“Fine.” I flash a glance at Daegan, shrugging my shoulders.
His shoulders give a very subtle shrug of defeat.
I release a very stressed sigh, then face Raef. He grins, then steps back more.
“Ready?”
He nods, looking completely unafraid.
I conjure the water and form it into a large moving orb, then move it through the air around his head.
It’s hard to see his face, since the water is constantly swirling inside of it.
At first, he doesn’t move. He just stands there, his stubborn arms still crossed. But then, he makes a few calm attempts to get it off. He swipes at it, and his hands dip into the orb, but it remains around his head. He pulls a flask of something from his pocket and pours it on his head, but that does nothing either.
I begin to move toward him, ready to release it, but he senses me and holds his finger out, wiggling it at me.
He drops to the ground on his hands and knees and bangs his head against the ground. It temporarily moves it, but every time he breaks contact, the orb reforms again.
We all step back more, giving him space as he starts to move more frantically. The huge, muscular, bronze-muscled dragon shifter is flailingaround with an orb of water over his head, and if I wasn’t so concerned for his life, it might even be funny.
He pushes his hands through the air, signaling for us to clear the path in front of him.
Daegan suddenly looks more alert as he grabs me and yanks me much farther back. “Move!” he tells us with a loud, commanding voice.
Raef stills suddenly, bracing himself for something. I turn my head away as a fire erupts from him that shoots out farther than several body lengths.
I feel the heat as I cup my face and then there’s a body pressed tightly against me. Shielding me.
As soon as I feel the heat dissipate, the body backs off. I turn around and my eyes meet Daegan’s.
Something unspoken passes there, and it’s as if time freezes for a moment. But then I remember Raef is currently drowning, and we all turn to him. The fire is gone, but the orb is once again intact around his head. And he’s looking more frantic.
I hold out my hands to break the orb, but nothing happens. A rock sinks to the pit of my stomach, and my heart begins to race. “Shit.” My mind is cloudy. Unfocused.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and attempt to clear my head. Trying hard not to panic, I open my eyes, hold out my hands, and break the orb’s formation, the water splashing to the ground.
A heavy gasp escapes Raef as he falls to the ground on his hands and knees, coughing and sucking in deep breaths. We all keep our distance, giving him a moment.
The reality of what I just did terrifies me. I held someone’s life in my hands, and they trusted me with it. After hating the elves their entire lives, they’re still choosing to trust me.
I won’t let them down.
Meela runs to his side, kneeling on the ground.
She does care when it comes down to it.
Daegan looks at me with a newfound appreciation, maybe even respect, and something… more. “That was… effective.”
“I’d say so,” I whisper, staring off toward Raef and Meela, but really, my thoughts are a moment in the past, when his life was hanging in my grasp.
“Don’t be afraid of it,” Daegan says softly, but with purpose.
I shake my head, casting away the very recent memory along with it.
“How many of those do you think you could do at once?” he asks.
“I don’t know.” I face him again. “I don’t even know what I’m doing.”
