“Only a king can stop this. Only a king has that power.”
Warm air whipped around me, enveloped me, but his presence didn't soothe me.
“I saw him! Healynas!” I said.
“What? Where did you see him? Where was he? What were you thinking—”
“Now is not the time!” I snapped.
Not when a particularly angry-looking set of jagged rocks revealed themselves below me and not far enough away. Even though Elliot had slowed me somewhat, I was going to hit them hard. They would crack my skull, crush my bones, and turn my innards into mincemeat.
“What do I do?” I asked.
“What did he say?”
“Could you stop talking about him when I'm about to die?”
The air went hot, and Elliot said, “Listen to me. I'm asking for a reason. What did he say to you?”
Was I supposed to think clearly in this situation? Sure, let me try to recount exactly what our conversation entailed. “Something about proving my power to him?” I said. “I don't know! All I’m sure of is that I'm going to die in about ten seconds!”
“You're not going to die. You’re Fae. Use your powers.”
“What powers? I can't stop this!”
“You can. That's what he wants! That's what this is about!” Elliot said.
“What is?”
He swirled around me so fast that his voice sounded like it was coming from all directions at once.
“You have to push the wind! You have to control it. That's why he did this, to see if you were capable. And you are!”
“How?” All I knew how to do was flap my arms like a demented turkey, and that wasn't getting me anywhere.
“Focus! Visualize it in your mind. Connect with the wind! This is part of you. It's who you are. It's your birthright,” he replied.
The air practically sizzled, the heat and intensity of it stealing the breath from my lungs. Somewhere in all my panic, I sensed how desperate he was to save me.
Focus. Focus? How was I supposed to do that? All I could focus on was how far my brains would spurt from my broken skull once I hit the boulders, which were now dangerously close. The sound of my heart hammering and blood rushing in my ears was almost as loud as the wind surrounding me. So how was I supposed to connect with my supposed powers?
“Do it!” Elliot's voice was a roar, piercing through my panicked thoughts. “Focus. You can control the air, the wind. Gather it up, push it under you, and use it to cushion you. See it in your mind's eye. Command it!”
I had to try. I closed my eyes, blocking out the sky above me, and focused every conscious thought on the wind. I imagined it slowing around me and imagined myself floating rather than falling.
And the funniest thing happened.
A sizzling sensation bloomed deep in my core, a sort of swirling, like a pulsing charge. Like a thunderstorm was brewing in my gut. Instinct overtook logic as I imagined harnessing that electricity before allowing it to burst out of me like tendrils spreading in all directions.
The world exploded around me in the most satisfying way. I could almost hear a clicking sound as if something was falling into place. This was what I was meant to do all along. I was filled with a sense of finally being my true self.
“It's working!” Elliot's jubilant shout barely registered.
I was too far away, too deep inside myself. It was like coming home after being away for a long time. Discovering what I didn't know I was missing. I gathered the wind around me and forced it under me, cushioning my body and slowing the fall until I was almost suspended in mid-air.
I was powerful. I commanded the very wind itself.
At least, that’s how it felt when my eyes were closed.