Chasing Embers | 1

23 | W r e n

—

It was just me and her. My hand was on her arm, arranging her fingers into a proper hold on the knife. Standing behind her made me realize just how much taller I was. She was pretty short next to me. The top of her head barely reached past my shoulder, although I was sure her curls gave her a slight advantage.
    
"Am I doing it right?" Ember turned her head and looked up at me with her big green eyes.
    
I smiled and nodded. "I'm teaching it to you, so it has to be."
    
She laughed and shook her head. "You're a dork."
    
I chuckled and removed my hand, stepping to face in front of her. "So, how many powers have you mastered?"
    
"I wouldn't call it mastering them, but I've learned eight or nine," she corrected me.
    
I nodded. "That's pretty good. Which one do you like the most?"
    
Ember turned the knife in her palm. "I'm pretty fond of the fire. I don't know why. It just. . . calls to me, I guess."
    
It was a good fit for her. I had seen what she could do with it that morning when she almost burned Hunter to ashes. Her sudden outburst had stopped everyone in their tracks. It was like time had stopped for just a second. The reaction she had gotten made me realize how powerful she could become.
    
"Sorry. That was stupid," she began to say.
    
I shook my head. "No, it wasn't. I completely understand what you mean. I feel that same way with the water, like it's a part of me."
    
She smiled. "What's the craziest thing you've ever done with your power?"
    
I laughed just thinking about it. "Well, one day my fishing pals and I went out to Emerald Bay. It was super hot out, and it didn't help that we were there all day. Towards the end of the trip, I decided I needed to cool off. So, I jumped into the water and decided it would be cool to morph into a shark while I swam."
    
"I can tell this is going to be bad already," Ember joked.
    
"You're not wrong," I chuckled. "My friends didn't realize it was me. Take my advice: Don't go swimming as an animal when you know there are people wanting to fish. With spears."
    
She laughed at me as I shook my head.
    
"I thought you were wiser than that, Wren."
    
I shrugged. "It was a long time ago. I've learned a lot since then."
    
Ember placed the knife on the rack. "Will you show me more?"
    
"Of course I will," I smiled.
    
I tried to think about what I should teach her. A sea creature probably wasn't the best idea. I could show her how to breathe underwater, but where would we go? It wasn't safe to go to the bay.  V  V  "How about I show you how to give and take water from people?" I suggested.
    
She looked at me quizzically. "What do you mean?"
    
"You need water to live, right?"
    
Ember continued to stare at me like I was crazy. "Yes..."
    
"So, if there's water in your body, then I can take it out." I hoped I was beginning to make more sense.
    
"I see. It's like being dehydrated," she wondered aloud.
    
I nodded. "Correct. I could take water out of your body and it would dehydrate you, or going further, I could kill you."
    
Her eyes grew wide. "And you want me to practice this on you?"
    
"Yeah, sure," I shrugged.
    
Now I was convinced she thought I was crazy.
    
"Alright..."
    
I grinned. "First, you're going to want to make contact with me." I held out my wrist. She slowly grabbed it, her slim fingers wrapping around my arm gently.
    
"Adara will be so mad if I kill you," Ember muttered.
    
That made me chuckle. "You won't. I'll make sure of it."
    
She didn't look confident.
    
"Alright. Close your eyes. Do you feel my energy?" I watched as she did as I said, her brow creased in concentration.
    
Ember gave me a slight nod, eyes still shut. "I think so. It feels really active, like it's always moving."
    
"Good, that's what you want. Search for it directly under your fingertips." When she gave me another nod, I continued. "Reach for it. Call on the energy."
    
I felt it first. It was a terrible feeling. I could feel the water under my skin moving towards her wrist. And then I looked down. I had seen it happen more than once, but it still frightened me. I watched as little beads of water appeared on the top of my skin. The feeling of the water moving out of me was sickening. I had done this to people before, like the man earlier that morning, but I had never thought about what it felt like.
    
My throat ran dry as more drops of water appeared on my arm. They slowly started to move towards Ember's fingertips, tickling me as they went. I watched as the water flowed over her hand and up her arm. I began to feel fatigued. My eyes felt heavy as I watched Ember. I felt weak.
    
"Uh, Ember," I croaked.
    
She opened her eyes just as I stumbled forward, knocking into her shoulder. I lost my balance and tumbled to the floor. I guess she had taken so much out of me that I hadn't even realized I'd brought her down with me.
    
All I saw were a pair of pretty green eyes and hazy, blonde curls. I tried to reach out and see if she was really there, or if I was hallucinating from lack of water. Unfortunately, I barely lifted my arm into the air before it slapped back down to the floor.
    
It was then that I noticed Ember was on top of me. My chest felt heavy, and I wasn't sure if it was from her or my lack of energy.
    
Ember stared down at me with concern in her eyes. "Oh my gosh. Wren, are you okay?"
    
"What?" I mumbled.