Soulguard by Christopher Woods Read Free Book Online

minute.”
                  I looked at my privacy shield. What if I make it with much thicker tendrils and put some sort of power adjustment? I thought. My on/off switch is a small sliding surface that will cut off the power to the shield, so what if I make it more like a portal that dilates open and closed so I can regulate the power?
                  Once I established the portal I enlarged the tendrils to the privacy shield. I set the portal to a trickle to keep the privacy screen active.
                  “I think I might have it, Mattie, try to hit me,” I said as I stood up.
                  She swung so fast I almost didn’t catch it, but managed to open the portal and her fist hit about a foot from my body. I still flew backwards into the barn wall.
                  “I forgot to anchor it,” I said as I picked myself up, “but I think it’ll work. Thanks, Mattie, I hadn’t even thought about it before.”
                  “She just knocked you into a wall and you call it a success? I swear it just gets weirder and weirder around you.”
                  I gave him the Kharl look again and he said, “Stop looking at me like that, man, it’s disturbing.”
                  Mattie laughed and shook her head, “So what else can you do already? I heard it takes Mages months to create shields like you do in minutes.”
                  “I can see the Soul streams and the Souls as well. Kharl says I’m the only person he’s ever heard of that can do that. That’s not common knowledge and I would appreciate it if it stayed between us.”
                  They both nodded and I saw, in their auras, that neither lied about it.
                  “And I can read the emotions in other people’s auras. Also I can always tell if someone is lying or not.” I didn’t tell of several of my other skills like the ability to see memories.
                  “The reason I can create shields so well, is that I can see them. The Guard gets so much done while working in the dark, it’s impressive.”
                  Our conversation was interrupted when the house door opened and everyone made their way outside. They all headed our direction and I knew I was about to get my butt kicked again. Sparring sessions were always painful, but I usually didn’t make the same mistake twice. It just seemed that Kharl and Kyra always had some new trick to use on me.
                  “You ready?” Kyra asked as she walked past me.
                  I winced and she chuckled. I followed her and Kharl into the barn. Everyone else followed us inside and found places to sit, well back from the center area we had marked off in the floor.
                  “Practice wands,” Kyra stated. I walked across the open area and picked up four practice swords. They were made of bamboo wood and were roughly the size of Kyra’s short swords. One of the tests with wooden swords is to keep from breaking them with our enhanced strength. This is true when wielding real blades as well. If you break your blade, you’re in a fist fight with a demon.
                  Not all Soulguards can make the blades from pure Soulfire like Kharl had done at the school. Most of them needed a weapon to pour the Soulfire into. Of course, when the blade is imbued with Soulfire, it is much stronger than a regular blade.
                  I handed Kyra two of the wands and kept two for myself. We faced off about twenty feet apart.
                  “3...2...” Kharl’s voice rumbled, “...1...”
                  The world slowed down as Kharl's voice continued, “Go.”
                  We met in the middle of the practice area, swords ready. Then the Dance began.
                  Kyra calls it the Dance of Blades and she