Blue Flames

Chapter 13

Immortals are all different in some ways but similar in others. The ability to tell someone else's race is something all immortals have in common.

Mainly, immortals can tell someone's race only by sense. Every race's magic is slightly different, and it affects the person's aura. Sensing those differences is an inherent ability. Sensing another person's aura comes as naturally as breathing, and no human, no matter how much magic residue they have in them, can identify someone's race.

So Jesse's question made it abundantly clear he was suspecting I wasn't human.

"I asked Irene," I replied, hoping Irene would cover for me if he asked her, "why? Are you pissed that I called you a kitten?"

"You asked Irene," he said, ignoring my jab at him.

"Yep. why? How do you think I knew?"

He looked at me for a long moment, then glanced away and shrugged, "nevermind. We're here."

A couple of minutes later, the tree cover cleared up, revealing the stunning view of an extensive bright blue lake glimmering under the sunlight.

Upon seeing Jesse, a group of twenty people scattered around instantly organized themselves in four neat rows. The junior soldiers.

"Do you know your way back?" Jesse asked me.

"Yes, thank you." I had a good sense of direction, and the woods always felt like home to me.

He gave me an odd look, then left.

I crouched down, "go play, Wes. I'll be a while."

Wes nudged my hand with his nose, the saddest canine expression I'd ever seen on his fierce face. I petted him, scratching between his ears."I know, big boy. I promise we'll play later. Okay?"

Wes ventured around the lake after a few more pets, and I went to start my first teaching assignment. I had no idea where to start. My only role models when it came to teaching were uncle Robert and Kenji. But Kenji was human, and these were immortals. So I decided to go for uncle Robert. He was a very good teacher , so I was feeling hopeful.

Twenty pairs of eyes stared at me, some curious, some skeptical, and one particular brown gaze was filled with excitement. Corbin was on the front row, his black curls as lively as ever.

I looked at them again. Most of them were shapeshifters and vampires, with only a few witches. The shapeshifters and the witches were all young, barely twenty years old. The vampires were all under two hundred years old. I was excited to see how this would play out.

"Well, then. Let's get this show going."

Arthur was clear about what he wanted me to teach them. He wanted them to be better versions of themselves. To make that happen, the first thing I needed to do was make them see that they were not the best version of themselves, that there was always room for improvement no matter how good they thought they were.

I could already see the cocky glint in some gazes. Serving directly under one of the Five was a privilege in the immortal world, hundreds of immortals apply, only a handful make it through. So these were young immortals who had been trained and cherry picked, maybe they had been told they were the best by their peers and their mentors, maybe they believed they were, and maybe they were. But arrogance was a fighter's greatest weakness, as uncle Robert would often tell me after I beat him.

The first thing I did was have them race. The doubt was written all over their faces, but it was a testament to their discipline that they didn't argue.