Noro nodded slowly. “Is this when you went unconscious?”
“Yeah,” Ramsay said for me. “That happened in the library. Once we figured out that revelation, bam. Mathe passed out and we brought him here.”
“I see.”
“But after we all, er, completed the last part of the verse,” I said, “it happened again, except that time I didn’t pass out. I knew the moment I was pregnant, and those magic flickers became even stronger.”
I paused as doubt crept over me. “Wait. Do you think we didn’tactuallyfulfil the last part? Because I didn’t pass out like I did before?”
“I don’t think that’s it,” Noro said, shaking his head. “You said it yourself that you knew you had been fertilized the moment it happened. That must be because of your innate magic ability.”
Paranoid now that we were missing something, I groaned in frustration. “I just don’t get it. If my pregnancy is supposed to fix everything, why hasn’t it happened yet? Why aren’t there other omegas besides me?”
Why am I the only one with the burden of everything on their shoulders?
“It’s okay,” Colton said gently. “Don’t worry so much.”
“Thanks, Colt. But how can I not worry when so much is at stake?”
As we spoke, Noro reached into the dirt surrounding the fire pit and pulled out a clawful. “Here.”
“Uh,” I said, confused but opening up my palm to hold it anyway. He dropped the clod of dirt in my hands. “Thanks?”
“There are four natural elements. Earth, fire, water and air,” Noro explained.
I nodded. “Right.”
He pointed to the dirt in my palm. “What do you feel when you hold that?”
“Just… earth, I guess.”
Noro blinked, then scooped up a pile of ashes from the pit and replaced the dirt in my hands with them. I tried to keep the look of confusion off my face.
“What about those ashes?” Noro asked. “Concentrate.”
I shut my eyes and tried to concentrate, whatever that meant. But nothing happened. I imagined a fire in my mind, like the one that had birthed these ashes, and even with a vivid picture before my eyes… Nothing.
I shook my head at Noro, then let the ashes fall.
Noro wasn’t discouraged. He spread his good wing against my back and led me towards the shore. He picked up an empty animal shell in the sand and scooped up a bit of lake water.
“Try this.”
I sighed. “Am I supposed to be doing something special?”
“No. Just trust your instincts. Focus on the water, Matheson.”
I clenched my eyes shut again and tried to focus, but all I ended up doing was accidentally crushing the shell in my hands. The water spilled all over the sand.
“Shit,” I said. “Sorry.”
“It’s all right,” Noro said.
Ramsay crossed his arms thoughtfully. “What’s next? Air?”
Noro seemed pleased with his remark. “Yes. I see you’ve noticed we’re cycling through the elements.”
I blushed in embarrassment. How could Ramsay have noticed that and not me? I was supposed to be the one with the ability to do magic, and here I just thought Noro was making me concentrate on random things.
