Paella stood as her new teacher asked her a question.

  “Tell me kid, what is the element associated with healing?”

  “Fire.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Then how do you know it’s associated with healing?”

  “Because you told me?”

  “Excellent,” he muttered. “Just excellent.”

  “And how,” he continued, “would you heal yourself?”

  “I would cast-”

  “Not what, how.”

  “I would, um, call upon the power of the go-”

  “No.”

  “What?”

  “Your first lesson is to dispense with divinity. You will not channel a god or goddess, you will channel your own fire.”

  “But I’m a Priestess!”

  “Yes, you are, but that doesn’t make what I’m telling to do you harder. Easier, in fact. But for now, I will be setting you on fire.”

  “There is no way I am letting you do that.”

  “To be specific,” he continued, ignoring her, “Life fire. Don’t get me wrong, it still burns, and hurts you, but it cannot kill you. That is the beauty of it. It consumes your life force, burning you, but when you are closer to dying, it fades, until it reaches equilibrium, destroying only as much as you regenerate.”

  “But wouldn’t that hurt a lot?”

  “Oh, no, it doesn’t hurt at all.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. You see, if you die, it dies, so it becomes a symbiot of sorts. As long as you can regenerate health, you’ll be fine.”

  “Okay then.”

  “Excellent.”

  He grabbed her hand, and fire roared up around her.

  Her first thought was: ‘He lied.’

  It did hurt.

  Although pain was dimmed in Royal Road, it hurt.

  “AGHH!”

  She felt an impact knock her off her feet.

  “Get up. Now you learn to fight.”

  She didn’t move.

  “Get up, or I will fight you while you sit.”

  She slowly got up, leaning on her staff.

  “You said it wouldn’t hurt.”

  She was practically growling.

  “Yes. I lied.”

  He drew back his arm to punch her, and she found herself getting kicked in the stomach.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it in a while.”

  “You can’t do this, I’ll…”

  “You’ll what?”

  “I’ll kill myself. I’m a Freedman.”

  “Will you? Didn’t I mention, the fire is committed to keeping you alive. If you can’t stand the pain now, I wouldn’t recommend trying to kill yourself.”

  ‘He’s lying again. It’s so obvious.

  She didn’t try to kill herself.

  She consciously didn’t believe him, but her subconscious thought it was just likely enough not to be willing to risk it.

  “As a Priestess, you use a staff, but your feet must also kick.”

  As he spoke, he gave her demonstrations.

  The kind of demonstrations that hurt.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  “You will strike with your elbows if in range, drop your staff and fight with your fists, and even headbutt. Anything for survival.”

  “Good. It seems you have fully mastered the life flame. Fortunately, you gave me time enough to set up the next part.”

  He led her over to a door.

  “Don’t worry, this isn’t more life fire.”

  In one fluid motion he pulled the door open, threw her in, and then slammed it and locked it behind her.

  “Just the regular kind.”

  ____________________________________________________________________