Squinting against the setting sun, Caelan extended a hand toward Shey. “You know, this might be easier for both of us if you come closer.”
“I thought we’d just let you try out your thing first before we worry about me.”
That was what Caelan had been afraid of. He didn’t know how to exactly tap this new power, and he definitely didn’t know what it could do. He had been happy to let Shey test things out first while he tried to get a read of Shey’s power as well as his own. But this had been his idea, and he’d used the power of the Goddess of Life in the past. It only made sense for him to go first.
“Do you need some fire?” Drayce called out.
Caelan frowned and stared at his hands. The flame had been a point of focus for him to center his mind and gather the power of his gift. But now, it was starting to feel like a crutch. The power had always been there, buzzing along in the cells of his body. He should be able to pull it together and just direct it to do his bidding, right?
At least, that was how it felt now. He wasn’t an eleven-year-old boy trying to impress his mother with his connection to the Godstone. He had been formally blessed by Kaes, the God of Storms. And even now, he could feel the green swirl of energy from the Life Stone despite the fact that it was in the Empire’s hands. He could do this.
Whatever the hell this was.
“No, I’ve got this.”
Turning his back on his friends—because it was easier to try this without seeing their expressions—Caelan stared up at the sky, his eyes narrowed on a thin strip of clouds a good distance off. They were thin and wispy, looking as if they’d completely come apart in a strong wind. He had the power of the God of Storms. Then maybe he could turn those clouds into storm clouds. A rumble of thunder, too. Yes, that would be nice.
He reached out his right hand toward the clouds and closed his eyes while mentally pulling together the crackle of energy that now resided in his chest. He imagined that energy going into the cloud, growing and swelling, turning shades of dark gray while it bubbled. In his mind, he fed it more power and the cloud churned, rumbling angrily.
“Um…Cael?” Drayce’s soft, unsteady voice slipped into his ear.
“Caelan!” Rayne shouted.
Caelan’s eyes snapped open, and he was forced to squint against the force of the wind whipping across his face. His gaze locked on the distant cloud to find that it was utterly unchanged. Still wispy and thin, barely there on the bright-blue sky.
“Dammit,” he muttered, dropping his gaze down to discover that the ground was nearly a dozen feet below him. The wind had lifted him into the air. He was floating above the ground as the wind circled and danced around him, holding him up. His companions had gotten closer and were now staring up at him in wonder.
But it didn’t last. His concentration broken, the wind eased quickly, and he was falling. “Shit!”
Eno jumped forward and deftly caught him with a grunt before he could crash into the unforgiving ground. His bodyguard staggered under the weight and then placed him on his feet again.
“Holy crap! You were flying!” Drayce shouted. He hooted and danced in a small circle.
“Was it flying? Or just floating?” Rayne inquired.
“Closer to floating,” Caelan admitted. He shoved one hand through his wind-blown hair, moving it out of his eyes.
“Were you trying to do that?” Shey asked.
“No.” Caelan frowned, glaring at the cloud that was just drifting lazily across the sky, refusing to become the storm he wanted it to be. “I was trying to create a small storm cloud and ended up floating.”
“Well, I think you should be proud that you were able to do anything on your first try,” Rayne said. He crossed his arms over his slender chest and shifted to rest his weight on his left foot. “I can’t imagine Kaes provided you with step-by-step instructions for using his powers.”
“That would be a no,” Caelan grumbled.
Shey stepped in front of him, his blue hair whipping in the wind as it rushed off toward the city and the ocean. “What about when you used your powers from the Goddess of Life? Did you have any kind of instructions on that?”
“Minimal, actually.” There were journals from the previous kings about using the power of the Godstone and the bond, but he’d not been permitted to read them. They had been kept in a special safe, and only his mother had the key. He wasn’t permitted to read those journals until he sat on the throne.
Had the Empire gotten their hands on those journals? Were they using them now to claim the power of the Life Stone? Caelan mentally cringed at the idea of those raiding bastards touching anything that belonged to his mother, to their ancestors.