Lahar looks at the beautiful gift. She smiles as she says, "Thank you. I'll keep it safe and figure out what it does."

"I'm glad to hear that. Now close your eyes."

Her eyes shut as she focuses on his words.

"Now I need you to focus. You can't let any outside distractions get to you. To summon a storm, you must have clear skies. So take a deep breath, and go for it."

Her lungs fill with the sea air. Her eyes are shut, and she surrounds herself in darkness.

"Remember, you are using the bracelet as a conductor. Channel the Source through there, and then filter and use it," he says.

Though her eyes are closed, Lahar can see sparks of light. Blue and purple swirl around and take the shape of the bracelet and her wrist. The lights start to branch off and take the shape of the golf ball between her fingers. She starts to chant the spell.

She feels the ground shaking below her. A sensation tells her to turn around, and she sees faint lights far away. "I feel the ground shaking. Does that mean it's working?" Lahar asks.

"No, it means the ground is shaking," Arena says as he gets up from his chair.

"I see some faint lights in that direction," she says, with her eyes still closed and her finger pointing past the beach and into the field.

"Yeah, I see them," Arena says.

Lahar keeps her eyes closed as she focuses less on the golf ball and more on the faint lights. A dim light grows brighter and closer. The light charges at her, and then she is knocked back by a great force hitting her chest.

She opens her eyes to see the blue sky and feels a great pain in her chest. On her chest and stomach is a large pile of sand and a pink starfish. The grains move together to form a small, simple body with a round, big head. It has four fingers and no toes but round feet similar to those of a stuffed animal.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

The creature is three feet tall and stands on Lahar's stomach. It turns around to face her. She sees his head is hollow, with a gaping hole in the middle. A flame floats in the middle of the space, with no wick or timber to keep the flame alive.

The creature has one small curly horn sticking out of his forehead. It reminds Lahar more of a cowlick than a horn. The starfish is attached to the creature's chest, embedding itself into its sand body.

"Hey, King, can you get off me, big guy?" she says to the creature.

The creature steps off her stomach and stumbles around as he walks.

"Take it easy," Arena says as he crouches down and places his arm on the creature's back so he won't fall.

"The perks of being a wisp means your body fixes itself, but you still took a big hit. What's going on here?" Arena asks King.

The wisp turns to him, his flame flickering. Arena turns to the field with a tired look. "Can't you guys go out without causing trouble?" He stands back up and stretches his back. "From what I can feel, they're not that far." He starts walking toward the field. "Come on, King. We shouldn't keep the others waiting."

The small sand creature named King follows suit. Lahar gets up and quickly heads to the house. "I need to stop by the house. I won't be far behind," she says.

"No. You are staying in the house. It will be safer."

"We both know I am going to ignore that, so you'd better handle the situation before I get there," she says, already running toward the house.

"I can't wait for the day when you listen to me," Arena says, annoyed.

He and King rush into the field as Lahar heads to the house. She bursts through the front door and heads straight to the second-to-last door on the left. She goes to her bed. Lying on it are the water gun and holster.

Her hand reaches for it and then stops. She can see her hand shaking as she inches toward it. She grabs her wrist to stop the shaking. "Come on," she whispers to herself. After taking a deep breath, Lahar grabs the belt and tightly secures it around her waist.

With all her speed, she rushes out of the room and past the front door. She stands on the porch and closes her eyes. She finds the same lights in the distance, but this time they are brighter than before. "No turning back," she thinks.

Blades of grass are bent as she runs toward the battle. Her heart pounds with adrenaline and fear. She moves closer and closer to the light. She opens her eyes to find Arena standing in the distance. Her breathing is heavy as she stands in front of it all. Even after what happened to her and the fact she has been practicing magic for a week, she still has troubling grasping the astounding sights without associating them with fiction.