Air: Merlin's Chalice (The Children of Avalon Book 1) by Meredith Bond

Somehow, despite the wind and rain, I felt better than I had in a long time. Warmth and energy coursed through me. Hope and determination followed, giving me a strength I’d never known before.
    Dylan gave me a surprised smile—he must have felt it too. But then, as fast as the moment had come, he pushed it aside and called out, “Now, on three we’ll put an end to this storm. One...”
    “How?” I interrupted.
    Dylan looked confused for a moment and gave a little shrug. “You just will it to end. Imagine a blue sky and the sun shining.”
    That was something I could do. I nodded.
    “One, two, three!” Dylan called out.
    I formed a picture in my mind’s eye of what the field had looked like before the storm had hit. It was hard concentrating with my eyes open, staring into the intense green of Dylan’s eyes. There was the wind and rain to contend with, as well. I just wished it would stop so I could form the picture, so I could see the sun. I concentrated harder, seeing the green of the grass in Dylan’s eyes, seeing the clear blue sky and the sun reflected in them.
    And then I realized I truly was seeing the sky and sun reflected in his eyes.
    A smile grew on his face, until it reached all the way into his eyes, and another kind of warmth shot through me. How I wished he would always look at me that way.
    “We did it!” He laughed, letting go of me.
    It was suddenly cold without his warmth, without his magic. A lonely sadness whipped through me, but then the excitement of what we had done took over. I let out a little whoop of excitement, until my exhaustion suddenly slammed into me and I stumbled forward.
    I would have fallen down if Dylan hadn’t grabbed me. I clung to him for a moment and then, reluctantly, let go as I realized where we were. Sir Dagonet came out of the woods—a quarter of a mile away!
    “How did we get all the way over here?” I asked, pushing away from Dylan and taking a few steps toward the wood.
    Dylan looked beyond me to where Sir Dagonet stood calling for us. “I don’t know. The storm must have pushed us.”
    “So far? So fast?”
    Dylan just shrugged his shoulders. “That’s what happens when you create such strong winds,” he said, as he began to walk back to Sir Dagonet. I could do nothing but follow in silence.
    Dylan still believed I was responsible for the storm, but that was ridiculous. Why would I create a storm like that? I wasn’t even certain that I could.
    But if I wasn’t responsible, and neither was Dylan, then who was?
    <><><>
    Nimuë crumpled into the most comfortable chair in her chamber.
    She could not move. She barely had the strength to even blink. She was completely drained.
    It was too much. A full–blown hurricane at such a distance—it took too much magic. And still they were not close enough.
    She had hoped the hurricane would blow them closer so she could send her man out to fetch them. But it was not enough. They were only three miles from Gloucester—so close and yet too far.
    “Sister! Are you determined to kill yourself before the three have a chance to do so?” Morgan’s voice echoed through her chamber.
    With great effort, Nimuë pulled herself up to the table that held her silver bowl. Her sister’s image shimmered in the water in front of her eyes.
    “I will get them,” Nimuë whispered. She was too tired to even speak normally.
    “But not this way,” Morgan stated.
    “No,” Nimuë conceded, “not this way.” She took a breath as her heartbeat slowed to normal. “But I must get them before they join together.”
    “Two of them are already together.”
    “Yes, I can see that. But it is in Gloucester that they will meet the third.”
    “Do you not think it will be easier to wait until they are all together and to get them all at once?” Morgan suggested.
    Nimuë thought about this. “No. Individually they have less of a chance.”
    “Yes, perhaps that is wiser—they are very strong,” Morgan agreed.
    Nimuë nodded. She