Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,136
don’t want us being defenseless if we lose our weapons. After this, we’ll tighten our skills with our weapons. Lenore said two more days and they’d all be done, so sometime after that, we’ll start. I told you, I have a plan.”
“A plan I wish you’d tell me, so that I can help.”
“You are helping, just by being here.” Mathieu brushed a hand over the blond’s chest before turning to face his father, giving him a cold look.
Solomon put a hand on his lower back. “He’s worried, that’s all.” The blond murmured against his ear.
“You figured it out, didn’t you?”
The blond nodded, “Yeah. I’d know a Roman anywhere. I knew you were a descendent when I saw your energy. It’s the gift of their line. He loves you; but that doesn’t mean that he has a say between us.”
“I agree.” Mathieu said with a smiled. “That’s why I wanted you close when the fighting starts. I’ll be able to focus better when I know that you’re alive.”
“Even if you were far from me, our bond would tell you I was safe. If something is strong enough, you will feel what I feel. It works the other way, too, in case you were wondering.”
He nodded. “Good. But you need to move on to your next spar.” Mathieu turned to the others, looking at who was fighting and who wasn’t. Jo quickly claimed Solomon for a fight, so he approached Lione. “Shall we?”
“Sure. Although, you took down Solomon pretty easily, so I don’t know if I stand much of a chance.” Lione gave a shy smile, and wind started to pull towards him, shifting the air pressure.
Mathieu chuckled, his energy spirally up from the ground, coming to meet his hand. It wrapped around his arm and hand, flowing like a barrier around him. “I think you’ll do just fine. Let’s dance.”
And this time, Lione was the stationary partner, using his wind scythes to hold Mathieu at bay.
Mathieu used the energy encasing his arm to deflect and absorb the wind, slowly making his way closer to the other. Whenever he was within reaching distance, Lione would raise his shield, preventing any physical contact. It took striking the barrier a few times and being thrown back before he started to notice some propertied about the protection Lione was using. There was a slight depression in the blades of glass for a split moment before they stood back up, then there was a soft flick of light.
“You bastard.” Mathieu laughed out loud as he realized that Lione was using the wind to rub the air molecules together and create a moment of extremely strong static electricity in order to repulse incoming objects. And he had an idea around it. He built up a small amount of energy in his foot, then charged at the other. As the grass bent to accommodate the shield, he dug his foot in and used the energy he had stored up to stop himself; at the last second, he spun and allowed the static electricity to fade away before kicking Lione squarely in the chest and knocking him off balance.
The raven staggered, frowning. “How did you do that?”
“Simple. Static electricity doesn’t last long. It dissipates quickly, so by hesitating for that moment, I had the chance to strike while your guard was down.”
“Well son of a bitch. Guess I’ll have to do things a bit differently then, won’t I?” Lione's annoyance was plain on his face, but he shook it off and took up his stance again.
“Don’t be too upset, Lione. It’s a smart play, just don’t do it on glass.” Mathieu said seriously. Taking a few measured breaths, he stored up some energy and ran at the raven, fully ready to thwart his shielding method again, but as his foot came down to plant and spin, Lione threw a single blade of wind at his foot, causing him to lose focus and balance. He staggered back with a frustrated sound.
"So it seems we're at an impasse, there." Lione said softly, then started to advance, smaller vortexes forming around his hands, which he used to cast more wind scythes. He moves fluidly, like water over rocks, moving sideways to keep matched with Mathieu.
Growling slightly, Mathieu raised his arm to absorb the new onslaught of invisible blades, looking for a new weakness to exploit. And he found it. There was just the slightest drop in Lione’s shoulders, and consequently his guard, after he launched a dual attack, leaving him semi-open.