Water {Elements of Power 2}

Chapter 12: Jasmine

Jasmine:

We had him outnumbered two to one, but that was really of very little use when Rowan could pour oceans from his fingertips and Kit and I couldn't produce a drop-on purpose, anyway-between us.

"Come on, you can both do this. You just need to concentrate."

"We are concentrating!" I whined.

"Kit?" Rowan turned his attention to the blue-haired boy beside me.

"The only water I'm producing is sweat from trying so hard!" His face was screwed up in frustration and his hands were forced out in front of him as he tried, and failed, to produce even a single drop of water.

Imogen and Devon laughed from their perch on the wall and Kit looked over at them and grinned.

Kit and I were standing side by side, arms stretched out in front of us, desperately trying to follow Rowan's instructions and produce some water.

When I didn't mean to, I seemed to have no trouble turning on the water works, but as soon as someone asked me-nothing.

"Visualise. Picture the water flowing down your arms, travelling to your hands and out through your fingertips. Feel the energy and go with it."

I tried. I tried really hard.

My fingers started to tingle. "I think I feel it!" I squealed in delight.

"Good, Jasmine. Now direct it outwards."

I strained with every muscle in my upper body.

Then the flames erupted from my fingertips.

"Argh!" I screamed out in surprise.

I didn't know what to do with my hands. I flapped them and waved them, which only provided oxygen for the sparks, feeding them so that they flared up more brightly.

They wound their way around my wrists and up my arms at an alarming pace.

Cold panic rose in my chest and I started to hyperventilate.

I couldn't control them, couldn't stop them, couldn't even turn them away from my body.

The air was filling with heat and smoke. I was at the centre of an inferno I couldn't control.

Suddenly, I was hit with a powerful stream of cold, so strong it pushed me off my feet and sent me backwards onto the paved courtyard we had been practising in.

"Well done, Kit." Rowan beamed at the Brizan boy, whose hands were stretched out before him, dripping with water. His face was ash-white with a look of shock that must be mirrored on my own.

"Sorry, Jazz!" He looked concerned. "I could see you panicking-I'm not really sure what happened-the water just came out. It was a little more powerful than I had been expecting. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Kit. I'm relieved the flames are out." I tried to stand up, but I was shaking so badly that my legs refused to work.

I examined my arms tentatively. The flames had gone, leaving no sign that they had ever been there at all.

"Did they hurt?" Kit asked, offering me his hand to help me up.

I shook my head. "No. It was just that I couldn't stop them-I panicked-I didn't think I'd be able to breathe if they reached my chest and head."

I was shaking like crazy, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. Devon came over and put a comforting arm around my shoulders, while Im gave me a sympathetic smile from her perch on the wall.