Wyatt nodded. “He’s making the rounds through the conservatories, trying to change the tides. He’s in Florida now, working to make changes to the state law about human access to the public lands before it’s too late.”
“Thank the leaves,” I said, a spark of hope igniting in my chest.
“The DBI has agents working on similar influencecampaigns. Hopefully, we can move the needle. But Professor East wanted me to remind you that Evergreen Academy is the heart of the society of magical botanists. Whatever change we can enact there will reverberate throughout the entire community.”
“Professor East said that?” I asked, heartened by the idea that he knew we were working on something and that he thought it was meaningful.
“He did.”
The clearing in the forest became quiet except for the sounds of birds singing and jumping from branch to branch. “Did he ask what our plan was?”
“Yes. And I shared what I knew of it.”
I nodded. “There’s an update.”
Wyatt studied me, waiting for me to say more.
“We have a way for me to access the charging circle. And I’ll be able to use the Dandelion of Desire to boost my powers.”
Wyatt cocked his head again. “How’d you manage that?”
“I won a very unconventional game of Capture the Roses.”
Wyatt smiled, and I couldn’t help noticing how similar it was to his brother’s smile. “Nicely done. And how is making the new Floracantus coming along?”
“I’ve been practicing daily. I get close, but the shields dissolve after a few minutes. It’s like they’re not sticking to the soil properly. I was hoping you or Professor East might have ideas about what’s going on.”
Wyatt looked off into the distance as if thinking through a complicated math problem. “The soil seems to be the key. When Eli helped bolster the shield, he did it by infusing more nutrients into the soil, correct? What has your process beenfor connecting with the soil when you set up the mini shields?”
“Let me show you.”
I went through the steps of using the Floracantus I had created to develop a shield. But after a few minutes, the shimmering dome that only I, the caster, could see, had dissolved.
“The Floracantus’s hold on the soil is too shallow,” Wyatt said after quietly watching my whole routine.
“How can you tell?”
“Tree affinities are particularly good at understanding soil attachments. And I’ve had extra training on it with the DBI, since tree communication networks are valuable sources of intelligence. I was sifting through the soil as you were working.”
I nodded, my curiosity piqued. “And you could tell the attachment was shallow?”
“It was shallow, but something else was going on. The soil seems to react to you more quickly than most. It’s almost as if you’re scattering it without meaning to.” He crouched and rested on his heels as he contemplated something. “Can you try a different Floracantus? One working with a tree’s roots? I want to watch for something.”
I wasn’t sure where he was going, but I didn’t protest. I wanted any scrap of information that could help me make the shield as powerful as it needed to be. I said a Floracantus to increase the water uptake in the roots of a nearby Cypress tree.
“Interesting,” Wyatt said once I had completed the process.
“What is it?”
“Have you heard that some botanists have heightened abilities that are slightly outside the realm of plant magic? LikeCallan’s power sensing abilities. That skill is connected to his wind manipulating powers. All lead tree affinities have some level of wind manipulation, but his are much stronger than most.”
I thought about Kai and his ability to waterbend that I had witnessed in Florida. “Yes, I guess I have.”
“Sometimes, they’re referred to as extra-affinity powers, since they’re outside the normal affinity groups. A few pop up every generation, but they seem to be getting more common lately. The DBI has been trying to track the frequency, but botanists often keep these extra powers hidden or don’t realize they have skills beyond what’s normal. One of those abilities has to do with an increased ability to work with soil. Like the others, it’s rare, but based on what I just saw there, I think you have it.”
I mulled over his words, remembering when I had found the mushrooms in the soil based on the soil’s pH during the fall equinox scavenger hunt. Kaito had seemed surprised that I could sense the soil, but I hadn’t thought much of it at the time. And not long ago, Yasmin had mentioned that I was good at manipulating the soil when we were learning how to activate Rosie. Could Wyatt be right?
“If I do have this soil ability, what does it mean? Can I use it to connect more deeply with the soil?”
