I rushed to the small fountain to see a slight glow coming from the now murky water. What was going on? Mist had been weak but stable. Did the blight that fell in the water affect her? I should not have let all that contaminated blood flow into the fountain. I needed to get her out of here and to fresh water now. 

“Michael, I need you to bring the pot over here now.” In my panic I had laden my voice with my power causing all the plants to speak the words with me. The shock on Michael’s face was relatively mild and he quickly fetched the pot without questioning. However, the captain and the other soldiers in the courtyard were visibly shaken. It seems that my display of power earlier did not fully etch my powers into their minds. 

“Wait,” a ragged voice called out to me. I looked over to the source of that voice and saw Tide staring at the water.

“But we need to get her out of that filth.” I was practically pleading. I had not come all this way to have Mist collapse right after being rescued. 

“The shock might destabilize her.” Tide said, still looking into the water. “She has already started to incorporate the blood and blight into her pathways. I do not know what will happen if it is suddenly removed. She may end up like a fish suddenly thrown into a new pond.”

I started to complain, “But-”

“-Just wait,” Tide said sternly, interrupting me. Michael, whether he heard the conversation between Tide and I or not, still brought the pot to me. I was very tempted to take it and rush Mist to the river to get her out of this filth. Tide was so weak right now that there was nothing she could do to stop me. But her warning echoed in my mind. The last thing I wanted was for Mist to suffer again because of my actions. I have hurt her so many times in these last few months. 

“There surely must be something that we can do?” I asked Tide pleadingly while lowering the pot to the ground with a heavy thunk. 

“Her body is trying to work with and incorporate all this new energy. I am sure you have noticed how oddly stable the spiritual energy in the air has stayed even after the fighting stopped. It is not dissipating as it should. Somehow our powers have mixed with that of the filth and created something new. You might not be able to feel it, but something similar has happened in the fountain. We should not risk unbalancing that. The only thing that might help would be to dilute the mixture with some of my energy.” I looked at her once again pleading with my eyes. After quickly looking at me she turned her eyes back to the fountain. “But until I am free from this paralysis I will not be able to use my powers.” The thought flashed through my mind to rush Tide to the river to free her spiritual energy. It seemed Tide was able to read my thoughts because she continued. “I do not think there is any way for me to be free in time. Success or failure, she will be done in just a few minutes.”

Part of me was kicking myself once again for never practicing at manipulating spiritual threads. I could only see the very basics of what Tide was able to see in Mist. All I could really feel was the energy around Mist swirling and trying to interweave itself into her fibers. All the ambient energy in the water was being drawn to her, causing a glow from the condensing energy to form around the sphere of her spirit. 

The water was not the only thing that was being affected. I could feel a movement of the mixture of energy in the air making its way toward her. This process seemed to be feeding itself. Faster and faster the glow about Mist was growing as the energy gathered around her. 

It was getting to the point that my companions and the other humans that had gathered around had to look away. This was not good. She went from barely having enough energy to hold herself together to having too much. The more energy gathered the more she had to process through her body. If she lost control the backlash from the release of this torrent of energy would be devastating. 

Dread filled my heart as the glow continued to intensify. Even I was starting to struggle to see more than just the silhouette of Tide and Leafia laying on the edge of the fountain. What do I do about Leafia! She was barely stabilized and was in no shape to defend herself from the growing potential backlash. I needed to get her out of the courtyard. But that would mean leaving Mist. I froze, not knowing what to do. 

My hesitation cost me my chance to act. The swirling powers had reached a tipping point. Not wasting another second, I scooped Leafia off the fountain wall and shielded her with my body, craning my head to watch Mist even if all I could see with my eyes was white. 

With a large splash of the water on the sides of the fountain the light disappeared. I continued to watch the fountain but the sudden loss of light made it impossible to see. Waiting a few seconds for my eyes to adjust was agonizing. The white blur in the fountain slowly registered as a familiar looking girl who appeared to be about to reach adulthood floating in the water. Her long black hair was spread out around her suspended on the water’s surface. 

Slowly the girl’s eyes opened. Her eyes were a color that I had never seen before. Red. Blood red. She blinked and then blinked again, then slowly raised her arm out of the water. After examining her hand for a few seconds she shakily sat herself up. 

Her strikingly red eyes locked onto me and a smooth, soft and familiar voice sounded, “Laurel, what is going on?”

The stress that had been building up inside of me finally released itself in a loud outburst of laughter. I gestured with my free arm for her to come over. Shakily she crawled her way to the edge of the fountain and practically fell out of it onto my lap right next to Leafia. Her hair fell back revealing the pointed ears, much more pointy than other spirits I had seen. I finally was able to control my laughing enough to answer Mist. “You have just evolved. You are a naiad now.”

Mist looked puzzled for a moment. “The water feels strangely distant. I thought I would be able to feel it even better now.” 

“You are not a naiad,” Tide’s voice came from behind us. 

“What else could a water sprite evolve into?” I asked her with a mixture of puzzlement and a little bit of ridicule. 

“I do not know,” she said slowly, “But the sense of kinship I have with her is even less now than when she was a sprite.”

During the silence that followed I looked up to see that everyone had gathered round the fountain, most of them staring at the new greater spirit. “Do you have any ideas, Mist?” 

She closed her eyes once again and sat silently for a minute, “If anything, I feel the closest kinship to these mortals,” she said pointing to the gathered men and elf around us.

Then without warning she extracted herself from my arm and unsteadily made her way to her feet. “I was always envious of your legs,” she said, making a wobbly step only to be caught by Gray as she started to fall. I noticed his face turn red as she hugged onto his arm. “But now I think Faun has the better idea of using four.”

I could not suppress my laughter, and I was able to hear Faun’s clear laugh joining mine. Suddenly my heart was full. I finally had my family back. Tears filled my eyes as I laughed with joy. 

But quickly I grew quiet as I felt Leafia stir in my lap. Her eyes flickered open just as Mist’s had done a few minutes ago. Her eyes soon found her way to Mist. After a second Leafia’s brow wrinkled. “How?” I heard in a very soft voice.

I smiled down at Leafia and said, “It is Mist. She somehow evolved into a greater spirit after you saved her.” If Leafia had not blocked Maximus’s power there is no doubt in my mind that Mist would not be with us right now. Leafia really was the true hero here. 

Still in a soft voice Leafia whispered, “Tell her to stop showing off my body.”

Katuwarrior

Thank you to those who have stuck around and put up with the slow releases. Good news is that I have been writing more and am getting really close to finishing this volume.