I followed the messenger through the city to blackstone. The rain made the streets muddy but not to the point where it would be hard to walk. Even if it had made it hard to walk I would still prefer that to the bright sunlight. We had gone almost a street before I noticed the messenger wasn't wet from the rain. I looked above his head and noticed the shield. It moved with him and didn't go all the way to the ground. Air wouldn't have a hard time going around it but the water fell off to the sides.
I blinked at it in surprise, why hadn't I thought of that? I liked the rain but no one liked being wet for an overly long time. I created my own shield without slowing. The rain became even more pleasant as the water stopped hitting me. I wasn't sure about tiring myself out before meeting our lord but I had been getting better at holding shields for longer and longer before I got to the point I would need a nap. So I wasn't too worried about this trick.
It had been a few months since I last talked with our lord in his tower. I remembered the conversation as I walked with the messenger. Our lord had said he wanted me practicing and learning from him every week. I couldn't help but wonder what had taken him so long to summon me then. I had been using the power much more recently, there had been plenty of things to practice on. Actually now that I thought about it, it wasn't until this last week that I had slowed down on how much I was using that power. After being out for three days it was little wonder I had slowed down.
The gate on the blackstone opened as the messenger and I approached. I had expected him to go the same way as I went last time I had come here but he didn't. I let the shield collapse now that we were under a roof. I couldn't tell for sure if the messenger had let his collapse as well or not. The messenger had gotten better at using the black flames without letting me see them. I wondered if it was related to the collars as I could only see the black flames of the spell that controls the slaves on the collars that use my own green flames as well.
The messenger led me up stairs. I found that odd if I was supposed to be learning how to use this power more but I trusted the man enough to just follow and not say anything. We got to the top of the stairs and stepped out into the stadium. I looked up at the sky as we stepped out among the empty seats.
The rain didn't make a sound as it hit the shield covering the whole of the stadium. I could see the water bounce off the clear force keeping it out. A shield that size would require a crazy amount of power to keep up but I couldn't see it. I let my sense run along the barrier but there wasn't anything to see. I only knew it was there because of what it was doing.
The messenger just stood waiting as I stared at the power on display here. He didn't say anything as he watched me start trying to figure it out. There was something else, I should have noticed. I walked to the railing and looked down at the arena. 10 men stood in the field of the blackstone. I wondered who they were until I remember the men that had been involved with my daughter's murder. Our lord had said they would be useful for this.
The men were standing together, which seemed wrong as they were in an arena and they were old enough to have fought many times before. My eyes widened and I turned, taking a knee as black flames shot out passed me and into the arena. The flames spread out and stilled all around the arena. My sense told me the men below still had not noticed. "Good afternoon, my lord." I said something to try and control my sudden spike of fear. At least it was as bad as when we were in the tower.
"Good afternoon, Miracle." The voice didn't sound as ill used as it had last time it spoke. It still wasn't quite correct to how people talk but it wasn't as hard to understand. Part of the problem was it was still a bit fast and the words blended together just a bit too much. I stayed still as the source of the flames moved up to the rail next to me. I could feel his eyes looking out at the arena and the humans in it. The flames seemed to either move quickly or slowly like there just wasn't a happy inbetween for them. "What are you thinking?"
I wondered if I flinched as our lord looked over at me. "Not much, just how strange you sound and how much energy a shield that size takes, and what you have planned for the dirt in the arena, and if you have figured out away to hide when you are using this power from me, and if the messenger is -" I cut off as I felt the humor in the black flames, and our lord even let out a small laugh.
"Not much, hum. I should have known. To answer one of your questions, yes I did figure out how to hide some magic from you. Since I know it my specials know it as well, but only the messenger will use it around you. As I am not ready to trust you out of my sight. I sound strange because I have to put effort into talking slower, not as much effort as Lord Harus, Lady Avery, and Lady Scarlet, if they ever want to talk to a human, but the effort isn't nothing. The effort of not feeding and killing every human in the city is not nothing either." I kept my head down as the metal handrail cried under our lord's hands as he squeezed. He let go like he had been burnt and took a step back. The men in the arena had noticed him now they all froze looking up at him in surprise. Even this far away I could feel what they were feeling, it was muted though.
One shook himself and took a knee. Once one moved the others snapped out of it and moved as well. "I didn't know it was so painful for you, my lord." The flames flickered but stilled before I could read them. I could feel the red eyes look at me but I couldn't read anything from them this time.