Chapter 1
Adonis
I stand in the rushing river and breathe deeply. I can feel the power rushing through me as I stretch and move in excruciatingly slow movements. As a water elemental, this helps me to get into flow with the water, helping me to control it with ease. It’s also great for releasing stress, which is the real reason I come out here. Being the most powerful water elemental in generations comes with a lot of stress, which ironically only makes me weaker. The more I stress, the less I can focus. Thus, the less control I have. It’s a whole cycle.
I try to clear my mind as I move into another position. As I step into place, I can feel the water flowing around me. I can feel the pressure of it pushing against. My mind is completely clear and finally I can truly focus on the water. I picture it rising up, building a wall around me. A giant flowing wall to block out the world. The water instantly rises to my call, flowing up and around me. It’s so peaceful like this, just me and the water.
That is, until I hear the crunch of footsteps in the woods. Someone is trying to sneak around and walk quietly, but they’ll have to try a lot harder if they want to surprise me. I hear them cautiously step into the clearing on the opposite side of the river. I can hear the shocked gasp. Were they surprised by my presence? If so, then this isn’t one of my people. They would never be surprised to find me here. But if it wasn’t one of them, then who the hell was it?
Curiosity gets the better of me and I drop my wall of water just as the new comer starts to turn back to the woods.
“Wait!” I call out.
