Chapter 93 Air and Water pt 1
Seren
I'd known that training was necessary, of course. And let's be honest, having some knowledge of these new powers yesterday would have meant that I could have defended myself and not had to rely on Mom and the guards. I just hadn't realized she'd want to start the process so quickly.
Mom didn’t give me time to overthink it. She led me from the library, past sunlit corridors that felt too bright after a night spent among ghosts and secrets, and out into a secluded courtyard hidden behind the eastern wing of the pack house. Stone walls rose high around us, etched with sigils worn smooth by time and weather. The air here felt…different. Thicker. Charged, like the moment before lightning splits the sky.
“Aidan brought me here last night. He thought this would be a good place to begin, as it's where the newly awakened wolves train. The space is warded,” she said, reading my unease without me speaking. “Nothing you do here will harm you—or anyone else.”
Comforting. Mostly.
She stepped into the center of the courtyard and turned to face me, her expression no longer just my mother’s. This was the Queen. The elemental. The woman who had survived things I was only beginning to glimpse in old books and half-finished stories.
“Before we begin,” she said, “you need to understand something. Elemental magic isn’t learned the way combat or etiquette is learned. You don’t control it first.” Her gaze sharpened. “You listen to it. You let the magic of it guide you until you can guide it.”
I swallowed, suddenly very aware of my heartbeat. Of the way the breeze brushed my skin, cool and curious. Of the faint dampness clinging to the stones beneath my bare feet, as though the ground itself remembered rain.
“We'll start with air. Close your eyes,” she instructed. "Feel the breeze around you, the wind in your hair. Listen to it whistling through the stone, dancing among the leaves. Then call it to you."
I did. At first, there was only darkness. Then sensation crept in—slow, insistent. The air shifted, curling around me like invisible fingers. I felt it move when I breathed, felt it respond. Deep within my chest, something stirred. Not fear. Not pain. Recognition. A gentle caress, an acknowledgment. "I see you," it seemed to whisper. "I will serve."
Water came next. Not as a wave or a flood, but as a presence. Heavy and patient. Running below the earth at my feet, pooled in the shadows on the stone. It pressed against my ribs and echoed in the steady rhythm of my pulse. I gasped, eyes flying open as I felt water rising from the earth in a growing puddle at my feet.
“Easy,” Mom murmured, her voice threading through the sensations. “With multiple elements, it's about harmony. You've called the air, summoned the water. It's a good start.”
I could see leaves fluttering on the trees, could feel the rush of water through plants and the earth. I looked at my mother. "What next?"
"Now you start with the basics. See if you can move the air where you want it to go, and then try to do the same with the water you've summoned."
I centered myself, eyes closed, focusing inward and looking for the connections I'd just created. Wind spiraled outward in a sudden gust, snapping banners to life. Moisture lifted from the stones, shimmering briefly before settling again. I opened my eyes with a sharp breath, heart pounding, hands trembling at my sides.
“Excellent,” she said softly, smiling despite the gravity in her eyes. “That was your first step.” Her smile faded almost immediately. “But understand this, Seren. Your power is already awake. And given what’s stirring in the supernatural world right now…” Her gaze drifted, distant and wary. “We don’t have the luxury of time.”