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Parris and Garret murmured their encouragement: “You can do this. Don't try so hard.”
Easy for them to say. Sweat started to bead at my temples, and my head ached from concentrating so hard. After what felt like an hour, though, I was finally able to make enough water jump from the bucket onto the kindling, and the hissing noise that came from the two being combined was more satisfying than just about anything I'd ever known.
“Let it flow naturally,” Delphine told me time and again. “Open the channels connecting you to these elements. But don't try to force it. You are allowing, rather than pushing.”
I was starting to understand what she meant, and the more I played with the fire and water, the easier it was to tap into my connection. It was the same with wind, once I’d finally figured out how to fly. It was starting to feel natural.
“Do you think she's ready?” Elliot looked to Delphine, his brows lifting.
“Ready for what?” I asked.
“To access your light magic,” Elliot said.
“I can't really do that unless it's a high stakes situation, you know? That's the only time I've ever been able to reach it,” I answered.
“The point of these exercises is to allow you to connect with it at any time you choose. You've seen what you're capable of with the elements. It stands to reason you should be able to use your light magic at will with practice.”
Good point.
“Stop holding yourself back.” Garret's voice was like a warm hug.
“You're capable of so much more than you believe,” Parris said as he nodded solemnly.
“You asked for it. I'll try not to burn anybody,” I said.
Was it my imagination, or did everybody inch a little further away when I said that?
“Hold out your hands,” Delphine instructed. “Envision the energy cupped in your palms. You control it. You decide whether you send it out or not. This is how you'll learn to harness the light rather than be afraid of destroying those around you. It's your choice, what you do with your power.”
I gasped and almost fell flat on my back when, like magic—which it was—a ball of crackling, sizzling energy materialized between my cupped palms. Somewhere, Elliot muttered curses under his breath, while Garrett and Parris gasped and voiced their awe.
“Well done,” Delphine murmured. No matter what else happened around me, it was her voice that reached the center of my mind, almost like she was speaking from inside me. “Now, instead of sending the lightning outward, you must draw it inside you.”
I brought my hands closer to me, drawing them toward my stomach since that seemed like the logical thing to do. Slowly, I drew the lightning closer, and as I did, a roaring noise started low but quickly grew in volume until there wasn't a sound in the world but that of the energy I was about to draw inside me.
And then I did it.
I imagined myself opening up and accepting the light, and we all watched as my body appeared to suck the ball up from my hands and absorb it into my core.
That was the last thing I saw before everything erupted in bright, white light.
Then, there was nothing.
