Chapter 9 Testing the Wall

The morning sky was a pale, cold grey when Leo walked into the empty training grounds. The sun hadn't come up yet, and the air felt freezing against his bare face. He had left his armor in his room, wearing only his simple guard uniform so he could move around easier. He needed to figure out this magic, and he needed to do it before the next disaster struck.

Leo looked down at a pile of small, rough stones near the weapon racks. He picked up three of them, the cold dirt staining his palms.

"Alright," Leo muttered to himself, his voice sounding small in the wide, open yard. "Just focus."

He tossed one stone straight up into the air, waiting for it to drop back down toward his face. As the rock gathered speed, he reached deep into his chest, searching for that warm, familiar pool of energy. He tried to project it right above his forehead.

"Shield!" Leo barked.

A bright flash of blue light snapped into existence. But instead of forming over his head, the glowing barrier appeared five feet to his right, floating uselessly in the empty air. The stone dropped straight down, hitting Leo right on the shoulder. He winced, rubbing the sore spot as the blue light fizzled out into nothing.

"Damn it," Leo growled, his fists clenching tight.

He picked up another rock, his chest heaving with frustration. The system warning was still burning in the back of his mind. Four lives. Bella only had four lives left, and her brain was already coming apart from the stress. If he couldn't even aim his own defense spell, they were both going to turn into dust.

He threw the second stone forward, aiming at a straw target a few yards away. He tried to place the barrier right in front of the straw man.

"Shield!"

The blue light popped up directly behind his own back. The stone sailed across the yard and thumped harmlessly into the straw.

"What are you doing out here at this hour, Leo?"

Leo flinched, spinning around quickly. Jax was leaning against the entrance gate, a wool blanket wrapped around his shoulders and a steaming mug of tea in his hand. He looked tired, his eyes blinking sleepily under the dim morning light.

"Jax," Leo said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "You're up early."

"I could ask you the same thing," Jax said, walking out into the dirt yard. He looked at the rocks in Leo's hand, then at the faint blue particles still fading from the air. "I saw that light from the watchtower. You're practicing that barrier spell again, aren't you?"

"I have to," Leo said, his voice tight. He turned away from his friend, picking up another rock from the ground. "I'm too clumsy with it. It doesn't go where I want it to go."

Jax watched him for a long moment, his playful smile completely disappearing. He set his mug down on a nearby bench. "Leo, look at me. You're shaking."

"I'm fine. It's just cold out here," Leo lied, focusing his eyes on the straw target again.

"No, you're not fine," Jax said, stepping directly into Leo's line of sight, forcing him to drop his arm. "Ever since that ambush last week, you've been acting like a ghost is chasing you. You don't sleep, you don't eat, and you're keeping the lady locked up like a prisoner. The other guys are starting to talk, mate. They think you've lost your mind."

"They don't know anything," Leo said, his voice cracking slightly under the pressure. He felt a wave of intense loneliness wash over him. He wanted so badly to tell Jax everything. He wanted to scream that they were all stuck in a loop, that Bella was slowly losing her mind, and that one more death would delete them from existence. But he couldn't. Jax wouldn't understand, and the system would probably punish him for trying.

"Then tell me," Jax pressed on, his eyes full of genuine worry. "We've been guards together for two years. You've always been the calmest guy in the squad. Now you're out here throwing rocks at yourself in the dark. You look desperate, Leo. It's scary."

Leo looked down at the stone in his hand, his throat feeling completely dry. "If I fail, Jax... if I am too slow next time, she is going to die. And I can't let her die. You don't understand how important it is."

"I know it's our job to protect the Duke's family," Jax said gently, putting a hand on Leo's shoulder. "But you can't carry the weight of the whole world by yourself. You're going to break."

"I'm already broken," Leo whispered, so quietly that Jax barely heard him.

He stepped out of Jax's grip and threw the last stone high into the air. He didn't think about formulas or strategies. He just thought about Bella's terrified green eyes from the previous loop, the way she had cried on the floor yesterday, and the raw fear in her voice. He wanted to protect her. He needed to protect her.

"Shield!" Leo roared, throwing his hand out toward the sky.

A massive wall of brilliant blue light exploded into existence directly above them. It was huge, solid, and perfectly centered, blocking the falling stone so hard that the rock shattered into tiny pieces upon impact. The entire yard was illuminated by the bright, protective glow.

Jax stumbled back, his mouth wide open as he stared up at the massive barrier. "Bloody hell, Leo... that's incredible."

Leo stared up at his own creation, his chest heaving as he gasped for air. The shield stayed up for three long seconds before dissolving into the wind. He had done it once, but his arms were trembling so badly he could barely lift them. It wasn't enough. He needed to be able to do it every single time, without thinking, without failing.

"See?" Leo said, turning back to Jax with a grim, determined look in his eyes. "I still have work to do."