“You didn’t move a single step.”

I pulled the blindfold off and stretched my arms. “Of course, I didn’t. You taught me nothing. The birds are better teachers at this point.”

He turned red with anger and spat, “Then stay if the birds are such excellent teachers. Call out for me if you need help and I will come. Only,” and he smiled as he said, “if you say please.”

“I would rather not,” I said, leaning against a tree.

“Then figure it out.” With that, he sank into the ground and was gone again.

A bird I had heard a few times was sitting on a tree branch with its head tilted and chirped like it had a question. “I know, right? What’s his beef?”

I slipped the blindfold on again and sat down. If I managed to make my way back, he’d bitch about me not having the blindfold if I did it without. It was easier to focus with it on, anyway.

Leaning against a tree, I tried to focus on the flow of my magic. It still felt like I was going to have a heart attack, but it was more familiar than before. This time, I was aware of what was happening. The feeling of it traveling from my heart to my limbs was like drinking a cold cup of water after being outside on a hot day. When it got to my head, it felt like a water balloon had landed on my head and didn’t pop. It was heavy and awkward, but not unmanageable.

It still exploded. Energy rolled out with force, scaring whatever animals had been exploring the contents of my bag.

I needed less explodey and more focus. I frowned and tried again. This time, I exploded myself. I launched from the ground, some amount of feet in the air, and landed in a tree, crashing down until I managed to grab hold of a branch. “Oh, God, oh Christ,” I gasped. Never had I been more thankful I couldn’t see. “Please don’t be too high up, I’ll start crying.”

Feeling my way along the branch, I made my way to the base and pulled myself up. “Thank you, Enri,” I said, positioning myself on top. I had never cursed more in my life than I had when Enri insisted I do pull-ups every other day, but I couldn’t have pulled myself up without them.

On uneasy feet and shaking hands, I started to make my way down. It had been years since I’d climbed a tree and even longer since I’d done it under such extenuating circumstances. As kids, Sayla and I would climb up the tree in our backyard to escape Mom when she was in one of her moods.

“You got this, Kaiya,” I said, using my foot to feel for the next closest branch. I tested my weight on the branch before slowly lowering myself to it. “You used to climb trees with Sayla on your back. You can climb down all by yourself.”

It was slow progress down the tree, but somehow, I knew even after ten minutes had passed, I wasn’t even close to the ground. At that point, I wasn’t scared, just annoyed. And when the branch I lowered myself down on snapped and I lost balance, all I could think was, I refuse to be embarrassed in front of Iljana.

The fall felt like an eternity. I’m sure it was only a few seconds between the branch snapping and hitting the ground, but a few things flashed through my head as if I was living them again.

I saw myself sitting with Enrique, Claire, and Viktor in our dorm sophomore year when we gathered to study for our finals together. It had devolved into all of us complaining about school and life and relationships well into the night with very little studying getting done. For the first time in my life, I hadn’t minded and loved my role as resident Shoulder to Cry On.

I saw the lights of the Harvest Festival in my hometown as the sun went down and lanterns lit up the street. It was one of the few times I remember having a good time with my parents, though I couldn’t have been older than five or six. I ran through the streets laughing and clutching the twenty-dollar bill they’d given me to play games.

I saw my sister sitting across from me at the ice cream shop, the wind blowing the napkins as she tried to pass me as many as she could. She looked so happy and so concerned. After I hit high school and she was in middle school, we’d somehow switched places as the family crybaby. I remembered how many times I’d held her as she cried and she’d more than returned the favor.

I struggled for a moment before flipping over, facing the sky. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I wasn’t going to get hurt. I wasn’t going to faceplant, and I wasn’t going to walk back to the palace in shame.

Enri would have said what I did was reach an emotional apotheosis that triggered the lingering magic I used earlier, thus further attuning me to the elements.

I know for a fact I was so pissed off at the idea of seeing Iljana’s smug face that I bent the elements to my will, training be damned.

Tree limbs reached out, growing from their trunks to slow my fall and as I landed, the ground softened to an almost spongy texture to cushion me before hardening again. I all but got the wind knocked out of me, but I was uninjured otherwise. After a moment, I managed to stand. A little woozy, but stable, I felt my magic humming through my limbs still. It felt like it was reaching into the ground like extended limbs, and I took a long, deep breath.

I had seen the forest come to life, but now… now I could feel it. I felt the hum of life surging up and out and bursting with energy. I could feel the sway of the leaves and scurrying paws of little animals. I could feel flowers turning their faces to the sun and birds taking flight.

How could anyone be so bitter when they had access to all of this?

With one step forward, I could tell which way I needed to go to get back to the palace, but I waited. I wanted to feel more of the life that had erupted around me.

That night, I slept more soundly than I did in my bed, though that might have just been the exhaustion talking.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

When I woke up, sometime in the early morning, I started towards the palace. It was interesting to make the trip without seeing anything. I knew where everything was and I knew where the people were and how they were moving, but I could only feel it. It was an odd but interesting sensation.

Iljana was waiting at the palace gates and when I took off my blindfold, I could see his mouth was in a thin line of disappointment. “I see you didn’t die.” He took stock of the dirt, leaves, and twigs caked to my form. “Pity.”

