Once more the feeling in the Chamber of Balance had altered. It had weighed upon him like a press of rocks, and then like the gentle lapping of the sea, and then with the dazing heat of fire. Now it was as if the very air glowed, brilliant but vague to the sight, and some unseen hand pressed upon him. The walls appeared dim round and above him; the floor beneath his feet lighter than it had been.
The figure standing before him was Aeryn, looking at him with her eyes, almost into his very thoughts. "This is the Trial of Air," she said. Her voice was no louder than a whisper but full of meaning. "Air is the most stubborn among elements. It is unseen, never touched, yet by itself, it will destroy mountains. Whosoever learns to control the wind will learn to master the secret mechanism of this world. Control and merge with the air while making this act of control. In some sense, it is something which is always present yet never grasped about every golfer.".
Aeron nodded, taut and steely, ready for the challenge ahead. Thus far, he had learned to handle fire and ice, earth and water, but air was a whole different story. Air wasn't solid-one couldn't handle it as a mass, shape it, tie it down, or even control it by virtue of strength alone. The cool breath of life, wind in the trees, a storm in the sky: chaos, yet an affair of quietude unto itself.
A sudden, sturdy gust of wind ripped in, circling Aeron, pulling at his hair. It was not a normal wind; the feel of it was sharp, electric, carrying energy of its kind. The sound was deafening-as loud, perhaps, as a thousand tornadoes going at one time. The air was getting even more unstable with each passing second.
Until, as if called from another dimension, the air began to stir. A great whirlwind took form from the center of the room-twisting, spiraling, the strength growing, its winds howling like some kind of animal in agony. Spiraling upward, it created a giant column of air that scraped against the ceiling. In an instant, the power of the wind became a rage of flying debris whirling around Aeron in some stormy chaos.
I am the Storm Guardian," Aeryn loudly projected over the mayhem. "You will make it past the test if you can become the storm-to learn to control the wind and keep its chaos at bay. But beware-for if you cannot find your center, it will destroy you."
It got thick, heavier, and started to swirl around him. The mind was befogged as if the air seemed to converge upon him from every side. He could feel it-the air was alive; it moved with a purpose-but it was wild, uncontrolled. It followed no rules, only its whim.
The whirlwind expanded, and with such a wind, he almost took off from the place. Some invisible forces tugged him this way and that. His cloak fluttered in these gusts of the storm. The effort was done to compose his mind, to regularize his breathing, but all that did little good; there was too much air, and he simply could not master it, however hard he tried.
This time, her tone more subdued, Aeryn said, "You cannot fight against the air-you have to be with it-understand its moves.
Aeron clenched his teeth. To be a part of it. That was the solution. All this while, he had tried to work his will on it-to command it, to bend it to his will-but air was never to be commanded. Air was everywhere. Air was freedom, and air was strength. It could not be fitted within the bars of a cage, neither could it be pressed into subservience.
He closed his eyes and started breathing more slowly. The wind was screaming around him, yet his mind quieted. He listened to the unseen flows of air, to every quiver and shift. The Aether inside him stirred, craving that freedom the wind desired of him. For the very first time, Aeron felt something more: he was not fighting against the air, he was one with it.
He breathed in deeply, his arms stretching wide, his chest high. Instead of forcing the air, he let it come. His body, his Aether, mingled with the moving air, and the storm around him started to change into something else. The winds were no longer enemies but part of his control. He felt the whirlpool slackening, the quick winds turning into whirling dance; the wind did not seem chaotic but methodical, regular, rhythmic in flow.
The stubborn thing took shape within the swirling winds until the Air Guardian would finally still itself, wrapping its large body around Aeron so it wasn't a wild storm, a whirlwind-the center of a hurricane, so to say.
Aeryn stepped forward, surveying coolly what was happening. "You have learned to control the air, Aeron. But remember this: Air means freedom. It means change. It's that secret force that binds it all together. It will give mountains, but it can tear mountains down. It should not be feared or controlled; it should be known and invited.
Aeron stood right in the middle of the storm, arms wide open, feeling the wind move around him; the air that pressed against his skin no longer felt heavy but exciting. He did it-he finally learned how the wind moved, and with that how it controlled the Air Guardian.
And in no time, the storm was off-aloft, leaving but a light breeze, a whisper of wind, to fain stroke Aeron's face.
Aeryn smiled for a moment. "You have passed the Trial of Air. However, remember: in control over the elements, it is not about commanding, but knowing them and embracing their strength. The final test shall arrive to your doorstep. Aeron nodded, his mind already working with the lesson he had received: Fire, Ice, Earth, Water, and now Air-all elements, each teaching him something different. Yet ordeals were not to be finished, and the young man still needed to stand before the Trial of Spirit, and whatever else beyond that was set in his way. He felt the weight of what was to come, yet he was ready. He had to be.
"What's next?" Aeron asked without hesitation, his voice firm with growing confidence.
Aeryn was deadpan serious. "The Trial of Spirit," she said in a hushed tone. "It is the most dangerous and most challenging one. It'll test your soul." His heart was beating fast because he had come a long way, but now he had to do the most challenging thing.