going.”
“You’ll have Steffen.”
“Yes, but we’ll be alone in this house for weeks. I can’t wait until he starts asking me to test out his potions.”
Reela giggled, then came in for a hug.
“So you’ll cast some psyche on me?” Effie asked, not knowing the proper terminology for their “mental wrestling.”
“I will. But you’re not going to like it.” Reela held out her hand. “Have you ever been pained with psyche before? Do you know what it feels like?”
Effie stepped back. “No.”
“I think you should, just so you’ll be more prepared if Tenred ever attacks the Academy. They’ll definitely have psychics.”
Effie could feel her muscles tightening in anticipation. “If it’s so important, why don’t our instructors have us train against psyche?”
Reela shrugged. “They probably don’t even know how to defend against it themselves.” Suddenly, she grunted and jerked her hand. A pain unlike any Effie had ever felt swelled through her entire body. Every muscle, every joint, everything hurt. She collapsed, screaming.
But then it stopped.
Before she knew it, she’d jumped to her feet and started toward Reela with her fist clenched. “You didn’t even warn me!”
“Effie, relax!” Reela quickly backed up, her eyes wide.
Effie stopped herself, still furious. “Bastial hell, that hurt !”
“That’s exactly what’ll happen when a psychic as strong as me targets you. I didn’t want you to be prepared for it because you won’t be at the time of attack.”
Effie slowed her breathing, realizing Reela was right. Still, it felt unfair. How was she supposed to defend against that? It wasn’t like a sword or a fireball. She couldn’t even see it.
“I should’ve had you train me months ago,” Effie said.
“We won’t get very far tonight.” Reela rolled up her sleeves. “But I’ll teach you what I can.”
Before she started, Effie had a question. “What’s it like for a psychic to go against another psychic?”
“Just like any battle. You must find a way to be offensive while defending yourself. Are you ready?”
Effie tripped backward over her feet in her haste to get away from Reela. “No, don’t do that again.”
Reela looked to be holding in a laugh. “I meant, are you ready to get started?”
Gingerly getting up, Effie said, “I suppose.”
It turned out Reela was right; it did make Effie think of wrestling. She could feel Reela in her mind, tugging, prickling. The most difficult part was that Effie couldn’t stop the feeling when she wanted to. It was purely up to Reela.
“It’s easier to block the psyche when you know it’s coming,” she said. “After someone has started to pain you, it’s much harder to make it stop.”
“Why is that?”
“When I’m causing pain, I first must connect to my targets with psyche. If I can’t connect to them, there’s nothing I can do. But once I’m connected, it’s like I have a hold of their hair. It’s not easy for them to break free.”
Effie always forgot how little she knew of psyche until she talked about it with Reela. “How do you connect with someone?”
Reela’s lips pursed. “It’s difficult to explain. How did Rek describe it to me?” She thought silently for a bit.
“All of us give off Bastial Energy, some more than others, like you.” She raised her eyebrows at Effie. “And just like how mages can draw in BE, so can psychics. But we’ve learned to differentiate between the natural BE in the air and that being produced by Humans and animals. The Bastial Energy coming from your body is unique, like a fingerprint. It tells me what I need to know in order to manipulate your emotions.”
“So you’re drawing in my BE? What happens if you can’t?”
“Then I can’t do anything. That’s one reason psyche doesn’t work as well over long distances. The other is that I have to manipulate the BE within them, and you know how difficult it is to do anything to BE over long
“You’ll have Steffen.”
“Yes, but we’ll be alone in this house for weeks. I can’t wait until he starts asking me to test out his potions.”
Reela giggled, then came in for a hug.
“So you’ll cast some psyche on me?” Effie asked, not knowing the proper terminology for their “mental wrestling.”
“I will. But you’re not going to like it.” Reela held out her hand. “Have you ever been pained with psyche before? Do you know what it feels like?”
Effie stepped back. “No.”
“I think you should, just so you’ll be more prepared if Tenred ever attacks the Academy. They’ll definitely have psychics.”
Effie could feel her muscles tightening in anticipation. “If it’s so important, why don’t our instructors have us train against psyche?”
Reela shrugged. “They probably don’t even know how to defend against it themselves.” Suddenly, she grunted and jerked her hand. A pain unlike any Effie had ever felt swelled through her entire body. Every muscle, every joint, everything hurt. She collapsed, screaming.
But then it stopped.
Before she knew it, she’d jumped to her feet and started toward Reela with her fist clenched. “You didn’t even warn me!”
“Effie, relax!” Reela quickly backed up, her eyes wide.
Effie stopped herself, still furious. “Bastial hell, that hurt !”
“That’s exactly what’ll happen when a psychic as strong as me targets you. I didn’t want you to be prepared for it because you won’t be at the time of attack.”
Effie slowed her breathing, realizing Reela was right. Still, it felt unfair. How was she supposed to defend against that? It wasn’t like a sword or a fireball. She couldn’t even see it.
“I should’ve had you train me months ago,” Effie said.
“We won’t get very far tonight.” Reela rolled up her sleeves. “But I’ll teach you what I can.”
Before she started, Effie had a question. “What’s it like for a psychic to go against another psychic?”
“Just like any battle. You must find a way to be offensive while defending yourself. Are you ready?”
Effie tripped backward over her feet in her haste to get away from Reela. “No, don’t do that again.”
Reela looked to be holding in a laugh. “I meant, are you ready to get started?”
Gingerly getting up, Effie said, “I suppose.”
It turned out Reela was right; it did make Effie think of wrestling. She could feel Reela in her mind, tugging, prickling. The most difficult part was that Effie couldn’t stop the feeling when she wanted to. It was purely up to Reela.
“It’s easier to block the psyche when you know it’s coming,” she said. “After someone has started to pain you, it’s much harder to make it stop.”
“Why is that?”
“When I’m causing pain, I first must connect to my targets with psyche. If I can’t connect to them, there’s nothing I can do. But once I’m connected, it’s like I have a hold of their hair. It’s not easy for them to break free.”
Effie always forgot how little she knew of psyche until she talked about it with Reela. “How do you connect with someone?”
Reela’s lips pursed. “It’s difficult to explain. How did Rek describe it to me?” She thought silently for a bit.
“All of us give off Bastial Energy, some more than others, like you.” She raised her eyebrows at Effie. “And just like how mages can draw in BE, so can psychics. But we’ve learned to differentiate between the natural BE in the air and that being produced by Humans and animals. The Bastial Energy coming from your body is unique, like a fingerprint. It tells me what I need to know in order to manipulate your emotions.”
“So you’re drawing in my BE? What happens if you can’t?”
“Then I can’t do anything. That’s one reason psyche doesn’t work as well over long distances. The other is that I have to manipulate the BE within them, and you know how difficult it is to do anything to BE over long
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