For me, I visualize an actual bubble around me. It helps me to push the boundaries to let the others in. For some, they collapse the shield within themselves. Just play with it.”
I took a deep breath, and closed my eyes, resting my head in my hands. I visualized the bubble around me, and exhaled slowly, envisioning it expanding around me. Slowly, Alec’s ever-calm consciousness entered mine. And then I could feel Aphaea, her thoughts on a book somewhere in her quarters. Aren, in his rooms as well, mind intent on a map on his desk and I realized there were dozens of names scattered across it. He was watching his keep. His legion, as it were.
Then there were more voices. An overwhelming amount of them, thinking, planning, laughing, loving. I allowed my eyes to open and made no effort to hide the wonder I was feeling, eliciting that broad grin from Alec. He gave me a thumbs up.
Good work. Keep going.
I closed my eyes, and the voices became a roar in my mind. I could feel my pulse quicken, and knew that Alec could hear it, as I could hear his steady one across the island.
Slow them down. Break them apart.
How?!
Push August. Force them apart.
Focusing in, slowly but surely, the voices began to separate into coherent thoughts. With a start, I realized I was hearing…prayers. Wishes. Cries for help.
I…I hear…prayers?
Excellent! Can you make any out?
Right as I tried to dissect the voices, a sharp pain formed in the center of my forehead. I closed my eyes tighter, as though I could push it away. But a hot steel blade was being forced into my skull, and I grunted in pain, doubling over.
“August?! Pull back, dude! Pull it back.”
I tried. I tried to pull the boundary back, but it wasn’t moving fast enough to cut the excruciating pain. Hot steel. Piercing my mind. Bruising ache radiated down to my temples, violent tendrils wrapping around my spine. My neck was going to break. Bones going to shatter. Mind would go liquid.
