Page 2 of I Am the Night

I roll my eyes. This has been a constant discussion since my powers returned. Once I was well enough to get about on my own, I accidentally blew up the kitchen trying to light the fire. We all realized then that not only had I not lost my powers, but I had unlocked them to the nth degree. They flooded me in a dizzying avalanche of magic I am slowly learning to control.

That's when Callia returned. She showed up after the explosion and smiled widely. "I've been waiting for you to wake up and recover your strength," she said. "I'm here to train you, as I have trained all the Fates before you."

"You'll teach me how to use my powers?" I asked, stunned.

But then everyone looked at me strangely. "This is Callia," I told them, gesturing to her, but she shook her head.

"They cannot see me. Only you. While you have brought my spirit back, my body is no longer viable."

And so I had to explain to the Night brothers that I had an invisible unicorn to train me.

There was some concern I'd done damage to my brain after the spell, but Elijah was the first to point out that the Fates have always been able to see what others couldn't. He felt it made sense, so the others backed off. They're still wigged out by it though, I can tell.

It was actually Callia's idea to use my powers to cultivate this land, and it was a brilliant one. Not only am I doing good, but it's a practical way to stretch and test what I can do.

Everyday I'm gaining discipline under the scrutinizing eyes of the brothers and the fleeting attentions of Callia who comes and goes at her whim.

Liam strolls over, a huge grin on his face, his golden eyes flashing and his auburn red hair in sexy disarray. His simple trousers and sleeveless shirt are tinged with burn marks. "Sorry about that. I was trying something new and it got a bit out of control."

"Let me guess. You thought blowing shit up would be a faster way to get the job done?" A smile tugs at my lips and Liam grins sheepishly.

"Maybe," he says.

"Did it work?" Sebastian asks.

"Not really." Liam shrugs and we all laugh.

I reluctantly pull out of Sebastian's embrace and crack my knuckles. "Alright, boys, back to work. These trees won't move themselves."

Sebastian groans and I clap my hands together and close my eyes, re-centering myself in my power. I tug on the chord of earth magic I need and carefully release it, moving it into the roots of the great conifer before me. This is a delicate process, uprooting an old growth and replanting it. Initially I destroyed several trees, but the dryads performed a transformation ceremony for them so we could use them to build houses and tools instead. Still, we've been trying to save as much of nature as we could. Like this beauty before me.

I can hear the tree speaking to my soul and I realize it doesn't want to move. It likes its spot just fine, thank you very much.

I frown.Would you be willing to reshape yourself? To become shelter for a family in need? I ask through a mental connection that has formed between us.

We are cleaning this particular area for housing.

This has been our work for a few weeks now. Using my combination of elemental magic along with each of the brothers' unique skills, we have been uprooting and moving trees, plowing fields, laying foundations for housing, paving roads, and creating infrastructures for a new town.

The tree considers my request, and I send it images of the people I'm trying to help. The children who will laugh and dance and play here, the mothers who will nurse their children, and the parents who will nourish their families, who will work the land to grow and thrive.

The tree agrees to a transformation, and I have to think fast, as I haven't tried anything like this before.

"Change of plans," I say as I grab my bag and pull out my sketch book. I quickly draw an idea forming in my mind. I study the structure of the tree to create the body of the home, and as I do, another consciousness tugs at me.

The tree, sensing my thoughts, helps me form an image of what it would like to be. It has a grand trunk, large enough to drive several carriages through, and it wants to expand, to be even grander.

In surprise, I realize it wants to connect to the tree near it, to bond with her, to create something with her, so I stretch my magic and seek her permission for this plan.

She agrees, and somehow this spell becomes something more. A partnership. A marriage of a kind. Their roots have been touching, connected, and now they will become one.

Callia appears beside me, as suddenly as she always does. "This is a wonderful test of your magic," she says, delighted. Her ebony skin shines like liquid and her silver eyes practically glow as she instructs me. "You'll need to use all of your elements for this. Air and Earth to help shape. Fire to burn away what's not needed and water to temper and strengthen what is. Light to give it life and Darkness to strip that which no longer serves. For in any transformation, there is death. We cannot give birth to new life, to new forms, without it."

I sigh but nod. I still have a hard time using the Darkness within me without worrying it will corrupt my soul, but I know I must embrace all the elements for there to be true balance.

I reach for Sebastian and Liam's hands and grip them hard, pulling their power into me as well.

We all work better when we are together, we have found.

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