Concern flickered in Aaden’s eyes as he glanced toward the home where Cyrus lay. They had spent so much time helping the other family that it was probably useless to check on Tempest now. She had probably already finished making her soup.
Without a word, they both headed back toward Willow’s home, hoping for something to lift their spirits.
They walked through the doorway a few minutes later. Immediately, Talise could tell a change had occurred. The energy in the air had gotten lighter.
Talise stepped farther into the room and quickly touched a hand to her lips. Cyrus no longer lay back, barely registering the things going on around him. Now, he sat up, though still propped up with several pillows.
When Wendy brought a spoonful of soup to his mouth, he drank it eagerly. The color in his cheeks that had been gone for days started to return.
Aaden let out a long breath while the faintest relief spread across his face.
That was it.
That was the face Talise wanted, but she wanted it for Storm citizens. She didn’t want to make them fight. She wanted to save them. She wanted to see them happy, to see them allow themselves to believe things were really better.
Her heart pounded inside her chest as she swallowed. Tomorrow would be her second training with the amulet. Maybe she didn’t need another army to win the war.
Maybe she just needed more training.
EIGHT
ON THE WAY TO THE NEXT AMULET training, Talise tried to temper her urgency with a strong dose of reality. The amulet had great power indeed, but soon, River and Claye would have the training necessary to access that power.
Still, Talise’s heart skipped whenever she thought about touching the amulet again. It could give her abilities she had only ever dreamed of. If she’d been able to help the Storm with her regular shaping abilities, how much more could she do with the amulet? Even if others knew how to access that power, her training would still allow her to do more than ever.
Reaching for her tunic pocket, she pinched the folded parchment inside. Since the journals from Eben were their only bargaining chip with Kessoku, she decided to leave them back at camp for this training. Last time, River had been a little too eager to throw the journal to the ground. Instead, Talise had copied a few pages of instructions for exercises she wanted to try.
As she moved, Aaden tripped over his feet. He huffed at the ground as he tried to regain his inflexible walking posture. The eyebrow under his scar vibrated while he attempted to spread calm through his features.
Perhaps a smile would ease his nerves. Talise leaned toward him as they walked. “Cyrus ate three whole meals yesterday. I’m sure he’ll be back to himself soon.”
Fear stretched across Aaden’s face before he gave a hurried nod. “That’s what the villagers say as well.” He reached for the hilt of his sword as they stepped into the clearing.
River and Claye had arrived early. They stood in the center of the clearing with no way to tell how long they’d been there. River had both arms folded over her chest as she tapped one toe. At the sight of them, Claye’s face warped into a glare. His eyes followed Aaden.
Talise knew better than to let either of the young men have a chance to speak first. She pulled the pages from her tunic pocket and waved them in front of the others.
“I did more research. It seems mental fortitude is the key to not letting the amulet control you.”
River snatched the pages away and scanned them quickly. Every few seconds, she brought them closer to her face. Her eyes narrowed with a sneer. “These are not pages from the actual journals?”
Shifting on one foot, Talise tried to hold her head high. “No. I copied them from the journals.”
One of River’s eyebrows shot upward. She stood to her full height, which was a feather taller than Claye. Not quite as tall as Aaden though. “How do we know you copied the words correctly?” River asked as she threw the pages to the ground. “Maybe you wrote the opposite of what the journals said, just so you could sabotage our training.”
Talise shook her head but managed to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Mostly, anyway. “I’m doing the same exercises as you, so I wouldn’t have any reason to sabotage our training. I’m still not sure exactly what mental fortitude means anyway, but I assume it just means we have to focus. Come on, let’s all do something with water today.”
After wrinkling his nose a little too directly in Aaden’s direction, Claye reached into his pocket.
Luckily for River, Talise chose not to comment on how Claye was carrying the amulet. Again. Surely, it indicated how much the Kessoku trusted River. Or more accurately, how much they didn’t trust her.
With the amulet in his left hand, Claye reached out. The clearing stood several paces from the ocean surrounding the outer ring of Kamdaria. A long ribbon of water slithered from the ocean and toward Claye.
His arms didn’t even shake under the weight of the water. Normally, a person could only shape elements slightly heavier than what they could carry with their arms. The power of the amulet must have been at work because Claye carried the long ribbon of water without a single sign of tension in his muscles. The water he now shaped must have been at least twice as heavy as himself.
A tiny gasp escaped Talise’s mouth as the ribbon of water transformed into a liquid house. Even made of water, the walls resembled clay, and the roof looked made of tiles. Soon, water bushes formed around the outside edges. Recognition hit Talise just as the final bush erupted. Claye’s home.
He held the water sculpture steady for almost a full minute. Even River’s eyes had widened by the time he finished. At last, he let the water fall into the soil.
“How did it feel?” Talise’s question managed to stop River, whose hand had already started reaching for the amulet.
With a teasing smirk in Talise’s direction, Claye ran a hand through his curly black hair. “Much better than last time.” Now he stuffed one hand into his tunic pocket. “I did feel like something was missing though. I don’t know how to explain it. I just felt like the amulet could do more, but I didn’t know how to access it.”
Talise nodded and reached for the parchment River had thrown onto the ground. Running a finger over the words, Talise soon found the passage she remembered writing the night before.
The amulet requires full mental commitment to work properly. You must give everything, or you will get nothing.
By the time she finished reading, two figures stood on either side of her. Claye wore an thoughtful stare that had clearly been exaggerated. He peered over her shoulder at the parchment, standing much closer to her than necessary.
And of course, Aaden stood on Talise’s other side. His thumb stroked up and down his sword hilt as he stared at everything around them. Every time his eyes went over Claye, his fingers twitched.
Letting out an angry sigh, she pushed them both away. “Why don’t you try next, River? You have to focus fully to get the amulet to work.”
The corners of River’s mouth moved into a frightening grin. Once the amulet met her fingers, the grin turned decidedly wild. First, she pulled the water from the ground that Claye had only just dropped. As it raised into the air, the water formed into a large funnel. It started spinning slowly, but soon, spun fast enough to whip water in every direction.