Chp. 8 Preparing for something??

Enzo’s back yard as you would call it looked more like a warrior training ground, it had several items that you would see on a show I use to watch called “Forged in Fire”. There were metal anvils, hammers, tongs, and forges where he made his own weapons. There were different types of dummies in different positions made to look like humans and other beings some like the lizard people looked familiar others I had never seen before. They were made of straw, wood, leather, and metal, and some of them had sensors that would react to hits and slashes. There was a shed with every type of weapon you could think of: swords, axes, daggers, spears, bows, crossbows, and even some exotic ones like whips, flails, and chakrams. There were also targets for shooting ranged weapons: circular ones for accuracy, moving ones for speed, and explosive ones for fun. And it had a high wall around it to keep the privacy. The wall was covered with vines and flowers and had a gate that could be locked with a code. Enzo said he liked to keep his training secret from prying eyes.

Enzo finally returned.

We started to talk at the same time, but he told us to wait just a second. He walked over to a control panel and flipped a switch.

“There we go” Enzo said, “now we have complete privacy”.

“Now let’s see what you got.” He said with both excitement and a little fear.

We took off our gloves at the same time and showed him the rings.

“Well look at that,” he said, “they look like ordinary rings to me.”

We flipped over our hands to show the underside of the ring. They had an elvish marking that was the only thing that distinguished them from regular silver rings.

“We’ll have you tried them out” he asked.

“No not yet” I said.

“We were in a hurry to get back and talk about what we had found out” Ava added.

“Ava’s mom did tell us to focus on the element we wanted to use and with practice we would be able to use all the elements” I told him.

“Ok well good at least you have instructions” Enzo said with a smile “Lets giver a try shale we.”

With that Ava lifted her hand towards one of the ranged targets, a wooden dummy with a bullseye painted on its chest. Her face went from calm coolness to strain, to downright frustration. She clenched her teeth and furrowed her brows as she tried to focus on the target. She put her hand down thought for a moment and raised it back up and pointed at the target once again. I kind of expected something to happen I mean I know I’m not at Hogwarts but since magic exist here and she is half elf it should be easy for her right. But maybe not, and by the look on her face she was thinking the same thing. Then the ring starts to glow white, a faint shimmer that quickly faded away. Ava put down her hand again threw up her hands and said “I don’t get it. maybe it’s defective or maybe I just can’t do magic being half human.” She sounded disappointed and frustrated, as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

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“Well, I’m human and she gave me one too, so maybe it’s just really hard” I said trying to calm her down.

I could see the frustration in her eyes, the way she bit her lip and fiddled with her ring.

“Maybe” she said “we just have to stay calm and keep trying. Go ahead and start trying maybe we will figure it out before too long”!

She gave me a weak smile and gestured towards the target. I raised up my hand and pointed it at the target, a straw dummy stuffed with hay. I focused on fire, but nothing happened. Then I started focusing on the heat of the fire. That feeling you get setting out by a bonfire on a crisp fall night. That warmth from a fireplace after coming in from the snow. The ring started to glow red. Boosh! The target erupted in flames. Enzo ran with buckets of water he kept around for the forge and put it out.

“Wow kid warn me before you do that again. I might have to go change my pants” Enzo said in awe.

He looked at me with admiration and respect, as if he had seen something amazing. After trying it a couple more times I was able to set something on fire almost as soon as I wanted too maybe this was Hogwarts. Maybe I was a wizard after all. Ava on the other hand was looking at me a little hurt, she couldn’t understand why she couldn’t make anything happen and it came easy to me. She looked at her ring with envy and sadness, as if it had betrayed her somehow.

“Look” I tried to explain to Ava, “I’m not just focusing on Fire but the feeling of fire the heat, the burning feeling.” I hoped she would get it, that she would find her own way of connecting with the elements. Ava looked at me with an odd expression. She tilted her head and narrowed her eyes, as if she was trying to figure out what I was saying. I wonder if mansplaining is something here, wait did I just do that? Woosh! I was engulfed in water, my clothes where soaked. It felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice-cold water over my head. I gasped and shivered, feeling shocked and cold. And Ava, well she couldn’t have looked happier. She grinned from ear to ear and clapped her hands, as if she had just pulled off a great prank. She had done it! She had used her ring to create water!

And that became our routine for the next several months, during the day we would work through bounties trying only to take the ones that would let us head back to the city in the evenings. We would hunt down bandits, monsters, and rogue mages, using our swords and bows. We learned to work as a team, to cover each other’s backs and to combine our strengths for greater effect. In the evenings we would return to Enzo’s training with our elemental powers. He would set up different challenges and scenarios for us to test our skills and creativity. He would research the rings and the elves during the dan and teach us more about the history and lore of the rings while we trained, how they were created by the ancient elves and how they were linked to the four elements of nature. He told us that each ring had its own personality and preferences, and that we had to bond with them in order to unlock their full potential. He said that some rings were more compatible with certain people than others, wither this was a myth or fact time would tell he continued.

All three of us had a pit in our stomachs, we knew I was here for a reason, and after the visit with the elves they were pretty sure it wasn’t for a lighthearted vacation, something was about to happen. We could feel it in the air, a sense of dread and anticipation. We knew that sooner or later we would have to face whatever threat was looming over this world, and that our rings would play a crucial role in it. We didn’t know what it was or when it would come, but we knew we had to be ready for it.