“Breathe, Blake!” Mya chippered, slurping her hot chocolate. “Wind magic uses the air to connect you to the element. Always inhale before you cast a spell.”

Taking a deep breath, Blake touched his right-hand palm towards the Vetusios gem on his bracelet, now attached to the bracelet beside the Arsios stone. His rune appeared and soon started to glow, showing that it was fully charged. “Sutev.”

Wind erupted from his palm hitting the can across the field. “There you go,” said Mya, chuckling as Blake cheered, jumping up and down. He had never been so excited to knock a can over. “A good try. Not very useful in real life, but train this spell. If you can handle it well enough next week, I will teach you a more practical wind spell.”

“Like what?” asked Blake, eager to learn. Chuckling at his sparkling eyes, Mya put the cup away.

Touching the Vetusios gem on her necklace, she closed her eyes. “Sutev Irum.”

Blake could hear the wind come, and a light gale touched his face but nothing else. Opening her eyes, she waved for him to come over. Blake rushed over, and was just about to come close to her when he ran into something. Hard.

With a thump, he landed on his back with an aching nose. Looking up at what must be an invisible wall with wide eyes.

“Oh dear, I should have warned you,” Mya said worryingly. “I keep forgetting that not all people are-“

Mya’s eyes narrowed, she whispered something and the trees seemed to move for a second before a yip echoed beyond some bushes.”-that not all boys are as hardy as mine.”

Frowning at the bushes, but not seeing anything, Blake rose to touch what seemed to be a wall of wind stopping him from moving closer. “Amazing, is this the wind spell you will teach me?”

“Yes, though the irum spell can be used with all elements,” Mya said. “Irum means wall, the wind wall is the strongest, pretty much sending back most elemental spells and even some Arcane ones that travel through the air. It is a good defensive spell. It works with water and earth as well, but I would suggest not using it with fire.”

“Why not?”

“I friend of mine when I was younger thought it would be awesome with a wall of fire. It would look impressive. Unfortunately, it had some terrible repercussions. The fire spread when coming in contact with things, and his wall of fire burned down half a yard and the head druid’s house. We had to shovel manure for weeks after that.”

“So, fire and wall are bad. How do I know which spell works with what element?”

“By understanding the nature of that element. The nature of fire is to feed and grow, we can control it by limit the contact it has with other elements. That includes wind. Though I’m sure Leon will tell you this, since he is your fire spell teacher, but most fire spells are often more or less shaped and travel through the air. When it hits its target or touches the solid ground then you will seize to control it. It’s one of the reasons why it is so important to learn the spell that extinguishes flames.”

“Then can I use the extinguish spell on the other elements?” asked Blake, suddenly getting the idea. If the elemental spells are determined by one word, then you can just add it to the word for that element to create that spell, right.

“You are starting to see the essence of elemental magic, but only one other element can be extinguished and that is wind. Do you know why?” asked Mya, her eyes sparkling. “Think about what the elements have in common.”

“I don’t-“

“Think about it, in some cultures such as in Asia the four elements are divided into two opposite. Heaven and Earth, Yin and Yang. Light and dark. Which two elements belong to heaven and which two elements belong to Earth. “

Blake’s eyes lit up,” Wind belongs to heaven and Earth belongs to the Earth of course.”

“Those two are easiest, the other two are a bit more complicated. Water has three forms solid, liquid, and gas. Think about it like this, what does water always fall to.”

“The earth.”

“Exactly, the clouds will sooner or later fall back to earth, the liquid form will move across the earth in oceans and rivers. It belongs to the earth. An easier way we druid call it is that water and earth are solid, we can touch it, while air and fire are not. They belong to heaven.”

“Then what about lightning, or metal? What are they?”

“Lightning is the purer form of fire and too hard to fully control. Expert druids can create electricity but we cannot do more than to guide lightning. Fire is more in line with heat or energy, but not as strong as lightning which is why we have some kind of control over it. Metal is… I would call it processed earth. It is hardened by the molten core of the earth to be created, but because it is so processed, we have no longer any control over it and interesting fact is that metal is resistant and even immune to some magic.”

“But there are magical artifacts made of metal.”

“True, but they are specially made often through extreme magical exposure. There is a reason why so few of them exist and rarely any new is made. We don’t have enough magic to create them anymore,” refilling her cup, Mya sipped the chocolate. “If someone is trying to cast a curse on you, an easy way to avoid the spell is to look yourself in a metal box until the spell fades away. Which it does if it cannot find its target. In the worst-case scenario, it bounces back to the caster.”

“Do you have a metal box around?” Blake asked, chuckling before he noticed Mya’s grin. “You have?”

“What do you call a car?”

“You kidding?”

“It isn’t entirely made out of metal but enough to bounce back most spells. Not to mention that some houses such as warehouses are made of some kinds of metal. It has become rather annoying to be a spellcaster in modern times. “

Taking in a deep breath, Mya continued. “There is also a reason why metal often kills supernatural beings in fairytales and legends. They disrupt the magic of whatever is healing supernatural creatures.”

“What do you mean?”

“If Jaxon would get shot, he would not be able to heal the wound until the bullet is out. As you can imagine, the wound can be rather lethal if the bullet is stuck inside the body in a place where it cannot be removed. Magic cannot be used to remove the bullet so…”

“They die?”

