Child of Time by Spencer Johnson

was extremely observant
and if he said so then Corban was sure Jeremy was ready. Officially
Corban was in charge of the training but in truth they all shared
the decisions equally.
    Draxos joined them by bending a tunnel from the cliff
side near them. “What of Fred?” Addy has linked with her sister
Dryad and has been transferring knowledge and skills as fast as
Fred can learn them. I merely offer guidance and direction for him
to practice.” Corban reflected on the fact that the thoran was far
too modest.
    Corban thought for a moment. “Perhaps today we can
practice life bending for a change. Both Kiyan and Fred have shown
talent in that field and a bit more practice would be good for them
now.”
    -----------
    Kiyan opened his eyes to greet the day, it was going
to be a good day and he could already feel the warmth of the sun on
the earth. He jumped out of bed and slipped into his new fireproof
clothes. They were of some sort of durable leather like material,
soft and supple yet waterproof and fireproof. Corban’s tailor had
outdone himself this time. It fit to perfection and was
comfortable. Kiyan could sense James and Marisa waking up as well.
Breakfast would be ready in a bit. Time for the morning swim.
    Kiyan met Ray, Addy, Fred and Jeremy at the lake.
Jeremy had already made the surface of the lake as smooth as a
mirror. The five were soon swimming and playing in the water
enjoying themselves. Kiyan tried a new technique of manipulating
the water that both Jeremy and Kiyan had learned a day or so ago.
It involved repelling the water in the lake from the water in their
bodies. The desired result was that they could levitate over water
and bend from the air above it. Kiyan had already figured out how
to bend a shell of water around him and repel the lake water from
that. The result was not levitation but the ability to slide across
the lake at remarkable speeds. It was like when a drop of water
sets on the surface without being absorbed. The boys found with a
little tweaking and shaping they were able to increase their speed
even more. The natural result were water races that sped around the
lake. Kiyan was accused of cheating when he did a little
firebending and created a layer of super-heated steam between his
bubble and the surface of the lake. Friction was nearly eliminated
and Jeremy was soon left behind.
    Kiyan saw Theo waiting on the beach when he returned
back to where Fred and Addy were waiting. He had gotten used to
being the only one that could see Theo most of the time. There were
times when Theo had shown himself to Corban to offer assistance on
occasion or when he was talking to Kendra. For the most part
Kiyan’s father liked to remain invisible.
    Theo waited for Kiyan to come to a stop at the shore
before congratulating Kiyan on his discovery. “You might even be
able to water form soon at this rate. It took me years to figure
out how to bend multiple elements at the same time.”
    Kiyan could tell something was bothering Theo. “You
seem worried about something, what is it?”
    “The war might be coming sooner than we had
anticipated.” Theo responded. “We have never been able to trace our
own paths in time because we don’t exist in the same time flow as
everything else. We are able to see the probable futures and some
of the things that happen around us. Something is different now,
the futures are changing and we can't see why.”
    After Theo disappeared Kiyan thought about the
warning he had delivered. The ascendants were worried. That was
new, they seemed to be prepared for most everything before it
happened. Whatever it was Kiyan was sure they would figure it
out.
    After breakfast Kiyan prepared for the days lessons.
Meeting Ray at the shore of the lake Kiyan saw he was already
getting late. Ray shifted into his flying form and they were soon
winging their way toward the falls. The water almost turned aside
without Kiyan having to make a move and they were soon landed on
the training