by A. J. Medina
“An elemental? What’s that?” Davina asked.
“It’s someone who can control the four elements: water, fire, wind and dirt,” I explained. I rummaged some more and then finally found what I was looking for. “Be back later,” I said, and then sprinted back to where Draycko was waiting for me.
My sprint slowed to a walk as I got closer and when I saw the shape of Draycko’s body sitting, I said, “I have the water.”
He held out his claws. “Give it here.”
After taking my flask, Draycko opened the top and lifted it to his eye. Peeking inside he said, “Hmm....”
“What’s so interesting?” I asked.
“This!” he yelled, and then holding the flask, tossed the water at me.
My first reaction was to put my hands up in front of me and block the water from hitting me. I shut my eyes and waited for the feeling of the cold water to hit my face.
But it never came.
When the water didn’t splash me, I opened one eye slightly to peek at what had happened.
To my amazement the water had stopped mid air and was floating in front of me.
“Very good,” Draycko said. “You are a natural.”
“A natural?”
“Aye. You can perform magic without even thinking about it. At least sometimes, it seems.”
“Sometimes. But most times I have to concentrate.”
I still held my hands up in front of me, still believing that the water would continue its journey towards my face.
“What do I do now?” I asked.
“See if you can turn it to ice.”
“Ice?”
“Focus on the water. Focus on the air. Change the temperature of the air and force it upon the water and turn it to ice.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Just try it.”
I focused on the water floating in front of me. Turn it to ice. How could I do that?
I did as Draycko ordered and thought of the air, but not this air. Not the cool, crisp air around me. I remembered the freezing winter from two seasons ago.
The wind was cruel. Each time I would journey out to feed Mata and make sure she was alright, the blistering cold wind would smack me with such force I didn’t know if I would make the short trip. My cottage was no better. Our small fire was usually incapable of keeping our cottage warm. Me, Mother and Biron would sit huddled around the fire rubbing our arms and legs trying to stay warm. We would don every piece of clothing we owned trying not to freeze to death.
And now with my second skin and cloak, I felt all warm and toasty. I wish I had these then.
I concentrated on the water, but nothing happened.
“Why isn’t it working?” I asked Draycko.
He rubbed his chin pondering over my question. “Magic words.”
“But I didn’t need words to stop the water.”
“You didn’t. But now you are trying something very different. Use the word, Glacialis.”
“Alright. I’ll try it.”
I turned my thoughts back to the memory. I imagined the cold air from that night and felt a chill. I shouted, “Glacialis!” and a gust of wind caused my braid to whip around, and then the water that still hovered in front of me turned into a smooth sheet of ice.
“Well done,” Draycko said. He swiped at the ice and it broke into multiple pieces that floated in the air. “Use the wind to control the ice.” He pointed to a far wall. “Send it flying into that wall at high speed.”
With my hands still in front of me, I took an imaginary hold of the ice and then flung the ice at the wall. The ice obeyed and hit the wall, shattering into a bunch of tiny pieces.
“Excellent. You are a natural indeed.”
That was fun and I wanted to try it again. As if Draycko could read my mind, he flung the remaining water in my flask at me.
I raised one hand and stopped the water mid air like if I was deflecting his dragon’s breath. I blew a hard breath at the water and remembered the cold winter. The water flashed to ice without using magic words. I raised my fist and crashed it into the ice, breaking it into shards and then with my hand, commanded it to crash into the wall. When I did that Draycko jumped in front of the ice shards path. He exhaled his fire breath and melted the ice. The water droplets fell to the ground.
“Why did you do that?” I asked him.
A smile crept onto his lips. “Because it’s time to duel. The elements are always around you. Water can especially be used and reused. Water to ice, ice to water, and back to ice. Don’t worry, ice won’t hurt me.” He pounded on his chest with one fist. “My scaled armor is much too strong.”
I looked at the water droplets in front of him and then looked up at him. He spread his arms ready to defend himself. “Your move, Alora.”
With a flick of my wrist I caused the water droplets to rise off the floor and then used my other hand to push the wind and freeze them. But they didn’t freeze.
Why didn’t they freeze?
I reviewed in my mind the two scenarios. The first time I had used the magic word and the second time, I had blown on the water. That was it, I needed to do something to change it to ice. I was the catalyst that changed the water from liquid to solid. Since I wasn’t close enough to breathe on the water droplets, I needed to use the magic word.
I pulled the droplets away from him and then shouted, “Glacialis!” The droplets instantly turned into ice crystals and I shot them at Draycko.
“Nice, but that won’t work,” he said.
Draycko used a finger to cover one nostril and then exhaled out of the other one a thin stream of fire and melted the ice.
I looked up at the sky. The clouds that had formed a barrier to the moon last night were still there. When I rode on Draycko’s back and ran my hand through the clouds I had discovered they were just water mist, like the morning fog and dew.
I raised my hand up to the sky. Draycko cocked his head to the side, confused by my actions.
