With a sigh, I close my eyes and reach for the water with my senses. There's essence in the bowl of water, in the moisture in the air, and even... I can feel a kind of mental expanding as I strain to find more water essence to pull inward. For the first time, I feel it in my classmates and Sestra, too. I feel the water in their bodies.

That's new.

I gently draw it all in toward myself, watching everyone carefully for reaction. I don't want them to be hurt, but I know what I'm doing isn't sucking the water from their bodies. I'm just... collecting the magical counterpart water attracts over time.

Each drop fills me with potential. Too much potential. The realization slams into me too late. I need to vent this energy before it comes rushing out of me on its own and out of control.

I try to focus on the task, creating and shaping a modest quantity of water as Sestra expects. But it's hopeless. I'm filled with overwhelming power, not control.

There are no delicate designs or details to prove I'm the master of the water. Instead, the entire basin surges upward in a massive wave that hovers precariously for a split second before crashing down, soaking half the class—including Sestra.

I let out a gasping breath and wipe water from my face. "Sorry," I wince as students sputter and curse all around the room. "I… lost concentration."

Sestra's expression could curdle milk. With a flick of her wrist, she draws the water from every student in the room at once, except for me. She snaps her fingers and the collected water seems to vanish, splitting in a million tiny droplets to rejoin the air in the room. "Pathetic."

"I know, I'm sorry—" I press my soaked hair out of my face and wipe water from my eyes.

"This is the third time you've failed a basic channeling exercise in the last week, Thorne. Your elemental must be questioning its choice." She makes a harsh note on her parchment. "Another failure.”

Humiliation burns through me as I step back into the circle. Mireen squeezes my shoulder sympathetically, while Beck offers a supportive grimace. Across the circle, Malakai watches with a satisfied smirk that makes me wish I had left him back in Mirror Lake for Typhon to devour when he was still mad.

"I could still eat him," Typhon notes from the corner of the room. "It's not too late."

"We talked about eating people."

Typhon sighs. "You were the one who brought it up this time."

"Just because you listen to all my thoughts, it doesn't mean each one is intended for you."

Typhon's annoyance is plain through the tether. Steam billows out of his large nostrils as he coils his body in a circle and lays down, blue eyes glaring up at me.