The Phoenix's Fire

Chapter 2

Sain:

I sat with one of my legs submerged into the water following the girl's movements. Everyone else had run out of air twenty minutes ago. I had predicted that she would have a strong water power when she first spoke the siren's song. The other newbies were getting fidgety around the edges of the pool. They all wanted to either go back in or on to the next test.

"Sain." Barked a voice from the entrance.

"Over here. Have to stay in the water." I barked back.

Hex, the strongest Ice user in the academy, stood at his full six foot four inches, looking down at me with his green hazel eyes. It made me fidget.

"What is taking so long?" He asked once at my side.

I swing my leg that is in the water back and forth, "One of them is still under."

"You sure he ain't dead?"

I grin, "No, she's moving too fast for that. Plus I felt no thrashing, so she's still alive. She's interesting for sure."

"How far down is she?"

"Don't know." I shrugged, "Told her not to go past thirty feet." I opened my mouth to say something, but the water stirred to fast to be a normal glide through the water.

Thrashing. Shit. Without warning, I dived in grabbing just below the lip of the pool to pull out a weapon. There was more than one thing down there thrashing, and these things usually aren't detected unless they are on the attack. I calm my thoughts just as I was taught, and used the water to push me faster, deeper into the water.

It was a matter of seconds before I found her. Her foot was trapped in a weed and seven mermaids surrounding her. Adjusting the weapon in my hand, I threw it at the closest mermaid. The three points went right through her as she screamed into the water. The other six turned their attention to me leaving the girl a chance to slice off the weed that snagged her and rush to shove a blade through one of the other mermaid's hearts, just above the waist.

Where had she gotten a blade? I wondered, but shook it off for later.

The girl rushed over to my side doing something with her mouth, but no breath would come. She wasn't panicking. It hit like a slap in the face, she was trying to calm down.

"Close your eyes." I whispered in her ear. "Think of something calming. Keep that in your mind and then focus on the water around you. The mermaids don't matter. Once you have the water in your mind as well, picture what you want it to do and then ease that picture in with the water you feel around you."

The water stirred around us. It turned and turned until it was tearing around like a water tornado, us at the center. I had to take a moment to admire what the girl had done.

"Open your eyes," I told her, "But no matter what, say calm."

She opened her eyes slowly until she was smiling.

"It worked." She breathed out. Well, sort of breathed out.

"Yes, it did." I grabbed her by the hand and started swimming to the surface "Let's admire later and get out of here now."

She tugged out of my hand and swam up faster, the sword still in her grasp along with an old warrior helmet. The sword was hand carved and embroidered with gold and silver, that shimmers just like her hair.

Phoenix:

Coming out of the water I gasped for air. I had just created a whirlpool with my power.

It. Felt. Incredible.

Long, strong arms helped me out of the water and onto the grass. Sain came up a moment later a trident in his hand. A trident, really? Kind of cheesy. The rest of the students were nowhere to be found. I coughed splitting out the water that was still in my system.