Waltzing With Fate

The Council

Where do I start?"
"Well you can start with telling us all that you know about what Cassius is doing and how we stop his plan," Hanna suggests with an innocent grin.
"I don't know much but what I do know is that Cassius is planning to infiltrate the council of the seven spirits..." The calm look on my face fades as I hear that name. The council of the seven spirits are the rulers of the magic realm, and the one at the head of the council is my mother. The rest of the council are the mothers of many other powerful magjiks around the world especially the magic realm.
"Did I hear that right?" I ask, trying to comprehend what I  had just heard.
"If you are talking about your uncle going after the council you heard me right."
"We can't let him take over the council because if he does we won't have any leverage, and even Aldric knows how awful that would be."
"Yes I do, which is why we are going to stop him."
"How are we going to do that?" Wyatt questions as he moves out of my way. 
"Well, first we are going to contact the council. Let's head downstairs so I have space to create a door to get to the throne room." I say as I start to head down the stairs. We all walk down to the training room and I walk over to a wall. I press the button on the back of my necklace and a door appears. The door in front of me is gold with seven elements on it representing the most present power in each of the council members. I place my hand on the circle of elements and the door pushes open to reveal a large room with a row of thrones seating every council member according to their most present element.
"Leigh, what do you request from us," My mother asks.
"I am here to warn you, your greatness, Cassius is planning to come after the council."
"I know, and Leigh, I ask that you stay out of this, you are the future queen and we can't have you getting hurt."
"I am not a fragile little girl anymore. I can handle this and a queen's duty to her kingdom is to protect it from harm, not run away when her people need her."
"You aren't trained enough to complete a mission like this you will need to finish your training."
"Where do we start," I ask.
"We?" My mother asks as I wave everyone in.
"Yes, we. Your greatness I have chosen my team for the mission. Let me introduce you all to my mother. Mother, this is Hanna, Matteo, Wyatt, Jackson, and Aldric." Each of them waved as I say their names and when I finished my mother looked at me like I forgot something.
"Darling, you forgot that you need seven capable participants to even think about being okayed for this mission."
"You don't have to worry about not having seven Leigh," Olivia interrupts.
"Why?"
"My daughter is capable and ready to train you and help you train your team."
"Thank you, your greatness."
"You're welcome dear."
"So mother, when do we start?"
"Does today work for you?" Cassie asks as she struts into the throne room. 
"It absolutely does, Cassie," I say as I run up to her and give her a giant hug. "Everyone this is Cassie, and Cassie this is my team." I name them all again and they wave as I name them.
"Leigh, as much as I hate the idea of this, I know that it must be done. I also know that if anyone is going to accomplish what needs to be done it is going to be you. Just know that we are all here for you and will come to your aid if you need us. We wish you luck on your journey and we grant our permission for you to pursue your mission. I wish it didn't have to risk both of my children, but as the head of this council and as the leader of the realm I know that this is what must happen for us to be saved. That being said, don't make me bury my children. On a more positive note, go get training and I will see you when you need us or when this is all over."
"Yes, mother, we will be safe and we will make sure that Cassius is in this throne room cowering at our feet before the end of this."
"Good, now go and prepare yourself for what is ahead becasue you are going to need every ounce of training that you can get." I nod and we all exit through the door we entered through. Cassie looks around at all of the different sections of the room; a weaponry, a knife and axe throwing area, mats for hand to hand combat, and a training course.
"This is perfect," she mutters in amazement.
"This is where we train," Hanna announces proudly.
"Alright I can teach you all you need to know to defeat Cassius, but I don't think you want to train in those clothes so meet me down here in 20 minutes and we will begin. Leigh since you already have training clothes on we are going to go train a little bit before we figure out where everyone else is at."
We walk to the mats and she tells me that we are going to spar. She gets into her stance and it's almost like she has been doing it for as long as I have because it's perfect. Her feet are spread wide enough apart so she has balance, but not enough that she will fall if she tries to parry one of my strikes. Her hands are placed perfectly unclenched for more power in her punches and she looks at me and says "Magic is allowed."
"What do you mean?" I ask as a ball of fire barely misses my head.
I nod and I breathe in. I create a ball of lightning in my hand and throw it at her. Knowing she's going to try and dodge it I throw it to the left side of her face while I begin to create another to throw again. She dodges that one but before I could get the other ball of lightning out of my hand she disappears. I start to walk forward against my will, and then I stop abruptly in the exact spot she was and she slams her invisible hand into my chest throwing me backwards onto the floor. She makes herself visible again and instead of making it known she won she grabbed my hand and helped me up.
