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I was more confident than I had ever been before when it came to my magic. The storm I had created raged on overhead and I siphoned a little more power from it, a swirling tornado forming at the tips of my fingers. I released it as if it were a spinning top and it landed in the dirt before me, growing in intensity as I fed more magic from the sky into it.

I wasn’t even the least bit tired.

Annelise reached out with her hand and redirected the tornado so it spun away from us.

A grin spread across my face as I held my hand out, fire reaching the tips of my fingers and crackling in the ball of my outstretched hand. I firmly held the shield in place but allowed the fireball to pass through, and Annelise raised her arms in a shield of her own before it made contact.

“Good. Again.”

I pulled another fireball from the energy in the sky, throwing it once more. Annelise easily batted it away.

“Again.”

When I went to pull the magic from the storm above this time it bucked against me, roaring in a thunderous clap overhead that had me wanting to cover my ears.

“You have to remember,” Annelise called over the raging storm, pointing overhead. “It isn’tyoursanymore. It doesn’t belong to you. You can siphon its magic, but it won’t give it easily. You need to manage the power of the storm while taking its energy, little by little. You’ll expend your own energy in the process, but it is a give and take.”

I nodded in understanding. Using my Stormshade magic was all about balance. Multitasking. I couldn’t lose control of the storm I had created and released, or I wouldn’t be able to pull from its energy easily.

I pushed against the storm with my own magic once more—and though it pushed back—it relented after a few moments. When I was unbound, the magic of the storm had easily been able to overtake me. But now…I was the storm. I forced it into submission once more, siphoning more energy from it over and over again to create another fireball.

My eyes still on the sky I released the fireball, lowering my shields only momentarily to allow it to pass, and it hit Annelise with full force, throwing her back.

She fell against the rubble behind her, cutting her arms on the jagged rocks. I released my shield, rushing forward with my hands outstretched.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean—”

“Never apologize, Diana. That was quite impressive.” Annelise pushed her wet hair back from her face and her hand came away covered in blood.

I extended my own hand out to her and helped her to her feet as both of our storms continued to rage around us. I had soaked through my leather training gear the moment I had let my shield down, my hair plastered to my face. My eyelashes were wet as I blinked away rain droplets.

“Are you ok?” It had been a hard hit, and her leather training vest had a fireball sized hole burned right through the center of it. “You need to see a healer.”

“Diana… I am a healer,” Annelise said with a laugh, her palm hovering over the wound.

She spoke a soft incantation under her breath and when she removed her hand, the wound was closing before my eyes. She did the same to the cut on her head. I had almost forgotten about her healing prowess from when I had known her as Liss.

“Perhaps that’s enough for today?” I asked, pushing my wet hair back from my face.

Annelise nodded, placing a skin spell against her collarbone. She reached up to the sky with one arm and absorbed her own storm seamlessly.

I did the same, reaching out to the sky with my hand. I could see the storm as it absorbed back into me, a swirling haze at my fingertips. Pure energy. The magic was amethyst as it swirled back towards me. I knew the moment I had absorbed it all, the swell of energy in my core causing me to take a step back beneath the force of it.

Annelise was healed, the only remnants that I had hurt her at all the dried blood crusted on her forehead and across her abdomen. She smiled at me, the corners of her eyes crinkling. The morning mist had cleared, and the sun beat down on us now, warming me from the inside out. I dare say that was the best training session I had ever had.

“Thank you,” I said, stepping towards her tentatively.

Her grin was encouragement enough, and I pulled her into a fierce hug. She was shorter than I was, the top of her head coming to my shoulder. I could feel her sigh against me as I held her, and for reasons I couldn’t quite understand, tears stung the back of my eyes.

Was it… gratitude? Love? Relief?

I wasn’t quite sure. But in this moment, I knew we were on our way to healing. That I was on my way to forgiving her. I might not understand why she did what she did, but that was in the past now. As I had told Nikolai, the only path now was the way forward. And I wanted to move forward with Annelise.

I wanted to forgive her.

I wanted a relationship with her.

I pulled away to meet her gaze, and a tear tracked its way through the dried blood and dirt across her cheek. We didn’t say anything—we didn’t need to. She could feel in that hug more than I could ever say aloud.