Aurora was nothing short of resplendent while she worked her magic. Whatever emotion she was feeling, she radiated it outward like she was her own sun. Most of the time, she was happy, which made him feel like he was always just shy of bursting. But in the beginning, when she first connected with a spirit, she was often forlorn. The grief rolled off her in drifts that made him feel like he was back in the freezing river again, fighting not to drown.

Today she laid a hand comfortably on his back as she bent to look over the Stormheart options. They had already collected a fair amount of wind, rain, and skyfire. All their options from here on out were decidedly less simple. She knelt, running her fingers first over the smooth, shiny black of the twister Stormheart. He glanced around, thinking they might need to find a larger open area if they were going to try for twisters today. The water put them at too much of a disadvantage.

But then her fingers left that heart, brushing past a few more before touching the crystalline red shard of a firestorm heart. In truth, they did not need firestorm magic. They needed firestorm hearts to help when natural firestorms hit, but he was not sure how she would feel about providing them, considering it would mean the destruction of the souls she called.

She wavered, her fingers drifting over to the gray fog Stormheart that lay next in line. His stomach clenched. He knew they would have to do the fog eventually, but that did not mean he was eager for the moment. He did not have a fog Stormheart of his own; this one belonged to Duke. But they had only enough powder left for one use, so he would have this one day to collect as much magic as possible. This though was another storm where they needed hearts as badly as they needed the magic, so they could grind them down into more powder. So he would also finally have to face his fear and take the heart of a fog storm, even if the mental invasion it would take made him uneasy.

He saw the knowledge of what had to be done in Aurora’s face when she looked up at him, her expression torn.

“I know you do not want to,” he murmured. “But perhaps there is a compromise. You can call any soul you like. You do not have to choose the ones with redeeming qualities. Instead, maybe you could use one of the darker souls. I know you hate them, but if I took the heart of one of those storms, it is one less malevolent spirit out there for the Stormlord to use.”

“That is true. But … I am not sure I will have as much control over the spirit. You will have to be careful.”