Chapter 27 #3
“That's reassuring to hear.” It was hopeful, if nothing else. Having Wolfe release me would certainly make it easier to get home than attempting to escape. Though I had a sinking feeling that nothing would be as simple as that. Nothing involving Wolfe Nightblade ever seemed to be.
“Now, come. Let's focus on magic.” Arielle nodded, resuming her former enthusiasm.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” I raised a questioning brow.
“It's already working.”
My spirit lifted at the possibility that perhaps she could sense something I couldn't. “You can feel my magic returning?”
“Yes, but so can you. You've been sensing the magic in the air, haven't you?”
I dipped my head. “Yes. I feel it everywhere, growing stronger by the hour.”
“Exactly. That's not simply a feeling. Your powers are responding to the magic here. Like pouring water on parched soil to nourish seedlings. It's just going to take some time to strengthen the connection.”
“I used to be able to feel it inside me, but I can't now.” My heart longed for that feeling to return, that sense of wholeness I'd never fully appreciated until it was gone.
“You still can. You just have to focus.” She nodded.
“How? I've been trying. I've even done grounding spells.”
She shook her head with a knowing smile. “Grounding spells won't work for you. Like me, your magical element is air.”
That revelation made me smile from deep within. It felt good to have something so fundamental in common with her. “You're air, too?”
“I am. So I feel very qualified to help you get your powers back.” She chuckled with confidence.
I smiled too, feeling a spark of hope. “I can see how grounding would be different for us.”
“While air element mages can use earth elements, the best technique for us is rebalancing. It's called Heyliung.”
“Heyliung.” I repeated the word and something inside me held onto each syllable like they were precious stones.
“Yes. Rather than feeling the ground, we feel the air, the most basic particles around us. Then we breathe it into our souls.”
“How do you do that?”
She reached across and took the goblet from me, setting it on the tray next to hers. “Hold your hands out, then turn your palms up, and simply will the air to come to you.”
“That's it?”
She nodded. “It will come to you naturally because it's supposed to. It's the promise we receive from the Great Mother that the magic of the Fray will always be available to us when we need it.”
That sounded beautiful, like a prayer answered before it was even spoken. “I'll try.”
“You'll be fine. Trust me.”
I took a deep breath and did as she said, holding out my hands and turning my palms up. I stared at my hands as I waited for a breeze to drift by so I could feel it, hoping desperately that this would work.
“Release all the troubles from your mind, Elariya, and focus on the space where your palms meet the air.” Arielle smiled encouragingly.
I focused, really focused, and pushed all my worries away. I stopped thinking about home, about the curse, about Wolfe and the way he made my heart race. Then I tried to feel the air as something more than emptiness.
A moment passed, and another, and I remembered the epic failure of a spell I'd cast in the forest back home.
I was just about to set my hands down in defeat when a spark of white energy rippled over my palms.
I gasped and snapped my hands shut. “Oh Gods, what did I just do?”
Arielle laughed with pure delight. “Wow. That was better than I expected.” She flicked her wrist and the same ripple of white energy ignited from her hands. “See? This is mine. The color for air is white.”
“I've never done that before.” My voice was breathless with wonder.
“This is just the beginning.” She played with the sparks, her fingers dancing through the energy, creating peaks and valleys that rose and fell around her hands like a miniature storm.
“That's absolutely amazing.”
“Give it a try. Just think of the air as something solid you can touch and tell it what you want it to do.”
This was so intriguing, so much more than I'd ever imagined magic could be.
I focused again, placing my palms up, more eager this time.
I didn't have to wait long for the white energy to return.
As soon as I thought about it, the white flames danced over my palms, crackling like lightning caught in my hands.
Then I felt it inside me. A spark. Like a heartbeat. A pulse of something that was purely mine.
My magic.
It was barely there but unmistakably present, glowing within me like a candle flame in the darkness. I savored the sensation, feeling overwhelmed with relief to find something I thought would be lost forever.
“I feel it, Arielle. My magic,” I whispered, almost afraid it would disappear if I spoke too loudly.
Arielle's smile widened with genuine joy. “Good. Now, take a deep, deep breath and say these words after me and do as I do: Ilyatra sumei disnadia esperai.”
Harnessing her energy, she brought her hands in slowly then out again, repeating the motion and the words in a rhythm that felt sacred.
I did the same, letting the foreign words roll off my tongue. “Ilyatra sumei disnadia esperai.”
“You must do this every day, morning and before sundown, until you feel your powers grow. Even when they fully return, it's a good exercise to rebalance you.”
My magic pulsed through me, flowing through my blood like it had always belonged there. I got lost in the feeling, relishing the freedom of being allowed to simply feel it and the permission this magical realm gave me to be myself without hiding.
Blessed Mother, I was enjoying this far too much.
And that felt like the worst betrayal of all to my family.
Because I liked it here.
I liked being here.