Kaelen's blood glowed, faint and soft and wrong against the stone. As if it remembered something she hadn't yet realized. Curious now, she let more blood drip from her hand onto the stone floor.
It pulsed once, then twice. In rhythm with her breath.
She held still and let the moment sink in.
No spells.
No words.
Just heartbeat.
When she wiped the blood away with her robe, it glowed through the fabric.
Kaelen gasped.
This isn't water magic.
But I need to make sure that wasn't a fluke.
She crouched near the stones and let another drop fall.
It flickered a light blue, then faded.
Kaelen inhaled slowly, like in healing meditation.
The glow began again.
When she exhaled, it faded.
Something's growing here. Maybe the tide just wasn't for me.
+
The spring behind her was deep and black, covered with a layer of rot and algae. It was the kind of water healers wanted to avoid at all cost.
Too thick and still with heavy emotions. She'd already touched it once, but today...something about it tugged at her heartstrings.
Maybe all of this survival has just made me feral. Once I couldn't even play in the mud without my mother yelling at me, and now...I'm about to willingly wade in a disgusting spring.
She shook her head and tried to think nicer thoughts as she prepared herself. Kaelen removed her sandals and walked barefoot into the mud.
My robe is already gray anyway. Having a layer of mud over it might actually be an improvement.
When her fingers skimmed the surface, the water...breathed.
It didn't bubble or ripple. But breathed, like it had lungs beneath the earth.
A gentle green shimmer wrapped around her fingers. Her blood danced around the tips--threads of blue and silver coiled into the water like ink in milk.
She didn't feel pain or peace. Just a quiet curiosity that begged to be sated.
Like she was contributing to a piece of history.
And then the water opened up and dragged her inside.
+
It wasn't a self-induced drowning. Kaelen was brought beneath the water without magic or force. Just a soft pull, like an inescapable undertow.
She wasn't wading in a muddy spring any longer, but floating.
Sinking.
And seeing visions, for the first time.
Everything my tutors told me...was true. This was what...my Awakening was supposed to be...
Kaelen saw a young girl in Aqualis's healing robes scream as the temple doors closed. There was a boy wearing armor, a cracked sigil carved into his chest. He was busily burying a piece of driftwood under coral. "That is not my name!" he cried.
Next she saw a woman much too old to be an apprentice meditating in a ruin, veins glowing like tree roots beneath her skin.
Dozens of them.
Each cast out.
Each lost.
Each almost.
And with each vision she witnessed, a green ball of light started to illuminate the water.
The spring pulsed now, and it seemed to be full of marsh or swamp water. Thick seaweed grasped onto her arms and legs, protecting her from floating away.
And in the middle of the light was an element.
Her heart told her its name.
Virelume.
It swirled and like a crystal ball, Kaelen saw her mother. Young and uncertain, kneeling before the High Tide Council. These were men and women who had sworn themselves to the High Tide, Pearl of the Sea.
She said her name and wept openly.
"Kaelen is too gentle," she said. "Too full of wanting. She won't survive."
The spring sapped it all away.
And Kaelen gasped awake onto sheets of moss.
+
Her hands felt like they'd been roasted and her ribs ached.
Nearby, she heard a small bouncing noise, like water trapped in a balloon. And soft, ragged breathing.
There was a creature—small and half-starved, its gelatinous body cloudy and dull. A slime lay near the base of the hut. One of Astrae's weakest creatures. Even a newborn from Aqualis could best this one with a sneeze.
Must've crawled too close while I was in the trance.
It should've been dead already.
Struggling is useless when you're destined to die like a weakling.
Despite her frustration, Kaelen reached for it. Not with her thoughts, but with breath.
One inhale.
One wish.
Her fingers tapped its murky body.
The cloudy water drained out of it, replaced by clear fresh water. She could even see its slime core: three of them, floating in its body like fat red cherries. The creature whined once and began to rise, burbling in gratitude.
Kaelen didn't smile. Not because she wasn't proud of what she did.
But because she saw the moss beneath the slime turn black. The soft leaves shriveled up and dried. Every root curled in on themselves, and the ground cracked like blistered skin.
Kaelen pulled her hand away, trembling for the first time.
One moment of compassion led to a spark of death.
Is this...what my magic has become? When I heal, I also destroy?
She noticed her blood glowed once more. Not just from the cut on her palm, but beneath her very skin. Her veins looked like blue-green river paths under the flesh.
The spring rippled without touch.
Kaelen stepped back, but the water rose.
Not as much as a lake, but enough to reflect her face.
Except it wasn't just her face.
She was looking into her own face and dozens of others, layered on top of one another. They formed clusters, like tadpole eggs.
All of them were the forgotten.
The Almosts.
The Never-Enoughs.
All failures according to the Element Awakening Ceremony.
+
The surface parted. And then softly, like the hush between the crashing waves:
Kaelen…
She froze.
Kaelen Tidestrike…
The voice sounded wet. Not cruel. Not kind.
Just ancient.
Almost…
Never…
Again.
Her throat closed, and she gazed into the spring.
"What are you?"
No answer.
But this time, the glow in her blood didn't fade. Instead it grew warm.
Waited patiently.
"The Sea of Thorns didn't exile me," Kaelen said suddenly, ocean-blue eyes wide.
"It claimed me."