Page 176 of Emylia

On the seventh—I held on too long. Drew too much.

Shifting the power through my veins, I forced it to my fingertips. A single drop of water stained my hand, then another. I pushed further, harnessing the full extent of my power, pushing so hard that my body was fatigued with the exertion. Within seconds, my whole hand was soaked with water. When the last tendril of power was sapped from me, I opened my eyes, a smile plastered across my face.

“I did it. Did you see?”

I examined each of their faces, but none matched my own enthusiasm.

“Em.” Sebastian stepped forward, water dripping from his golden brown hair. My eyes shot to the sky, watching as rain steadily cascaded.

Damn it.

My fingers were soaked with water—but it wasn’t my magik. Outside the canopy, rain had begun to fall. I didn’t conjure it. It was the storm.

“I failed,” I muttered.

“Maybe the tree doesn’t hold enough—” Maalikai began.

“Wait.” I stepped forward.

I watched the rain blanket the Earth, the skies filled with dark, ominous clouds “Where does your ward end?”

All three of their gazes snapped to me. Without a word, they all stepped out of the cover of the tree, being pelted by the same deluge as I was, soaking them to the bone.

“Why?” She asked.

“I’ve got a theory. But to be sure I need to step out of the ward.”

“Emylia…” Judging by her tone, it was an immediate no. But this was important, so ’no’ was not an option.

“It will only be for a second. And if it makes you feel better, these two can escort me out of the threshold.”

After holding me under a stare that could extinguish fire, she acquiesced. All three of us followed her along the cliff for a couple hundred yards before she stopped.

“Two more steps and you will be outside my protection.”

“How do you know? Is there a marker?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I can feel where the magik ceases.”

Clearly she was better at magik than me.

No surprises there.

“Are you guys ready?” I looked at each of my protectors, on either side of me.

Each clung to a sword, ready for any threat. They matched my pace as I took two steps until I was outside the ward.

As soon as I stepped through the invisible barrier, the air changed, like it was sweeter out here. Using my hand, I shielded my eyes from the bright sunshine, sunlight bathing my skin. No rain in sight.

I turned.

Inside the ward—the deluge still poured. Rain pelted inside the invisible barrier, translucent orbs running down the side like condensation on glass.

I hadn’t been able to produce a single sphere of water, not a single droplet. Instead, I cracked open the skies and made it spill from above until it coated all within the ward’s protective realm. I hadn’t drawn the rain. I summoned the storm. Created it with nothing but the power inside me.

My power wasn’t a flicker.

It wasn’t a whisper of flame.

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