"It's not working!" Kami said, kicking the white sand. "I'll never be ready in time." She knew she was being childish, but she'd been at it for hours and she was so frustrated she wanted to scream. Her friends were counting on her. Who knew how far the Shadow Queen would take this? She might not stop until she dominated the world. Kami thought of her friends back home, of her helpless mother. She thought of her friends in Egypt. She couldn't let that happen. She had to figure this out.

"Are you nervous about tonight?" Chris asked.

Kami nodded. "I'm not convinced we'll be ready to fight the shadow creatures."

Chris swallowed hard but put on a brave face. "Haji's dad said there's been several sightings out here, usually two or three creatures at a time. Abominations, that's what he calls them."

She looked back at the new shadow creature Chris had chosen. It was a desert fox, the fennec. She could tell from the tail and abnormally large ears. It prowled around in Chris's cage and stopped occasionally to stare at Kami. She had tried to whip herself into a fury again, but it was hard. Every time she got angry she'd lose control again. She tried to send commands to the fox, but the only thing she'd succeeded in doing was sucking him into a corner. Not hard enough to destroy it like the shadow bunny because she was more aware and immediately stopped when things got out of hand, but still.

She wondered why she'd been chosen by the bloodstone anyway. It wasn't like she had any special skills going into this that made her an obvious choice.

"It's okay," Chris said. "Just take a break."

"There's no time for breaks. It's almost dusk. The shadow creatures could show up any moment and I still don't know what I'm doing. Tomorrow morning we're heading back to the Shadow Queen's lair. I'm not prepared."

Chris tried to hide a smile.

"What?" Kami scowled.

"You're kind of an intense girl, aren't you?" Chris said.

"Not usually," Kami said. "I think all the pressure's getting to me. I'm scared that I won't be strong enough to pull this off."

"This is coming from the girl who faced down a shadow squid."

"Which is all the more reason I should be able to control a creature this small," she said, sighing. "I'm just getting so frustrated with all this."

"Maybe that's your block," Chris said. "You're trying too hard to force the energy and the bloodstone rebels against that."

"Maybe," Kami admitted grudgingly.

"So, take a load off your feet. The shadow creature isn't going anywhere."

"Fine." She sat down in the sand.

"I wish I could control the bigger creatures," Chris said.

"If you had a couple more people with laser sabers..."

"Yeah, but I meant alone. Samuel and I have been working on something. He calls it a shadow displacer."

"He showed me. How does it work?" Kami asked. Chris answered.

"Samuel studied the creatures and identified their chemical properties. He thinks he's found a way to separate the elements holding the creatures together. Think of it like water. You've got two hydrogen molecules, one oxygen. In solid form, the molecules pack together tightly and form ice. But if that ice is warmed, the molecules still kind of stick together, but they're constantly breaking apart and sticking to other molecules. If you heat up the liquid even more, the molecules move around so fast they can't stick at all and they fly apart. That's the idea. We're trying to break up the shadow."

Kami picked up another handful of white sand and sifted back and forth between her hands. It felt rough and gritty between her fingers.

"Look at it this way. Even if you don't learn how to control the shadow creatures, you can always use its power to push them away," Chris said.

"And probably destroy them in the process," Kami said.

"Maybe, but that's better than nothing."

"Besides, I haven't really tested the full extent of my power. It takes a lot of energy, and there may be too many creatures to hold them off. I can do it with these little ones, but remember the bats in the cave? And the shapeshifters? I don't know if I would be able to handle all that, especially if they attacked as a group."

"Guess you'll find out soon."

Kami looked at him sideways.

"I still think we're crazy."

Chris shrugged.

"We have to practice some way to see if we even have a shot at beating the queen."

"Yeah, well after my inept performance today, I'm not sure how much I'm going to contribute. If only I could get into their minds. It's almost like I have too much power. I can force things on them, but I can't get them to obey. At first I thought that squid was following my command, but now I'm starting to think it was just a reaction to the bloodstone's power."

"Maybe. Although if that's true, you wouldn't be able to ride it," Chris said.

"Somehow I'm not too torn up by the idea I may go my entire life without riding a shadow squid," Kami said.

"I would be!" Chris said. "Besides, didn't the squid get pushed away right at the moment you thought the words? That doesn't seem like a coincidence to me," Chris said.

"True."

"So tapping into your anger is what worked for you both times before," Chris said, "but the anger goes out of control. Have you tried another emotion? Does it have to be anger?"

"I've never thought about that," Kami admitted. "So what are other powerful emotions? Jealousy?"

"But that's another negative emotion. Maybe you'll have more control with a positive emotion?"

"Such as?"

Chris looked at her for a moment, then ducked his head kind of shyly.

"What about love?" he asked.

"Love," Kami repeated softly. Yes, love certainly could be powerful. Powerful enough to draw her baba away from his family and into the arms of her mother. For all her mother's weaknesses, there was no doubt in her mind that her parents had loved each other intensely.

"It's worth a shot," she said. She picked up the scarab and held it in her hands, allowing the warmth to flow over her and through her. She closed her eyes and her thoughts turned to her first memory.

