Forever Young

Chapter 23

My powers were getting stronger. I could feel it.

Everyday, Carlisle and I would go outside to work on strengthening my abilities. And everyday, I could feel myself learning, growing further in what I was able to do.

"Camellia, hoops," Carlisle called, and I immediately allowed the flames to fly from my fingers. As fast as I could, I formed them into hoops of different shapes and sizes. Then, reaching towards the distant river, I easily found the water's energy and drew it towards me, several big orbs of water shooting into my sight.

"Keep the target moving, Love," Carlisle directed, and I focused my energy on the wind, bobbing the hoop flames up and down as I carefully began to weave the balls of water through them. There was no sizzling sound, indicating that not a single water orb had even brushed against one of the moving hoops.

Knowing the drill, I switched out the elements without Carlisle having to tell me to do so. I twisted the water orbs into hoops, now, finding the correct angles to alter the currents in order to keep them spinning. I twisted the hoops of fire into arrow shapes, shooting them through the hoops of water. Before the blazing arrows hit the grass, I would catch them in the air, extinguishing the flames.

This routine was boring, though. We had been working on it for more than a week, and I had mastered it. "Hey Daddy, watch this!" 

Pulling all of the water into one huge ball, I twisted flames in my hands until they were the exact shape I wanted- a shark. Using the wind, I circled the flames with air, careful not to let the sparks be blown out. I slowly pushed the fire shark into the water, the circle of air forming a protective bubble around it. I was able to move the shark in the water, the flames never touching the liquid as I kept the protective shield of air around it. 

"Camellia, it isn't playtime right now," Carlisle reminded me. He had to remind me of that a lot. I sighed, and allowed the bubble to pop, my shark of fire disappearing with a sizzle. I allowed the water to slosh to the ground.

"But it's boring," I whined. "I already know how to do all this. Can't I try something new? Like maybe I could make a tree grow on top of another tree by trying to make an acorn grow while it's still on it!"

Carlisle was going to say no. I could see it on his face. This was a conversation we had everyday- me pleading to do something more interesting, and Carlisle insisting that I had to fully master the basic uses of my power to safely go any further.

So before he could object, I thrust a hand out, putting all of my focus on to the nearest oak tree. As fast as I could, I shoved a huge amount of energy through the tree, aiming it towards a single acorn on the nearest branch.

There was a cracking sound, and for a second, I though I had done it- sprouted another huge tree from a growing acorn. But then I realized the tree wasn't growing up. It was growing towards me. Fast.

I shoved my hands in front of my face, despite knowing I didn't have enough time to create a shield with the wind. Flinching at the impact, I realized that it hadn't actually hurt as much as expected. Actually, it hadn't hurt at all.

Opening my eyes, I saw Carlisle above me, pinning me to the ground as a huge branch cascaded over us. He was covering me with his body, and his arms were under me, taking the force of the impact as we smashed into the ground. I felt him stiffen slightly when the branch hit his back, splintering into smaller pieces.

It hadn't hurt him, because he was a real vampire. Wood didn't stand a chance against his strong skin, no matter how big or heavy it was. But if I had been standing there still, if he had been just a fraction of a second later in pushing me on to the dirt...