Elven Legacy

Chapter 64

It was becoming easier, like a well-honed skill. Noah closed his eyes, breathed in the salty sea air, vaguely heard the clang of cordage against mast, the lazy flopping of the pennant, and distant chatter of crewmen conversing.

Noah ignored all of that, ignored also the steady lapping of waves below, and focused instead on the air that surrounded him. Although, in order for this to work, he'd need to focus on much more than just the nearby air and wind.

Drawing in a deep breath, he held it in for a calming moment, then exhaled and at the same time expanded his energy outward, like Jaden had taught him. Visualizing it as a circle whose diameter was in constant evolution around himself.

The energy seemed beautifully infinite, singing and dancing inside his veins, coursing excitedly outward on his command. He couldn't help but smile with the euphoria it unleashed in his system, in spite of his fear for his friends.

It's okay – I'm doing this for them.

Sometimes, the catalyst would . . . guide him, toward what needed to be done. As if the Northern Elves of ages long gone had included some benevolent, near-sentient force in there. Well, whatever it was, it chose to help him now.

Because if this was just him, then he had no idea how he pulled it off. Something strange happened, something Noah had never experienced before. He became aware of – no, he could feel – the tiny particles in the air around him. But then, this awareness expanded into such a wide scope that it overwhelmed and disoriented.

Fearing he'd lose his balance, Noah opened his eyes, and realized he still leaned on the railing, with his shoes flat on the wooden planking. Thankfully, his focus held. The circle wavered perhaps a little, but he kept his eyes open now, and with a renewed surge of energy, pushed it even wider.

It ran, far away across the waves of the Dryanic, further than he could see with his human eyes. But his other senses, the ones powered by his magic, could experience it all. Noah felt himself vibrating with it, somewhere deep inside. And then he couldn't really feel anything physical anymore, because inside and outside became one and the same.

He was the particles in the wind – or at least, he was a part of them. And he could . . . control its whims, to an extent.

It had an echo, a resonance, a texture. Then, something that felt almost like resistance, when Noah drew on it with full strength.

From the western horizon, he pulled at natural forces that were, probably, better left unbothered. The energy radiated and surged anyway, obeying his will – if what he was doing was evil in some way, it didn't seem to care.

Because it's just a piece of stone in your skin, yeah? It's not actually sentient.

Slight waver in his focus, there, but he honed his mind, sharpened it, didn't let himself lose grasp on the control and strength he'd gained.

The energy he'd freed and expanded vibrated and swirled, and he abruptly felt all of it, so much that he couldn't be aware of his actual bodily senses anymore. He was the energy, and yet he somehow . . . pulled from it also, telling it what to do.

Finally, he felt it. And he smiled. He didn't stop – he kept pulling, he kept shaping his energy into the effort of it.

It started with a nice breeze through his hair and across his skin. Then, under his patient guidance, it echoed the strength he was feeding into it, and intensified.

Crewmembers shouted at one another excitedly, they got to work on the vast white sails as they swelled, and the pennant flapped wildly now, uninterrupted. From somewhere on deck, behind Noah, the first mate shouted instructions. Noah heard it as if from a great distance.

He realized he now sat against the railing, though he didn't remember moving. He shifted his position slowly, carefully, maintaining the steady focus and grasp on the power that chittered in his blood and beamed out into the air. He got dizzy whenever he had flash-glimpses of how vast into the distance his control truly reached. He forced down the dizziness – now he had it, he wouldn't lose control of this wind.

Noah shifted himself so he could lean back with his shoulder and glance ahead through the large gap between two wooden poles. The waves foamed along the gliding hull now, and the Tortoise Isles were dotting the horizon.

He relaxed into it. Let it happen. Maintained a steady grasp on the wind's strength. Whenever he closed his eyes, the energy seemed to chuckle and dance behind them. Sometimes, it felt like too much, like he would lose control. But he thought about Jaden, about Zemisha, and Moira. It fed his determination, which fed his energy, and so on.

At some point, he found himself filled with an odd . . . serenity. A sense of peace.

Wait for the wind, eh?

He smiled to himself, and glanced down again at the churning, rushing water below. The Wave Slayer now true to her name.

Then, he became slowly aware of Fenek seated beside him. He paid attention to his young friend but studiously, carefully, so his hard-won control wouldn't waver.

"You're using your magic again," he signed, his frowning brown eyes full of concern.

Noah gave him a small nod. Fenek's slim black braids, tied back in a cord, whipped back and forth in the wind as he observed Noah's face.

"Aren't you using it too much?" he asked.

Noah smiled, hoping to give him the reassurance he needed. One splayed-fingered hand moved up to his chest, "I'll be fine. I promise."