Page 79 of Take No Prisoners
Niall hadn't wanted to leave Efren's side, but his grandmother couldn't be denied. After another meal in the strange meeting room beneath the sentinel oak, she ordered them to prepare the two islands for war.
"Jermain, Frost, and Efren will bring the children from the mainland," she'd said. "We'll keep them here in the caves until it's safe again. Martiz will track down Allora to refill our store of healing potions. Niall, I have tasks only a spectral weaver can do here on Horseshoe Island."
Efren patted his knee beneath the stone table, but Niall had to bite down on his bottom lip to keep it from jutting out. He'd been a stoic child, never quick to anger or act up. His petulant urges to throw a tantrum whenever he couldn't be with Efren were as baffling to him as they were childish.
Once everyone had their assigned tasks, Niall's grandmother stood by his side on Horseshoe Island's dock. The skiff's wake disturbed the sunset's reflection.
"You've never been in love before," she said. "It won't always feel so raw, like an open wound when you're apart."
Niall stared at her, wondering how she knew exactly how he felt.
"I remember what love feels like when it's new," she said. "I'm not that old."
"I don't think you're old."
"Don't lie to me." She latched onto his elbow and led him into the forest north of the sentinel tree. "I am ancient. I was old when your mother was born and look at me now."
She still had an iron grip, and she led him down an overgrown path toward the sound of water falling over rocks. It was almost too dark for Niall to see the ground at his feet when a ball of light flashed before them. It took him a moment to see that it was balanced in his grandmother's palm. "Enchanters borrow fire magic for most light globes, but the pure essence of water also works to reflect ambient light. Efren has worked with Allora on some glowing water globes. He can form them at will, as well."
Niall nodded. "That's another skill I know without learning."
"Interesting. I've never heard of this core transfer before, but I've never seen a weaver do what you did. We can combine our power with others but taking someone else's power as our own is something only siphons can do."
"Vadim thought I was a siphon at first."
Her lips pursed as she increased her speed. They didn't speak until the surrounding scenery changed from dark foliage to a starry sky above and the reflection of the globe off wet stones. They'd found the water source, a freshwater brook that ran from the only slope on the island, a rocky cliff no higher than a ship's mast.
"This is the only fresh water on the island. Efren and Hannah can desalinize the ocean water for us and put it directly into our underwater tanks."
"Efren filled the tank earlier today."
She nodded. "Now, we need to use a bit of earth and a touch of life to hide this water source from the outside. All maps of this island show a steep cliff and this brook. We need to make our friends think they're on the wrong island if they land here."
Niall wasn't sure he understood the subterfuge, but he followed his grandmother's instructions well enough. Soon, they had created a jungle landscape so dense no person could find the newly underground brook without cutting through the jungle and then digging for days.
"Now to change the coastline." She cut a path through the thick underbrush with a burst of air. When they reached the rocky coast, she started shifting the rocks from the horseshoe shape, flattening it out and making the island look more circular from a distance. Niall shuffled large boulders up from the ocean depths to sit just below the water line in what looked to be the only safe place to moor a boat along the rocky coast. Anyone who tried would bash their hull open.
Once his grandmother was happy with the earth movement on shore, she turned her attention further seaward, creating a shoal that would trap the water and raise the water level around the island.
"What good will that do?" Niall asked. She'd almost defeated the purpose of moving the boulders offshore.
"I'll show you when we return to Aquarion. It helps with the illusion." She'd let go of his elbow to work her magic. Now, she latched onto him again and dragged him into the surf. He had just enough time to worry about how much water his boots could withstand before she pulled him into the air. The water inches beneath their feet thickened to ice.
"Your friend Hannah uses static charge to walk above solid ground. You and I can work with air and ice over water and static over land. Just be aware, it's harder to freeze the ocean surface." She released his arm, and he dropped dangerously close to the water while he scrambled to find the perfect balance of ice, only enough to coat the water's surface, and air to cushion his feet from that surface.
He lost hold of the air cushion and fell to the ice. Everything seemed to happen at once. His feet went out from under him and he fell hard on his tailbone, thankfully on the ice and not into the water.
"Close," she said, helping him back to his feet. "Try again."
This time, he started with the air cushion, finding his balance before pushing the ice out in front of him as he stepped forward.
"There. You've got it. Let's get out around this forest, and I'll show you another shortcut."
Each step gave Niall more confidence. When they reached the westernmost part of the curve before it turned south, his grandmother led him back ashore.
"You're using more ice than you need," she said. "Let the air do most of the work. The surface only needs to be flat, not solid."
He pondered her words as he followed her on a narrow path through another copse of trees, this one a little less dense than the area around the brook. He was surprised when they came upon a small hut in the middle of a clearing. A frizzy-haired ghost in white robes stood at the crossroads between the path leading to the hut and the main path they walked.
