Elix climbed the ridge with steady steps, his mind set on the road to Illendia and the queen he had sworn to save. Halfway up, his boot caught on something hard. He knelt and brushed away the dirt. A stone tablet lay buried there, its surface covered in strange carved symbols. He pulled the tablet free. The ground shook hard beneath him. Above, a huge boulder broke loose from the cliff and tumbled straight down toward him. Elix threw up his hand on pure instinct. The boulder stopped in the air, hanging an arm's length from his face. He stared at his open palm. The symbols on the tablet glowed faintly, and he understood them, word for word. He set the boulder gently aside and felt the new power humming under his skin. Further up the slope, Elix found a wide wooden platform marked with a painted star, ringed by small objects clearly meant for practice. Someone had been waiting for a person like him. He stepped onto the platform and began to test what he could do. His road to the queen had just changed.

Elix stood on the painted platform and lifted a small clay pot with his mind. It rose, spun, and settled back down. He tried a heavier vase next. It floated up smoothly. He smiled and reached for more. A strange heat built in his chest. It crawled down his arm and pooled in his palm. He shook his hand to cool it, but the heat grew sharper. Then flame burst from his fingers in a bright, hissing arc. The fire shot wide and struck a nearby tree. Bark caught at once. Orange flames climbed the trunk fast. Elix stepped back, stunned. He stared at his smoking hand, and the tablet at his hip glowed warm against his side. A door slammed open behind him. From a bark-walled shack tucked among the trees, a woman ran out. She thrust both hands toward a small pond. Water rose in a curling rope, flew through the air, and crashed over the burning tree. Steam hissed up in a thick white cloud. She turned to Elix, breathing hard. An antler ring carved with a family crest gleamed on her finger. Her eyes went straight to the tablet. "That belongs to me," she said. "I built this platform. I've been watching. Give it back before you burn down everything I've worked for." Elix's hand closed around the tablet. He met her gaze and shook his head. "I need it. The queen needs me to have it." The woman's jaw tightened. She did not argue. She only stepped closer, and Elix understood the easy part of his road had just ended.