Call to Arms (War of the Fae: Book 2) by Elle Casey Read Free Book Online

handle and stepping out into the hallway.   “We’ll see how you manage today.”
    My friends had already disappeared from the corridor.   Must be that magic hallway thing .   I followed her until we reached a door at the far end of the hallway.   I thought for sure we were going to be walking out of the fourth obelisk when we went through, but when I stepped out and looked around, there was no waypoint and no clearing.   We were in the middle of the Green Forest.   I turned back around to look at the door, but it wasn’t there anymore.   There was an ancient tree, but no door, no hinges, and no handle.   Fucking magic.   Again.
    “I thought we were doing something at the lake today,” I said, remembering the vote at the meeting yesterday about something with me and a possible affinity to Water .
    “You will later.   But first, I’d like to start our morning session just getting a feel for what you’ve already developed on your own.   Let’s sit.”
    She sat down on a fallen log, and I sat on the ground in front of her.  
    “Tell me about your experiences with the forest.”   She stared at me patiently, waiting for me to begin.  
    Her silver eyes and cool manner were a little intimidating.   I felt a little shy, which is a weird sensation for me.   My connection with The Green was kind of personal in a way, so it was difficult for me to just start blabbing away about it.   I didn’t want to brag, but it was hard not to feel like that’s what I was doing when I talked about it, because it was so friggin cool and amazing.   It’s almost like I didn’t want to say anything because it was so private and so good.   I didn’t want to cheapen it.   I was unable to make sense of it in my head at that moment, so I just sighed loudly instead of talking.
    “I sense a reticence in you.   Why do you not wish to discuss this?”
    I shrugged.   “I don’t know.   It’s like, private or something.   It’s personal.   Between me and them.”
    She cocked her head to the side.   “Them?   Them who?”
    I gestured around me.   “ Them.   The trees.   The leaves.   The plants.   The Earth ... Them ... The Green.”
    “The Green.”
    She said it as a statement, not as a question, so I said nothing.
    “You said The Green.”
    “Yes, I did.”
    “Why did you call it that?”
    I shrugged my shoulders again.   “I don’t know.   It just seemed to fit.   Why?   Is that wrong?”
    “No, not at all.   It’s actually correct to say that.   It’s what the green elves call the forest area.”
    “Well, when I say ‘The Green’ I’m not necessarily talking about the forest area.”
    “Explain, please.”
    “The Green, for me anyway, is not just the forest area ... it’s everything in it and all the energy that flows out of and through it and around it – the energy that comes from the plants, the creatures, the air, the ... shit, I don’t know.   All the stuff out here.”   This is stupid.   I threw my hands up and let them drop down beside me.   My fingers unconsciously dug themselves into the soil.   I felt the responding glimmer of The Green, waiting for me to connect.
    Céline’s eyes dropped to my hands.
    “Why are you doing that – with your hands?”
    I looked down at my hands, confused.   “Doing what?”
    “Putting them in the earth like that?”
    I let out a burst of frustrated air.   “ Damn, are you going to ask me why I do every little thing?   Look!   I’m rolling my eyes now, do you want to know why I’m doing that?”
    Céline gave me an indulgent smile.   “I apologize.   I am treating you like a lab rat.”
    “Yes, you are,” I said, only slightly mollified since she got my sarcasm and wasn’t offended by it.
    “I should have explained some things to you first.   Let me begin again.   Do you want to hear what we know about you and what we don’t know about you?   That might make my questions easier to manage.”
    “Sure, go ahead.