Forever and Always

5

Alfred paused, standing in the middle of an open clearing, surrounded by tall, dark trees. It was dark outside, around eleven at night.

He felt power flow through his body, and he imagined his mother watching him. Glaring at him. He could feel her gaze, the sense that his body was starting to shake. His veins and arteries were starting to glow, his fingers seeming to try and press his claws out more.

He threw his hand. The blue flames went up to the top of the a hundred foot trees in front of him, and he spun around, feeling the electricity flow through him, and he struck the dirt. Blue light flashed off the bark of the trees, the clearing lighting up with fire and power and pain before being watched in water and earth.

He spun and did a thrasher, feeling the wind rush around him, slicing through the air. It went straight for one of the big, old trees, and cut right through it.

The tree started to fall towards him but he didn't waver, spinning and creating a whirlpool of fire with his steps before aiming a blast. The entire top of the tree was gone.

He could practically hear his mother say, "not good enough. Try harder. I want this clearing bigger. Now."

He growled and shut his eyes, focusing again on the magic flowing through him. He remembered all of what he had been told.

The natural magic of the non-sentient, the magic in words, the magic in ritual, the magic in divinity, and the magic in focus.

He focused. His black claws lit up a startling blue, before becoming white, and he opened his eyes and aimed his blast at the ground. He felt the ground beneath his bare feet and the power in his legs and jumped at the last second, the barreling fire that stemmed from the ground never touching him.

The trees at the edge of the clearing were charred black and rotted, and he landed softly, the wind making sure he wouldn't get injured. He never liked trusting the wind.

The trees each fell in, hitting each other and creating a tent around him. He looked toward where the sky should be, and curled his toes into the earth, feeling it start to shake. The burned trees turned to ash, and collapsed around him.

He looked around. The clearing was definitely bigger.

He sighed, and tried to calm his breathing heart, tried to make himself forget about the smell of smoke around him, and he thought of growth.

Green pulsed through the earth until it came out, the black ashes hatching long, green grass and wildflowers. He even added a few small fruit trees and berry bushes for fun, before focusing on the trees he's destroyed. Around forty in all, each about four-hundred or so years old. They started regrowing from their spots, and Alfred felt his mind go inside the trees and count the coiled lines in them, growing them out, and up until they could be mistaken for being five-hundred years old.

Then, he opened his eyes and followed them along the edge of the clearing, spotting a few who were definitely not there before.

"Nevada, Wyoming, Colorado," he said, loudly enough for them to hear. Nevada was standing there, his mouth hanging open. He ran a hand through his fluffy brown hair before running over, Wyoming and Colorado following behind him.

"That was so cool!" he exclaimed, and Alfred smiled, "I wish I could do that."

"Sweetheart, you aren't an elementalist, but you have other skills," Alfred smirked, and Nevada stared at his hands.

"Being lucky shouldn't be a magic power," he muttered, and Colorado and Wyoming both laughed.

Being half-or-more human, Alfred's children didn't tend to get the magic that he had, the true, unadulterated power. But they got the strength, and that was pretty good.