The Raven Flame [The Crown Saga III] (First Draft)

Leap of Faith

My hair whipped against my cheeks as the balmy spring wind rushed past my face.

I clutched the tip of Nariyath's claw, muttering curses and gritting my teeth.

"You are distressed, Willow Aldwyn," Nariyath said, her wings gently beating the air to guide us toward the entrance to the cave.

"That's because I am distressed," I shouted past the roaring wind. "It has been three weeks already. I still can't keep my seat, and we're running out of time."

A loud, snort-like sound came from Nariyath's throat. "You can now split the wind and remain seated through basic maneuvers. It is correct that you still slip once I attempt more complex maneuvers and sharper turns. However, you must not dismiss the progress you have earned."

I didn't answer her.

Nariyath may be somewhat correct in her statement. I had become better and more adept at predicting her maneuvers in the air, but I still had a long way to go without the time to do it. And since Nariyath still refused to wear the saddle Pangea had made for her, I'd be—

"No saddle."

I narrowed my eyes at her, but she didn't look down to acknowledge me. "Stay out of my head, Nari."

The dragon huffed a sound that reminded me of a human's ridiculing laugh. "It is not my fault that your thoughts about me are so loud that our bond transfers them as messages. You chose to neglect that part of your training to allot your time elsewhere, remember?"

"To focus on strengthening my star-blessed powers. Remember those? You know, those new powers that I have to master alongside everything else before we leave to save the entire world from the hand of the current king."

This time, it was Nariyath's time to give me a few minutes of silent treatment. She knew exactly how well it was going to master the powers Pangea had identified as Telekinesis.

So far, they reminded me more of Raelyn's gravity manipulation powers. I could lift and move objects with a simple thought—small objects, but objects nonetheless. I could crush and repel or urge them to come to me.

However, Pangea kept insisting that two of the same star-blessed powers never existed simultaneously. Thus, it was directly impossible for me to have the same powers as Raelyn, which meant I could do more. More was just difficult to define.

I had noticed small differences between our powers. I could manipulate single objects in an area without affecting the surrounding environment, while Raelyn could only affect the area and not the individual objects. Even so, Raelyn had a far larger range than me and much more distinct control of her powers. She could lift and manipulate far heavier objects than me and didn't destroy them by a mere wrong flick of a finger.

To me, that aspect of my powers was like lifting weights. The heavier the object, the more difficult it was for me to lift and steer it. The larger the object, the more difficult it was for me to shape or destroy it. Only my strength didn't depend on my muscles but on the power of my mind.

Pangea kept insisting I could do more. In her remarkably unspecific words, I manipulated energies. I could apply kinetic and potential energy to a system regardless of its current state. She made it sound so simple, but energy is not a force of linearity or simplicity. It is fluent and flows with such unpredictability. I know that; I can feel that, but knowing and doing are two distinctly different concepts.

I sighed. If she was right about my powers, I could have the world in the palm of my hand if I mastered it to perfection. Everything was made from energy. Our thoughts and the signals sent throughout our bodies are moving energy, which I could technically control.