"Did you bring it?"

"mHmm." i mumble not understanding why on gods green earth we needed such useless items to create magic for. when the scary girl standing across from me glares terrifyingly at me I hurriedly unzip my backpack sack and bend down reaching far down into its contents. 

"One bottle of water." I say unceremoniously grabbing it from out of my backpack.

"Cool." Danika opens her palm flat and gives me a censored look." Leave the bottle on the ground and pass me the apple." she orders. 

so I throw it. next i casually put the water bottle on the ground. "What are you going to use it for?" i asked danika curiously looking at the bright red apple she was holding anticipating when she was going to start casting things from spells. 

I eyeballed the apple expecting it to change shape or blow up into chunks when nothing happened I have to say I was disappointed. I didn't know much about magic but what i read online and there wasn't much to go around. Just pages of free spells for beginners. 

now that toby was gone i was working twice as hard. danika was supposed to train me so that i could defend myself. angels fought using magic. it was my choice if i wanted to learn offensive attacks or more passive assaults. i was playing catch up. 

Danika took out a glinting silver knife and expertly twirled it around in the air with one hand. she made quick slices into the apple and put one into her mouth. "I'm going to eat it while you train. Now do this with me. Roll your neck side to side. good. Pop your shoulders forward, right, then left, good now do it faster." Danika shows me what to do and I repeat her moves.

I follow her movements exactly. any minute we were going to bust out the stereo.  

"Close your eyes and bring your attention into your body...." Danika tells me catching me off guard

"You sound like a monk."

Danika pinched her eyes open and glared at me. "Where do you think they got it from?" She asks a matter of factly.

"Now shut up and concentrate." Danika says closing her eyes and looking zenned out.

I close my eyes and breathe in big gulps of air through my nostrils. how do i bring my attention into my body and what on earth would that accomplish? What did that even mean?

I peeked at Danika. She hadn't realized that I was slipping, slipping back into consciousness. 

"As you take deep even breathes imagine your lungs filling growing bigger. now exhale. Do that again instead this time as you slowly exhale create a picture of a calm peaceful environment and imagine yourself standing there."

picture myself standing where? I grew frustrated. What was she seeing that I didn't. Nope. nothing was happening. I wanted to tell her that this psych exercise was not going to work but I didn't because I was scared that she would bite me if I broke her concentration.

"-As you keep taking large breaths notice the shift of breeze in the air." 

how come i didn't notice it. I looked to my left and on my right. There was no shift in the air. Nada. Not even the slightest breeze. Yikes. I must have been really doing this wrong.

"fill your senses with each scent that surrounds you. Put yourself in that same peaceful setting and for a moment let you ears be your eyes." Danika says calmly.

She was speaking to me in another language. Was this supposed to make a difference? No wonder why I never meditated before. My voice was more annoying now than ever. 

And still there were too many questions that I didn't have the answers to. Was my Nox de Turna going to leave me after she or he finds someone better to hang out with? Was I ever going to cast a simple magic spell of my own? 

"Nothing?" danika asks me finally

"How do you stand it?" I ask her. " I can't concrete long enough to stop myself from thinking." i complain feeling irritable that she had me doing all this useless stuff. 

"Again." Danika tells me. Instead of answering my question danika closes her eyes and rolls her shoulders up and down and instructs me to do the same complicated set of exercises. 

"Breathing deep listen to my voice and as you listen to my voice let yourself relax. As you relax more deeply now go ahead and listen to the calming sound of rain."

I tried. I really tried to but something in me didn't want to. I sigh in frustration. 

Danika lifted her hand in the air and the rain stopped. "again." Was all she'd said. She Waved my anxieties away with her hand like she was erasing the suggestion from the air

Not even a shift in energy. 

"I don't understand why it's not working." Danika says. "Maybe you're doing it wrong."

"Maybe Or Maybe because I have an affinity for the spirit world it's not working." i offered. 

"-that's why it's taking you a lot longer to slide into a different plane of existence." Danika says shocked velvety eyes widened, her voice calm certain.  "Do it again." She lifted her chin a bar higher and clapped her hands as rain started pouring.

I close my eyes and rotate my right shoulder. A low hum rises on my skin and then vanishes just as sudden as I felt it. 

keeping my eyes closed i inhale deep breathes and put all my intention into focusing on the middle point of my eyebrows. 

The hum of my own energy subsides as i gravitate to a higher state of meditating. Instead of picturing a scene I let myself drop into a vast space of nothingness where there's no noise, no smell. It's just me in a big space of all that is pure loving energy. 

i was full. i didn't need anything, fear anything, i didn't feel lost. i was whole. complete in a way i'd never felt before. I can't see anything and that doesn't scare me off by deterring the path that I have chosen. 

-Wow. What was that?

"In the ethereals there are beings in spirit form who possess pure vibrational energy which means they live on a plane higher than your own. Because you came into having been born you hand selected who you thought would most benefit as being your guide without remembering." A man says wearing a white robe and brown leather sandals. 

"Guides can take different forms and expel knowledge in many different ways that's unique to the bond that you've created." The man sitting in front of me was handsome yes but also came with an energy about him. He had brown hair that stylishly touched the tips of his big round ears and a clean cut beard. "hello. My name is Sandoval I want you to know everything will be okay."

Startled I open my eyes and find Danika smirking. a real smirk. wow. there were firsts for everything. 

"You won't believe this but I had the strangest illusion."

"The pure living voice you heard..." Danika says in satisfaction as her lips stretch into her cheeks. "That was your guide sharing it's wisdom and knowledge to help you achieve and overcome those inner barriers that you have created."

"So my nox de turna is trying to communicate with me."

danika almost smiled. "That's Exactly right. Instead of fighting the pull let your guard down and allow your senses to stretch higher above your head. This will create an opening almost like- like a can of string to communicate on a deeper level that will last while you meditate. you're going to need your guides help in order to create magic. but that comes later." 

"Not bad for your first training session." danika threw the apple core to the ground and drank a few drops of water. she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and considered me while i stared back at her. "We'll give Kira and the headmistress a few weeks to make the spell. you should be ready by then to kick ass."

"Thanks. I actually feel like I learned something valuable that has to do with energy and motion. I haven't practiced magic before."

"Your grandma she doesn't explore your gifts?"

"It's not that kind of bond. We hang out and she gets me but sometimes I wonder when I'll meet someone who knows this kind of stuff, someone that'll help raise my energy level."

danika nods her head in reflection and understanding. "Well you are a quick learner so that won't be a problem when it happens. You going to school now right?" she stared at me a moment as if weighing me. 

my grey eyes stuck on danika a moment and then jerked away. "Yeah. I can barely stand I'm so tired." i said getting to my feet looping my bag and throwing it around my shoulder.  

danikas bitchy facial expression was all seriousness. that moment i thought we shared yeah it was gone. "After a heavy session It's normal for your body to react the way it is. Especially since you've never tried it before. You're going to need your rest. We haven't even gotten to the fun stuff yet."