As my fingers near the bowl of black soil, green vines sprout from the dirt, reaching up toward my palm and glowing as they touch, filling me with a sense of nature and connectedness. I frown, turning my hand over and finding it unmarked.

The earth elemental tilts her head, stone features grinding as she studies me with renewed intensity. I sense more communication firing between the elementals than before, almost giving me the impression of some kind of argument. Their energy pulses make my ears pop and my skin tingle uncomfortably.

The air sphere comes next.

As I present my palm, the winds collect and flow upward. I feel a lightness and nimble energy gathering inside my body.

The air elemental's form pulses and flickers, becoming less distinct as it retreats slightly.

That sense of raised voices and tempers increases even more. I feel it like a headache building behind my eyes, pressure growing until I'm sure my skull will crack.

Confusion and dread twist together in my gut like serpents. Something is wrong—terribly wrong—and I'm caught in the middle of it without understanding why. I may not understand what’s happening, but I know I need to continue.

With a sense of inevitability, I move toward the final vessel. The water elemental looms above it, watching me with those bottomless eyes. My mouth goes dry as I approach, my pulse pounding so hard I can feel it in my fingertips.

I study the water, eyes cold and heart distant. I reach out toward it, my fingertips hovering just above the surface. For a breath, nothing happens. Then the water begins to float upward in droplets that gather in my palm before sinking into my skin. The sensation of cool calm and serenity fills me to join the other strange feelings.

A deep vibration fills the chamber as the wordless conversation continues. I focus on it, trying to hear the words through the pounding in my head.

Words roar in my mind, each so loud they seem to shake the air itself.

"Impossible."

"Dangerous."

"Potential."

"Kill her."

And then, more clearly and powerfully than any of the words before…

"Unbound."

Movement catches my eye just as I feel heat flare against my left cheek. I whirl and see the huge fire elemental has raised a hand toward me. In that split-second, I know he plans to kill me.

This is it. This is how it ends.

My eyes lock with the fire elemental's molten gaze, and in that moment, I see only hatred—a burning need to erase me from existence. Time slows to a crawl.

Fire erupts from the elemental in a swirling vortex of flashing red and orange. The heat is so intense my skin blisters instantly, my hair crisping at the ends. I throw my arms up uselessly, a scream tearing from my throat.