his lesson, but this evening Aaliyah allowed him a little bit of extra sleep. “It's just that you look upset,” he remarked.
Drasalisia's face relaxed a bit and she managed a polite smile. “No, Shivis Mol. I am not upset. When you channel power from the air and water it can leave you...emotional. It takes effort to calm myself.”
“Emotional?” Gewey rubbed the back of his neck and tilted his head. There were three navigators on board. All women, and all seemed to him to be as stoic as priests of Dantenos, God of the Dead. “How do you mean?”
“The water is power and mystery.” she replied. “Difficult to understand, but easy to manipulate. The air is another matter. It is passion and fire. It burns and flows with a will of its own. When you control air, it demands that you use your own passion, or it will defy you.”
“You speak as if it were alive,” he remarked.
“Did you ever think it was not?” She huffed a laugh and walked away.
Gewey thought on this for a time, then sat next to the waiting bowl of water. He closed his eyes and felt the flow of the air around him, drawing it near. He could feel it raging and bursting with power. Then he felt it. The passion. Love, hate, joy, sorrow, all pressing in together, trying to force its way out. It was alive. He drew it inside and let his own feelings surge into the storm. It was in that moment he understood why he couldn't control it before. In his attempt to control, he had withheld the part of himself needed for the air to join with him as one. His heart. In moments all the lessons came together and he knew exactly what to do, and heated the air around the bowl.
“Perfect.” Aaliyah knelt beside him. “Soon it will become effortless. You will be able to create wonders.”
Gewey sighed with satisfaction. “It's alive. I can feel it.”
“Of course, it is,” she replied. “The world is a living thing formed by the Creator. The pulse of the earth is its heart and body. The air its breath. The water its blood.” She took his hand and pulled him to his feet. “And when you are ready, you will see its soul.”
“Its soul?” Gewey imagined the world as an immense creature atop which all people resided. “I'll be able to see it?”
“Oh, yes,” said Aaliyah. “When you have control enough to master the physical powers of the earth, then you shall be ready to join with its spirit. For an elf, there is no greater power. Only a few of us have touched it.”
“Have you?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied. “I am one who has achieved such power. Though I admit, only to a small degree. To journey through the unseen world, touching the minds of others wrapped within your own spirit is a gift we all possess. But to join with the true spirit of creation...it is unlike anything you can imagine. Once you can do that, you will be invincible.”
Gewey realized she still held his hand, and felt his heart race. He quickly withdrew. Aaliyah smiled and let out a soft, contented laugh. She looked at him for a long moment then stood over him.
“I know what you're trying to do,” said Gewey, in a half-whisper. “It won't work. I love Kaylia.”
“I have made no secret of my intent,” she replied. “But I am no trickster. Do not sully our time together with accusations.” She motioned for him to resume his lesson.
The rest of the evening, Gewey practiced channeling the flow. By the end of the night, Aaliyah had taught him to create a tiny ball of flame above his hand and send it flying through the air.
From then on, time aboard ship passed quickly. By the beginning of the second week, Gewey began rising early to study the ship and its workings. The crew was happy to teach him, and he found himself looking forward to it as much he did his lessons with Aaliyah. The crew relished telling him stories from their homeland, and were eager to learn of his life as well. Their cheer and good nature reminded him of Linis and his seekers. It was comforting to know that he did not need to convince them to be his allies. Though they did not say it, he felt as if they would do anything he asked of them.
But even though he had immersed himself in