“Assist?” Joey Rellingsworth asked.
“Teach. If we’re going to have a seasoned ardor on campus, we should put him to good use. Consider this your first physical education session of the term.”
“This is going to be fun.” Kaleb grinned widely, sitting up straighter.
Westfall still stood among them and began to speak. He didn’t need to be front and center. A podium wouldn’t provide any more attention than he already had. “As a spirit, your world is up here,” he rumbled, pointing to his head. “And physical feats are no different. It’s all a matter of mental manipulation. I assume the campus still honors the time-honored tradition to haze newburies during arrival. Although you can exercise your brain, your initial response to whatever object is thrown at you is a pretty relevant indication as to what you have to work with.”
All four Lasalle brothers glanced at Alex, but they quickly resumed attention because Westfall ambled past their table. He swept his brown hair into a ponytail, revealing smooth, ageless skin, with the exception of his brow. Even when he wasn’t frowning, the lines on his forehead were ever-present. Alex was surprised to find that this man who had supposedly served Eidolon for centuries looked only slightly older than Kaleb.
“Half of the battle is reflexes!” He launched a glass orb to the other side of the room.
Reuben instinctively covered his head with his hands. The orb slammed into his forearms and ricocheted to the wall, where it smashed behind his head.
Ardor Westfall grunted in disapproval. “Quick reflex but wrong reaction. You allowed the force of it to hit you.”
The Hall was filled with nervous titters of laughter. Reuben slouched deep in his seat and tugged at his shirt collar.
“Don’t be embarrassed. That was a typical reaction for a newbury.”
A hand shot up in the air. “The object can’t hurt us, can it?”
“The object itself cannot, but the force of it can, especially with certain materials.” Westfall walked to the front of the hall. “Reflexes can be conditioned, but only to an extent. In their absence, we must tighten the mind and concentrate on exercising it. Please look for my notes,” he ordered, pointing upward.
A projection hovered above him like a thought bubble. The words appeared letter by letter, dictated by his mind. He displayed several tactics under the title: Defense. The words didn’t make sense to Alex.
Barrier
Slingshot
Flickering
Sword swipe
“Many talents are too difficult to learn consistently and effectively. You might never have the mind power to execute seventy percent of the abilities we will be discussing in the next few weeks, but it’s beneficial to learn about them anyway. You don’t learn history to fight a war, do you? But today! Today, you get a taste of it all. It’s time to strengthen your minds using action. Those spirits to whom I spoke before the lesson, please come up front!”
Four kids lifted themselves from their seats, including Jack and Calla Bond.
“Movers,” Gabe said curiously. “Why does he want the movers?”
Dex Justice, a Darwin ally, sauntered arrogantly to the front of the room, shoving Jack with his shoulder before positioning himself in a horizontal line with the others. Scrawny Jack scanned the room nervously with his green eyes until they rested on Alex who smiled, trying to make him feel more comfortable. He offered a little wave and half the room recoiled, thinking it was directed at one of them.
Westfall leaned in to whisper something to the group, who listened to his command with avid interest. He handed each of them a glass orb the size of a softball.
“What are you doing, Ardor?” Van Hanlin asked with a frown.
Westfall didn’t even look at him. “Conducting a little experiment.” He lifted his hand high in the air and brought it down swiftly like he was giving the okay to begin a race. At his signal, all four spirits elevated the orbs in the air before pelting them forward at a speed to rival professional baseball pitchers. Alex would have found this interesting to watch if all four orbs weren’t aimed directly at her.
It began so quickly, yet somehow her mind slowed the seconds leading to the impact. In her peripheral vision, Alex saw the kids around her curling away, but she focused so intently on the orbs that her vision began to blur. The contents inside the orbs, silvery flakes, rose and spun like a sandstorm, and in her thoughts, she ignored the glass and snatched the sand with her hands.
Chase gasped and leaped from his chair to block her, but it was unnecessary. Alex didn’t need to look at the shock on the faces of the Lasalles because she could see the reflections of their wide open mouths in the four glass bulbs that remained suspended in midair, twirling before her like harmless bubbles.
They remained trapped by the stagnant sand until Alex relaxed, and the hands in her thoughts spread their fingers, allowing the grains to trickle down. Without the pull of her concentration, the orbs clanked to the ground and rolled away.
Westfall shrugged without remorse. “I was curious.”
The room filled with laughter.
“Don’t look so offended. I wondered if you might dodge them before they were even thrown.”
“How would I have known to do that?”
“Sometimes we don’t know what our minds are capable of until they’re put to the test. Hence your banshee encounter and survival.” In a blink, he appeared beside Alex, shaking sand from his shoes even though none of the orbs had shattered. “You have natural ability, just not the one I was expecting. What’s your name?”
“Alex.”
“Your last name?”
“Ash.”
She noticed that his gray eyes seemed weathered like his frown lines. They were older. Deeper, troubled, and tainted after seeing too much. He turned to face the rest of the newburies. “Don’t expect yourselves to execute a block of that caliber without some practice.” His voice was low when he added, “I was merely proving a point.” And he shared a look with Professor Duvall. “Alex, you’ll work with the Bonds. Maybe they have finally met their match.”
For Westfall to speak so candidly about the Bonds, he mustn’t be intimidated by curses, but Alex doubted he was intimidated by anything.
“The rest of you will also form groups of two or three and use the provided guide to attempt the different ways to shield. Do not focus on just one method. You need to know them all!”
“We get to throw things at each other?” Kaleb asked in excitement. “Sweet! Come here, Jonas!”
Alex rubbed her shoulders, allowing the weight of Westfall’s judgment to lift.
Jack approached, mumbling an apology. Calla was quiet at his side.
“I’ve been nothing but nice to you and you throw a glass ball at my head to thank me.” When Jack smiled, his freckles seemed to blend together. “I should have just let that bench crush me. It would have saved me all this grief,” Alex said, turning her attention to the other groups in the room, who were hurling orbs and books and pencils at one another.
Chase mouthed, “Are you okay?”
She nodded.
“Well, we already know that you’ve mastered the barrier method,” Jack said, glancing at the booklet in front of them.
“What is slingshot?” Alex asked.
He continued running his thin finger along the text while murmuring, “Oh, it’s almost the same as barrier.”
“Except you reverse the direction of the object,” Calla added softly.
“I thought most spirits weren’t very good at telekinetics.”
“This is different,” Jack said. ”You’re using the force the object has already generated to divert it. That’s much easier—”