Could I do that?
How?
Feeling motivated, I scrambled out of bed and moved a pillow into the middle of the room. I sat down on the floor and stared at it, trying to give myself a starting point.
If the basis of my magic was lightning, then how did telekinesis come into play? How could I manipulate items to move around as I wanted?
This dug into ancient knowledge from the old world, something as farmers we had to be aware of. The dangers of lightning storms and why they happened. Dad had said there were moments when the air and the ground were in opposition to each other. If it became too much tension, lightning would form. Like how oil and water didn’t mix and then became dangerous. Or fire and oil. They were opposites, and because of that, they were dangerous when mixed together.
Was that the same concept? I had lightning, so I had to be forming opposites, right?
I had asked Da what would happen if the forces were the same back then.
Everything needs a balance. Once that balance is broken, the world begins to change in an attempt to reclaim that balance.
I thought about his response as I stared at my hand, rubbing at my palm, and feeling my magic there. Maybe lightning wasn’t exactly what my magic was about. Maybe it was more. So if I made the balance the opposite, what would happen?
My focus went back to the pillow, as I pondered that. Opposites attract, becoming explosive. So if it were the same? What happened then?
I felt the air around the pillow, knowing that was what I affected the most—the air. The crackling, the thundering, the heat…it was all felt through the air. How I sent out my magic was through bonds, through the space around me.
And if I wanted to make that opposite? The air around the pillow began crackling. I didn’t have to throw anything at the pillow, and I didn’t need to gather it in my hand. I just had to think about the air around the pillow and how I wanted it to respond to the pillow like it was the ground, the natural opposite to the air.
Lightning. It was small, skittering around the pillow. I let go of my magic, allowing it to fizzle out. Good. This was good. I was on to something. I bit my lip
So what happened if it was the same instead? What kind of effects did that cause? I thought the same. For a moment, nothing happened, and I was about to call myself silly, but then the pillow lifted.
I gasped, my focus breaking. The pillow fell back down to the floor.
It lifted. It moved away from the air I had been manipulating.
Focusing again, I did the same thing, focusing on the air around the pillow and not the pillow itself. I thought about how I wanted that air to be the same. And then the pillow was moving away from me. I kept it up, trying to change the air the pillow was moving through to be the same still. The pillow kept moving away from it. It was slowly and messily bouncing up and down, but it was moving.
Opposites attracted, and we got lightning.
Sameness repelled, and we got telekinesis.
My brain hurt thinking about it all, but I had a floating pillow. Did that mean I could make myself float too?
It felt unlikely, but this was all I had. If I could “fly” out of here, I could get away. I could get to my guys, to a place I understood and felt safe.
I played with the concept, sweating more and more with each failed attempt. At best, I lifted an inch off the ground.
Frustrated, I went extreme, deciding to use the half space next to me. My body jerked, and I practically threw myself into a wall with how strong the reaction was. I landed on the floor with a groan, my skin hurting. It felt like I had been hit by lightning. I got to my feet on shaky legs and tried again, adjusting as best as I could, while trying to ensure the air around me was charged enough to make me float.
I’d need to ask more questions to better understand it, but for now, this would work. I managed to keep myself in the air for a few solid seconds. It’d have to do. I couldn’t stay here anymore.
All of me begged to be with my mates. I needed to feel them again, to be able to communicate with them. While the Fae and Aylia had left me with so many questions, I didn’t belong here. The only place I could call my own was with my mates.
Despite what everyone said, my mates were safe. I only ever felt safe with them. I held onto that feeling, unwilling to let them make me waver. A lot of what they said made sense, but a lot of what the academy had taught made sense too.
And even if the Fae were supposed to be the good guys, I could never stand on the same side as those who had caused my father to die. They murdered him right in front of me, and they were happy to do it. That only spurred my decision.
I went over to the door and listened, sighing in relief when I didn’t hear anything. Then, I went to the window and used my lightning to break the lock, just a small spark directly into the lock. The windows shuddered, but they didn’t shatter, which was a blessing. As they swung open, I released my breath and tried to ease the tension building inside of me. Then with my legs shaking a little with nerves, I climbed up the ledge. My hands were clammy, and I was afraid I’d slip over but somehow managed.
I was already feeling a bit tired from all the practice. I lacked stamina from never having practiced this skill before, but I couldn’t stay here anymore. I needed to take the chance.
I charged the air around me enough for my body to lift, then I did it continuously until I was in the air. Looking down and realizing how high up I was, I swallowed hard. My magic lessened enough to give me a huge scare as I dipped down, but I managed to stop myself, albeit shakily.