“Often, yes. I have heard some shifters that have survived with a bullet still inside them but they cannot hear their animal spirit anymore, and they can’t shift. It is often a matter of time before they die.”

“Why are you telling me this?” asked Blake, not liking the thought of something like that happening to Jaxon.

“Because this is common knowledge among supernaturals such as witches and druids. All any of the witches have to do is to pick up and gun and shoot. The only reason why it hasn’t happened yet is because witches are proud and Druids think guns are an abomination. An insult to nature, but I fear that a man like Frank Lloyd who is neither might be more than willing to pick up a gun,” turning towards Blake, Mya smiled. “I hope it never happens but if it would, don’t hesitate to run before Jaxon gets shot or if he does, don’t hesitate to call the hospital.”

“It might save his life.”

*****

Jaxon rubbed his aching arse. How had his mother know that he had been hiding among the bushes? He could never figure it out but she had always known where he and his brother were. No matter how deep they had gone into the forest or how high they had climbed the tree, she always found them.

The thoughts shattered though as he saw his oldest brother, Elliott, standing beside Joanne, messaging her on the porch of their new house. She was covered in blankets, humming absently while rubbing her swollen stomach. The dark bags under her eyes attested to her inability to sleep because of Jaxon’s future nephew or niece’s rowdiness.

“How is my little nephew?” asked Jaxon with a bright smile.

“Or niece,” Elliott reminded him though considered the previous generations mostly being made up of boys, the likelihood of a girl was slim.

“Whether it is a girl or a boy, the child is lively,” Joanne said with a deep sigh, Jaxon noticed her sickly paled skin and thin wrist. He wouldn’t have minded it, thinking that it was natural for a pregnant woman, but Nightmane whined. She didn’t smell right either.

Looking at his brother, Jaxon gave him a questionably frown. “It’s all right, Jax. We have been to a doctor and she is only a bit dizzy because she keeps worrying,” Elliott assured, rubbing Joanne’s shoulders.

“Every mother worries for her child,” A familiar voice sounded behind Jaxon. Mya came walking over with Blake, both of them watching Joanne who gave them a weak smile. Blake’s eyes turned to Jaxon and his expression brightened.

“Were you waiting for me?”

“Always,” Jaxon said, engulfing Blake in his arms, determined not to let him go ever again when Blake snuggled into his arms.

“And peeking,” Mya muttered, giving her son a sharp glance before waltzing inside the house.

“You two should go. Your classes start soon,” Elliott said, nodded toward the school. Both of them were already on the way, holding hands as they walked. Jaxon listened to Blake who eagerly recounted his training and Jaxon pretended he had no idea what he was talking about.

When they were just about to leave the Price mansion behind, Blake turned around, staring back at the porch.

“What is it?” asked Jaxon, noticing Blake’s frown.

“I don’t know. The thread is just flickering,” Blake said absently.

“The thread?”

Flinching, Blake looked up at Jaxon with those big innocent eyes before looking away with guilt written all over his face. “Nothing, I just… I think… Nothing.”

“Blake…”

“Well, remember when I said something about learning magic from Ahriman?”

“Yes…”

“One of them allows me to see a thing called the threads of fate that is weaved into the Tapestry of Time.”

Jaxon stared at Blake, wondering if he was supposed to get what any of that was. “Yes…”

“I can’t really see them all the time, my control over it is random but I keep seeking the thread of the child. It's flickering like it is about to vanish.”

“That… Doesn’t sound good. Is that good?”

“I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before,” Blake said, pouting that cute mouth of his. “Well, I shouldn’t worry too much, maybe it is just because the child isn’t born yet. Its thread might not have solidified yet. Besides Twilight is with them.”

“Twilight?”

“Yes, remember the red Delta wolf spirit that helped us locate the cursed hide last year? The one from your sanctum?”

“Ah, I remember you telling me about it.”

“The red wolf spirit is called Twilight. She keeps a close guard on Joanne and the unborn child. Hunting away any nasty spirit that comes too close. I think she is some kind of guardian for children among the pack.”

Jaxon smirked, “So, the babysitter.”

Rolling his eyes, Blake snorted,” Yeah, that is one way to say it.”

“Then both Joanne and the child are safe. They are guarded by a ferocious she-wolf,” Jaxon said, not sure if a Delta was up to the task but he wasn’t going to turn away help with taking care of the future heir of the Price pack. Especially during these times.

“I guess you are right,” Blake said, peering at Jaxon. “When did you become so wise?”

Jaxon straightens his back, “I was always wise.”

“You have to be since you have learned the Arabic word Shalom,” Blake said grinning, his eyes gleaming mischievously.

“Hey, no need to mention that.”

“Or that time you exclaimed that wolves cannot climb trees.”

“That was a very insightful comment.”

“Or that time when you came up with the entire plan of just beating the witches up.”

“How did you-“

“Hadrien told me.”

“Damn him!”

Leaning in closer, Blake wrapped his arms around Jaxon, smirking up at him. “Don’t worry, Jaxon. I love you for your looks, not your brain.”

Blake giggled when Jaxon with a growl nibbled at his ear before they continued on their way to the first day of school this term.