Noel couldn't help but grin. Her anger was not completely gone, but her excitement was quickly growing. She pulled her chair back to the desk and sat down. "Okay, you have got to tell me what that was. Because that was…."

"Was…?" said Azrath with a smug grin.

At his expression, Noel thought better of bolstering his already inflated ego. She pursed her lips and shrugged as she leaned forward to rest her arms on the desk. "Eh, it was alright." Noel tried to be as casual as possible. But it obviously didn't work as Azrath's face grew smugger from behind the fluff.

"Sure. Well, if it's just 'alright,' then I guess you don't need my help after all." He began hopping toward the edge of her desk. "I think it's time for a nap." But Noel blocked his path by putting her hand on the desk in front of Azrath.

"Fine, that was awesome. So tell me, what was that? You called it 'flow,' right?"

"That's right," said Azrath, "Though I call this ability Dynamic Drift. It's exactly as it sounds. But there's a lot to it, so listen well. I'm going to tell you about the full nature of Eingh."

Noel nodded and listened eagerly. But a question burned within her. "Hold on, couldn't you have shown me this earlier? It might have helped."

Azrath's eyes fell to look at the desk surface. "Unfortunately, mastering Eingh is a little harder to grasp. Understanding it is a skill, and a lot of time and work must go into training. The lessons I'm about to tell you would have bogged down your mind. Just there to make things more confusing. But now that we have time, I'll tell you everything you need. There's no other choice."

Noel nodded. In the back of her mind, she felt her annoyance return. I do have a choice. However, she kept her mouth shut and gave Azrath back her attention. It was probably not a good idea to mention her talk with Darris.

"The universe is ever-expanding. It continues to grow, even as we sit here."

"Huh?" Noel's mouth was open. Of all the things Azrath could have said, she didn't expect a physics lesson.

"Is this news to you?" said Azrath with a confused look, "I thought humans were advanced in their understanding of the universe."

"No, I know about all that stuff." She had read a few physics books during her studies, though her knowledge was rudimentary. "I'm just not sure where you're going with this. You were supposed to talk about flow."

Azrath smiled. "Oh, I am. And if you have a little patience, you'll see what I mean."

Noel shut her mouth and let him continue.

"So, as I was saying, the universe is in constant motion. We can't see it, but it is. As is the very planet we rest on. Everything has a flow that, if not interrupted, would continue to its predictable conclusion. This is true for everything that exists, both physically and not. From how trees pull water and nutrients from the soil to how rocks sit still on the ground."

"What? Rocks don't move," said Noel, "If they're sitting on the ground, they have no motion."

"Oh, yes, they do."

He was frying her brain already. "No, they don't. You said it yourself. The rock is still."

Azrath took flight and hovered at her eye level.

"And if you pick up the rock and drop it? Where does it go?"

"Down. It drops back to the ground."

"Like this?" And, without warning, Azrath folded his wings again and fell.

Noel's hands shot out to catch the falling Azrath, who landed in them with a soft fump. He grinned at her. Noel scowled back.

"See? You understood where I would go." He wiggled out of her grip and spread his wings to glide out of her hands to resume hovering. Noel watched him warily. He was clearly enjoying this.

"So, if the ground wasn't there? Or if you couldn't catch it, what would happen to the rock?"

Noel's frustration was growing the more they argued. "I dunno! It would keep going, I guess."

"Exactly. The rock's proclivity is to fall."

"Proclivity? It's a rock!"

"It's flow." Azrath looked as if he had revealed the biggest secret in his life. But Noel wouldn't bite.

She scowled. "I don't get it. Explain it to me like I'm an even bigger idiot."

Azrath chuckled, "Don't you see, Noel? The only reason the rock stops at all is that something is there to stop it. But the rock will always have the proclivity to follow the natural flow of gravity, no matter where it is placed. Put it on a hill, and it rolls until it is interrupted. And even then, the rock is always falling, just not at the moment."

Then it clicked, "You're talking about potential and kinetic energy!"

"Call it whatever you want. But very few things can genuinely break that flow of energy. All it can do is temporarily stop it with an equal push from either direction. But that's only true for an inanimate object. With beings that distribute their own energy, it's a bit more complicated. You can walk up a hill, but a rock cannot. So, in a way, you are defying gravity just by pushing against it. In other words, people have to power to generate flow.

Sure," said Noel, "but that's not universal. A person can't actually defy the laws of gravity. There's a limit. We can't fly."

Azrath smiled, "No, but birds can." He emphasized this by whizzing around her room with a few flaps of his wings. He ended with an acrobatic twirl, "and we can do so by using the flow from the air to support us."

"But their bodies still obey the laws of physic."

"That's true, though that does not mean the boundaries of the law cannot be pushed. People are very good at that. You were wrong to say humans can't fly. They have those big, winged vehicles. I've seen them myself. A little too closely."

