Sighing, he walked forward towards her. His long hair pulled back in a ponytail for the time being, Brelynn had thought it looked rather silly on him. That was, until the training started. The moment he began throwing spell after spell? Everything suddenly lost its humor. The ponytail was the least of her worries.
“You aren’t concentrating Bre.” Leaning on the black staff he carried, Va’lis looked down at her as she sat upon the coarse sand. “That last Energy Bolt was at half strength and easily blockable.”
They were going on the third hour now, and she had barely made progress. It began simply, dodging fireballs and similar spells. Learning how to counter them while enhancing her own. But when energy bolts started raining down around her, she realized this wasn’t a game to him. Magic was the core of his existance, and he would not show mercy. She had the bruises and burns to show that.
“We, are going to start again now. And we’re not stopping until you’ve managed to stop five in a row.”
She looked up, horror-struck. Five?! She couldn’t stop one and he wanted five! Her jaw clenched, determination and refusal intermingling as one.
“No.”
Ahhh the mother land… and the splendor that became St. Petersburg, founded by Peter the Great. Leaving Boryspil International Airport in Kiev we arrived Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg in roughly 2 hours. As a private planed marked with the Royal standards of Italia, for our nationality is of Venice, our plane was deposited into the private area of the airport reserved for dignitaries and visiting heads of state. The red carpets were placed under our feet as we deplaned which still had a somewhat alarming effect on my new bride. It would take some getting used to. A limousine awaited us as handlers and valets packed our belongings into its trunk and then graciously introduced the driver to us, who opened the door to usher us into the vehicle. Evgeny, our driver, then drove us through the 20 or so miles it takes to get from the airport to our hotel passing through the many canals and rivers that surround St. Petersburg. “It’s so similar to Venice in a way, except for the machines everywhere.” Merida commented to me. “Ah but my love, St. Petersburg is perhaps 4 or 5 times the size of Venice thus it allows for the roads that sustain the transit of automobiles and the like.” I retorted.
