But I raise my sword again anyway.
The next morning started with Valen and another Elemental power.
The air is cool and damp, the scent of wet earth clinging to the training grounds. My muscles ache from yesterday’s sessions with Valen and Thane. I stand beside mage, facing the small lake at the edge of the clearing.
“Today, we focus on Water,” he says. His tone is steady, instructive, but I don’t miss the way his gaze lingers on me, studying, measuring.
I nod, flexing my fingers. Water. Fluid. Adaptable.
It had nearly drowned me before.
“Water is not something you force,” Valen begins. “It is not solid like Earth, nor does it demand like Fire. It does not move freely like Air. It moves where it chooses—your job is to movewithit.”
I take a slow breath, nodding, trying to clear my mind, to feel the element as I had with Earth.
“Close your eyes,” he instructs. “Listen.”
I obey. The world narrows. I hear the distant lapping of wateragainst the shore. The faint ripple of movement beneath the surface. The cool mist hanging in the air, settling against my skin.
I reach.
Nothing.
The silence stretches, taut and expectant. I frown, trying harder, my fingers curling at my sides. Still nothing. I exhale, sharp and frustrated.
“You’re forcing it,” Valen says. “You don’t move Water, Amara. You let it move you.”
I huff out in frustration.
I’m not forcing it.
But I am.
I slow my breathing and extend my awareness. A flicker of something brushes against my mind. A shift. A pull.
My pulse jumps. The water ripples—and then stills, slipping through my grasp like sand through fingers.
I inhale sharply, clenching my fists. “Ihadit!”
Valen watches, unmoved. “Then where did it go?”
I scowl, shaking out my arms before focusing again.
Move with it. Not against it. But how?
Earth is tangible. I can feel it beneath my feet. I can hold a stone in my hands, let dirt sift through my fingers. Even when it moves, it is always there. Solid. Reliable.
Water is none of those things. How do you grasp something that refuses to be held?
I try again and again. Each time, I feel it—just a flicker. A whisper. Each time, it slips away.
“Dammit,” I mutter, exhaling hard. My muscles tense, my jaw tight.
Earth had come to me easily. This is something else.
“What are you holding onto that won’t let you float?” Valen asks quietly.
Gods.