I shouted, “Glacialis!” and then flicked my other open hand. A small whining sound, like wind trying to blow through the small crack under the door, could be heard.
Draycko looked up. When he saw it was about to rain ice down on him, he inhaled deeply.
“Not this time,” I said, and just as he exhaled, I forced his dragon’s breath to obey my commands. His fire turned and went under him and between his legs.
Draycko’s eyes opened wide.
The ice shards pelted him over and over, eventually causing him to fall back and give up. He raised a hand and waved it back and forth. “I yield.”
I stopped the assault and used the wind to get rid of the ice over the edge and into the sea.
Walking over to see if he was alright, I asked, “Did I hurt you?”
“Only my pride, dear. Only my pride.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Nay. Never be sorry for being better or more powerful than me. And you are powerful indeed. I see why Agbavitor wanted you as his apprentice.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Great teachers understand that it is their role to teach and make their students better than they are. The student should always end up better than the teacher. That is proof that the teacher did their job.”
“I think I understand.”
“When it is your turn to teach an apprentice you will understand. It can be difficult at times, because your ego might not want second place. But it is always your job to make sure your student is better than you. Your knowledge, plus their ability and their own special skills and experience, should always trump your own.”
“So one day I was going to be a more powerful wizard than Agbavitor?” I asked.
“Aye, that was his goal. It was his goal with The Apprentice as well. Why don’t we practice with water some more and then we’ll fly down to the ground and practice with dirt. What say you?”
I shrugged. “Whatever you think is best.”
That’s how it went for the
next few hours. Draycko was amazed at what I was able to do. I was even able to force the water from the sea to rise up to his castle ruins. He didn’t think I would be able to do it, but he also said, “Whatever I could imagine might be possible.” And it was possible. Instead of him having to fly me down to the ground, I stepped out onto the wave of water that waited at the edge of the ruins and commanded it to lower me to the ground’s edge.
“I’m impressed, Alora. I’ve never seen that done before,” Draycko said as I stepped off the water wave and onto the ground.
“Well, you said anything I could imagine.”
“And you have a fantastic imagination. Now, let’s see how strong your focus is. Sit on the ground.”
I did as Draycko commanded. The ground was cold, but I tried not to let that bother me.
“Is the ground cold?” Draycko asked.
“Aye.”
“Warm it up then.”
For some reason that had never occurred to me. I placed my hands on the ground underneath me and tried to shoot fire into the ground. That was a mistake. The small amount of grass that remained instantly ignited into flames and burnt to a crisp.
“What did I do wrong?”
“You tried to use fire.”
“But how else would I warm up the ground?” I asked, feeling like a fool because as soon as I asked the question I knew there had to be another way.
“Vibrate the ground. In doing so, it will heat up by the friction.”
I knew it. We were practicing controlling dirt after all, not fire.
I shut my eyes so that I could concentrate and placed my hands on the ground and tried to imagine the small dirt fragments moving and vibrating. I could feel the ground vibrating under my bottom and it started to feel warm.
I opened my eyes and squealed. “It’s warm!”
“Well done. Now stand, and using the wind, force the dirt and stones to attack the trees.
I did as he said and I created a dirt storm similar to what I had done with Aednat, no screaming necessary.
“Wind is a vital element. You can use it to move objects,” Draycko said. “It creates pressure. As you’ve already seen, you’ve used it to move water, ice and dirt. You already have great control over wind, but can you use it differently? Can you use it to bring objects to you.”
“To me?” I asked.
“Aye.” Draycko stared off into the woods, his keen dragon vision searching for something. He pointed. “There off in the distance. There’s an apple on a tree. Use the wind to feel for the apple and then pluck it and have the wind carry it back to you.”
“That’s impossible.”
“Impossible, says the girl who rode a wave of water down from my castle.”
“Point taken,” I said, and then shut my eyes so that I could focus. I raised my hand and reached out for the apple. It was an odd feeling. Even though I couldn’t see the apple, I felt as though my arm was getting longer and longer. I felt the branches as the wind bounced off the trees and felt as the wind hit something round. I opened my eyes and for an instant, I could make out the green color of the apple. I gasped, broke my focus, and the apple disappeared.
I turned to Draycko. “How... how was that possible?”
“What happened?”
“I saw the apple. It was green and right there in front of me. I could’ve reached out and grabbed it.”
“Excellent. Try it again. This time focus and keep your eyes open the entire time. Watch as your vision changes and follow the wind to the apple.” Draycko pointed. “Another apple is that way.”
I focused on that direction and reached out with an open hand. My vision changed. It was like a tunnel lit by a blue light and I raced past tree branches. I could feel their coarseness as I brushed against them. Off in the distance, I could see a red apple. I rushed to it.
When it was right in front of me, clear as day, I collapsed my fingers and plucked it off its branch. I could hear the sound as I plucked it. The branch resisted for a moment and then snapped back. I could feel the firmness of the apple as if I was actually holding it. It floated in mid air, hovering on top of the wind. Pulling my hand back towards my body, I drew it to me. With an immediate answer, it followed my command and I watched as it came closer and closer until it breached the edge of the forest and was racing right towards me.
