Pearl motioned for me to come over, so I walked the couple of steps to them, listening as she said, “I thought about this last night when we were babysitting. We’re supposed to push, right? Well, there was this one brat I wished I could have pushed my will on, but I figured the parents wouldn’t appreciate it, so I didn’t.”
I motioned for her to get on with the point, so she clarified, “I think that’s it. We’ve all pushed our will on our subjects at some point this year training with the Kings. That’s all we’ve got to do. Focus our will on the task, even if it is foreign to us.” She paused when we stood mute, only blinking. “Think of it as if you were an Elemental for this task. It’s not just Jack that’s supposed to raise the pond. Our power is supposed to help him raise it. So, just push your will, thinking as if you had his power.”
I debated that internally.
Jack said, “This is hard. I still don’t see how you’re going to think like me.”
“Oh!” I knew this one. “Talk out loud. Tell us what you’re thinking. We’ll copy it.”
“Be specific,” Ezra stated slowly. “Otherwise, we might picture one thing while you’re picturing something else entirely.”
Jack’s lips slowly curved until he was grinning. “That might work.”
“One more thing,” Pearl quickly murmured when we began turning toward the pond. “Push slowly at first. Anytime we’ve increased our power, we’ve had to do it slowly. I don’t see how this is any different.”
“We probably will, anyway, trying to break through that haze of perfection,” I mumbled, nibbling on my lips, all my nervousness hitting me again now that we were about to begin.
Jack whispered, “You’re going to do fine.” He sounded like he believed it.
Rolling my shoulders, I nodded, ready to see if I was screwed. “Thank you.”
Ezra rolled his index fingers in circles. “Let’s raise this pond.”
We turned toward said pond we needed to raise.
We rapidly made our link, the sensations uncomfortable at first, but then, heavenly.
Jack raised his arms, saying, “Imagine picking it up by the outer edges, like it’s a pizza. It’ll droop at first in the middle, but then imagine the water running like a faucet, but opposite. The water going up, but only until the top levels off flat, so it’s no longer drooping. We should see all the water at that point. When that happens, imagine the outside, not the inside, stagnant. Not frozen, but just absolutely still in place.” He inhaled deeply. “Push.”
I imagined exactly what he had said, the outer edges lifting first, and started pushing a tiny spark of my will into him. Just my will, held steady only by my Shifter power. It was hard, like I had said, because I didn’t want to do anything but enjoy the perfect, warm fog I was in, but I shoved through it. My tiny push of will deliberately grew larger, and I watched as the edges of the pond started to tremble. Sucking in a harsh breath, I tried to stay focused and continued pushing even more of my will into Jack, whose gaze was glowing so brightly it overrode the sun, making the area in front of us turn a shade of brown, the same color as his eyes.
Squinting through the brown hue, I saw the pond’s edges lift a few inches into the air. Breathless in my excitement, I rolled the remainder of my will into him, only thinking about pulling those edges up. I watched as a miracle happened before me. A hybrid, me, someone who should have been killed at birth, had done the impossible. I had funneled only my will, backed by my wild animal Shifter power, into Jack to help lift the water completely out of the ground, doing exactly as he had said and following his previous directions until it was stagnant on the outside.
Jack’s shoulders were tense, but he whispered in awe, “I knew it. I can feel you.”
That comment almost broke my concentration, because I was already practically bouncing behind him, between Ezra and Pearl. This was incredible! It was something that could change the way Mysticals think altogether. If I could just do an Awakening, I could burn that fucking Law to the ground.
I did bounce a little. Who wouldn’t, if they were me?
“Shh,” Pearl hissed. “Shut it and focus, Jack. What’s next?”
We stared at the stationary mass of water floating twenty yards into the air, the inside of it still fluid. The pond water was even browner, thanks to Jack’s eyes, but I could still see the little fish darting around like mad.
Jack sounded like he was smiling when he explained, “I want to flip it. Flat top on the bottom, pushing the part closest to us up and over, until it’s upside down. Then, imagine that pizza again, but now the water is a big pile of dough, the outside still stagnant. Like a rolling pin, I want to roll it flat starting from the side closest to us and moving away, making it long.” He paused, cracking his knuckles. “Push.”
My will was already at full power, so all I did was think about flipping it over.