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And that was it.

He crossed the courtyard toward the others as though he hadn't just stood in front of me and patiently breathed until I remembered how to control an ability I'd been using since childhood. I stayed where I was for a moment. The garrison continued around me. Boots struck stone. Ropes creaked against dock posts. Someone shouted from one of the upper walkways while something large called from deep inside the jungle.

I could still feel all of it.

But now I was choosing how much.

Ashter's smoke pulsed warm against my ribs.

"I know."

Another pulse of heat.

"I was handling it."

The smoke pressed harder against my skin.

"You're supposed to agree with me." Ashter remained unhelpful. I looked toward Nephrite.

Corian stood beside the Aqua officer studying a route map. Halver was checking the straps on the waterproof equipment cases while Alex had been convinced to float all of them again and was complaining about exploitation. Nykos had rejoined them and was listening to Corian as though nothing unusual had happened.

Something strange lodged in my chest. For most of my life, losing control of anything had meant fixing it quickly enough that nobody noticed. If they noticed, questions followed. Then assessments. Then somebody decided whether the problem required more training.

Being part of a squad meant people noticed.

That had terrified me at first.

I'd spent years making sure people saw exactly what I wanted them to see, because attention usually came attached to consequences. Nephrite noticed things too. Halver made space when crowds got too close. Alex dragged me into things instead of leaving me out of them. Corian argued the permission habit out of me one question at a time. And now Nykos had noticed when I couldn't breathe.

None of them had used any of it against me. I adjusted my pack and crossed the courtyard.

Alex looked toward me as I approached. "There she is. Please inform Councilor Raymer that elemental abilities were never intended for manual labor."

Dannian didn't even look up from the case he was checking. "You aren't doing manual labor. The crates are floating."

"Exactly. Magical labor."

"Tragic," I said.

Alex pointed at me. "You've changed."

"I've improved."

Nykos's mouth moved.

I pretended not to notice.

Corian handed me a small waterproof route card when I joined them. "We're leaving through the north dock. The boat takes us to the survey island, then we're on foot. Stay close until you're used to the environment."

Normally I might have objected to the last sentence. This time I looked past him toward the jungle, felt the enormous weight of life waiting beyond the garrison and nodded.

"Alright."

Corian's eyes stayed on me for a moment, checking rather than questioning, then he turned back toward the group. "Move."

We followed the main path through the garrison toward the northern side of the island. The closer we came to the docks, the more of the archipelago opened around us. Long strips of jungle-covered land broke the water into winding channels while smaller islands sat scattered between them, some crowned with enormous flowering trees and others almost entirely hidden beneath broad-leafed plants. Mist hovered above the distant canopy, catching sunlight until entire sections of forest seemed silver around the edges.

The Water Rift wasn't anything like the diagrams. It wasn't even much like the preserved samples in the Menagerie. Those had always been pieces.