Riwenne and her friends are teambuilding with the planetary warriors. These five independent warriors have finally agreed to reveal their special abilities–and teach them to Riwenne and the others. Will they be able to learn new skills in time to face their common enemies?

Learn New Skills

Kyra and I had a head start on the five new abilities because we already knew how to create a shield and to link our powers together. Janera used a physical shield when she fought, so it was actually harder for her to adapt. We practiced shielding together for the first two hours while the planetary warriors attacked us, trying to break our defenses.

As we worked, Mano also kept up constant chatter in our minds. Every time he asked a question, we were supposed to respond through the magic link. It reminded me of how Quilla talked to me inside my head. It was easy for me to answer him with my thoughts, or to send specific messages to each of my friends without anyone else hearing. I had fun talking to everyone privately in my mind.

But my friends had a harder time getting used to the idea. Vilqa scowled and stayed silent, although they kept darting looks at Ixi. Nexita clutched her head and complained of a growing migraine. Janera and Kyra had a habit of blurting out their answers out loud, no matter how many times Mano urged them to use the mental link. Amena and Deryt were more careful, but they had to stop what they were doing every time they spoke mentally, which made them vulnerable to attacks.

“It’s good work,” Tika said finally, “but these are not the most important skills. We need to move on.”

Yanis was new to his speed power and he had trouble explaining it. Even the planetary warriors hadn’t been able to pick up the ability from him yet. Whenever he started to move, it was too fast for any of us to see what he was doing, and it just confused me to try following him. We decided to save that one for later.

After a break for lunch, we got to the most important abilities: hiding our magic signatures and transforming into animals.

Kyra surprised us all by turning into a hunting hawk on her first try. She spread her wings and flew a lazy circle around the training field, then came back to land and stood up as a human again. She had a big grin on her face.

“I always wanted to fly with the birds,” she said, looking up at the sky. “It’s even better than I imagined.”

“You looked beautiful,” I said in a shaky voice. It was strange to see her so changed. I reached my hand out and cupped her cheek. “But I like you better as yourself.”

Ixi shook her head. “Be careful not to enjoy it too much,” she warned. “If you lose yourself in an animal form, you might forget how to change back. Once I spent a whole week as a chameleon and it was hard to come back from.”

Vilqa raised their eyebrows in surprise. “A chameleon? What was that like?”