That was true. Noel's dad had said something similar on their nights of stargazing.

"Aren't planes just the coolest? They're the pinnacle of human ingenuity and laziness. Birds tire themselves out by flapping their wings, but we learned to sit when we fly."

Noel looked at Azrath, "Okay? So, what's your point?"

"My point is that everything has a predictable flow, even energy. Suns create energy, which is passed to plants, then to animals, which is passed to us through the consumption of both. Then we expend that energy to create flow. We, too, have a natural flow. And while we still obey the laws of gravity, we have the power to push against them. Eingh also has a flow, though it does not exist in the physical realm, so its rules are not so cut and dry. It can push the boundaries of reality. It is how you, as a hundred-pound girl, could withstand the impact of that ground vehicle without exploding."

Noel felt her face go red. She was 110 pounds. It had been a while since she ran. And it starting to show.

Azrath mistook her embarrassment as pride as he said, "Now, don't get a swelled head, Noel."

You should talk. Azrath continued on as if he hadn't seen the loathing look Noel shot him.

"Like flight, you can push the boundaries but never break them."

"What do you mean?"

Azrath's smile faded into a stern expression. "You tried it before, didn't you? You pushed the boundaries of reality."

Noel wasn't sure what he was talking about. She voiced the question, which only made Azrath look sterner.

"I felt it when I was in that man's stomach. I sensed your power explode and nearly burn out. What exactly happened?"

It took Noel a moment to remember what Azrath was referring to. It had been eclipsed by the events that happened afterward.

"You mean when I used Heaven's Wrath?"

"Heaven's Wrath?"

Noel explained what she remembered about the attack, including the anger that had seemed to trigger it.

As she finished, Azrath's eyes darted back and forth as if he were searching for something in his mind. Then he said, "I see. Well, I don't know what the staff would have done, but I recommend not using it again."

"Why not?"

"You said you felt tired when you activated it, right?"

Noel nodded. If Darris hadn't stopped her, she would have passed out on the spot.

"That was not your body wearing out. It was your soul being used to fuel the attack."

"What?"

"Sometimes you can trick your body and mind past their perceived limitation. Eingh is a valuable tool in controlling that ability. It even happens to those without knowledge of Eingh, such as a mother lifting something she usually couldn't to save her child.

"But small feats of strength are one thing. The soul is absolute. It knows its limitations. You cannot fool it into breaking boundaries like that. And when you exceed them, the excess Eingh is insufficient to fuel the desired outcome. So, the soul makes up for it by expending itself. Like when you burn fat as you exercise."

A feeling of dread crept up from Noel's feet and through her spine. "What happens if your soul burns out?"

Azrath paused and fixed her with a look so severe that she visibly shivered.

"That's it. Your soul is gone. There is no afterlife, no salvation, just nothingness as who you were no longer exists. All that's left is a husk of barely living flesh. Your heart may beat, but you might as well be dead. In fact, death would be a better fate."

He was serious. Noel had almost ended up worse than dead. It was enough to make her nauseous.

Azrath continued with a much brighter tone, "Luckily, that didn't happen. And now we have a chance to expand the flow of Eingh within you. And to do that, we need to build confidence. As your confidence builds, your soul's output of Eingh also grows, though it's a grueling process as there is no cheating."

"So how do I start building confidence?" asked Noel doing her best to fight past her nausea. She had to know.

"We'll get to that. First, I need to finish my explanation of flow."

Noel's hands tightened, then she relaxed them and nodded. "Alright."

"Eingh is a flow as natural as gravity. Every living thing has it. It is an energy that we expend in every action or thought. We use Eingh every day when we read someone's emotions or sense someone watching us. As one advances their mastery of Eingh, it becomes easier to discern the subtle changes in one's aura. Masters are even able to sense bloodlust.

"Since I was young, I've had a deep connection with Eingh. Most people have some awareness of it. It's usually called a sixth sense. But I could feel it as tangibly as a breeze in my hair. And so, as I trained in Eingh, I developed a special technique which I will pass to you now."

Noel could feel her excitement growing.

Azrath smiled again, "I can sense your anticipation, Noel. Yes, the time has come for me to actually teach you. The secret to battle is not some special stance or punch. It comes from reading your opponent's flow. Just like the rock, the body has a natural bias. The body is an intricate system of energy flow—so many components of anatomy work in tandem to make a human move in their desired way. 

"But while it may be complicated, the flow cannot come from nothing. No matter how fast someone moves, that energy must be distributed throughout the body as a wind-up and release. And using Dynamic Drift, you, too, can sense an opponent's movement before they even make it."

"In other words, I'll be able to predict the future?" Noel couldn't help but stand up. Her hands closed into fists. "This sounds awesome! I'm so ready to start!"

