Jayden awoke with a hand holding his. The dawn was barely breaking, and he looked up, trying to loosen the fingers around his forearm.

But when he looked at who it was, he found Elizah clutching his arm. It might have happened when she’d fallen asleep. He tried to be careful not to wake her, but she suddenly loosened her grip and looked flustered.

“Relax, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” Jayden said and stood up slowly, with barely any discomfort.

Elizah calmed down. “I’m a light sleeper, so it’s just a habit that I wake up so startled,” Elizah said with a sheepish smile.

“Why didn’t you wake me for my shift last night?” Jayden asked as he wiped the dew from his palms and face.

“You needed the rest more than I did,” Elizah said, but it seemed otherwise. Her eyes had dark bags under them, and she had fatigue in both her face and her voice.

“It doesn’t seem like you got enough rest,” Jayden said, concerned.

“The healing took a lot out of me yesterday,” Elizah said with a yawn.

“The first time you were using your powers and I think you used them a bit too much,” Jayden observed.

“I’ll rest as soon as the work on the field is done today,” Elizah said as she tried to stand up.

Jayden gave her a hand, but she declined politely and stood up on her own. “I’ll see you after my work is done for today. Jade will probably be waiting for us by then,” Elizah said with a smile.

Jayden gave a nod, and the two of them parted ways in the forest.

Jade was waiting when Elizah had made her way out to the pond. Jayden wasn’t around Jade, so Elizah assumed he was probably running late after training.

“Where’s Jayden?” Jade asked Elizah, clearly frustrated.

“He tends to be busy at Court sometimes so he might get late,” Elizah answered.

Jade seemed to be satisfied with her answer and gave a curt nod. “At least you came as I expected, your training will be harder than Jayden’s,” Jade said.

She held a book in her hands, which she flipped to a particular page and showed it to Elizah.

“We’ll be doing one of the most basic implementations of healing magic,” Jade said. She showed Elizah the drawn image of a lady in the grass, moving her hands over a flower bud.

“Ease yourself and lay down in the grass. Feel the life force that moves through each one of us and everything around us. That will be the key to unlocking your hidden talents,” Jade said as Elizah lay still in the grass, with the only movement being her small chest moving up and down with each breath. Her eyes were closed, and her face relaxed.

Elizah felt the warmth inside her. It was both soothing and radiating a lot of heat. The light and heat pulsated around her. She reached out and tried to touch it. The energy flowed over her like the cool water of a river but slow and steady in its flow. However, the power everywhere was uneven, and certain parts were pulsing and seemed to attract her attention more than others. She willed herself towards the closest one and gently felt the power again. She then willed her energy slowly and substantially into the being, worried that she might harm the organism with too much power.

When the pulsing seemed to dim, she backed away and opened her eyes to look for her caused change.

Sure enough, the bud that had been near her palm when she’d closed her eyes was now a beautiful flower with layers of petals. Jayden was gaping at her, and Jade watched the blossom with approval.

“Very good, Elizah,” Jade said and moved her fingers steadily over the petals, “Although it took much longer than I’d expected for that to occur.”

“What do you mean longer than you’d expected?” Elizah asked, bewildered.

“You were in that trance-like state for quite a while Elizah, I arrived and actually learnt quite a lot of new tricks,” Jayden said and flicked flames from the tips of his fingers.

“I can understand why it took so long, Elizah. You tried your first spurt of power only yesterday. I can’t expect that much from you so soon. I need to be on my way. I’ll meet the two of you tomorrow at the very same hour so please arrive as soon as you can,” Jade said and walked away from their little reserve.

“How was it, whatever you saw in that trance state of yours?” Jayden asked and raised an eyebrow curiously.

There was still a hum in her veins like lightning running through her blood. She didn’t exactly know what to say to begin describing the scene. It was beyond words.

“I can’t find the words to even start describing it,” Elizah tried to say, “I wish you could see it. There’s nothing better than that on this island.”

“I’m willing to hear what you can use to describe this place,” Jayden continued to press her.

“I can just say everything is so different now. I saw life flowing through every being, from a bug to a leaf. It’s beautiful what life can do. It creates and powers everything in this realm. But at the very same time, it can destroy itself if people get too drunk on the power. Thus creating the darkness that breaks the world with havoc but balances the power of the rift created by magic use,” Elizah said and smiled warily.

“That does sound beautiful. I’m sorry I kept poking for more information, but I just want to know if we’re on the right side of this war, to bring back the ‘old system’ or is it going to be a mistake,” Jayden said and observed his surroundings.

“Only time can tell us. We still don’t know what the old system was. Till then we must be ready for anything,” Elizah said and picked the sword lying next to her, “Are you up for some training?”

Jayden gave her a grin and picked up his own sword, “I was wondering when you’d ask. I have something new planned for today.”

He lifted his blade up for defence, and Elizah was about to copy when he lowered his sword and stood facing her. “You’re going to duel me,” he said, and Elizah gave him a sceptical look.

“I’m honestly not worth the competition. You’re going to beat me fair and square,” Elizah said and stood ready in front of him.

“Don’t demote yourself. I’ve seen your significant progress lately,” Jayden said, and he lifted his sword in general duelling etiquette. Elizah copied his motion, and they circled one another, waiting for the first move.

“Ladies first,” Jayden said with a mocking tone. “Don’t try to butter me up,” Elizah said and laughed to allow Jayden to take the first strike.

He landed a swift blow on Elizah’s sword with an intense amount of impact enough to send a defenceless person sprawling. But Elizah held her ground and lifted her blade, and aimed to strike the point he had left vulnerable but ended up close to another hit.

Elizabeth gritted her teeth in frustration, and a small laugh broke from Jayden’s lips. “Come on, Liz, I know you can do better. After all, we’ve just begun,” he said.

Elizah lifted her blade from the interlocked position and aimed at his wrist and handgrip. But her aim was mildly off, allowing Jayden to get the advantage in the situation.

They were stuck with their blades interlocked, knowing that if either gave in, they would be defeated, but none were willing to give up the winning pride.

Jayden then took the risk to see if his opponent would take the bait, but she was far too smart for that. In fact, she only ducked and avoided any possibility of impact.

“Very good move Liz, but I know you’re better than this, use your advantages,” Jayden prompted.

“I-- I’m trying,” she said, clearly frustrated.

Elizah withdrew her blade for this turn and continued to land swift blows. Jayden deflected with speedy ease, which showed his long years of training.

Then she spotted it. The simple weakness. Jayden’s grip on the blade was loose whenever he attempted to deflect an attack. It would only take a well-timed and deceiving blow to render him defenceless.

His footing was also beginning to slip as time went on, and Elizah only used this to her advantage.

She aimed her sword at his throat but suddenly deflected it right at the weak point, and as she expected, the sword went flying.

Jayden didn’t look startled at that moment, but a proud smile grew on his face. He put his hands together and began to clap slowly.

“You’ve done it, Liz. I knew that you had it in you,” he said and took measured steps out towards her.

Elizah was still in shock that she’d actually managed it. She hadn’t expected victory. She thought that she’d lose quite badly to the prince.

Jayden’s arms were outstretched for her to come and embrace him. Elizah dropped her sword and walked into his arms.

“You’re doing great,” he said with a smile, and Elizah stepped back with a wide grin on her face.

“It’s all thanks to your help,” she said, and Jayden felt a tiny bit of pride in his abilities for the first time in his life.