The next day, at the Eldridge estate, Kai stood with Naia in the open courtyard. Birds chirped nearby, but Kai's attention was fully on the girl before him.
Naia's brow furrowed in focus, a bead of sweat glistening on her temple. She extended her hand toward the training dummy, her fingers trembling slightly. Kai watched as a faint gravity distortion formed in the air around the target, subtle, controlled, until it suddenly fractured.
A thunderous boom echoed through the courtyard as an explosion of fire erupted from her palm, engulfing the dummy and incinerating it in an instant. The blast wave knocked back chairs, scorched the stone, and sent a gust of heat sweeping through the garden.
Kai reflexively put up a barrier formed from condensed shadow, and it rippled against the heat. Once the heat died down, Kai dropped the barrier.
Naia fell to one knee, panting, eyes wide.
"That wasn't gravity," she said breathlessly. "That wasn't even close."
