The Air Howlers Book I ✔

1

The wind whipped at her long, dark hair, entangling it around her pale neck. Standing on the edge of a cliff, halfway up a mountain, she watched over Air, the city where she lived. As darkness engulfed the remaining sunlight, specs of light began to appear as the residents ignited their lanterns. It was the middle of spring; the evenings warmer than before, keeping the night at bay for a little longer every day. A powerful gust of wind hit her body, but instead of staggering on her feet like a normal person would, she stood completely still, absorbing the power that came at her, letting it fill her up, charging her with renewed energy.

As she stood there, silently observing, she thought about the days to come. The days that would define the rest of her life. Her ten-year training was coming to an end and soon she would have to grow up.

Another surge of wind pushed against her, working her hard, testing her strength. Her feet tethered at the edge of the cliff, shifting just a fraction of an inch and through the darkness it was hard to imagine the hundred feet drop in front of her. There was just a black void.

"Focus, Ki." A voice whispered through the air. Her uncle was watching her, as he was supposed to as her mentor during her training.

The ability to control and manipulate air was engraved on her very bones. Ki was one of the gifted. An Air Howler. Destined to serve the kingdom of Aethorin when she turned eighteen.

It had always been so far into the future, but suddenly the day was approaching with rapid steps. She was in her final stages of training and her uncle was pushing her harder than ever before. There were two more days before she would present herself in front of the city council and of course she wanted to present herself to the best of her abilities.

"Fight back," Ki's uncle barked and she felt another manipulated gust of air hit her from behind. She ground her feet into the dirt and gritted her teeth. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she started pushing the air back towards where it came. The storm shifted, giving Ki a momentum to flip the direction of the wind by concentrating hard enough, feeling the direction of the air swirling in her mind, demanding it to turn around. And it did. The wind changed course, leaving Ki and was hurtled back towards her uncle, standing about twenty feet behind her. Ki spun around in time to see him deflect the blast with a swish of his hand. Around them the wind died down all together, leaving them in silence.

"You need to focus more, Ki, or it will take you too long to take command," Ki's uncle said, coming towards her. His own dark hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail and his unkempt beard was in desperate need of a trimming. Ki left the edge of the cliff and met her uncle halfway.

"It was better than last week, uncle Kattar," she said, defending herself, although she knew her mind had been elsewhere when it should have been concentrating on controlling the wind.

"I know that the Day of Revelation is near, but it should not be an excuse to lose focus. Now is the time to get in tune with yourself and your gift. Be the Howler you were born to be."

The Howler she was born to be. Ki had heard that sentence a lot recently and it was starting to bug her. She knew she had to do her best at Revelation Day, but being constantly reminded of it was annoying.

"Let's try again and I'll do better," she said, flipping her dark hair behind her. She usually put it up in a ponytail or something during training, but she loved the feeling of how it would whip across her face as she controlled the wind around her. Power and control; those were the key words in her training. Without it, you would lose.

"Your mind needs to be empty," Kattar said. "And right now it is not." Ki hated when her uncle saw through her without even trying. She closed her eyes and cleared her face of emotions and did the same with her mind. Clearing all thoughts of worry and nerves about Revelation Day. She felt the calm slowly wash over her. When she opened her eyes her uncle had a look of approval on his face.