When I woke up in Wendellia, Keegan was lying in the bed beside me, fast asleep. I lay still for several minutes, watching his chest rise and fall as he breathed. Slowly, careful not to wake him, I laid my hand on his chest and felt his heartbeat underneath my fingers.

  His breath caught in his throat as a black tendril shot around his neck. I jerked my hand away, feeling tears spring into my eyes. As soon as my hand left him, the black faded away.

  “Hey,” he said, waking up slowly. “Sorry for stealing your sleeping spot.”

  “Yeah, what’s with that?” I asked, hoping the nonchalance would hide my tears.

  Keegan yawned and sat up. “We better get up. I’m sure Emilia is waiting.”

  When we stepped into the clearing, I was surprised at how warm it was outside. It was clearly late in the spring. There were still patches of snow in the shade, but most of the ground was clear, covered with brightly colored flowers that were pushing their way up from the ground.

  “How long was I gone?”

  “A couple of months,” said Keegan.

  Just then, Emilia winked into existence in front of us.

  “Oh good, you are here,” she said, sighing with relief. “I had hoped that you would get more time to practice your skills, but time has run out. Spring has arrived. And although it comes later in Berul, Cyrus will soon set out with his army. I have no doubt that in the few months he has had Soren, he has been able to capture many Dreamwalkers.”

  I had been counting on a few days to get back in the habit of switching feelings. Now I wouldn’t have the time. I didn’t care. I was ready to go and get Soren back.

  “Before we go, however, I would like for Keegan to show you what he is now capable of.” She turned to him. “Maria already knows how you can control the air. Show her the other elements.”

  “Those are harder,” Keegan said. “For some reason, wind is the easiest.”

  “It makes sense, with you being a… sailor.” Emilia motioned for Keegan to begin.

  Keegan smiled wryly as he reached out a hand over the ground. As I watched, the snow from the various shady patches started to gather into a ball. It rolled across the clearing growing bigger and bigger, picking up mud and debris, then careened towards us. Keegan held up both hands towards the advancing snowball. It slowed, but did not stop.

  It came closer and closer, until finally Keegan yelled, “Watch out!” and dived out of the way.

  I sidestepped the snowball just in time. I watched Emilia blink out, then back in, to avoid the ball that continued rolling out of the clearing and down the side of the mountain.

  I looked at Emilia, wondering if she would be angry. Her mouth twitched slightly, then she burst into peals of laughter. At the sound, both Keegan and I began to laugh. Once we started, it felt impossible to stop. I could feel the hilarity coming from Keegan, and even from Emilia. It was good to feel emotions come flooding in, just as strong as they had been before I had been gone.

  “Sorry, guys,” Keegan said when he could finally speak. “It’s much easier controlling unfrozen water, which is cool, but I really don’t know what use it will be in a fight.”

  Emilia composed herself and said, “You never know. It may be that being able to move water will be a great help to you. Now, let us see what you can do with earth.”

  “Earth is the hardest,” Keegan grumbled. “I can only make loose earth move. I could never create an earthquake or anything.”

  The ground at his feet stirred as it moved aside for a rock that was rising into the air. Keegan made it hover in front of him for just a moment before it went zooming away, hitting a tree on the edge of the clearing. “That’s about all I can do. And I could probably throw a rock just as far without powers.”

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  “Even with your hands tied?” asked Emilia quietly. “This is all very fun right now, but do not forget that you are learning this in order to rescue Soren. It will be difficult and dangerous. Never forget that.”

  “Yeah,” Keegan said, “Trust me, I know.”

  “Fire,” Emilia commanded.

  Keegan turned towards the cabin. “I can’t make fire, only control it,” he explained to me. “But it’s the easiest after air.”

  As I watched, a sheet of fire slid under the door, drawn from the fire inside the cabin. It flashed towards us. Keegan held his palm up, and the fire came to rest on it in a huge, flaming ball. The ball split into two, then three, then more and more, all hovering over Keegan’s hand. Then they began flying all across the clearing, weaving around us as they flashed past.