“Slow it down,” Draycko whispered.
He sounded so far away.
“Slow it down,” he whispered again, but I held out my hand ready to catch it.
That’s when Draycko threw his claw in front of me and when the apple hit it, it was with such force that the apple broke into a hundred tiny pieces.
“Didn’t you hear me?” Draycko asked.
“I did, but why were you whispering? You sounded so far away and if I was in danger maybe you should’ve yelled.”
“I was yelling.”
“You were?”
“Aye. Perhaps when you are using this ability, it affects your ability to hear.”
I didn’t care about that. I wanted to try it again. I was curious how far I could see using the wind. “I’m going to try it again.”
I looked up at the castle city and held out my hand. The blue tunnel started again and I climbed higher and higher until I was at the castle ruins. I reached further past the main gate and into our camp. Neala was cleaning up from the mid day meal. She saved some of the food, I imagined for me, since I had missed it. I was hungry, so I reached for the bowl and pulled it back.
“What’s happening?” I heard Neala ask, and then watched as she studied the bowl that started to float in a circle around her.
“It’s me, Alora,” I whispered.
“Alora, where are you?”
She heard me and I heard her.
“I’m down below on the ground,” I said, and then drew the bowl back to me.
I could see Neala and then the others chasing after the bowl. When it went over the edge, they stopped and watched as it disappeared out of their range.
When the bowl got closer I heard Draycko whispering again. “Slow it down this time.”
And I did. I slowed it down and it landed gently in my palm. I had forgotten a spoon so I reached up with my free hand and in an instant the spoon landed in my hand.
“Not bad. Not bad at all. You are a quick study,” Draycko said.
I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I saw the food. It was a little cold, so I heated it up. The blue hue from my eyes cast onto the bowl as I ate and heated it at the same time.
Draycko laughed. “I think that’s enough for today.”
With a mouth full of food I protested. “But—”
“Enough for me. You look like you’re having fun. Practice as much as you want. Tomorrow we will continue.”
Draycko spread his wings, took off and flew over the sea until he climbed high and out of view.
I wondered for a moment if I could follow him, and then decided to try. I reached out in the direction he flew and followed him. In my tunnel vision, I could see myself gaining on him. His wings flapped hard and steady. I was almost right on top of him when he started moving further away. I reached out harder trying to gain on him, but I couldn’t. I tried again, but it was no use.
There was a limit to how far I could see and now that I knew that, it didn’t seem that far at all.
Chapter 20
After Draycko left, I kept practicing riding the wind with the tunnel vision and seeing what I could see. I practiced pulling on branches and trying to retrieve small items as fast as possible and then slowing them down at the very last second.
When the sun began to set, I figured it was time to go back to the castle ruins so I walked over to the edge of the ground and commanded the water to rise up to me.
I lifted my foot and placed my boot into the water until it took hold and then stepped with my other foot onto the wave. My boot absorbed some of the water and it felt cold, really cold. The water wave rose and rose and lifted me higher and
higher with every breath. I didn’t look down and focused where I wanted to go, the edge of the castle.
When I reached it, instead of stepping off I tried something new. I commanded the water to go a little higher and then made it wash me onto the edge. It was easy and I landed safe and soundly at the castle entrance. The main gate was still up and I entered the ruins and joined the others.
After we finished our evening meal we sat and relaxed around the fire. Thomas and Davina sat close to each other, whispering and giggling the whole time. Aednat sat across from me, staring into the fire. Neala was by my side and we were discussing what I had been doing down on the ground when Draycko landed with his usual boom.
I was still curious about what he had said about his special power and I wanted to know more.
“Draycko, you said you had the power to control people. How does that work?” I asked.
Everyone’s attention turned to Draycko.
“What better way to explain it, than to show you. Would all of you like a demonstration?” he asked.
All five of us nodded in agreement.
“Very well then,” Draycko said, and then he moved in closer to Davina.
“What are you doing?” Davina asked while leaning away from him.
“I’m searching for a feeling to see if I can control any of you,” he said, and then he moved closer to Thomas.
“What are you feeling for?” Thomas asked.
“I can’t really explain it, but I need to be close enough to get a feeling from you.”
He moved closer to Aednat. “What kind of feeling?” she asked.
“The feeling of weakness.”
Draycko didn’t come close to me and instead went towards Neala.
“Normally its difficult to control strong minded people like knights, kings, queens and other wizards. But, ah yes, I feel it now.” He tilted his head and shuts his eyes. “Hmm.. a...” his eyes popped open. “A slave?”
Everyone’s eyes fell on Neala. She jumped to her feet. I thought she was going to storm off, but instead she began to dance to music no one else could hear.
“Neala, what are you doing?” I asked.
She didn’t answer me.
Her arms twirled over her head and she spun around three times before walking over to Thomas and holding out her hand, inviting him to join her.