She hadn’t even realized that concern was in the back of her mind.
It’s only a leaf. There’s nothing I can mess up here.
“If I had a candle on the table, you would be able to sense the heat and air disturbance of the flame. Did you feel anything when you practiced making light?” Moeller asked.
“Yes,” Evelyn replied. “It was like… fizzing. Bubbles rushing to the surface.”
“Pick up the leaf and close your eyes.”
She did as she was told and held the leaf in her open palm.
“Focus until you feel something. It will be faint, but it’s there.”
It was like trying to pick out one particular voice in a room full of people. Even in a quiet space, there were a lot of little distractions. But after a few minutes, she felt it.
Her eyes popped open. “It’s like… sea foam.”
Moeller grinned approvingly. “Set the leaf down but keep track of the feeling.”
Evelyn put the leaf back on the table. She could still sense it at a distance, like not being able to ignore the sound of a clock ticking once you noticed it.
“What you described as sea foam is the Energy,” Moeller explained. “Bring it toward you.”
It was easier than Evelyn expected. Like he said, it was similar to using Fire magic. The bubbling sensation moved from the leaf, through the air, and into her fingers. The leaf shriveled and turned brown.
“What do I do now?” she asked.
“If you don’t do anything, your body will absorb the Energy. But I want you to try pushing it back into the leaf. Do what you just did, but in the opposite direction.”
Evelyn held her hand over the leaf, worried she wouldn’t be able to control her aim. She opened her hand as if to drop something. The Energy drifted out of her fingers and settled in the leaf, which turned smooth and green once more.
“Do it again,” Moeller ordered.
She repeated the process of luring Energy out of the leaf and then giving it back. “I thought this would be harder.”
“Well, it’s only a leaf,” Moeller said dryly. “But yes, the hard part is building your awareness of Energy so you can use it. Most people can’t do that at all.”
“You asked what I felt from it. Do you feel something different?”
“It’s more of a low humming noise for me, not a physical thing. Your magic is apparently more tactile, probably from your Elemental background.” He replaced the leaf with the whole potted plant. “Now try it with this.”
Evelyn concentrated on removing Energy from the larger plant. She felt significantly more of the bubbling sensation, which moved all the way down to her wrist instead of staying in her fingers.
“You’ll get used to it,” Moeller said. “Imagine what it would feel like to take Energy from a tree or a person.”
“There’s something I still don’t understand.”
“What’s that?”
“I see how I’m taking Energy from the plant and then feeding it back. But what about when I make the ball of light? That’s Energy, but where is it coming from?”
“To make the light, you pull Energy out ofyourselfinstead of something separate like a plant. It can be a valuable thing to know how to do, especially in an emergency. But it can also drain your magic if you take too much.”
“What kind of emergency?”
“Helping or hurting someone, depending on which side you’re on.”
“So it can be dangerous?”