"The minute I told you magic was going to be used, your demeanor changed, your foot position changed, and you stopped paying attention to little movements to indicate what I was going to do. You can't do that in a real fight against magjiks like us or you will die."
"I choked and I haven't choked in years."
"You were up against someone other than a mortal, it happens, and that is why I am here. So let's train the team like they need to be trained to be ready and destroy your uncle's plan forever."
"Let's do this." I confirm as everyone enters the room and works their way towards the mat.
"Everyone, this training is crucial if we want to defeat my uncle, especially with what he's planning to do, so let's begin. Hanna, your strengths are knives and close contact fighting so we want to train you in longer distances and with a sword. Liam, we are going to start fresh with you and teach you everything you need to know. Aldric, your strengths are shooting and distance so we want to train you in close contact fighting and we want you to learn to use knives and swords. Jackson, Matteo, and Wyatt I need you to spar so we can determine what we need to teach you. Alright everyone we need to be prepared for anything so even if you may not think you need to know it you probably do so go and have fun."
Everyone walks away from the mats to start working on the skills they are best at and Liam stands on the mat like a lost puppy.
"Liam, have you ever learned anything related to combat training?"
"No, I haven't."
"Okay, I am going to teach you the basics and the form you need today and then tomorrow we will work on more complex moves, does that sound good?"
"Yeah, that works."
"Okay I need you to space your feet shoulder width apart and place your hands in front of you and make an unclenched fist. Now I want you to punch, but as you punch clench your fist so you get more power behind your punch." he punches the punching bag and he clenches his fist at the perfect time.
"That was perfect, you're a natural. Alright, now that you have that down I am going to try to punch you and before I do I am going to tell you which side I am going to be punching you on and you have to dodge it."
"I think I can do that," Liam tells me confidently. He gets into the stance I just showed him and he begins to watch my body language.
"Left," he dodges the punch.
"Right," he dodges it again.
"Right," I shout and instead of punching to the right I punch to the left and he dodges it.
"Nice job. You have started to read body language which is very important when you are in a situation like I just put you in. Since you are good with them separately, let's try putting them together. This time I won't be telling you where I will be punching you have to figure it out."
"Okay I'm up for a challenge," Liam announces with a sly grin. We both get ready and I throw my first punch and he dodges it. He tries to land a punch but doesn't succeed, and I counter it and mine doesn't succeed either. We keep this going for what seems like an hour but in reality only five minutes have passed. I let my guard down and he lands a successful punch. He looks stunned like everyone else around him and then he starts to celebrate.
"Yes! I did it, I did it!"
His celebration rings through the whole training center and everyone starts laughing. 
We are all dripping with sweat as everyone makes progress on their new skills. Liam learns how to punch and dodge properly, Hanna and Matteo work on their aiming skills, and Wyatt and Jackson work on hand-to-hand combat. Everyone is in their element, even Liam.
Smiles are plastered on each of their faces because they are calm, the storms inside of each of them are calm. I watch from the mat and I can feel the relief in every punch that they throw and every shot they shoot. I have never seen a group of people so content in a long time and it is amazing. I feel a smile form on my face as I look over at each one of them.
"You seem happy," Cassie says as she walks over to me.
"I am, it's amazing to see so many content people."
"Yeah, it truly is. Now it's your turn to discover the full extent of your magic. Are you sure you're ready for this?"
"Absolutely," I say confidently.
"Alright, first you need to channel the electricity inside of you and I want you to create a controlled lightning strike."
"I think I can do that." I breathe in and close my eyes while I envision a lightning strike hitting in between Cassie and I. I feel a tingle throughout my body as I draw untouched power from my body. The tingle gets stronger as the power works its way throughout my body and the tingling continues to grow.
It turns from a slight tingle to a series of shocks that won't stop. I collapse as it gets worse and worse, it feels like I am being stabbed by several small daggers at the same time. I scream as it gets worse, Cassie yells for my brother as everyone sprints downstairs. My vision blurs as tears run down my face. I can't focus on anything but the excruciating pain that is throughout my entire body. I have never felt anything like this while using my magic. My brother rushes to my aid but he can't do a thing, I am the only one who can save myself. More and more tears run down my face because I'm alone and I can't save myself. Matteo and Aldric kneel by my side. I try to move or speak to tell them to get my mother but I can't. I am frozen and helpless and it's terrifying, it makes me wonder if this is when I die.
Matteo places his hand on my shoulder and I feel a warm pulse trying to fight off each of the stabbing pains throughout my body. The pain starts to subside and I feel a sense of relief and calmness. My mind goes blank as I fall unconscious.