Week 6
Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she walked over to him. She sat at the desk opposite his.
"Good morning. Let's do our best." She said with a pleasant smile.
"Just don't embarrass me." Ro took a deep breath and clenched her jaw. She imagined the ripple free surface of a calm lake again to assuage her irritation.
"Now partner one will picture a neutral location and will imagine partner two in that location while partner two will reach out with his or her mind and will attempt to connect with partner one. Focus on one another." Professor Arzandia was saying, "This skill becomes extremely important in battle and can be done instantaneously resulting in telepathy. This is just the first step down that long road. Now begin."
"I'll be partner one. You be partner two." Alexi commanded.
"Are you sure? I feel like this is a little invasive."
"Don't worry about it. I'll control what you see."
"Um alright." They both closed their eyes. Ro let her mind drift outward towards him. She could see him in her mind's eye. As she neared his mind, she felt as though something were pulling her consciousness closer to him. Her first response was to recoil back. But she forced herself to relax and allowed her consciousness to be pulled closer.
All of a sudden, she felt pressure and warmth enveloping her. She smelled something masculine. It was like spice and sandalwood. Ro shivered into the warmth behind her.
"Open your eyes." Alexi's voice ordered from right next to her ear. He spoke in a quiet, gentle voice she'd never heard him use before. In surprise, she did open her eyes. She stood in front of a mirror in a circular tower. On every wall there were glass doors that opened onto an encircling balcony. The sky greeted her from beyond it.
Looking in the mirror, she could see a four-post, king-sized bed draped in rich reds and blacks, a magnificently carved chest of drawers, and a large, matching desk. She turned her head to the left and right. Something obvious was missing she realized.
"Where are the stairs?" she wondered aloud. She felt pressure and warmth on her shoulder and looked in the mirror at herself for the first time. She was wearing a clinging, Grecian style black dress. Circling her wrists were what looked like black tattoos of feathers. She saw Alexi's chin resting on her bare shoulder and she stiffened. She became aware that the warmth she was feeling were his arms wrapped around her and holding her to his body. In the reflection she could see folded black wings peaking over his shoulders.
"There won't be any stairs, so you can't leave. You'll be trapped here, waiting for me because you will be mine." Ro's eyes widened in shock. She looked at the markings on her wrists. "Those are so the whole world, including you, knows who you belong to." Alexi said with a smile as he met her eyes in the mirror. His face was painted with contentment, but his eyes were full of hunger as he watched at her. Ro suddenly realized that she was looking at her actual reflection. He could see through her magic to what she actually looked like.
"Let me go." She ordered and tried to wrest herself from his grip. He didn't budge.
"Don't want to. I like having you in my arms." His smile of contentment had deepened. He started to draw her backwards towards the bed. Ro snapped her consciousness back with such force she nearly fell backward from her chair. She righted herself and found Alexi watching her, his expression unreadable. Ro shook in fear and anger.
"It was supposed to be a neutral location." She hissed with venom. Alexi smiled darkly and faster than she could react, reached for her arm. She closed her eyes and flinched anticipating the unwanted contact. It never came. She opened her eyes and saw Professor Arzandia grasping Alexi's wrist. Alexi's fingers were sparkling with black fire. Kyzul wasn't smiling anymore.
"What do you think you are doing, Crow?" Kyzul asked in a freezing, chipped voice. Alexi glared at him.
"Nothing that concerns you."
"That is against the rules here." Kyzul snapped. Ro was lost. She had no idea what Alexi had been trying to do.
"Oh really, what a pity. I guess I won't do it then." Even though Alexi spoke these words, the look in his eyes made Ro wonder if he meant them. The black fire vanished and Kyzul reluctantly released his grip. Ro could see the white mark circling Alexi's wrist. Kyzul must have been holding him very tightly. Kyzul turned and gave Ro a kind smile. Her heart skipped a beat.
"Ro did it work? Did you see anything?" Kyzul asked her. She flushed red and looked away.
"Uh no." She replied not wanting to talk about what she'd seen in Alexi's mind.
"Then try it with me. Sometimes it's a matter of compatibility." Kyzul told her still smiling. He turned back to Alexi and his smile vanished. "Go do something else." He ordered with an icy tone.
"We were just going to try again." Alexi retorted with a smirk.
"No, you're not. Go." Something in the way Kyzul said this must have surprised Alexi because his eyes widened, and he reluctantly stood up and walked off. Kyzul took the now vacated seat across from Ro. "Just close your eyes and reach out with your mind." He said gently. Ro obeyed. It was easier this time and she felt her mind naturally just drift to Kyzul's.
When Ro opened her eyes, she could see a frozen land. Snow was drifting softly down from grey-white clouds. She shivered a bit, imagining that she felt the cold.
"Are you warm enough?" Professor Arzandia's voice asked gently from behind her. Ro turned and froze. Kyzul was a vision of beauty. He was wearing a white robe loosely belted at the waist so that part of his chiseled chest was visible in the V. The top half of his long black hair was pulled back and the lower half drifted lightly in the wind. His handsome face was set in a gentle smile. From deep inside his red eyes, light emanated softly, and his skin too, seemed to shimmer in the weak light. Ro felt her mouth go slightly dry.