The cave was dark when Andrew woke, but lightning illuminated the stone and sand he was lying on. He got up, groaning as pain pounded through his skull. he didn’t remember what had happened, and it was only when he felt his head and found his fingers coming back red that memory came back.

Victoria had hit him. No, she had backstabbed him, done him in when his guard was dropped. Granted, she did it with a rock, but he saw no reason why it wouldn’t still be called a backstab.

Grunting, Andrew pulled himself up from the wet sand. Rain was showering into the opened mouth of the cave, drenching everything, including him.

Where was the wooden door?

That was the only thought left inside Andrew’s mind as the headache continued to pulse through him. He clutched his temples and squeezed, as if he could push the pain out of his ears.

It didn’t work, of course. But Andrew didn’t have the luxury of sitting down and waiting for it to pass. He had to work out where Victoria was, and why there wasn’t anything blocking the cavern entrance.

As lightning strikes across the sky, Andrew’s senses returned.

Of course the door wasn’t there. Victoria had taken it. On her way out of the cave.

She wasn’t here anymore.

Pain took a backseat from fear. Andrew lurched out of the cave, facing the rain head-on as it lashed from the sky.

When Andrew got to the entrance, a deep roll of thunder shook across the sky. He felt the force of the storm through the soles of his feet, shaking into his bones. He felt scared. But not for himself.

Andrew scanned the waves. It was like watching the realm itself rippling from the anger of the gods. Huge waves curled high into the sky, crashing down in explosions of foam and salt. The roar deafened Andrew’s shouts for Victoria.

He had no idea where she would’ve gone. The beach was lost in the curtains of rain, and the stone outcrops hiding the cave were treacherously slick from the tossing waves. It took Andrew all his strength just to cling onto the side of the cavern to keep from being taken into the air. He couldn’t imagine Victoria surviving in this part of the beach.

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And then he saw something. Far out in the water, thrown about by the raging storm, was a slab of wood.

Andrew threw himself down the outcrops. Howling winds tore at him from all sides, threatening to steal his footing. Andrew didn’t care. He jumped, leaped, fell down the cliff towards the beach. The rocks dug into his flesh, clobbered bruises all across his body. He kept going. He didn’t stop to think why, only that Victoria’s death would be on his hands alone, if the storm took her.

Andrew’s steps finally faltered. He slipped, and fell into the water.

Beneath the waves, there was no storm. Andrew fought against the current and pushed his head above the foamy surface. He breathed hard, his ears popping from the roar of nature’s wrath. A few yards away, a fork of lightning crashed down from the sky, illuminating the twenty-foot wave as it descended from its precipice. The enormous force swept over his head, and Andrew was deep down again, tumbling through the murky chaos.

Fight it!

Inside his chest, Andrew felt the surge of desperation, of calmness in the panic. His eyes opened, his hands wheeled around the water. He found the surface - that blue, angry thing - and clawed his way towards it.

Breaking free, he sucked in all the air he could. His lungs screamed from cold but he kept taking in breathes bigger than his body could manage. He was alive. He was alive and afloat.

He heard Victoria’s scream.

“Hey!”

Turning towards the sound, Andrew yelled as loudly as he could,

“Heeeey!”

But there was no answer. He wasn’t even sure he had the right direction. The waves were too tall, every one of them towering over his head. Andrew had to duck under to avoid being beaten down, and each time he surfaced it was like emerging into a foreign world. He had no idea which way was shore, and where Victoria might be.

She screamed again. This time, sounding far away.

“Victoria!”

Andrew swam in where he hoped was the right way. The current pulled him crossways, back around, spinning him round and round. Another wave rose, swept him sideways into the water. Andrew struggled to stay afloat. He had to do something. Now. Or risk losing both his and Victoria’s lives here.

Andrew surfaced, sucked in as much air as his lungs would allow, then before the next wave can come he dove. Down and down he went, kicking with his legs in the direction of the ocean floor.

He was lucky. The ocean wasn’t deep here. He could see sand. Reaching out, Andrew grabbed onto a nearby sunken rock to stabilize himself. Then with his finger, he drew a circle in the sand, surrounding it with the characters for Earth, Sand, Rock, and Change.

Then, his lungs now burning, Andrew opens his mouth and screams out the phrases he’d learned from Doctor Davis, phrases he wasn’t meant to know but picked up and practiced in secret.

Above the waves, the storm continued to rage. Andrew could feel it even where he is, the awesome power of this world, this place where mountains were raised, rivers formed and men lived. And as Andrew thought about this, he shoved his hand into the sand, over the circle he drew, and summoned his will to change the world.