Red Phoenix

this.’ He put his hand over the water. It quickly boiled. Steam rose from it. ‘Now.’ The water made a sharp crackling sound as it instantly turned to ice. ‘Next.’ The water immediately melted, then rose out of the bowl in a glistening lump.
    ‘Whoa,’ Leo said.
    ‘Drop it on the Tiger,’ I said. ‘Wash his dirty mind.’
    John and the Tiger both laughed softly. The water went back into the bowl. John put the bowl in front of me. ‘Try.’
    I concentrated. Nothing happened.
    ‘Put your hand in the water, see if you can warm it,’ John said.
    I did. I concentrated. Again, nothing.
    ‘Nothing there,’ John said, and the disappointment was obvious in his voice.
    ‘If I were your Serpent, I would be able to do that, wouldn’t I?’ I said quietly.
    His face was rigid. He nodded once, sharply.
    ‘You should have tested her while she was that scaly thing,’ Leo said.
    ‘You are quite right,’ John said, and eyed me appraisingly.
    ‘No way is that cat,’ I said, pointing at the Tiger, ‘sticking his claws into my head again. That damn well hurt !’
    The knife lifted off the table and moved towards me. ‘Catch,’ the Tiger said, and it fell out of the air. I concentrated quickly. The knife hit the table with a clatter.
    ‘Try to bend it,’ the Tiger said. I concentrated. Again, nothing.
    John grabbed the large bowl, stuffed a piece of newspaper into it, and lit it with the cigarette lighter. He put it in front of me. ‘See if you can change its colour.’
    I concentrated. Nothing at all. ‘Put it out,’ John said. Again, nothing.
    John lifted the water from the bowl onto the fire and it went out.
    ‘Not surprising, I suppose,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘Two more.’
    John passed me the wooden branch. It was a large twig with leaves on it. ‘Try to make it grow.’ I concentrated. Nothing.
    ‘I think we’re wasting our time here, guys,’ I said. ‘I think in human form I’m just a perfectly normal human woman, and the Snake part spends most of its time hiding.’ I stopped. ‘I can’t believe I just talked about myself taking human form,’ I said with wonder. ‘That is so weird.’
    ‘Try the last one anyway,’ John said. ‘But it’s highly unlikely that you would have Earth; such a thing is extremely rare.’
    ‘You’re Water.’ I pointed at John, and he nodded. ‘You’re Metal,’ I said to the Tiger, who smiled slightly. ‘Qing Long is Wood, Zhu Que is Fire. Who’s Earth? There’s a Fifth Wind?’
    ‘There is a Centre, not a Wind, Emma,’ Kwan Yin said, her voice full of deference. ‘Earth is the Middle. It is the Lord of us all. It is the Jade Emperor Himself. He is Earth and Stone.’
    ‘Oh. I sincerely do not want to meet this guy.’ They all went rigid the minute the word ‘guy’ came out of my mouth. ‘Just the idea of him scares me to death.’
    ‘I think all creatures know instinctively exactly how formidable the Celestial One is,’ Ms Kwan said softly.
    John picked up the stone. ‘The Celestial will be extremely annoyed the minute he finds out about those hybrid elementals.’ He put the stone in front of me. ‘Just try to move it.’
    I concentrated on the stone. Nothing.
    ‘No elemental alignment,’ the Tiger said. ‘See if you can nail the snake down when she transforms again and test it then.’
    ‘The Serpent was extremely powerful. I still may be able to touch you,’ John said. ‘Let’s try.’
    ‘You won’t,’ I said. ‘What did Meredith say? You let your love cloud your judgement.’
    ‘Come and stand between myself and Mercy,’ John said anyway.
    I rose and stood between them.
    ‘Hold my hand, Emma,’ Ms Kwan said, and put her hand out. I took her hand in my left. ‘Now take his.’ I took John’s hand in my right.
    ‘Release my hand. Rest yours on mine,’ Ms Kwan said. I moved my hand so that it was just resting on hers, palm to palm.
    ‘I will move my hand. Stay perfectly still,’ Ms Kwan said. ‘Don’t move.’
    She moved her hand away from underneath mine. Nothing happened.
    ‘Yes,’ I said softly.
    John moved to say something on my right. A black hole opened up in front of him. I was sucked straight into it. Kwan Yin quickly grabbed my hand. Everything rushed together and I was back between them. I sagged. ‘No.’
    John dropped my hand, threw himself up, and stalked away from the table without saying a word.
    ‘Come back here!’ I yelled. He stopped and turned, expressionless.
    ‘You do not have time to do