Alex held Tracy tight to his chest. Tears of fear and grief flooded down her cheeks.
"I can't do this anymore." She wept. Kallee had pulled her aside after the meeting.
"Tracy," she had said. "You will be facing some hard times, your strength and emotional levels will be tested. You're role is to be their leader Tracy. They are counting on you, the fate of the world is in your hands." She had said it so lightly as if she was saying hello.

Now Alex cradled her in his arms. She couldn't do it, she was going to let everyone down. She turned to look at Alex as he tucked her hair behind her ears.
"I can't do this, I'm going to mess it all up."
"No you won't." Alex soothed her "Your a great leader, why do you think that everyone followed you down the cliff?" Tracy smiled Alex always made her feel better.
"Besides," he continued. "Kallee promised that there would be training before we left. Besides you're already way more powerful than the rest of us."
"What about our parents though. Aren't you worried?" Alex's face paled, his eyes looked distant.
"Of course I am." He whispered. "But if we ever want to see them again we need you to lead us to the lab." Tracy felt a spark of hope maybe he was right. A smile creeped up her face. She wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Thank you" She whispered her lips just brushing the tip of his ear.
"Anytime." He purred back. Her lips found his, and she melted into his embrace. All her worries were gone momentarily, all she felt was the warmth spreading through her body.
________________________________________________________

The water from the waterfall felt cool as dripped off her face drenching the rest of her body. Tracy rolled around in the flower speckled grass. A flock of blackbirds flew in the sky, one gold one lead them. The gold bird shown in the moonlight, Tracy knew it was her mother. Her mother was guiding the other birds through their training exercises, doing loops and flips through the air. They swirled in their intricate patterns They finished off in a tornado formation swirling down to hover in front of her face.
"Tracy it's almost time for you to lead your flock." Another bird came to join her mother.
"So you're the famous Tracy Sparrow. I see my son has good taste." Tracey blushed when she realized that the bird must have been Alex's mother. Once more a bird flew down.
"Tracy." Said a deep husky voice that Tracy vaguely recognized. "It's Henry, Jake's father." Tracy smiled she hadn't seen him in years. "You're a natural born leader Tracy embrace it, I can think of at least one person that will need your guidance on the way."
"Fly my little bird, you do not belong in a cage, just remember..."
______________________________________________________

Tracy's world faded when she opened her eyes she wasn't in her bed she was lying in the meadow, outside the waterfall.
"Just remember what?" Tracy hollered, hoping that her mother would return any second.
"That what goes down must come up." Replied Kallee's voice. Tracy whipped her head around.
"I'm sorry, I had to tell you the truth eventually."
"What do you mean? Why am I out here?"
"I mean, you don't dream." Kallee explained.
"Like you?"
"No not like me, you dream but you're dreams are real. They actually happen. Right after you finish you walk back to your bed, this time I woke you up."
"So my mother."
"Is here she just had to get back to work. They are scouting out a path for you to take once you start on your journey."
"What did she mean by what comes down must come up?"
"you'll find out soon enough."
________________________________________________________

Tracy and Ethan stood side by side in the dark training room.
"Prepare to use your powers to defend yourselves." A voice said over the intercom.
"Five. Four. Three. Two. One."
A few dim lights switched on, casting a dim glow over the room. A large dragon appeared on tracy's left side, another on Ethan's right. Their tough hides looked like it was impossible to pierce with any weapons. The dragons advanced, scales shimmering in the dim light. Tracy and Ethan went back to back, minds ready. Tracy felt the familiar pull in the back of her head. She imagined the dragon rolling around on the floor and hitting its head on the wall. The dragon shuttered, then looked confused as Tracy controlled his muscles until he was out cold. Tracy looked over at Ethan's dragon who was purring at his feet like a cat.
"What did you do?" Tracy asked
"I changed his behaviour and memory, now he thinks he's a cat." Tracy took note of what he could do. It would be handy to know in the long run.