"It's not quite predicting the future, Noel."

"It's not?"

"No. Flow could be used for divination by reading the Everflow itself, but very few can actually pull it off. With my technique, you simply read a person's energy flow and predict their movements like how you could predict me falling, only with a human body. That is Dynamic Drift.

"This technique of yours sounds easy," said Noel. She had played a few sports before, like baseball, with her dad. It was the same principle as figuring out his pitch and timing her swing.

"I assure you, it's not," said Azrath. "Dynamic Drift is the ultimate defensive ability. It's one thing to read a person's movement. But actually, reacting to it? That takes a lot of hard work. It requires all five senses to be firing at their max."

"You made it look easy. And you're just a puffball."

"Years of practice and experience are carved into my body. It doesn't matter what form I take."

Noel folded her arms. "Hmph, well, I bet I can do it."

Azrath was calm as he said, "Oh? If you're so sure Fine, then you try."

"What?" said Noel, "Now?"

"Yes, now. Don't back out now after bragging like that. I was going to have you try it, anyway. But now, I won't hold back. The only way to master it is to start practicing. Skill mastery is a good way to grow your confidence and your Eingh. Just try to read my movements. Soon, that energy will be more than a feeling. It will be as tangible as the wind."

With that, Azrath returned to the air. Noel watched him carefully. She raised her hands again, this time in an attempt at a defensive stance. Azrath began to sway in the air like a pendulum, wings barely flapping. He swung back and forth, his eyes locked on Noel.

Noel's eyes were locked back, following the motion of his flight with anticipation. Then Azrath was gone again. Something soft and fluffy collided with the side of her face. It hit her hard enough to jerk her head sideways. By the time she recovered from the blow, Azrath had collided with the other side of her face.

"You're wide open, Noel," she heard him say before she felt his fur brush her inner forearms and connect another soft tackle to her chest. She staggered back, surprised at the force of the impact. Or maybe it was because she was off balance from the previous two attacks.

"Do you get it now?" said Azrath, who came to a stop in front of her. "It's not as easy as you thought. And if you're struggling this much against me, imagine what fighting an Ahngreel will be like."

"I get it, I get it," said Noel regaining her balance. She tried not to imagine fighting Oriander and his massive fists. Just the thought made Noel's breathing stagger.

She took a moment to steady her breath.

"You alright?" said Azrath as he flew closer. His eyes were full of concern.

Noel looked back at him, wondering if she should be honest. "Yeah, I'm fine," she lied.

Azrath swelled with indignation. "Now, don't give me that, Noel. I may be dense, but I'm not stupid. I know anxiety when I see it."

Noel looked away from him, feeling the storm of emotions return. What did he know? Couldn't he leave her alone and let her deal? She didn't need him!

"Noel."

Her eyes shot back up to glare at Azrath. Noel wanted to scream at him that this was all his fault that she was stuck in this situation. She had acknowledged her own failure, so why couldn't he? But at the look on his face, her anger melted. "Azrath?"

"Yes, Noel."

"Why did you have to come here? To Earth, I mean?"

Azrath looked down at the floor. "You know, I've been asking myself the same thing over and over for the past several days. Why did I choose to abandon all I had to chase after heroics? Was I just looking to prove myself?"

"You said you were a soldier looking to eradicate evil in the name of Urzuran, right?"

He looked back at her. "I'm not talking about that, Noel. Even before I came to Earth, I could only ever think of myself."

Azrath fluttered down to land on her bed. "In the end, no matter what I do, I make things worse for the people around me. And I'm not looking for pity. I don't deserve any sympathy after what I've done. The only thing to do now is to face the future head-on and accept the plan Urzuran has for me."

Noel was surprised, "Why are you telling me this?"

Azrath smiled, "Because I trust you, Noel. We are in this together. So, I want to come clean. No more secrets from me."

Noel was flattered that he had put his trust in her so readily. But she wasn't sure if she could return that trust, not after what happened. She sat back down on her desk chair and turned to face him. "But how can you do that? How can you accept someone else's design?"

Azrath's wings twitched as his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Because that is the natural state of the world. It's not easy, but it's correct."

"Why?"

"Why? Because the Cosmic Flow is not something to be defied. I've told you before. It's like thinking you can defy gravity."

"But we can," said Noel. Her leg began to bounce impatiently, "you said it yourself. People figured out how to fly."

"But that's only an illusion. When birds fly, they still follow the laws of gravity through aerodynamics. There are still rules in place. Not anything can fly. That's reality."

"Eingh can defy reality. I took hits I would have died from if not for Eingh. My friggn' arm melted off, and now it's fine!" She emphasized this by raising her right hand. "How can you say that's reality?!"

"Because it is. Eingh may not be observable, but it can be felt. And while it can push the boundaries of reality, it can never break them. Tell me, what color is your blanket? The one I'm standing on right now."