“I think Zann could have your head for saying that,” I said, shaking the rest of the leaves out of my hair. “I’m gonna go shower.”

“I haven’t dismissed you.”

“I’m gross and haven’t had a shower in two days. Can’t imagine why, though. So, I’m gonna get clean. Unless you want me smelling up your classroom.”

He glared at me for a long moment before stepping aside. Despite being a terra mage, he was always immaculately done up every day. Last week I spilled something on my shirt, and he sneered at the fact I didn’t immediately change it. Like I just had clothes to spare when all they gave me were three identical shirts and pants.

I was sure being smelly was something he wouldn’t be able to deal with.

I brushed past him and made my way to my room, trying to keep all the dirt and debris on me before getting to the bathroom. I didn’t want any of the staff to be upset with me for any reason.

As my door closed, I began to strip on the way to the bathroom, paying no heed to where my clothes were being flung. If I had to play scavenger to find them for the wash, then that was what I needed to do. Right now, I needed a hot shower and a long bath.

I enjoyed my time in the forest. It was a much-needed change of pace to the rigid routine of the day-to-day. I also enjoyed the finer things in life, like indoor plumbing and not having to piss in front of squirrels.

I fell into the bath with a splash and could have died happy right then. The showers were nice, but the baths were exquisite. Since I had been with Enri, I hadn’t had any time for relaxing.

“Didn’t realize I was going to get a show.” Enri leaned up against the door, arms crossed and looking at the trail of clothes I left behind.

“How long have you been in here?” This would mark the second time she had seen me naked. I was too tired to know how I felt about it.

“The entire time. You strip remarkably fast.”

“And you are in here far too often without me knowing.”

“I wanted to be here when you got back. I thought you would come here as soon as you could.”

I laughed. “Guess I’m just predictable, huh?”

“You?” She shook her head, sitting on the floor next to the tub. “I have never been able to predict you.”

“That makes both of us, I guess. Did you need something from me?”

“I wanted to talk to you about your excursion outside and Iljana. You can pick which one comes first.”

“Worst first. What about Iljana?”

Her expression soured a bit as she said, “What he did was out of line, and I’ve talked to him about his attitude towards you. I doubt it will change much unless Zann himself steps in, but I did speak with him. He does normally send new trainees into the woods, but never that far in and never for that long. It’s dangerous for someone without experience to be out there for so long. Akten must have truly been looking out for you. Terra goddess,” she said at my confused look. One of these days I’d have to go to the library and copy down a list of these deities.

“What’s his problem? I thought he was just a dick, but he seems to want me dead or something.”

“His family has a troubled history with Earthlings and the concept of Suriqi mage in general. In his mind, because we are born with the ability to do magic with minimal to no training, we’re superior. Heksi wouldn’t gift those who are inferior with such a gift.” She rolled her eyes as she said it. “But only Earthlings can become Suriqi mages. It doesn’t mesh, and now that you’re here, he’s not handling it well.”

“Sounds like I hit the nail on the head earlier.”

“You did, and now he’s even more upset. This time, with you personally.”

“It’s a gift, I tell you.” I stretched out in the tub, the suds moving with me. Enri kept her eyes pinned to mine. “Wanna hear about my time in the woods?”

“Yes.”

For the first time in a while, I got to speak uninterrupted and be the one to answer questions. Enri thought it was quite fitting that my stubbornness was what managed to get me to do terra magic.

“Terra is a stubborn element, and you have to be just as stubborn. It’s a little surprising since you attuned to wind so fast.”

I pulled my legs to my chest and leaned back. “I think wind might have been my natural element if I had grown up in a different environment. I want to be a chill, easy going person, but I had to learn to be rigid.”

“I wouldn’t say all wind mages are like that, but I do understand what you mean. As a wind mage myself, that was always my natural inclination. The gods tend to have their own plans for us.”

“You’re telling me,” I sighed. “I planned on being an English teacher and living the good life with my sister.”

Enri reeled back a bit as she asked, “You have a sister?”

“Do I look like an only child? Wait. Don’t answer, it might hurt my feelings.”

“I just… I thought I would have heard something about her by now. You talk about your friends often enough.”

“My friends are… I like my friends, but I never really thought of them as permanent fixtures in my life. It would be nice and they’re great, but friends come and go, especially in college. But my sister has always been there for me and thinking about her made me sad. Talking about her would have been worse. It’s fine though,” I said hurriedly. I could see Enri starting to get upset. “It’s more like motivation these days.”

“What’s she like?”

“My sister? Probably the coolest person you’d ever meet. I could go on about her.”

Enri threaded her fingers together and leaned her head on them against the edge of the tub. “Go on.”

“Are you sure? We could be here for a while, and I think Iljana is expecting me to show up at some point.”

She shook her head. Her eyes looked heavy and tired. I couldn’t imagine what nightmarish responsibilities she had as the Head Mage. “We all deserve a break. Iljana can wait. Tell me about her.”

“Well, she’s way more athletic than me. I’m sure you would have had a great time training her—she’s the jock between the two of us…