The Shadow Court

Chapter 11 - Duels

Rose disarmed the King for the seventeenth time and sighed dramatically. "Must we continue, my lord?"

The King's spear/staff levitated back to his hand and he shook his head. "My skills with a weapon are not nearly as strong as my mental ones. If you want to go up against the entire enemy team and stand a chance, you'll need to use more than just those blades."

Rose peered down at her new twin obsidian swords. They where mostly black, with flecks of purple here and there that glowed faintly in the right light. She loved them, much more than the daggers she apparently used to own. They were more precise when killing an enemy, in her opinion.

She flashed back to the topic, suddenly aware that she was daydreaming. "Okay, so what other weapons can I use?"

The King shrunk his staff back into a small chain and gestured towards the door. "I'll show you."

Outside, a long hallway stretched in both directions. One lead to the bedrooms and the other to Anthony's office, if Rose's memory served correctly. Besides the white lights overhead that she could no longer see, the only other thing of immediate interest was a guard about half way down the bedroom hall. He stared straight ahead, as all guards were trained to do, but was obviously completely aware of everything in the hallway. Their seriousness used to scare Rose when she was little. At least, that's what Callum had told her. Interestingly, his soul colour appeared to be a rustic bronze, like copper.

The King seemed to be very interested in him. "As you know, each of my apprentices have been infused with a small fraction of my power to make them stronger. You, however, were given some of my less offensive abilities. Callum can manipulate energy into weapons, but you my dear, can manipulate on a whole knew level."

Rose faced him and crossed her arms. "Get on with it. I've been training all day so I'm tired."

The King narrowed his eyes at her for a second before continuing. "The fraction of power I gave to you comes from my mind. With enough concentration, I have the ability to manipulate my enemy's mind. I can change their actions; sway their thought patterns."

"Are you saying I have some sort of mind control power?" Rose asked, not bothering to hide her impatience.

The King sighed. "You were never this snarky before." He nodded his head towards the guard. "I want you to try and enter his mind. Your new sight primarily gives you the ability to see into other people's souls, but that's not all it can do. If you expand your mind and allow yourself to connect with another soul, you can directly control its emotional pattern."

Rose glanced back at the copper outline of the guard and gasped. "So I can control people's emotions, right?"

"Indeed."

She sheathed her blades and rolled back her shoulders. "Well, here goes nothing." She stared into the guard's soul, admiring the swirling bronze flames that danced through his body. They were more concentrated in some areas, like his chest and head, while smaller tendrils of light dimly illuminated his arms and legs. For some strange reason, Rose instantly knew that the guard was feeling upset. There was no indication, or any signs, she just knew. Could this be a part of my powers? Reading emotions? Rose thought.

"Indeed." The King repeated.

Okay, you can stop that now. Rose mentally snapped at him, then went back to concentrating on the guard. She could feel the sadness moving through his body now, like water running through cracks in the footpath. A small jolt between her eyes somehow told her that she'd successfully connected her soul with him. Now, she could feel the sadness flowing back and forth between them like a cool breeze.