Destiny Rising (The Vampire Diaries 10)

re life, and when we say that - at least when I say it - we're talking about our connection to the natural world. "

"I'm sure it's beautiful there," Elena said.

Andres chuckled. "Of course it is," he said. "And you're wondering why I'm talking about ecology when I should be talking about Power. Watch. "

Closing his eyes, he seemed to gather his strength, then placed both his hands flat, palms down, against the ground.

A gentle rustling noise began, so quiet at first that Elena barely noticed it, but soon grew louder. She glanced up at Andres's face, which was closed off and intent, still listening to something she couldn't hear.

As she watched, the grass where his hands rested grew longer, the blades poking up between his fingers and rising higher to frame his hands. Andres's mouth opened a tiny bit and he breathed harder. From above them came a creaking and Elena looked up to find new leaves unfurling from the beech tree's branches, their fresh spring green strange among the yellow-tinted autumn leaves already there. There was a soft thump behind her, and Elena turned to realize that a small pebble had rolled closer to them. Looking around, she saw a ring of pebbles and small stones, all gently sliding toward them.

Andres's hair rose lightly, individual strands crackling with energy. He looked powerful and benevolent.

"So," he said, opening his eyes. Some of the intensity in his posture faded. The sounds of the quickly growing plants and the movement of the pebbles stopped. There was still a sense of expectant energy in the air around them. "I can tap into the power of the natural world and channel it to defend against the supernatural. If I need to, I can make boulders fling themselves through the air, or tree roots drag my enemies down to the ground. My strength feeds nature, and nature increases my strength. It's more effective in Costa Rica, because there are so many more uncultivated places and therefore so much more wild energy than there is here. "

"It looks like your talents are pretty strong even here," Elena said, picking up a smooth, white pebble from the ground and turning it over curiously in her fingers.

Andres grinned and ducked his head modestly. "Anyway," he said, "my first task came to me when I was seventeen. Javier had been teaching me for about five years, and I was dying to prove myself. A creature was killing young married women in the town where we lived, and a Principal Guardian - who was quite terrifying in her way, very powerful and focused - came to me and told me my job was to track and kill it. "

"How did you find it?" Elena asked.

Andres shrugged. "The beast was easy to find. Once I had my assignment, something in me drew me toward it. It turned out to be a demon in the shape of a black dog. A pure demon, not a half creature like a vampire or a werewolf. It was attracted by guilt, especially the guilt of adultery. Javier had taught me the principles of accessing my Power, but the first time I actually did it, I felt like I was sucking the whole world into myself. I was able to call a wind and blast the black dog away. " He smiled again shyly at Elena.

"Maybe if I try to tap into nature the same way, it'll help unlock whatever my Powers are," Elena said.

Andres knelt directly in front of Elena. "Close your eyes," he said, and Elena did as she was told. "Now," Andres continued, and Elena felt him gently touch her cheek, "take deep breaths and concentrate on your connection to the earth here. Your talents won't be the same as mine, but they'll be rooted in this land, the place where you began, just as mine are. "

Elena breathed deeply and slowly, concentrating on the ground beneath her, the warmth of the sunlight on her shoulders and the tickle of the grass against her legs. It felt comfortable, but she didn't sense any mystical connection between herself and the world around her. She gritted her teeth and tried harder.

"Stop," Andres said soothingly. "You're too tense. " His hand left her cheek and she felt him sit beside her, his thigh touching hers, and take her hand. "Let's try it this way. I'll channel some of my connection with the earth into you. At the same time, I want you to visualize sinking deeper into yourself. All the doors that are usually shut inside you will open and let your Power flow through. "

Elena wasn't quite sure how to "visualize sinking deeper into herself," but she took another slow breath and tried to imagine it, consciously making herself relax. She pictured herself walking along a passageway of closed doors, the doors flying open as she passed them. Her hand felt pleasantly warm and tingled slightly where it touched Andres's hand.

But when she had possessed the Power of Wings, before the Guardians had taken them, she had felt a lot more than this, hadn't she? There had been the feeling of amazing potential inside her, of these tightly furled, powerful things that were part of her, and that she could release when the time was right.

She wasn't feeling anything special now. The doors flying open were only in her imagination, nothing more. Elena opened her eyes. "I don't think this is working," she told Andres.

"No, I don't think so either," he said regretfully, opening his eyes to look at her. "I am sorry. "

"It's not your fault," Elena said. "I know you're trying to help me. "

"Yes. " Andres tightened his hold on her hand and looked at her thoughtfully. "I don't think that relaxation and visualization are really your strengths," he said. "Let's try something else. Instead, we will work with your protective instincts. "

This sounded more likely.

"Close your eyes again," Andres went on, and Elena obeyed. "I want you to think about evil," he said. "Think about the evil you have seen in your adventures, the evil that you - that both of us - must fight. "

Elena opened her mind to her memories. She remembered Katherine's pretty, half-mad face twisting as she screamed with rage and tore at Damon's bleeding chest. The dogs of Fell's Church, vacant-eyed and snarling, turning on their owners. Tyler Smallwood's teeth lengthening into fangs and the glee in his eyes as he tried to attack Bonnie. Klaus gathering the lightning in his hands and throwing it at her friends, his face alight with vicious glee.

Images spun through her mind faster and faster. The kitsune, Misao and Shinichi, cruel and careless, laughing as they turned the children of Fell's Church into savage killers. The phantom that set Stefan and Damon tearing at each other's throats, mad with jealous fury, their mouths full of blood. Ethan, foolish Ethan, raising the cup of blood above his head, calling Klaus back to life.

Golden, terrifying Klaus stepping out of the fire.

And then different faces, other scenes, flooded her mind. Bonnie giggling in her ice-cream-cone pajamas. Meredith, her slim body graceful in a perfect swan dive. Matt holding her in his arms at their junior prom. Stefan, his eyes soft, taking Elena in his arms.

Elena's lab partner. The girls in her dorm. Strange faces from the cafeteria, others she'd glimpsed only in class. All the people Elena needed to protect, her friends and innocent strangers.

Meredith's vampire-hunter friend Samantha, fierce and funny, until the Vitale vampires had killed her. Matt's sweet roommate Christopher, murdered on the campus quad.