Next Tracy was paired with Jake. They were standing in an ice cold room, like a giant freezer. Tracy felt the ends of her hair freeze, her breath looked like clouds. Trace noticed that this time they had a disadvantage. It was freezing cold. She heard the the count down again,
"Five.Four.Three.Two.One."
An icy wind blasted her in the face, her teeth chattered. Tracy managed to stay focused through the storm though, she tried not thinking of the cold. Tracy felt a warm tingling sensation run through her body.
"Better?" Jake asked. Tracy smiled,
"So you can make people warm?"
"No, Kallee told me I could control sensations, yer not really warm yer brain just thinks ya are."
Tracy added Jake's capabilities to her list. Tracy wasn't exactly ready for the tigers to appear. At least she thought they were tigers. They had the same elegant build, but no stripes instead they had a checkered pattern that reminded Tracy of a scarf. The beast roared opening it's mouth wide to reveal small razor sharp fangs. They lunged at a remarkable speed, but Tracy was faster she threw them both onto their backs. The wild cats hissed, spraying foaming spit at Jake and Tracy. They slunk back a few steps and each focused on a target. The creatures icy blue eyes bore into Tracy's, the cats then fell to the floor trembling with fear.
"Did ya feel that?" Jake asked.
"Feel what?"
"It was like one thousand needles in ma skull. They were trying ta break into our minds." Tracy shook her head, why had she not felt it too?
Jake looked at her.
"Yer the strongest of us, maybe that has something ta do with it." He shrugged and headed out the door, eager to get to the next training activity.

The two girls stood in a circle painted on the stones below their feet. The sun was shining brightly, burning Tracy's back. Janie pulled her hair up into a messy bun, eyes determined. Tracy had never seen that look on her face before it made her look older, more like a human being than a china doll. She heard a creak a group of crocodiles approached. They moved slowly, their scaly green hide reflecting the sun. The crocodiles eyed them hungrily, judging by the sun Tracy could tell it was about noon, lunch time. The crocs continued to come towards them, Tracy prepared to make them run away, but there was no need. The crocs took one look at Janie and turned back the way they came.
"Well that was an easy one." Tracy mumbled.
"Ya, thanks for the help." Janie said sarcastically.
"You did that?"
"Of course, I can affect an animal's decision making, I made then decide to go find something else to eat." Janie said dryly, she ventured out of the circle and vanished through one of the invisible doors.

Tracy and Alex were sitting on a ship. The ship was tipping and rocking like it would in a storm. Except the sky was clear, and only the water around them was stormy. Tracy reached for Alex's hand, her hair whipping around wildly in the wind.
"What are we supposed to do?" She asked stupidly.
"I don't know, I guess we wait for something to happen." They huddled together, back to back minds at the ready. Puddles started to form on the ship's deck, they looked like smooth sheets of glass. The puddles started to bubble and hiss, as if they were boiling hot. The two of them stood waiting for the test to start, to defeat their enemy and get out of there. They puddles grew into shapes that Tracy knew could not be formed without magic. They twisted into half bird half lion creatures, flapping their watery wings and growling fiercely through their lion heads. Tracy made their wings stop flapping and watched them fall to the deck with a big splash, turning into puddles once more. Alex distracted the other half with visions of who knows what. Tracy turned back to her post to see something that she hadn't seen before. The water monsters were reforming, their eyes were fierce they wanted to get revenge. Tracy didn't blame them she would want revenge if she had just been killed too, but she had no desire to die that day. She held her ground and started to drop them from the sky one by one. Every time they fell they reformed, beads of sweat were starting to fall down her face. She looked over at Alex, he looked his face was covered in sweat hair stuck to his forehead, dark circles forming under his eyes.
"Trace... I can't take this much more, I've used up my energy."
"you rest, build your strength back up. I'll take the rest down." She tried to keep the doubt out of her voice, the creatures could be killed. Couldn't they?
"Tracy!" Alex yelled. She turned around to see the lion's wide open mouth inches from her face. Suddenly his eyes looked confused, and he turned around. Tracy heard something hitting the ground beside her. Alex laid on the ship deck, unmoving.
"Alex?" Tracy whispered, he was still breathing. She checked his pulse, he was alive. The last creature had used up so much of his power that he had blacked out. Tracy stomped in front of him, her insides burned. Her head felt like it was on fire, she wished the monsters were dead, her visions edges went black. She saw all the birds stop moving, then her vision went dark and she fell to the ground.
________________________________________________________

Tracy woke up in her room, everyone was crowded around her..
"Thank god." Alex muttered under his breath, the worry lines in his forehead disappearing.
"Wha-what happened?" Tracy stammered. Kalle stepped forward.
"I need a moment alone with Tracy." Everyone headed for the door, Alex lingered the longest, he looked ready to protest. Kallee stared him down, he looked at Tracy one more time then left the room.
"What happened?" Tracy demanded.
"You need to be careful Tracy." Kallee paused."Don't let your powers take hold of you."
"What do you mean?" Tracy asked slightly worried.
"Don't you remember what happened?" Tracy thought for a moment before she answered.
"The birds stopped moving then fell from the sky. Kallee sighed.
"If only I were that simple." She looked Tracy in the eyes. "Tracy you control muscles, yes?" Tracy nodded her head.
"Tracy you killed the liows, one of their major muscles stopped working. You stopped their heart."