" You're late," Mason says the moment I step inside Zareen without as much a twitch in his expression. I'd slept the day away. Slept is a strong word. I passed out, and when I came to my senses the entire Morston was already blanketed by darkness. Mind you, I didn't exactly trip over my feet making my way down, I did take my sweet time.
" Better late than never," I say blandly and walk past him, but I have no idea where the fuck I'm going. So I wait for him to move past me to lead the way.
The tension between us is thick. He is behaving as if we are nothing more than strangers, who accidentally bumped into each other and are forced into a terse, unwanted exchange.
" I'd appreciate it if you'd make an effort to be punctual," He says as he strides past me, brushing against my shoulder in a silent challenge.
" There is nothing I hate more than people who say that they would be there at a certain time and then fail to turn up. I have other things to do other than coddle you. I have a business to run, I have projects to oversee. This is the first and last time you show up late. There will be no next time," Shit. He means business. I'm all too familiar with the sternness in his tone, but this time it has an edge so sharp that it might cut me to the bone if I'm not careful.
" It won't happen again," I say apologetically, but I'm not sure I can keep that promise. I'll do my best because in spite of everything he doesn't have to help me, but yet here he is making good on his word.
He doesn't say anything, anymore as we continue to stride along the maze in Zareen. We reach a dead end, and Mason presses one of the panels on the walls and then the floor opens up revealing a set of stairs, going deeper underground.
I look at him for an explanation, but after a few seconds nothing comes, he doesn't even look at me. He is looking everywhere else but at me.
When he doesn't move, I begin to descend the stairs, and shortly, I hear him trailing closely behind me.
Reaching the bottom of the steps, I stop short and look over my shoulder at Mason who is far too busy to study the room than notice me.
" It's the heart of Zareen Merrat," He says flatly and begins walking around the room. The room is square, with four black crystal pillars in each corner. There is nothing distinctive about the room, other than the pillars. There are no markings on the walls but there is a round slab of charcoal grey stone with engravings, within the star of David.
" This is where we will train from now on, " He gestures to the slab of stone," The room acts as a magnifier, and also at the same time, it will allow you to funnel the power, more precisely the amount you are drawing from your surroundings and the amounts we are exchanging," He steps on the slab of stone while I watch a bit dazed, doing my best to wrap my head around it. I'm trying my best to be a grown-up in this situation, but is it just me who thinks that considering our strained relationship we shouldn't even be in the building let alone in the same room sharing a breathing space?
Reluctantly, I step onto the slab of stone and face Mason who is watching me with cold, emotionless eyes. My heart goes haywire at his mere proximity, even though I do my best to keep it under control, chanting in my head,' We are not on the same page'. And we are not.
He reaches for my hand, and tugs it from my side, " You've depleted your stores today," He takes a deep breath," Vidris asmerat," He says under his breath and the room lights up with millions of filaments of energy streaming towards, and through me to him. It is not the usual breathtaking display, proving that his assumption was right.
The light emanating from me is muted, and Mason is barely channeling any of it. He only channels excess. Probably one of the reasons, he didn't manage to track me in the first place when he was looking for me.
He takes my other hand in his, and in spite of my better knowledge I relish the feel of his hand in mine while my heart is doing all sorts of acrobatics in my chest, rejoicing at his proximity. I want to slap myself silly, mostly because I know he has made his choice and I have made mine. He finds me unreliable, unable to cope with the challenges coming our way. I'm a disaster waiting to happen, and he is taking precautions to keep himself safe.
" Now focus on the energy flow," He instructs flatly, and I try my best to do what he says.
" Do I have to close my eyes for this to work, meditate, and chant," I say softly trying to ease the tension. It doesn't work, because he is just staring at me like I've just insulted him.
" No. Just focus on the flow. You act as an accumulator. You store energy and when you reach a critical point you release. With time your capacity increases. The more you store the more damage you can cause. When you reach your full capacity, you will become a very efficient weapon capable of wiping thousands of miles clean. Now, if you're done being ditsy I'd like you to concentrate and do as you are told," Sheesh. Mason is intense, tethering on the edge a little bit. It wouldn't take much to make him snap. His jaw is ticking faster than the wings of a hummingbird, his lips are so tight that I am pretty sure that he has restricted all blood flow.
" How do you know all of this? It wasn't in the journals," I brush past his crankiness and take no notice of it.
"It's called deduction. I thought you were smart. I'm beginning to doubt it," The corner of his lips slightly tilt up and I know he doing the best that he can not to smirk. I try my best not to feel insulted by the snazzy remark, and look him straight in the eyes.
" I've already made that deduction a long time ago, just wanted to know if you have another source. There's no need to be rude about it," I smirk and he clears his throat and looks up at the ceiling. Probably in search of divine inspiration.
I could use some of that as well. I have a feeling that we will test our limits during these training sessions.