Page 72 of Compass Points
Aiden began the ceremony, walking up to the lake’s edge before them so that his bare feet touched the water. Rose could feel his magic spiral into the lake as he stood in the shallows. It wasn’t so much an offering as a command for the lake to do his bidding. He wanted the lake water to move away from his toes and towards the lake’s center. The Norden Point’s job in this ceremony was to control the lake water, such that it erupted like a geyser in the very center of the lake, and the rest of the lake bed was exposed to the elements.
Aiden pushed with what Rose considered to be a surprising amount of raw power. His magic carried that older, darker scent. She was sure his Norden magic was corrupted by whatever force he partnered with.
The lake started to recede from the shoreline on which Aiden stood. As she watched, it began to retreat into the center of the circular lake, leaving only the muddy earth behind.
This part of the ceremony was usually the quickest. The Norden Point moved the lake water while the others poured their earth, fire, and wind magic into the exposed lake bed. Their magic burned and turned the land below the water. No piece of the lake bed was left untouched, so the land would start new and refreshed, when the water crashed back over it. The combination of fire, wind, and earth magic usually took a while to work through all that was left without the water.
From her vantage point, sweat dripped down Aiden’s brow. The water was giving him trouble. He continued to exert his magic, but it came at a high physical cost. She was just close enough to hear parts of his mumbling.
“Help me,” she heard him say, but he certainly wasn’t looking at her.
“What good are you …. can’t …. complete this simple task.”
The words drifted on the wind to where she knelt in the sand. It sounded tense. Aiden wiped the sweat off his brow before balling his hands into fists at his sides as he tried to control the water.
Rose quickly made eye contact with Luc. She hadn’t seen this ceremony in years. But she was sure that this wasn’t normal. Luc responded with a shrug.
Despite his efforts, Aiden had only managed to push the water a few yards from the shore. He had much more to do to create and hold the traditional lake geyser the ceremony required. Minutes ticked by. The crowd of Norden elders grew restless and murmurs passed among the attendees.
“What is he waiting for?”
“He’s been acting so strange.”
“I don’t know if he can do it.”
At the last comment, Aiden’s legs shook. He was pushing too hard, but the water was giving nothing.
Rose looked back at the Compass Points again. Aiden was not going to complete his task, their faces agreed, but no one seemed sure what to do.
Rose, already on her knees at what used to be the edge of the lake, closed her eyes. She offered thanks to the gods, no matter how distant they’d been, for bringing her back to her home, introducing Luc into her life, and for Arie, her inconstant companion.
Things weren’t great on the continent, but they were good enough for individuals to find pockets of joy and thrive. Rose imagined dozens of scenarios of simple joy, from the villagers she’d met, to the Compass Point elders to Tara and her constant faith. She gave thanks on behalf of them to the gods as she called on her Norden magic.
The water rolled through her body like a mighty wave crashing. By helping Aiden with the ceremony, she discovered that she had access to more power than she realized. She focused her attention on the barely receding water and gently coaxed it to the center of the lake. It moved quickly, just like her water show last night. The water bent to her will with little effort as it rolled to the lake’s center and crashed into a powerful jet stream shooting up into the sky.
For all his facade as the Norden Point, Aiden was utterly at a loss as to what had just happened, and it showed. He had given up all pretense of attempting to use water magic and was staring around in bewilderment.
“What is going on?!” he whisper-yelled, knowing there was no way to hide his lack of involvement from the others but not wanting to proclaim his confusion to anyone watching from the shore.
Though Luc’s gaze immediately snapped to Rose when the water receded, he was unwilling to point her out to Aiden.
Juliette, it turned out, had no such qualms. “It seems you’ve been replaced,” she cooed, pointing toward Rose’s bent body. It was held in a pose of gratitude to the gods, not the position of exhaustion that Aiden had been in only moments ago.
“Unbelievable. She can’t lead the ceremony.”
“It seems she can, and she is.” Juliette flicked her hand palm up, wind rushing around her. “If you’ll excuse me, I must complete my part of the ceremony now. Though she doesn’t look too stressed, I don’t want Rose to hold the water longer than necessary.”
Juliette walked to the shoreline, pushing her wind over the exposed lakebed. Luc glanced at Aiden as though making sure he wouldn’t do anything rash while Rose was in a somewhat helpless position on the ground. Once he seemed sure Aiden wouldn’t lunge for her, he headed to the newly uncovered lakebed and used his earth magic to turn it over. Lastly, the Vesten Point called on his fire magic to scorch all that remained. The Compass Points worked as a unit, quickly and efficiently to complete their task.
When they were finished, they turned to Rose.
She felt something like a sigh of relief from the water as she released the erupting spout and let the water pour back over the lakebed. She knew, without opening her eyes, that the lake had already stretched back out to its shores.
Just like the wave that had rolled through her body when she’d taken over the ceremony, a reverse flow cascaded through her as she completed it, moving her body back up to sit on her knees. She opened her eyes to find the four Compass Points staring at her with looks varying from awe to anger.
Meeting Luc’s eye, she winked at him as he made his way up the beach. The wink, though not for him, proved too much for Aiden.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Rose?”
