The Definer

Chapter 20

"Jake! Jake, please answer me!" I yelled.
His neck began glowing a beautiful blue colour which spread across his whole body. I slid the top half of his body onto my lap and caressed his cheek. About a minute later, every inch of him was covered in a bright glow and I felt like I was holding a star in my arms. He tensed in my arms as the glow slowly faded and then fell limp again.
"I'm sorry that you freaked out but that is what is meant to happen, in fact it is actually worse usually." Estelle mumbled guiltily. "If you look at the bright side, he has a special power over water."
I looked up at her. "What does that mean?"
"He glowed blue which means he will be able to control water in some way." She explained.
I looked down at him. He rested peacefully in my arms and his eyes twitched back and forth under his eyelids. I stroked a gentle hand through his hair.
"How long until he wakes up?" I asked Estelle.
"Depends on how long it takes his body to accept the change. Could take ten minutes or it could take a whole day." She replied. "He will be alright though so we should move on to the next one."
"I'll go." Hailey said on the other side of the room.
Mitch looked at her in shock. "Are you serious? Did you not just see what Jake went through? I can't let you get hurt like that."
"You're going to make a great guardian someday if that is what you choose." Estelle said to her.
Hailey smiled half-heartedly and walked to the same chair that Jake had sat in. She sat down nervously and looked at Estelle expectantly. Estelle moved to her side and took her seat, readying her stylus once more.
"Take deep breaths." She said. "I don't know why but some humans hold their breaths."

Estelle placed her small black stylus onto the side of her neck and began scribbling the words. Hailey clenched her eyes shut and refrained from screaming. Estelle finished scribbling the words and I could see the wings appear. They were large and grand and made of feathers. They covered the back of her neck and glowed. Estelle moved away from Hailey but surprisingly, she remained conscious. She glowed just like Jake had but hers was yellow. It creeped from her neck and down her arms and legs. She groaned in pain and took a deep breath. She cupped her hand over her neck and clenched her eyes shut even tighter but still managed not to scream. The glow began fading and her pain must have as well because she spread her fingers out and opened her eyes. Once the glow had completely faded, she stood up and looked at me.
"Is it over?" She asked.
"I'm very impressed. Very few make it through the process without losing consciousness. Your power is weather by the way." Estelle said.
"Weather? What can I do?" She asked curiously.
"Well, depending on how powerful you are, you should be able to create the basic weather elements - snow, sun, rain and clouds. If you are powerful you might be able to create or stop weather over a large area or if you are weak, then you will only be able to do it over a short area." Estelle explained.

Hailey looked down at her hands and then back up to me. I moved away from Dean's arms and wrapped my own arms around her.
"Where's the other one?" Estelle asked.
We all searched the room with our eyes and surely enough, he was gone.
"Mitch?" Hailey called. "I'll go back to the room and find him."
We all nodded.
"I'll go with her." Dean said.
And with that he jogged after her and out the door.
"You really are amazing." Estelle said, walking up to me.
She twirled her hair around her finger. "What can you do?"
"I don't know." I replied simply.
She tugged a knife from her belt and twisted it end over end in her hand like a propeller.
"Have you tried to do any magic yet?" She asked.
"No. I have accidentally used it once or twice to stop a falling object and I may have accidentally used it to get some guards away from me." I said guiltily.
She laughed and flipped over in a front flip, throwing the knife as soon as her feet hit the ground again. The knife went hurtling through the air at top speed and plunged directly into the centre of one of the shields on the other side of the room. She wiped her hands off on her jeans and turned to me as though she hadn't just done something amazing.
"That was... That was incredible." I said breathlessly.
"Oh that. That was nothing. I just like to do little stunts like that for fun. Aleric hates the fact that I love throwing knives around inside the palace rooms." She replied humbly with amusement in her voice. "Try fire."
"Excuse me?" I asked.
"Fire. It's the easiest to get started. Just open your hand and picture a ball of fire in your mind. Will it to come and it will be there." She explained.
I looked down at my hand and curled my fingers up as if I was holding a tennis ball. I closed my eyes and imagined a blazing ball of fire in my hands. I opened my eyes and there, blazing bright orange in my hands was a flickering ball of flame. I freaked out and shook my hands around, sending the ball to the floor where it quickly grew into a larger fire. Suddenly, a downpour of rain came through the roof, extinguishing my fire.