Water {Elements of Power 2}

Chapter 14: Jasmine

Jasmine:

Even a bandaged ankle couldn't stop Imogen from spending a day at the beach.

So the following day that was where she, Devon and I headed. Rowan had given us the day off, presumably because he couldn't cope with watching me fail any longer. Brae was tied up in diplomatic meetings all morning and Cam, as the most senior Protector, was playing bodyguard.

Imogen had laid herself out on the sand in a bikini, her Protector's blood oblivious to the chill in the wind. Devon sat next to her, looking out across the water in the direction of home, while I sat right down at the water's edge, letting the waves lap over my feet.

With such an abundance of water, I was practising the manipulation side of my powers.

Hovering my hand a few centimetres above the sea, I concentrated on feeling for the flowing sensation which came with producing water. I then reversed it, so that instead of flowing towards my fingertips, the sensation travelled away from them. The water trickled upwards from the sea and wound itself around my fingers. It felt far nicer than the fire. It was cool, serene and graceful as it wove in between my fingers and up round my wrist in a refreshing stream.

Next, I worked on sending the water upwards into the air. This was trickier, since I had to bring the water up towards me, then send it away as it came in line with my fingers. Droplets were flung up into the air, where they caught the light and shimmered before falling back down.

"That's so pretty," Devon said, watching me.

"I'm just relieved that there's something I can do!" I smiled and sent the water over my head in an arc. Manipulating existing water was far, far easier than producing and controlling it all at once. It was nice to have something to work from.

"How well do you think your powers are intertwined?" Imogen asked, breaking off from her sunbathing to lean forwards, intrigued. "I mean, could you heat that water up, like the spray you produced during training?"

I shrugged. "I can give it a go."

I felt for the flow again and drew a stream of water up from the sea. As it grew closer to my fingers I started to search for the tingling as well.

It was an odd feeling, pulling with the flow and pushing with the tingle; yet somehow it also felt right, as though my powers were working in perfect harmony.

As the water reached my fingers, it turned into steam.

"Cool," Imogen breathed, watching intently.

"Very," Devon agreed, extending her own hands. The steam in my hands was caught up in a sudden breeze and spiralled around my head slowly before snaking its way over to Devon. She grinned at me before lowering her hands, ceasing the wind.

"You've grown so much better recently, Dev," Imogen said, leaning up on her arms to watch the two of us.

"You're a lot more controlled," I agreed.

Devon shrugged in response. "Going to the Helian Realm really helped. Having to use my powers practically has made them a lot stronger."

"Perhaps we need to sneak attack you, Jazz!" Imogen grinned at me.

"No thanks! I think Rowan provides plenty enough pressure! If they don't work in front of him, I've got no chance in an actual fight."

"I don't know—you were pretty impressive in the Helian Realm. Especially with that lightning of yours!"

"That one I definitely don't have any control over! Until yesterday, I was pretty sure that it was triggered by stress."

It was Imogen's turn to shrug. "You'll get control over it eventually. And it's still incredibly awesome."