Noel jerked her head back in surprise, "Wha? The hell does that—?"

"Just answer the question," he interrupted.

She took a second to compose herself. Then glanced at her bedspread. "It's blue, I guess."

"You guess? Are you colorblind?"

Noel rolled her eyes. "It's blue."

"Is it green?"

"No."

"Can you make it green?"

"Not without dye or whatever."

"Am I standing on your desk right now?"

"No, you're on the bed, stupid!" These questions were so annoying that she no longer cared about being nice. "Maybe you're the one who's blind."

"I'm not blind, Noel. I can see reality. No matter what you do—even if you used Eingh to make me see a different color—your blanket will always be blue. Unless I move or you make me, I am standing on this bed. We both exist in this room, on this land, and in this world.

"Eingh can only manipulate that which has will. You have influence over yourself and what others do and perceive. That's it. You can try to change gravity, but it will always push back. When people try to change how a river flows, it will fight its hardest to return to its natural course. This is true for all which has its own flow." He paused as his eyes bore into hers, "You need to accept your reality. You are not the center of the universe; when you pretend to be, the universe pushes right back."

"I didn't say anything about that!" said Noel, standing up from her chair.

Azrath flew into the air to meet her eyes. "Well, it seems to me that you need a reminder. Accept the will of the universe, or you'll end up like me!"

"What, a pathetic little failure that makes a girl fight his own battles for him."

"Yes!" said Azrath, "Take it from someone who thought he was more important than the one he loved: the sooner you choose to accept your role in life, the faster you'll find happiness."

"How can I? When life's dealt me such a shitty hand? How can I take that lying down?"

"Maybe your life is shitty because you can't take it lying down. So many people before you learned how to deal with life's challenges despite the world crumbling around them. Why are you any different?"

She had no words for that.

Azrath took her silence in his stride, "You can pretend everything is against you, Noel, but in reality, it's not the case. You are neither above nor below anyone. You are just another person in this world. And it's arrogant to think otherwise." Then he sighed and landed back on the bed. "But who am I to talk? You were right to call me a failure. Whenever I try to do the right thing, it blows up in my face. People end up getting hurt. I'm sorr—" He cut himself off before falling into a somber silence.

"No," said Noel, sitting back down herself, "I'm sorry. I lost my cool. And maybe you're right. I'm no different from anyone else."

There were even others with a similar curse.

Azrath was right, at least about other people. Everyone struggled so much: Papa, Granny, Aunt Jillian, Mr. Tamayoshi, and even Darris. They all had to suffer because of what life handed to them. And yet, they continued onward. But what could she do? The things everyone told her sounded like the right thing to do. "Why is the world so complicated, Azrath?"

"Oh, Noel," said Azrath, who seemed to deflate at her question, "The world's not complicated; people are. We are the only things in nature granted awareness. If the world were left to its own devices, everything would move exactly as they were meant to. The rain would fall, and the plants would grow. Animals would live, die, and adapt to their surroundings. And the world would keep on turning. All would follow the natural flow. But we people were given the ability to question by our gods. It is both a blessing and a curse.

"What do we do with the knowledge we are given? Are we rulers? Servants? Or are we given the greatest challenge of them all? To simply be. We are part of the natural flow, and yet we are not. Luckily, we are given a higher power to bring order to our chaotic minds."

 Noel shook her head, "I've never been one for God. It just never made sense to me." How could any god allow the curse to exist?

"Then there's always the natural order. People always seem to want to push the boundaries of nature. We build our homes in the paths of storms. And when they destroy them, we rebuild our houses and tell the storm to 'go ahead and try again.' It's how we've always been."

"But without people defying the storms, we wouldn't have cities. Without people pushing past their limits, people wouldn't have created so many great things."

"Is that actually good, though? It's the eternal conundrum. But, in the end, those who created those things followed the flow. They were led there by providence."

"And those who destroyed or killed people were providence, too, right?"

Azrath looked at her and smiled sadly, "choice exists, Noel, don't get me wrong. But there is a right choice and a wrong choice; to accept or deny. Those who accept their fate will embrace it and become what providence has chosen. Those who deny will forever try to control a force that will never let them go. Fighting fate only creates misery. And those who are miserable tend to spread it to others."

"I can't accept that," said Noel, "I've tried to accept, and look where it's gotten me. The only way forward is to walk against the current that's pushing me down this path. And I need you to help me do it. But it's your choice."

"It's Urzuran's will that I help you. And I will do everything in my power to—" he stopped, eyes wide and mouth agape. "Wait, what did you just say?"

It took Noel a second to recognize that the expression on Azrath's face was abject horror. And then another second to realize why. An icy hand curled its fingers around her heart as she realized what she had let slip.