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Nick needed a break to catch his breath, so he raised a hand. “Wait, wait. Why did you retire?”
Henry shrugged. “Things change when you have a family.”
“You stopped because of us?”
“You and Brett needed me. I made the choice to put it all behind me.”
Nick stepped back, shifting his grip on the weapon. “Do you ever regret it?”
“Never.”
Nick lunged with his club and Henry kicked it out of his hand and stepped in, grabbing Nick and turning him. Nick stumbled and tripped over Henry’s leg and fell onto his back.
Henry tapped his club against Nick’s chest.
“Good attempt,” Henry said.
Nick groaned.
“You’ll get there,” Henry said, and he laughed when Nick shot him a dark look. “Come on.” He held out his hand to help Nick up. “One more time, and then we’re done.”
***
Nick let the water pour down over him. He was covered in dirt, sweat and bruises, and the shower was bliss. Henry pushed him further than he thought he could go, and Nick still couldn’t reconcile the warrior from today with the man who raised him.
He dried off and dressed, wandering downstairs with his hair still dripping from the shower.
“You look better,” Henry said.
“I still hate you, for the record.”
Henry laughed. “Come into the living room. Your training isn't over.”
“Henry-”
“Not with weapons,” Henry added quickly. “The void.”
“Oh. Okay, I guess, but there’s not much to train. I touch magic, I drain it. What do I need to train?”
“There’s more to it than that, Nick, and I think you know what I mean. For now, let’s start small. You need to get familiar with the void.”
“I’m too familiar with it already,” he said.
“That’s the problem,” Henry said. “You’re afraid of it. You think it’s dangerous, and that fear is controlling you. You need to be the one in control.”
“How?”
“Practice. Keep using the void until you’re comfortable with it.”
“What if I hurt someone?”
“You won’t. Magic isn’t only found in people, Nick. We’ll start with inanimate objects.”
Nick relaxed slightly. “Okay, that sounds like it could work. What did you have in mind? The wards around the house?”
“I have a few old artefacts from my hunter days. Magical ones. We don’t need our wards to be drained at a time like this.”
Nick followed him inside and saw the random collection of items in front of him. He couldn’t even begin to figure out what they were for.
