And the earth pushes back.
A pulse of something electric shoots through me, sharp and sudden. The ground doesn’t just shift. It shatters.
A shockwave blasts outward from where I stand, splitting the soil, sending jagged cracks rippling across the clearing. A deep, rumbling roar echoes from the depths of the earth, as if it has been woken.
I gasp, staggering backward. But the energy doesn’t stop. It surges through my veins—hot, wild, relentless.
A jagged slab of stone bursts from the ground, nearly knocking Valen off his feet. I can’t stop it. This isn’t just answering me—it’s overwhelming me.
“Amara!” Valen’s voice barely cuts through the roar of the earth breaking apart beneath us.
Panic coils tight in my chest. I try to rein it in, but the more I fight, the wilder it becomes. The magics aren’t resisting me.
I am resisting them.
Valen reaches me in two quick strides, gripping my shoulders. His voice is sharp but steady. “Breathe. Feel it—but don’t fight it.”
I gasp for air. The ground still trembles.
“Listen to it,” he urges. “You don’t force Earth, Amara. You become part of it. Let it recognize you. Let it settle.”
I clench my fists. Try to shift—not the magics, but myself. Not pushing. Not pulling. Just being.
I concentrate on the feeling of Valen’s hands on my shoulders, the weight of them, the warmth.
The tremors lessen. The earth settles.
Valen nods. “That’s it. Feel the shift. Acknowledge it. Earth is patient. If you listen, it will answer.”
The magics still hums in my veins, restless, but no longer consuming me. Silence falls over the clearing. I stare at the deep fissure splitting the ground, my hands shaking. I’ve never done anything like that before.
It’s both thrilling and completely terrifying.
Valen exhales, rubbing a hand over his face. He glances at the shattered ground, then back at me.
“Well,” he mutters, “I think that answers my question.”
The fissure in the ground still steams, thin wisps of dust curling from where the stone has split apart. The energy hasn’t left me. It hums just beneath my skin, wild and waiting.
But Valen isn’t finished.
“Now,” he says, stepping back, his tone unreadable, “try Water.”
I blink at him. “What?”
He gestures toward the small lake at the far edge of the field. The surface is still, undisturbed, reflecting the pale blue sky like polished glass.
I shake my head, chest still heaving. “Valen, I—I don’t even know how. I’ve never wielded water before.”
He doesn’t look surprised. His gaze sharpens, arms folding loosely across his chest. “It’s in you.”
I let out a short breath, still rattled from what the earth just did—whatIjust did.
“But I—”
“You wielded the greater magics of the Earth Element,” he cuts in, voice steady. “That wasn’t something you learned. It was something you awakened.” His chin points to the lake. “Water is no different.”
I hesitate, shifting my gaze to the water. The lake is quiet, hardly a ripple. I’ve always thought of water as something separate—fluid, distant, something I could drink, something I could touch, but never something I could wield.
