17
Iwas tired when I met Isaac on the training field the next day, having not slept well that night.
I hadn’t dream walked again, but I did have nightmares. I spent half of the night tossing and turning, throwing the bedsheets off when they were covered with sweat. My mind was racing with a million thoughts, unable to settle into a comfortable sleep.
I had come a long way with training my storm magic, but I hadn’t created any big storms yet.
Isaac asked me to create an intense thunderstorm with lightning and rain, and to not only let it go, but reign it back in once I had.
That was always the hardest part for me.
He assured me the storm would be held within the barriers of the wards he set up around the training field, but I was beginning to feel as if our practice space wasn’t nearly big enough.
Isaac watched as I pulled the magic out of my core and through my fingertips, the sky darkening overhead. No one had come to the training session today, and I was thankful to not have an audience. I always felt more pressure on those days, as if I didn’t have enough on my shoulders at the moment.
“Very good. Now create each element of the storm,” Isaac said, folding his arms across his chest as he watched.
Creating a storm of this magnitude would take quite a bit of magic, and I hoped I had the strength for it. The magic left my fingertips as the rain began to pour down, soaking through our clothing. There would be no protective air shield today. Thunder boomed overhead, a crack of lightning striking through the sky at the other end of the field.
I closed my eyes in concentration as I thickened the clouds with my magic, the rain turning into a torrent against my skin. The thunder sounded close, much closer than I had ever dared before. Lightning struck again, splitting a tree straight down the middle with a loud clap.
My eyes popped open, searching for Isaac. The driving rain didn’t allow for much visibility, but I could make out the shape of him a few feet away.
“You’ve driven enough power into the storm. Now let it go,” Isaac instructed.
Despite a little voice in my head telling me not to, I did as Isaac said, and I let go. The storm quickly intensified outside of the grip of my magic, the black clouds swirling angrily overhead. The rain pelted down so hard it bounced off the training mats. Thunder clapped loudly enough overhead that I could barely hear Isaac’s next instruction.
“Now rein it in.”
I easily found the center of the storm’s magic, having practiced this part quite a few times before. I took that center and imagined pulling it into myself, that the magic of the storm would now become my magic.
The magic began draining into my fingertips, but with a start it sputtered out, a zap at my fingertips causing me to draw back. I glanced at Isaac with alarm, but he remained impassive, his arms still crossed. I tried again, reaching out to the storm, but this time it actively pushed back.
It couldn’t do that, could it? It did have its own magic, but…mine was stronger. I imagined consuming that power, taking it into my core and melding it with the magic I already had. The storm reared back, lightning striking so close to my feet the ground sizzled. I could smell the faint burning of my rubber-soled shoes. The clouds darkened further, the loud cracks of thunder and lightning breaking my focus.
“Diana, you need to pull it in. Now!” Isaac bellowed over the violent stream of rain that fell between us.
“I’m trying!” I cried, marking the center of the storm’s energy once more.
The storm pushed back harder this time, and I fell to my knees, the energy leaving me in a rush.
The storm…it had…no. No. It wasn’t possible. Isaac would have warned me. Unless…did Isaac not know?
The storm had stolen my energy. Stolen my magic.
Isaac raised his hands to the sky and tried to contain the storm I had created, but his face soon crumpled from the strain. I lifted my palms to the sky, my hands feeling as if they were on fire from the amount of energy pulsing within them.
I had to get control of this storm, or it would kill us both.
I pushed to my feet, my palms still facing the sky as I tried to pull the energy back. I needed to be stronger than this storm; I had no other choice. I had no control of this storm—it had taken on a mind of its own. Had I fed too much of my magic into it? Was this the risk?
The storm struck out once more, and this time it hit its mark. I fell to the ground with a cry, clutching my shoulder with my hand. It felt as if a hole of pure energy had burned through my skin, all the way to the bone.
“Diana!” Isaac called out, rushing to my side.
I shook my head at him, speaking through gritted teeth. “We need to get control of this storm.”
There was no way we could heal my shoulder in this melee, the rain still violently pouring down around us, the thunder still booming directly overhead. Lightning struck all around us on the training field.
“My hand. Take my hand, Diana.”
I did as he asked, blood pouring down my arm the moment I removed my own hand from the wound. I joined my hand with his, and with every ounce of energy left in my body, I pulled on the storm.
I pulled and pulled and pulled until I couldn’t bring any more magic in. Until I was full to the brim with the restless energy, my fingertips numb. My vision flickered, darkness descending despite the clouds beginning to dissipate. I was blacking out—from the pain or the magic I wasn’t sure.
The last thing I saw before descending into total darkness was the expression of alarm on Isaac’s face.
It was a look I wouldn’t soon forget.