Linley maneuvered my arm around his shoulder and slowly lifted me to my feet until my eyes filled with tears and I screamed with pain. "OW!!!! I can't move I’m sorry, there seems to be something in my side."

Linley laid me back down, this time on my back, brushed off the dirt that covered my clothing and lifted my shirt to see how bad my injury was. "There's nothing there. On either side. You have to tell me where it hurts so I can help you."

I placed my hand where the pain was the strongest, but no matter how many times he looked Linley would always say, "Nothing’s there." He scooped me into his arms and carried me to the lake. It had now cleared of all blackness and was as beautiful as before. We continued into the water and once it got to his waste Linley placed my feet into the water so that I was able to stand up and slowly took off my shirt.

"I'm going to use this to wash your body is that alright?"

I nodded in agreement and just stood there as still as I could. Linley carefully placed my shirt in the water and when it was soaked enough he rolled it into a ball and squeezed it onto different parts of my upper body. Starting with my head and slowly making his way down to my just below my bra in the front and near my lower back on my other side. When he was finished he soaked up water with my shirt again but this time he had it flat in his hands as he gently wiped downwards towards my hips bones.

Once Linley finished he rung out my shirt enough that it was soaking wet and put it back on me. "Is that better?"

Looking down at my side I answered, "Yep, thanks."

"Wow I think that's the first thanks you said to me and actually meant."

"Well you aren't going to get another one if you're that excited about it." We both drug ourselves out of the lake, filled up the canteen and kept walking. There was silence between us for a long time all that could be heard was dirt falling every so often. When I couldn't take the silence anymore I asked, "How were you able to make that ball come out of your hands?"

"It’s actually really simple once you are able to transfer energy throughout your body. First you have to allow yourself to allow the energy to flow through your body, which you can already do, next you have to focus the energy into both of your hands simultaneously and then picture a ball forming. Once that is mastered you just have practice forming the ball of light so that it is hot enough to burn an enemy and then you'll be able to use it."

“Before you found me, I was able to make a small ball of light hover over my hand.”

“Wow, you really are extraordinary if you can do that already. Do you remember how you did it?”

“No.”

“Well that means you won’t take much training since you already contain great strength inside of yourself.” Linley reached for my hand and said, “Clear your mind that’s the key.”

“Easy for you to say, you’ve done a million times.” I sighed, closed my eyes and tried to imagine my hand being covered in a white light. When I opened my eyes nothing happened. “I cleared my mind like you said.”

“Here.” Linley took my left hand, cupped his hands around it and said, “Imagine my magic flowing into you, and when you feel like you have a grasp on it push it back into me.”

I closed my eyes again and for fun I imagined that I was an evil being trying to absorb magic from my victim. When that didn’t work I tried to allow myself to feel his energy coming out of his hands and force it to come into contact with mine. But everything I tried failed. My face began to show the frustration stirring up inside of me.

Linley let go of my hand and in a calm voice said, “Why don’t we try something different. Everyone learns to control their magic a different way. We know that you can transfer your magic through your body when you are under attack. So I’m going to attack you and all you have to do is try your best to fend me off.”

Linley backed up as far as he could and when he felt he was far enough away he charged at me with both of his hands glowing by his sides. I didn’t know what to do. ‘There’s no way I can clear my mind in a situation like this’ When he was just about arm’s length from me I stepped aside and let him run past me. Nevertheless, when he was behind me he grabbed me tightly around my shoulder and waist.

No matter how much I struggled I couldn’t free myself from his grip. With nothing to lose I became as still as I could and shut my eyes. I imagined that I was somewhere else, happy, and free from danger. The next thing I knew I could feel hot energy flowing through my body, hoping that I could control it, I thought as hard as I could about the energy flowing into my hands. Even though it only flowed to one, and took most of my strength, it was enough to shock Linley and it cause him to let go of me.

“Excellent.” He said as he patted me on the back. “Now since it’s still fresh in your mind, do you remember how you made that happen?”

“Sort of. I removed myself from the situation and then my entire body became clear almost as if…”

“As if your mind and soul became one?”

“Nah it was almost as if by clearing my head I was able to see the situation more clearly and thus defeat my enemy.”

“Now that you know how to control your magic you must work to strength it. You are strong at the moment; however, you are not strong enough to defeat great evil if and when it decides to attack. You need practice. Before you try attacking anyone I want you to try and make a ball of light hover over your hand, like you said happened before. Once you make one hover both hands, at the same time, we’ll move on."