Beside her, the magus did the same thing, but in reverse. The device on his staff flared up, the color of the moon at night. Guiding it right to left, a wave twice the size of Chloe’s built up in an instant, heading directly for hers. The two waves collided. Spray shot up and the magus’s wave was the victor, the only one to survive the contest.

‘You can do better than that.’ Zedo smiled.

Setting her jaw with determination, Chloe cleared her mind of all other thought, concentrating on the raw feeling of wind. She fed it to the fire inside, feeling the silver flame grow. But rather than release it, she continued to feed it until she felt she was going to burst with the raging power in her mind. She held it, drawing more and more until she knew she couldn’t hold onto it a moment longer. With a strong cry, she finally let it free, feeling it leap through her body to dart through the metal in contact with her skin, while at the same time she swept the staff in a powerful movement.

A new wave grew and grew until it was as big as the magus’s last effort. As it sped along, forming a towering peak, she drew on her power and released it again. Her wave grew still further in size.

She flicked a quick glance at the magus and saw him frowning in concentration. He made his own cry, pointing his staff at the sea, and a wave to match Chloe’s began to approach hers. Heading on a collision path, the two waves struck each other and then savagely burst apart, sending flurries of water in all directions. Neither wave was the victor as both were destroyed.

‘Good,’ the magus said. His shoulders slumped as he let the base of his staff fall back to the ground. ‘That is enough for today.’

‘I can do bigger,’ she protested.

‘Remember what I said about the wind. In some ways it is the most difficult to control of the materia. And more power always means less control. Of the four, it is also the easiest to disrupt. If you work directly against a strong natural wind, or against another magus, the result can be chaos.’

Chloe suddenly felt exhausted. Her knees buckled, but she managed to straighten them.

‘Be careful,’ the magus said. ‘You have a deep well of power inside you, but danger is ever present. Until you learn to cool the fire completely, you must either meditate to calm it or release your power regularly, but when you release, it must be with control.’

The magus held out a hand, and she gave him the staff, feeling disappointed that she would only be able to test herself under his supervision.