The next few days were quiet. I was unable -- more like ordered not to -- to practice or train until I recovered. I didn't argue. There was definitely a sense of draining after the meeting. Almost as if I could feel a limb was about to hyperextend. 

   I hadn't realized how much I depended on training to stay occupied. Once I was stripped of it, I found myself pacing in circles. Sensing that I was also driving Alexie batty with my pacing, I defaulted to a tactic I'd used several years ago when my dad was put into the hospital for a heart problem and I was alone: cooking. I spent the next three or four days ransacking Alexie's kitchen for stuff to play with.

   The smell of the stir-fry on the second day finally lured Alexie to peer around the corner curiously. I waved the spatula wordlessly at the table, snagging the nearby salt. Finding food in this place was absolutely ridiculous. Alexie had barely anything but the bare necessities of life. The lack of spices was annoying. 

   After flicking off the stove, I sat down with a massive pan of food and dropped a spoon in. There was silence as we served ourselves and began to eat. After a bit, I finally spoke again. "I still don't understand this whole Ghost Realm thing."

   Alexie nodded his head a bit. "It is a difficult concept to grasp. To put it simple, it is another world that coexists beside ours. A wall separates this reality from that one."

   "So if there's another world just sitting there, why haven't magicks moved in?" My eyebrows drew together. "Instead of hiding from the humans."

   "Because it is incredibly dangerous. Life in the Ghost Realm is infinitely more risky than life on Earth."

   "How could that possibly be true?"

   Alexie sat down his fork. "While we might face genocide here, we face extinction in the Ghost Realm. There are beasts of different species that guard it. No one is meant to live there. The whole place is hostile. When magic has a request, it is best that we honor it."

   That didn't sit right. I worked my jaw. "So it's like the whole place wants to be left alone."

   "And that it has the defenses it needs to fulfill that wish."

   "So that's why the Council sends criminals there. They'll die."

   "Most often, yes."

   "Most? Some live?" That felt like a paradox. If the place was so dangerous, how did some people survive?

   Alexie grimaced. "There are rare cases. No one knows who and no one is willing to find out who they might have lived." Something in his tone told me not to question it. Then again, I wasn't very good at following directions.

   "Like Dani."

   "She was never there in the first place, so she doesn't qualify."

   I snorted. "Well, I guess I don't get to be a crazy criminal then. Getting thrown in there would suck."

   He stood up and picked up his plate. "It wouldn't matter. You will be going there within the year, either way."

   "What?" I shot upright as he walked into the kitchen, my eyes wide. "What the frick is that supposed to mean?" He didn't answer and I swore. "What?! You're totally shitting me. You just said that this place is a death wish! And now you're saying that I have to go there?!"

   "It is the rite of passage for mages to construct their own staff," said Alexie. "A staff is made of wood that originates from the Ghost Realm. A tree that has lived long enough to soak up the Realm's magic is trimmed for branches and brought back. You will have to journey inside and take your pick of a tree and create your staff."

   "No, the hell it's not!" I jabbed a finger at him. "I read the books in that room, asshole, you're lying. A rite of passage means a mage has to carve their staff -- not go into the Ghost Realm to do it." I'd finally caught him in a lie. I did not appreciate it. "There is not one logical reason saying that I have to go there. Hell, I didn't even want to be here in the first place! I'm just here to learn how to protect myself and not implode. Not risk my neck for no damn reason."

   Alexie finished washing his plate and turned around. His face wasn't harsh, but it wasn't exactly kind either. "And, since you read the books, what was the determining factor of an apprentice's training methods?"

   The answer popped into my head and I felt myself falter. My fists clenched and my jaw locked closed. Alexie nodded. "That's right. An apprentice is an extension of their master. The way the master learned is the way the apprentice learns."

   I understood what he was implying. There's no way. He's lying. "Ha ha. Very funny. If you think I'm that stupid, you're wrong."

   "You know that I do not lie, Roxie." His head tilted. "I don't believe in lies."

   "There's no way you're telling the truth."

