HEIR OF ASH AND BLOOD

CHAPTER FOUR:LESSONS

Morrigan's Pov

The next few days passed by very quickly.

I had quit my internship job and I knew that if I didn't go to school for two weeks in a row, my scholarship would be revoked, so I didn't bother going to school. There was no way my life was going back to normal.

Malachi had stayed to teach me how to control my powers. My dad obviously didn't want him to but he knew he was the only option.

“Don’t get frustrated.” Malachi and I were training in the backyard again, far away from any breakables.

“It's not about force.”

I gritted my teeth.

It was too hard.

“That's easy for you to say.” I finally said

“What happened that night was pure instinct, you were in a survival mood. It was extremely powerful but uncontrolled and when power like that isn't controlled, there are serious consequences.”

I looked at him wide eyed

“Consequences like??”

“I'll tell you that another time, let's continue.”

“If we're going to reach a point where you can use your powers safely, you need to learn to feel it and will it out and not let it control you.”

“Can it control me?”

“Yes, that's what happens when raw power isn't controlled. It takes over and you succumb to it, that's how a lot of mad witches are created.”

“How long have you had to learn this?”

“Since I was seven.”

“Seven.. that's quite young isn't it?”

His expression changed.

He didn't reply

“You're catching up fast for someone started late, the power that came out of you was uncontrolled but not too much,it hit exactly what it needed to.”

“So you're saying I should be happy I can aim.”

“I'm saying I started a decade learning control before you and it seems you can rival me in just a few days.”

I closed my eyes and I did as he instructed.

I reached for what I had felt that night.

The build up under my skin, I could feel the light moving through my arms and into my palms.

It started moving too fast,too much.

It was getting too much

“Breathe Morrigan.” I heard Malachi's voice. It was steady

‘Control control’.

I kept on repeating control until I felt the force of the energy slow down.

It had started moving slowly.

“That's it.”

“That's the real feeling, hold on it and we'll start nurturing it from there.”

I heard the approval in his tone.

I opened my eyes and my palms were slightly glowing.

But it was glowing.

I couldn't help the smile that appeared on my face.

We spent the next few hours working on small and simple exercises.

Malachi was extremely patient and I found myself wanting to get it.

He didn't treat me like a dangerous animal like I thought he would,he thought me like I was learning a new and difficult skill.

He was the first person I had felt any sense of steadiness from since that window had shattered.

Despite the fear,the betrayal,the anger. I wanted to learn control.

I had come to terms with my new reality and I was going to own it.

After a while,we finally took a break.

“Thank you.”

I turned to look at him.

“Thank you for not running away and for not treating me like an animal.”

His eyes visibly softened

“Understanding dangerous things is much better than being afraid of it. I've made it a point to not run from things I do not understand.”

He smiled gently.

Malachi’s Pov

I had seen Dorian subtly watching the training session since we began. I had wanted to point it out to Mor, but it seemed like she couldn't sense him yet, or she did and she didn't care.

After I had made sure Mórrígan was asleep after the session,I went to find Dorian.

I knew he heard me coming from his posture, he just didn't care enough to look at me.

“You should tell her.”

His hands around the mug tightened.

“What are you talking about?”

He looked at me, his expression neutral.

“You should tell her about the other attempts. She's going to figure it out eventually. Better she finds out from you.”

“You have no idea what I have protected her from.”

“I know more than enough.”

“She already doesn't trust me, why would I make it worse?”

“She's hurt, but I'm fairly sure she knows why you didn't tell her, it's best to tell her everything and let her deal with it at once.”

He placed the mug down.

“You made the mistake of not telling her before, you're sure you want to do that again.”

My voice had become sharp at this point.

“You don't know anything.”

“I know a wendigo doesn't reach this part of the country casually, a creature like that doesn't wander to this house in particular based off on instinct, something or someone sent it, and it's not the first creature they sent. Something has been sending creatures after her for a quite a while now and from the look of it…”

I paused.

I was getting too annoyed.

I started speaking quietly.

“And from the looks of things, you've been fighting creatures on your own.Ashwood, right now, I'm telling you, this isn't protection anymore, and you know it.”

“You don't understand what's really happening here.”

“Then tell me.” I took a breath “, Because right now I'm training a girl whose power is nothing like I've seen before, no average witch should have that sort of power. I'm training her against threats I don't understand, and I'd like to know exactly what I'm walking into before something happens.”

He looked at me.

In the past few days, he seemed to have started looking older than his age.

There was something he still wasn't telling me.

Then he looked outside for a while before he said

“Her mother wasn't a normal witch, she was the witch queen. She was the reigning witch queen and known to be the most powerful witch of her generation.”

I froze.

Mórrígan is a witch princess.

Everything started to click.

“That changes everything.”