Page 369 of Elemental Becoming

Even here, in the middle of battle, with the wind roaring in my ears and Calryx’s wings driving us through the sky above a battlefield consumed by war, I search for stillness.

For balance.

Then I reach for the wind.

Not just around me, but within me. Through Calryx. Through the sky. Through every current twisting across the battlefield below.

The bond between us steadies, a quiet reassurance that she is there.

I stretch out my hands. Open my fingers. And call.

At first, the fog resists.

It curls tighter, thick and stubborn. The shadow magics woven through it fights back, clinging to itself, refusing to yield. It snarls like a feral beast cornered, lashing out in every direction.

I grit my teeth and push harder.

It thrashes against the wind I’ve summoned, claws of shadow raking through the currents as though trying to consume them.

Sweat beads at my temple. The effort burns through me, raw and electric. Elemental magics surges inside me, rising faster and faster as I force more wind into the spell.

Wind roars through my veins. Fire flickers beneath my skin. Earth anchors me. Water flows with every breath. They are all there, answering, fighting beside me.

I hear Thane in my mind.

“Amara?”

His voice is threaded with concern. He senses the battle raging inside me, the Commander’s magics crashing against mine, trying to consume my magics.

Calryx’s irritation flares through our bond.

“Trust her.”

Thane can’t hear her. The words are meant only for me, my dragon giving voice to the frustration simmering beneath her unwavering certainty. To Calryx, there is no reason for doubt or hesitation. This is what I was born for.

Xaroth senses the change in her. He turns his head toward us and lets out a soft grumble, a quiet reminder that patience hasits place.

But I don’t answer either of them. I can’t.

Because I am the storm.

I am the wind.

I am the fire, the pulse, the rising breath.

I am all of it.

Calryx roars beneath me, the sound tearing through the sky like thunder. Her magics surge through the bond between us, ancient and alive, weaving itself into mine and driving it higher.

The fog presses in, thick as stone and heavy as a mountain. Lifting it feels impossible.

So I reach deeper, drawing more from Calryx and more from the bond between us, fire-forged and storm-fed. She gives it freely, without hesitation.

The bond between Thane and me pulls tight with fear.

“Amara!”His voice crashes through my mind, filled with panic and desperation.

But I cannot answer. The power moving through me has become something vast and unstoppable. It surges beyond the fog, beyond the Commander’s magics, beyond anything standing in its way.