Sniffing, Blake shuddered as he stood by the river in nothing but his underwear, holding onto Coney for warmth. The sun had barely peeked over the horizon making the air cold from the morning dew. Looking with indignation at Cainen who was fully dressed. There were no cold shivers on his tanned skin and the green eyes glittered with amusement.

“I hope there is a reason why you pull me out of bed at such an early time and tells me to get undressed in the middle of nowhere,” Blake said, seriously considering throwing Coney at Cainen if he didn’t give him a satisfying answer.

“For my amusement?” Cainen said, his voice smooth as he scratched his perfectly trimmed beard. Perfectly fitting the sex appeal coming off him. A faint smirk twisted the corners of his lips which only made him look even more like every girl’s wet dream.  Well, maybe Blake’s too, once upon a time, but now that spot was occupied by a slightly dim-witted wolf shifter with the most stunning blue eyes.

“I will burn you. Starting a fire is one of the few spells I can do but it has come in handy,” Blake grunted.

Raising his hands in surrender, Cainen smirked, “I’m jesting. Leon will teach you fire magic in the evening. Now it’s my turn and we need to get through the water trial in order for you to start learning water magic.”

Blake perked up at the mention of the water trial. “So, it is finally time.”

“If you succeed it will prove that you can use all the elements, Blake!” said Coney, satisfied with being carried despite his previous complaints when Blake had lifted him up. Now he nestled closer to Blake’s chest, adamant to keep him warm.

“I remember, up until now it has only been speculated that I might be able to do it. Being able to use fire and wind has already been proven, though I am not that great at it. Normally, I wouldn’t be able to use an opposite element,” Blake muttered, looking around. His eyes falling on the river. “I’m assuming there is a reason why we are by the river.”

“Indeed. Step into the river, kitten,” Cainen said laughing at Blake who gave him a flabbergasted glance. “You will need to be in the water to start the water trial.”

Grumbling, Blake put down Coney and scurried over to the river. The water was fairly calm here, and the water was clear. Dipping his toe, Blake’s entire body shuddered as the icy water touched his skin. Looking over at Cainen who gave him shooing motions, Blake gritted his teeth and went in. Gasping as the cold water sent a shock through him. Slowly, between rushed breaths, Blake paddles out until the water was up to his waist.

Coney was jumping back and forth, clearly worried but didn’t say anything.

“What now?” asked Blake between clenched teeth. Really wanting to get this over with.

Cainen leaned down, touching the water that rippled. As it did, a glow flowed outwards, enveloping Blake and the river. Suddenly, everything vanished except the water. The sky was dark, with a full moon above them. Large and staring, while the water was clear.

“Cainen?”

“Can you see it?”

“See what?”

“The emissary of the water spirit. The water spirit would send it with the challenge.”

Blake looked around. There was none there. None but him and the water. “There is no one-“ Blake silenced as something caught his eyes. Something moving in the water, glowing with the vibrant color of white and orange with a moon crescent on its back. A koi fish moved between his legs, touching him as if wanting his attention.

“I see a koi fish. It is glowing and has a moon crescent on its back. “

“Strange, I have never heard of such an emissary. Normally it’s just a common fish.”

“What?” asked Blake, following the fish who now avoided him every time he came close.

“The water spirit didn’t send an emissary,“ huffed Coney’s voice. “She came herself to greet Blake.”

Blake froze as he was just about to try and touch the fish. The water spirit herself. “Is that normal?”

“No, I have never heard of it,” Cainen said, his voice distant. “The challenge is still on though. The purpose is to catch the fish, in this case, the water spirit.”

“Catch her?” Blake paddle closer, leaning down, and tried to grab the fish but she moved away with movements he couldn’t follow. “How? She is moving too fast.”

“That is the challenge. The fish will try to avoid you. You will need to try and find a way to catch her.”

Looking around, Blake tried to solve it. In the other challenges, he had to face something, either facing his fear or giving in. He assumed something similar was needed here as well. “What is the name of this challenge?”

“The Test of Harmony,” Cainen answered, “Remember that this is a challenge from the water spirit. Watch her, feel her, think. She is already giving you clues.”

Blake watched the koi fish, every time he moved, it swam away. When he stood still though…

Leaning down, almost drowning himself in the cold water, forcing himself to stop shivering. The water spirit slowly swam closer. He forced himself to be patient, he could feel the water flowing ensuring himself that he wasn’t moving along with it.

