Mathieu (White Flame Trilogy) - By Paula Flumerfelt Page 0,64

said. He wondered if he had been a seer and seen Avian’s death or that he would someday be sitting here, how he would have reacted.

“It doesn’t work like that. Well I guess for some seers it might; however, Elise must touch a person to see into their future. She saw you come to us when she met you six years ago. And she saw…well I don’t know exactly what she saw. She won’t tell me.”

“What about Mina?” Mathieu said, looking at the sky.

Solomon gave him a flat look, clearly not wanting to talk about his sister. “What about her?”

Mathieu huffed. “I mean, I know that she has a gift, but what is it?”

“Ah, that. It’s her voice. She can sound beautiful, but she can also turn it into a harpy’s screech. Good for causing paralysis.”

Closing his eyes, he laid back in the grass. “You have a god on your side.”

“Not me personally, but Korinth does.” Solomon replied.

“We do?”

Solomon picked up a rock and threw it, watching it soar through the air. “Yeah. It’s attached to some kid, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“Well…I’ve been around a long time. A long time. I’ve never seen a child manage to summon one and decently anchor it.” The blond shrugged and raked fingers through his hair. “You should see the kid. He’s the only one that the god will talk to. Hell, I haven’t even seen this so call god.” The tone of his voice was annoyed, just shy of irritated.

“Everyone here has a lot of power…”

“You do too, probably. Alright we need to start your training. Come on.” The blond got to his feet and held out a hand, pulling Mathieu to his feet.

“Ugh. Thanks.” Mathieu said, attempting to pull his hand back once he was on his feet.

Solomon kept a tight hold on his hand. “Try not to panic.”

Chapter

Nine

The shadows cast by their bodies began to darkened and thickened, slowly twining up their legs and around their bodies. The darkness dragged the pair down in a quick jerk, forcing the air out of Mathieu’s lungs. Mathieu tried to pull in more oxygen, but nothing came. His lungs burned and screamed for air, the darkness pressing in on his eyes until he thought he’d pass out.

And as fast as it’d begun, it was ending, shooting them up out of the darkness. Solomon’s hand was still wrapped around his, however, the scenery had changed. Now, they were in a tall building with mirrors on all the walls and mats on the floor. Beams and rafters crisscrossed lowly around the room to the upper area. Near the top of the room was a small platform, although Mathieu couldn’t see what was on it.

“What is this place?” He looked around but already knew. It was a training facility of some sort with weaponry lining the walls, along with targets and protective gear.

The blond man moved towards a rack of swords ranging from blunted broad swords to dulled rapiers. “This is where we train. Here.” Solomon tossed a rapier to Mathieu in a no-nonsense manner. “Ever used a sword?”

The sword fit in his hand well, a familiar feeling. Over the years, he had been convinced by Demetri and Avian to learn to fight with a sword, must to his disinterest. “Yeah, Avian made me fence with her for the past three years. I hated it. I didn’t do too badly with it though. Stabbing just takes too long and limits the ways to attack.”

Smiling, Solomon held a hand out for the rapier. “Broads it is then. Alright.” He took down two swords and pushed one into Mathieu’s hands as he passed, taking a ready position. “Let me see what you can do. You’ve had some instructions, so…” He shrugged.

Mathieu nodded and rolled his shoulder, lifting the blade. It was heavier than a rapier, but he held it point up and at the ready.

“If you’re interested, technically these aren’t real broad swords. They have hand and a half grips.” Solomon said as he advanced towards the white-haired man.

“Uh…” Mathieu didn’t know how that helped, but he nodded and brought the sword up to parry a blow from Solomon, wincing slightly as it reverberated through his wrist. This was part of why he hated swords.

The blond rolled his eyes. “It’s not a foil. It’s a sword. Use it like one.”

Huffing, Mathieu took the weapon up again and held it ready, this time swinging to meet the other man’s attack. It wasn’t as bad as the first and he dropped his