  The balls came back together and turned into a rope of flame that fell to the ground and snaked its way towards us. When the rope reached me, it twined its way around my body, not touching it, but only inches away. I could feel the heat radiating off of it. I knew that if I were to touch it, I would be instantly burned.

  I was about to ask Keegan to stop, when I saw Emilia give me a surreptitious nod. I concentrated with all my might and filled myself with the emotion of wanting to be free. I sent it flying towards Keegan and felt a rush of excitement speeding back from him.

  He started to withdraw the flames.

  “No,” Emilia barked at him. “She needs to learn how to use her ability effectively, when someone else is aware of it, and concentrating against it. Do not let her go.”

  Keegan looked uncomfortable, but obeyed.

  I tried to think of what would make him stop. I was a bit surprised at Emilia, so I hurled that at him. Nothing. I filled myself with joy and threw it at him. Again nothing. I was starting to sweat from being surrounded by the heat. And I was getting frustrated. I let that fill me, turned it into fierce anger, and hurled it at him.

  Keegan’s eyes narrowed as the emotions hit him and the flames grew hotter. I watched him fight to control the feeling as the fire made my skin blister. I felt panicked. I let the feeling overwhelm me, and threw it at him.

  The flames started to fade, but Emilia shouted, “No, others won’t have pity on her when she panics. She must learn.”

  He looked frustrated and annoyed but nodded curtly and left the flames in place.

  I could feel waves of remorse rolling off of Keegan. He started to grow angry at himself, and the flames grew. The air around me was getting so hot that it was hard to breathe. I stole the anger from Keegan without paying attention to what I was sending back to him, and felt the heat lessen, but only by a fraction.

  Keegan’s anger filled me, and I was determined to make him stop. I hurled emotion after emotion at him, everything I could think of, but nothing made the flames go out. I was soon exhausted. I felt defeated. If I could not make Keegan, who I knew so well, drop the flames, how was I ever going to get someone else to do it. I gave up. I had tried my best and failed. I was about to surrender when I saw Emilia nod to me once again.

  It took all I had in me to send Keegan that feeling of defeat. As soon as it hit him, the flames flickered, then went out.

  “I give up,” he said. Then he started. “Wait, that was you, wasn’t it?”

  I tried to answer, but my voice came out a hoarse whisper, and I staggered to the ground.

  “Maria!” Keegan shouted, running towards me. When he reached me, he dropped to the ground and gently brushed his fingers down my arms, which were fiery red.

  I gasped and jerked away from his touch.

  “Maria,” he said. “I am so sorry. I didn’t realize how hot…” He grew silent. Remorse emanated from him.

  “Emilia was right,” I croaked. “I obviously need the practice.”

  He shook his head, his feeling of guilt growing.

  “Stop that,” I said. “You are not allowed to feel bad.”

  “Well done, Maria,” said Emilia, startling us both.

  Keegan helped me slowly to my feet.

  “What did you learn?” Emilia asked me.

  “I’m not sure,” I replied, still a bit dazed.

  Emilia gave me the answer, “Most emotions can be used to fuel whatever a person is doing. You have to discover the emotion that will make a person stop. The best way to do that will be to read what emotions the person already has. Then you must think about what that says about them. Use that to decide what emotion to use against them.

  “Also, I noticed that you never used remorse. Keegan was already feeling guilty. If you had magnified that feeling, he would have stopped much sooner. It would have been too much for him to stand. Try to use people’s own emotions as much as possible, but be sure to use the right ones. You saw what anger did to Keegan.”

  I nodded. “I thought I had the easy power,” I muttered. “All Keegan has to do is fling things around. If I could do what he can, I would have gotten loose a lot faster.”

  “Perhaps,” Emilia said. “Don’t worry. It will be much easier with people who do not know what you are doing.”

  “I hope so,” I replied fervently.

  “Go, both of you and rest,” Emilia said. “We will leave tomorrow.” She winked out of existence.