Palace Of Flames (Book One of the Damnata Series)

Chapter Seventeen: Bring 'Em Down

[Kristy]

I gulp as Oliver stands across the room from me, eyes narrowed and arms folded across his chest. Conveniently, he has a training room for himself and his brother's frequent training sessions, and so this plain hall with the floor covered in black mats and the curtains securely closed was the first place Oliver thought of.

Damn this guy.

"Nervous?" He asks, looking at me pointedly. I glance briefly towards Laurence, who is sitting on something that looks like one of those gymnastics-things that you vault over. The horse, that's it. I look towards Seth, who has decided to sit cross-legged on the floor with ear buds shoved in his ears as he listens to his music and aimlessly plays around with his phone. Damn, I can hear that music from here... And I envy his care-free attitude. Damn him!

"Nervous?" I look back to Oliver. "My arse." Yeah...just keep talking a load of crap, Kristy...

"Really? Fine then. What do you know about defending yourself?" He asks me. I gulp, and then make my hands into the shapes of guns, pretending to fire them and making shooting noises immaturely.

"Guns?" I suggest after his expression becomes confused.

"Oh, right, because I thought we were reenacting Star Wars there for a moment." He replies, and then shakes his head. He flits away, and is back within seconds, tossing me a bow and a black quiver filled with arrows. "Bow and arrow. Regulation weapons for an Oracle's offense and defense."

I catch them without struggle, and quickly slip the arrow into place. Oliver motions for me to aim for a punchbag in the corner, and I aim for it, pulling my arm back and readying myself. It flies forward, but just skims against the side, before falling to the ground. I frown deeply, fixing another arrow in position to try again.

Just as I pull my arm back, I see a vague blur, and then someone's hands are on mine, guiding me through the process. I feel a chin resting on my shoulder, and I glance over to the spot where Laurence and Seth were sitting. Laurence waves awkwardly, frowning slightly, and Oliver is still standing in his spot across the hall from me.

Seth helps me pull back my arm, smiling slightly as he guides me. "Okay, so you need to have your arm up slightly higher," he pushes my arm up a few centimetres, straightening it more, "and you need to hold your bow with a loose grip, don't snap the poor thing. Loosen your hold on the string, so you can just let go and let it shoot through. Now, pull right back, keeping your arm straight, change your stance to stand sideways from your target..." He moves me into the correct position, and then leaves his hand on mine on the bow. He rests his other hand on my waist to keep me standing correctly, and then I let go of the string, the arrow piercing through the air and cutting right into the punchbag. I smile slightly, turning to face Seth, and he grins lopsidedly, before squeezing my hand and letting go of me, flitting back over to where he sat before, his ear buds back in place, legs crossed again. He glances up at me and smiles, and then returns to staring intently at the screen of his phone in concentration. Laurence is smiling slightly at me, and winks, still sitting on the horse-thing. Oliver smiles over at me.

"Great. Now do it by yourself." I do so quickly and rather expertly, and it hits the exact same spot as the last arrow, as do the next few arrows, too.

Rosetta enters the hall, and beams instantly as she spots me with the bow and arrows, taking shot after shot and hitting the same spot every time.

"I have heard of an ability like this."

We all turn to look at her, and she beams even wider.

"Ability?" Laurence questions. "But I thought she just had a good aim-"