I kept my eyes closed, trying to visualize everything. I pressed the balls of my feet into the ground, imagining thick roots extending from them into the soil. “I think I’ve got it.”
“Good.” He squeezed my hands. “Keep focusing on your breathing…in through your nose, out through your mouth. Now, we need to bond your energy with the earth. Imagine that it is flowing through your veins like blood. You can’t live without it. It is part of your essential self.”
Ty had a great way with words, making it quite easy to picture everything he was saying. “Got it.”
He took our joined hands and crossed them over my chest. “Now, spread your toes to improve your balance. Once you’ve done that, focus on releasing your energy. I’m right here to catch you; don’t worry about anything else. Put everything you’ve got into the ground.”
I squeezed my eyes in concentration. One of the first things I’d learned about Fae magic was that concentration was key. You had to completely block out any outside noise and focus solely on the task at hand. I could no longer hear birds chirping or leaves rustling in the warm breeze. Jasmine and gardenias no longer perfumed the air. My senses were now consumed by the smell of dirt, the sounds of insects beneath the ground, and the feel of ferns tickling my toes.
Power was brewing inside of me. When I’d felt this twice before, it had circulated throughout my entire body. It could not be contained, it simply was there, ready to detonate. This time, I actually felt it flowing in a deliberate downward motion. The currents moved past my waist, down to my knees, then into my feet. I mentally pushed a little harder and felt them leaving my body. The crazy part was that I could still sense them as they traveled into the ground, burrowing through several layers of earth.
Seconds later, the ground began to rumble. I opened my eyes and watched it shake. “Holy shit! Am I doing that?”
“You are,” Ty confirmed. “Now make it stop.”
“How do I do that?”
“Recall your energy. Sever your tie to the earth.”
“How do I do that?” The ground was shaking even harder.
“Breathe, Karli; you’re panicking. Do everything you just did, but backwards. It will stop immediately.”
I tried pulling it back but it wasn’t working. “I can’t!”
He released his hold on me and closed his eyes for a moment. The ground immediately ceased all movement. “See? Simple.”
“Yeah, if you’ve had a lifetime of practice.”
He laughed. “You did great. It’s normal for the energy to become unbalanced at first. Nobody gets it on the first try. You’ll get the hang of it eventually.”
“Promise?”
He put his hands on my shoulders and squeezed. “I promise. How about we try something a little easier?”
“Okay.”
Thylus and I practiced for a while until I started getting a handle on some of the basics. Surprisingly, he was a really good mentor. I could see why Ornessa had paired me with him. Sure, he was arrogant, and he seemed to find every excuse possible to touch me, but he definitely knew what he was doing. He was also quite articulate, which helped me grasp the subject matter more easily.
I was sweaty and dirty
and tired by mid-afternoon. I had just finished downing a bottle of water when I caught movement in the forest. Vance and Naela were walking along the path directly below. The ground exploded behind me, catching their attention, and raining dirt over my head.
“Break time!” I yelled to Ty. I stormed over to Vance and glared at him. “We need to talk.”
“No, we really don’t,” Vance argued.
“Yes, we do.” Dirt sprayed like geysers all around us, punctuating my statement.
Vance looked nervously at Naela. “Maybe it’s best if you head out?”
She shook soil out of her hair. “Um, yeah…sure. Thylus, come on. Let’s give these two some alone time.”
Ty brushed off his shoulders. “Karli, come find me when you’re ready to practice some more.”
“Yeah…whatever.” I never stopped glaring at Vance.
He crossed his arms over his chest. “What’d you want to talk about?”