The koi fish was now almost in his arms. Slowly, so slowly that it almost hurt, he lifted her up. She barely made any trouble for him, allowing him to lift her up. She glowed as she was raised into the air and Blake could feel his hands heat as he touched her smooth scales. Then she vanished into a mirage of lights, and all that was left was a glowing rune on his hand depicting three horizontal, wavy stripes engulfed in a circle.

The world faded into light, and Blake saw Cainen and Coney by the beach. He lifted his hand in triumph, displaying the rune he just received. “Only one element left, then I have them all.”

“Perhaps, but now you have to master the element,” Cainen said and stopped Blake from getting up. “No, you will need to stay in the river.”

“Are you kidding me?”

“Nope, the water and earth element are both physical elements which means that you will need to be in contact with them in order to control them. Unlike fire and wind, which you create with your spells, water and earth cannot be created, just controlled.”

“What?” Blake sneezed, as the cold was back with a vengeance. He had forgotten it in the trial but now it was apparent as his skin looked more blue than white. “So, I can only use water magic by water?”

“Not really, the air is filled with water. Well, maybe not in a desert, but normally and water magic doesn’t need much water. Only a drop is enough to expand the water into rain or-” Cainen touched the water, letting the drops fall from his hand as he raised it. “Auqa otum.”

The water drops vanished, becoming gas as a mist suddenly laid over the glade, repeating the spell, the mist suddenly gathered in Cainen’s hands again to become water drops dancing over his fingers.

“I have never heard about that spell before,” Blake said eagerly.

“That is because it is advanced. The Otum spell is also called the modifying spell.  Changing the form of the element is extremely hard, you can only do it with fire, water, and earth. It can change the forms of the element to one of its other forms. Such as water being able to turn from liquid to gas and the other way around. It can be a great spell to gather moisture from the air to get water to use water spells,” Cainen said, allowing the water drops to fall.

“It can be used with fire?” Blake asked eagerly.

“Yes, it will change fire to lightning or lightning to fire but the success rate is… Well, let’s just say that there are plenty of fire elementalists who have electrocuted themselves.”

“How?” Blake asked with an expression of utter incomprehension.

“It is nearly impossible to control lightning, so despite it being stronger than ordinary fire we cannot really use it other than to shoot it straight forward. Still, it looks good so people have tried to turn fire into lightning only to have it fly straight back at you, “ Cainen shrugged. “Water is easier and frankly, it is practical to try and change the form of the water since it allows you to gather water where you cannot find it. Of course, if you are a bit more flexible with your morals then there is always one place you can find water.”

Blake looked over at Cainen with a frown, feeling an uncomfortable shiver go down his spine. “Where?”

Cainen pointed at his body, “from living bodies. Up to 60 percent of the human body is made of water. There are some nasty spells, such as the Isuah spell, that drains the water of its target no matter if it is plants, animals or humans.”

“Is it dark magic?”

“No. Immoral? Yes, but not dark. It is not tainted and still considered fully natural,” Cainen explained picking up a leaf from a nearby bush. “Auqa Isuah”

The leaf crumbled up as drops of water were pressed out of it, only leaving a dry shell in its wake. The image of a human going through the same thing flashed through Blake’s mind and he looked away. “That’s horrible.”

“Yes, it is… and practical if you have no other choice. A few water drops from a leaf like this can save your life one day. “

“Why even show me such a spell?” asked Blake, looking down at his reflection. Feeling like he had enough guilt over using bad magic for him to add to it.

“You are missing the point, Blake,” Coney said, his cute little nose twitching. “It was to show you that horrible magic exists even in natural magic, not just tainted one like dark magic.”

“The little rabbit is correct, kitten.” Dropping the leaf, Cainen came closer. “In the days to come, you will most likely see very dark magic and the witches will be eager to tell you this is the reason why it should be forbidden. I just wanted to show you a glimpse of the magic that is legal but still as horrifying. Though dark magic has other problems than just being considered evil, it is still just magic though in a more tainted form. What makes it evil is what it is used for.”

“I have heard all that before,” Blake said, hearing Ahriman’s words echoed in his mind. “But why does everyone claim its tainted magic. Tainted how? With what?”

“Frankly, we mortals don’t know the entire story, but I heard you have an Archon as guardian. Maybe he can answer when I cannot,” Cainen said with a shrug. Blake let out a snort. Ahriman would most likely lie his head off, but that was not something new.

“Either way, let’s see if I can help you cast some decent water spells before school starts, “ Cainen said and Blake was pulled out of his thoughts to once again swim around in the utterly cold water, cursing his life for always dragging him away from his warm bed.