“This is where we stop.” Luke said abruptly. 

The two of them had been climbing up the mountain all day and Hallie was looking forward to a break. It was warm out so walked towards the small cave in the mountainside, only pausing to light her lantern as she walked inside. She had been terrified to go into the caves at first, but she realized that Amber was capable of giving her plenty of warning if anything were to be in one of these caves. The further she went in the cooler it got. As she entered the third room, she noticed a small spring in the rock wall that cascaded into a small cutout portion of rock. She continued to explore, noticing that the cave only had one other room, a smaller space that was easily the coolest. She sat down immediately and turned to Amber.

“Okay, it is time for some training.” Hallie said. They had all taken to training as much as possible in preparation for the upcoming war that they all played a crucial role in. 

“I want you to keep working on controlling lightning. It might be useless against Warlen himself, but any element of surprise could turn the battle in our favor.” Amber replied, while practicing her flight and spewing small droplets of acid as she went.

Hallie held her hands out in front of her as she imagined the feel of the lightning, the crack of thunder and the tremendous amount of power it creates and she began to feel an electrical current surrounding her. 

“I knew you could do it.” Luke said encouragingly from the doorway. “Now manipulate it like you do with water.”

Hallie held her hands out in front of her body and imagined the magic gathering from all around her to concentrate on the palms of her hands. From there she coaxed the magic to hover above her hands. She moved the magic around her body before releasing it into a small rock on the other side of the cave room. 

“That was amazing progress. You really go all out or nothing at all don’t you.” Amber said.

“I know you aren’t talking. You went from barely being able to walk to all of a sudden you can spit poison and fly.” Luke retorted to Amber. Turning to Hallie he grins, “I personally think you did great. Lightning will be a huge shock to him as only 3 people in the kingdom have the ability to use lightning magic.”

Amber quickly went back to practicing and Hallie tried to once again summon her lightning magic. Luke sat down and began to work with his fire magic. Hallie’s magic once again surrounded her and as it did, Luke’s magic began to surround him as well. Their magic seemed to be feeding into one another. 

“I haven’t seen or heard of this happening in hundreds of years. I didn’t even know that it was still possible!” Amber exclaimed with excitement as she began pacing around the room. 

“What are you talking about? What is going on?” Hallie asked.

“Your magic is combining… working together to strengthen and magnify one another. The magic that you have created together is no longer fire and no longer lightning. It is categorized as a mixed type magic and is almost impossible to counter with regular magic. This is incredible.” murmured Amber. 

This was great news, but Hallie wanted to test something. She pulled her magic into her hands as she did before and encouraged Luke to do the same. Afterwards she directed it away from her body and towards the other side of the room, instructing Luke to send his fireball there as well. When the two’s magic collided, they created an explosion. They created a small hole in the cave floor and sent shards of rocks flying. 

“So… that could be useful.” Luke stated.

“Definitely”, Amber said. “I bet we could use some magic crystals and charge them with your magic. When the two meet, they will form an explosion that will definitely help to confuse the enemies.”

After practicing this new technique a few more times, the two of them decided to end their training session. 

“You did really great today”, Luke said as he began to work on a fire to keep warm tonight. Despite the warm days, it is quickly becoming cooler during the night.

Hallie responds with a quick thank you before she reaches into their bags to pull out some jerky and dried fruit.

As she hands them to Luke, their hands brush and she notices the slight crush that coats his cheeks as he murmurs a soft thank you.

The two of them begin to slowly eat in silence. Lost in their own thoughts. Hallie recognized that she had been developing feelings for him for a while, but has been trying to push them off knowing that she hasn't known him for very long. After all, she thought it could've just been because he saved her. But as time passes, she has realized that her feelings for him only seem to grow. Despite knowing that going home is no longer an option, giving into her feelings feels like betraying her home and giving up on her wish to return to Earth.

After eating the two of them take turns washing up before settling down on opposite sides of the fire to sleep. 

“Goodnight you two”, Luke says softly. 

Hallie replies saying, “Goodnight to you too.” Then she telepathically calls Amber and tells her to come to bed. As Amber settles in, Hallie drifts off to sleep quickly.

Before long, the two of them fall into a routine as they work on strengthening their magic with the help of Amber’s knowledge. After a few weeks of rapid progress and days spent gathering supplies, the peace was broken.