Page 16 of The Elementalist
“I don’t know what I’m doing, and I feel ridiculous.”
“Says the guy who just blew a napkin off a table from halfway across the cafe. Just focus, and scale it down. I happen to like my fingers.”
I did as I was told, applying the same sense of intention to my thoughts, except nothing happened. Raising my hand did nothing either.
“Try snapping your fingers,” said Michael.
I did, and the match flared brightly.
Michael jumped, and quickly shook it out. “My, my, my. I never thought I would see another person with the gift in the flesh.”
“Another what?”
“Elemental,” he said.
Of course, I had read all about elementals, which is how I’d ended up on Michael’s blog site. But that didn’t stop my mouth from dropping. After all, I had witnessed the matchstick igniting too. And I’d been practicing my wind storms all night, unaware that another type of manifestation—fire—was waiting within me as well.
“What is happening to me?” I asked.
“I take it you didn’t read my book?”
“I got excited and emailed you after I’d read the blogs.”
The little man pushed up his glasses. “Understandable. Then let me fill you in on what you missed. There are many of us with the potential to be elementals. Love for nature is within most humans. A deep and spiritual connection to nature is another thing altogether. Such people are candidates to be chosen...”
“Er, chosen by whom?”
“You tell me. Were you approached by anybody?”
“No.”
“Did you dream of anybody?”
“Not that I recall.”
“Did anything out of the ordinary happen to you in the past few days?”
I thought about it. “I did feel funny after seeing the meteor.”
“What meteor?”
“The one from last week. The one that, you know, blazed across the sky. Anyone could see it.” I narrowed my eyes. Come to think of it, the meteor likely happened around the same time Crystal’s sister died.
“That’s it!” he said. “Did you see where this meteor landed?”
“No, and I’m not sure it landed. It just, you know, came and went. Streaked across the sky.”
“Max, did anyone else see the meteor?”
“Um... I haven’t asked, but the news didn’t mention it.”
“Doesn’t matter. I doubt they reported it. The meteor was both a portent of things to come... and an activation within you.”
“Activation?”
“Your abilities were dormant. Now, not so much. The meteor is the key. Hold on.”
He pulled out his phone and feverishly swiped his fingers across the screen. I looked around at the cute little coffee shop. It was no Starbucks, but people here liked it that way.