   "I am."

   "You said it yourself," I snapped. "The Ghost Realm is a deathtrap." I was grasping at straws, angrily trying to deflect this. I wanted nothing to do with this world. There was no logical reason that I had to go to this place. Not one. There was no way in hell I was doing it.

   "You will survive," he said easily.

   "How could you possibly be so sure?"

   His head shook slightly as he reached the hall that left to his bedroom. "Because I did."

   I was stuck in my head. A few days passed until Alexie announced I was to continue training. I couldn't focus on that. Why bother keep training, anyway? Not only had Dani Darhk smacked me aside like a fly, Alexie didn't know. He had flat out said he expected me to be able to survive the Ghost Realm, just because he did.

   He had to be joking. I was not nearly as powerful as he was. I was just some girl from Tennessee. Besides, he had been able to stop Dani Darhk from killing me at the beginning. There was no way I'd ever be on that level. No matter how much I trained, Dani would always have the upper hand.

   The blinding spell Alexie fired seared into my eyes and caused white to explode in my vision. I halted in what I was doing to rub at my eyes, muttering in annoyance. Alexie had been irritated all day. Finally, he slammed the butt of his staff on the ground and thundered, "Enough." I blinked as my vision cleared. He was glaring at me. "Roxie Reilly, what is going on with you?"

   I scowled. "Nothing."

   "Don't bother lying. Something is bothering you enough to where your magic is pathetic."

   "It doesn't matter, Alexie. Drop it." I clenched the staff in my grip.

   "Doesn't matter?" He asked, his voice lowering. A spike of white shot off his arm. I blanched and began to lift my staff. It was too late. The launching spell hit my chest and expanded into a shape the size of my body. I was thrown backwards and into the desk. My back popped in pain and I grunted, putting a hand at my back. A pained sound left my lips.

   "You had progressed to the point where deflecting is habit." Alexie set his staff down, angry. "So what's not bothering you so that you don't fight back?" His words were sharp.

   "It's not your business!" I fired back. With a grunt, I got to my feet. My fist clenched tightly. "Back off, Alexie."

   "When something is major enough to bother you this much, it becomes my business. Tell me, now."

   My jaw clenched. Fine. "Fine. You want to know? This whole thing, this whole time, it's pointless. Your little talk about learning how to protect myself from Dani was bull. There is no way I can. She's unstoppable. So why bother trying? I didn't even want to be here in the first place. This magic stuff is over my head. I'd have more luck just waiting around for someone else to kill Dani than trying to figure out how to keep myself safe."

   Something behind his eyes flashed. "This is because of her attack at the meeting."

   "She severed my best spell like it was a piece of paper, Alexie," I snapped.

   The look in his eyes made me take a step back. He was actually angry. I'd seen him mad before, but it had never been directed at me. "So because of that one instance, you think that you are too weak." His stance shifted slightly. My eyes caught the movement and I knew it meant something, but I didn't know what. My hackles went up. My fingers tightened over my staff. Crap. Why is he so pissed? It's not like I said he was the weak one.

   He took another furious step forward. I clenched my jaw, keeping my feet planted, even though my instincts were screaming at me to run. I really did not like the look on his face.

   His staff flashed and I barely knocked aside the spell in time. My eyes widened as he moved forward, hands constantly moving to throw something at me. I backed up hastily, doing everything in my power to not fall over. "Poor little Roxie," he said darkly. "You got beat once and won't get up. You know who else likely thought that?"

   I ducked the blinding spell and tripped over his desk chair. Alexie leered, "your mother. Fitting, isn't it? She cowers, and she imploded. You cower, and you will follow her. Like mother like daughter."

   Anger started to seethe in my own stomach. Fine, I'd pissed him off. But that was crossing a line. He had no right to be that harsh. Wasn't he supposed to be endlessly patient or something?

   "Don't," I growled, "talk like you knew her."

   "I didn't," he said coldly. "But everyone knows what happens to a magick that fears magic itself."

