Soon, the sun had risen to its peak, and exhaustion was already setting in on Kaelor and Kira. They settled on the soft grass, catching their breaths. A sweet, melodic smell attracted their noses, turning their heads to see Sapphire carrying some bowls with steam coming out of them, followed by Nirro carrying a cloth bag.
Everyone gathered around, each receiving a bowl from Sapphire. Nirro then brought out scorn breads from the cloth bag and shared them. Upon receiving her share, Kira wasted no time in gulping down her food, as it was already inviting. The porridge was sweet and tangy, coupled with the bread. She was done, as were the others.
Sprawled around, Nirro and Sapphire lay side by side on their backs. Lucian sat up with his back facing Kira and Kaelor, who sat in the middle, turned towards each other. Kira played with little insects around her, while Kaelor watched, bored. Then, like a burst of inspiration, an idea surged into him. His eyes sparkled, and he immediately closed the distance between him and Kira, with little space between their faces, catching Kira off guard. She had to lean back.
"Hey, want to see something I can do?" he said, excitement reeking from him. He inched closer every time Kira leaned back to create space. As the closeness was getting unbearable, Kira frantically nodded her head, agreeing to Kaelor's request. Seeing she had agreed, he returned to his original spot.
"Check it out," he said, stretching his hand out. Kira drew close to see. Grey streaks were coming out from the tips of his fingers. At first, they looked like thin lines of mist until they started converging in the middle of his palm. At first, it formed a small, round ball, then a cube, and countless other forms, like it didn't have any real form.
Seeing Kira's interest, he proceeded, with his other hand placing over the grey form. The grey form then floated between his hands as he kept adding more grey streaks, increasing the size of its form. Upon reaching a size bigger than his hand, he stopped.
"Ta-da!" he said, Kira looking at him questionably, laughing upon Kira's confusion. He continued, and, as if by coincidence, the wind started blowing, with leaves and petals flowing in the air. With a wave of his hand, the grey matter moved in random motion around before returning in front of Kira.
As he looked inside, she saw leaves and petals swirling within the matter. She then looked around; no petals or leaves were on the ground, and the wind that had just arrived was no longer there. It had all been trapped inside the matter.
Before she could settle her amazement, Kaelor surprised her again. With one finger, he touched the ball, and just like that, the grey matter vanished, but the petals and leaves were still floating, swirling around. Kira was shocked.
The gale of wind carrying the petals and leaves circulated around Kira, her hair and clothes ruffling in the wind. Before she knew it, she was floating within the swirling petals and leaves. At first, she was scared, but then relaxed, laughing. Kaelor laughed along with her. Sapphire smiled, watching them, while Nirro watched along, giving no expression. Lucian, on the other hand, stared at them with dissatisfaction, especially at Kira, as if he didn't like her around.
"Amazing, isn't it?" he asked, starting up at Kira floating, to which Kira nodded. Intrigued, she stretched her hand to feel the wind. As her hand touched the air, like a glitch, her eyes blanked, and for that split second, the transparent wind turned to black lines that spread like roots, then disappeared as she blinked her eyes.
The once-graceful wind became violent, flipping Kira around vigorously. Her heart caught in her throat as she tried to stabilize herself, but the wind encasing her only became more rampant.
"I want to come down!" Kira wailed. On hearing her voice, Kaelor's laughter paused, and he saw what was happening to Kira.
"Okay, I'm coming!" he replied, moving his hand to dispel the magic, which proved harder than expected. Kaelor was confused; his power was not responding to him, and it seemed like when he tried to calm it down, it had the opposite effect.
"Down... I want to... down," she cried out, some words getting caught in her throat due to fear. Her breathing was frantic, and little cuts started appearing on her body due to the violent wind. She floated high above.
Below, Sapphire and Nirro had appeared next to Kaelor due to the commotion.
Lucian had also gotten up but couldn't come close, so he just stared at Kira, trying to uncover something. The ball that had wrapped Kira in was drawing more air into itself.
"What's going on?" Sapphire asked, looking at Kira struggling in the air. Nirro stood silent beside him.
"Kira is trapped," Kealor replied.
"How did it get this big?" Sapphire asked.
"I don't know; my powers aren't responding," Kealor said.
"Why didn't you stop sooner?" Sapphire asked.
"It wasn't this big," Kealor said, his hand mimicking the massive gale of wind that had developed. Because he was distracted, the little control he had vanished, and the speed at which the ball was taking in air increased a lot, like a turbine.
Kira, feeling disoriented, couldn't muster any strength. Her head was dizzy, and her eyes were droopy. Sapphire flashed Kealor an irritated look, like someone tired of dealing with a mischievous child. Kealor flashed a sheepish smile in response.
"Kira, hold on; we'll get you down!" Sapphire shouted for Kira to hear, who could barely understand.
"Let's go!" Sapphire signaled, and Nirro nodded. Closing in on where Kira was held, Sapphire instructed, "Kealor, do everything you can to hold it in place; we'll attack the ball."
"Wait, but Nirro's..." Kealor started.
"Don't worry; he won't use it. Nirro, throw what you can to reduce the speed," Sapphire said, listening to his own directions. They did their parts, and eventually, the wind couldn't sustain its speed. The ball collapsed, bursting air in all directions.
Sapphire, Lucian, Nirro, and Kealor shielded themselves from the debris. With the collapse, Kira fell, and Nirro caught her in the nick of time before she could touch the ground. Sapphire and Kealor rushed towards her, while Lucian remained where he was, watching.
Stirring awake, dizzy at first but soon gaining clarity, Kira met with three pairs of eyes, each with different emotions: worry, relief, and impassive.
"Are you okay, Kira?" Sapphire asked. Kira responded with a slow and tired nod. Sapphire smiled. "Come, let's take you inside and clean your wounds."
With that said, Sapphire turned his back towards Kira, and Nirro assisted her onto Sapphire's back. Sapphire carried her towards the house, with Nirro following closely behind, accompanied by Kaelor, who had already started chattering away.
"Lucian, aren't you coming in?" Kaelor called out once they reached the door to the house.
"Yes," Lucian uttered before moving towards the house.