She was flying through the air, her chubby fingers reaching for her mother's outstretched hands, and just as she brushed them, she flew backward. Her baba pushed her from behind, and she flew forward again, giggling as the woosh of air ticked her face. She could feel her father catch her then, and lift her out of the baby swing. He set her down by a tree, and she looked up the massive trunk to the branches and leafy green canopy above. Her father wrapped her in a hug and she held his cheeks with her little hands and kissed him. Then she felt her mother's arms behind her, enveloping her. She felt surrounded by love. She felt safe.

Then she reached for the other moments, and they came. Her mouth curved into a gentle smile as she and her mother buried her father in the sand at the beach. He'd good naturedly endured it for awhile, then he'd stood up roaring, playing the sand monster. She'd shrieked, but instead of running away, she'd jumped into his arms.

They came, memory after memory of holidays, and family trips, and playing with dearly beloved friends, cleaning with her mother, cooking with Rosa, each memory adding another layer of warmth to her heart. Then the final memory came, Liam cradling her face and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. In that moment she felt whole, and her heart felt so full she thought it might burst.

Kami opened her eyes. The bloodstone was beginning to glow. She looked over at Chris, and in her mind's eye she could see the boy holding tightly to his sister's hand, staring after the car that stole life from them and turned them into orphans. She felt a surge of compassion for him.

"Now, Kami. Try it," Chris urged.

She looked at the scarab. It was glowing brightly now.

She turned her love toward the creatures, focusing the energy toward it, letting the energy flow into it. It was as if she could sense its mind, and she whispered in her own, come to me.

The creature instantly walked to the door of the cage. Chris scrambled over and opened it, and the creature came straight to Kami and curled up in her lap. She ran her hand over its back. It was the strangest sensation. Shades separated in whirls as she stroked. She wondered what would happen if she pressed in its side, so she tried and her hand went through the creature as if it were nothing more than smoke. The shadows immediately reassembled, forming the creature. It seemed of no more substance than smoke, yet she could feel its weight in her lap.

Then Kami felt an odd sensation, as if the creature was pulling her mind, and as she reached out to understand, her point of view changed. She had shrunk, and her face was resting on a knee. She looked over to see a girl passed out on the ground, black hair in her face. She saw a hand pull back the hair.

The face she was looking into was her own!

Astonished, she leaped from the lap and curiously crept closer. So if this was her body, where was she? She looked down at her black paws and she realized what had happened. She had become the shadow fox, or had joined with it somehow.

She recognized the boy holding her limp body-Chris. He looked down at her fox form with wide, surprised eyes, as if not sure what to do. Then he grabbed his laser saber and pinned her. She tried to run, but she was frozen. He began guiding her back to the cage, but she resisted. She hated the feeling, as if someone had complete control over and the ability to manipulate her any way he wanted. She resisted with all her mind, and she felt that odd sensation again, that disembodied feeling, as if she were wrenching herself away. She closed her eyes and opened them to find herself back in her own body.

She sat up, disoriented. She looked at her hands, felt her face. Eyes, nose, cheekbones, mouth. She was herself again. Chris clicked the cage shut and looked over at her. Relief flooded his features.

"You're okay. You scared me when you fell over like that. What happened?"

Kami couldn't answer right away. She wasn't sure. What had happened to her? Clearly she wasn't a shadow creature, not any more. That didn't feel right.

"I think I just entered the shadow creature's body."

"Get out," Chris said, as if the idea blew his mind. "No way! How come you get to do all the cool things?"

"Like see possessed people?" Kami said dryly.

"Well, yeah, but I've been able to do that since I was nine."

"So what? That's kiddie stuff now?"

Chris grinned.

"I can't believe it worked," he said. "What's it feel like?"

"It's like my mind slipped inside and controlled it. I think anyway. I barely got to do anything before you locked me up with the laser saber. It's not fun to be controlled by that thing, by the way."

"Sorry," Chris said, shaking his head. "I didn't know it was you. So that's why your body flopped over like that. Geez Kami, you had me freaked. I didn't know what to think. So you want to try again?"

"Maybe in a little while. It's starting to get darker. Shouldn't we be having visitors soon?"

"I hope so," Chris said, swinging his laser sabers and pocketing them like pistols. "We can take 'em."

"I'm glad one of us is oozing with confidence," Kami said.

"What are you talking about?" Chris said. "Didn't you just tell me you know how to slip into their minds and control them?"

"Knowing how is one thing, having confidence in it is another. It's not like I've really been tested yet to know what I'm capable of handling."

"Look," Chris said.

"Are you even paying attention to what I'm saying?"

"Yes, but look." He pointed to the distance, and Kami turned to see. A vehicle was coming toward them, kicking up a lot of dust.

__________________

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So what do we think of Kami's new ability? Any prediction on how she will use it?

This dedication goes out to @Taran Matharu a wonderful writer here on Wattpad who found great success with his story Summoner: The Novice. The book is going to be released on May 5 worldwide. I met him as a guest panelist last Sunday with The Corner Booth and found his thoughts on writing interesting. If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, check out the Youtube link in my profile and follow him and his writing in the dedication link above. In anticipation of his big launch, we are doing an Official Summoner Tweetalong this coming Sunday April 26th. Join me and a bunch of other Wattpad legends like @JayVictor @JessicaBFry @BrittanieCharmintine @TEJJohnson and members of the @Wattpad4 to live-tweet your reactions while you read ORIGINS using the hashtag #summoner. Hope you can join us!