   I snarled and knocked aside the sphere aimed for my chest. "Shut up." My back straightened and crimson started to seep from my pores in my anger. "Shut. Up."

   "Who's going to stop me? You can't, according to yourself."

   "That's--"

   "If you want me to shut up, you're going to have to act like you mean it," snarled Alexie. "You have power and potential and you refuse to see it. All because of a woman that literally cheats the magic law. So get that notion out of your apparently empty skull that you're worthless. You might as well let Dani finish you off."

   My temper snapped like a taut guitar string. Fists clenching, eyes narrowing, and lips curled into a sneer. That's it. You're going down, you son of a bitch. I finally stood up fully and batted aside his spell like a baseball. His eyes narrowed as I formed a ball in my hand, wrapped a net around it, and threw it at his face. He barely dodged it in time. Crimson seeped down my arm, locking and sparking as it formed a chain. I flung mine at the same time Alexie did his.

   Mine caught his ankle as his wrapped around my knee. We both went crashing to the ground. I rolled to my fours and launched forward. Alexie sent a sphere into my stomach as my fist slammed into his nose. I flew backwards and hit the ground at a roll, the staff knocked from my hand.

   Alexie got his feet as I snatched up my staff. Blood dripped from his nose. As I scrambled to my feet, a spell flashed into my eyes. The familiar stars danced over my vision and blinded me entirely. Hissing, I slammed the butt of the staff into the floor and shoved magic in a shock-wave. It soared outwards and a thud told me I had succeeded in hitting something.

   My feet suddenly were torn from under me. I hit the ground and narrowly rolled from another lash from Alexie. I was getting my ass beat and I knew it. He wasn't giving me time to figure out what he was doing. Spell after spell was being launched. It was all I could do to keep standing. 

   Suddenly, one of the reasons for the caution around Alexie's name became clear. He was a whirlwind. Somehow, I was still standing. He hadn't even broken a sweat. That angered me more. Sweat dripped down my neck as I decided on my only chance left. I thrust my hand out and a sloppy splat of crimson hit the bottom of his staff. He readjusted his grip but I clenched my fist, focusing. The crimson crawled up like a spider and darted for his hands. Alexie glowered and whacked it aside easily.

   He'd been distracted enough that I was able to seize control of his staff. It was wrapped in ribbons of red as I tore it from his hands. His eyes widened and a white hook speared into the wood, straight through the middle. Alexie pulled on the rope harshly. I gritted my teeth, arms straining, and a line of red wrapped around my hands and the staff. I planted my feet and pulled with all my might. 

   The staff was taut between us. I released a grunt of effort, feeling my arms burn with pain. I let go with one hand to thrust it toward my feet. Crimson splashed around them and sunk into the floor, coiling, spearing into the wood. I tied my feet down and returned my hand to keep pulling on Alexie's staff. I'd done it within a split second, and during that second, Alexie pulled harshly. I shouted as my shoulder popped from the socket and pain shot through my ribs. 

   The staff wasn't getting anywhere. Alexie released a sharp breath. I felt a burst of triumph. I still had it. I could do this. I wasn't leting go.

   "Enough," Alexie hissed. He let go with one hand and his magic condensed into an axe. My eyes widened with horror as he swung. The axe chopped right through his staff and it broke in two. Suddenly, the resistance against me was gone and I lurched backwards, stumbling over my own feet. Alexie lowered his hands, and to my surprise, he started to chuckle.

   The room quieted as I stared at him. My hand moved to cradle my shoulder. He shook his head. "Do you still think that you'll never be strong enough to hold your own?"

   I looked at him blankly. He picked up the pieces of his staff, shaking his head. 

   "No one has ever managed to break my staff, Roxie."

   "I wasn't the one to break it, moron."

   "That doesn't matter. You forced me to. I've never had to act in self-defense in a fight before." Alexie fit the two parts of the staff together and ran his hand over it. White sealed through the break and it was put back together. It still had a decent break-line in it. "Consider that before you give up."

   Then he left the room, leaving me with a dislocated shoulder and a disoriented mind.