Rodrigo and Ana faced each other in the lower chamber of the cave. Tania sat aside, watching them train.

  “The first thing we’ll do is distort this dimension, Rui,”

  Ana said as she searched a pocket in her clothing and produced a small white spark.

  “Distort what?”

  Rodrigo asked.

  “We’ll create a fighting field so we don’t risk damaging the surroundings. I’m going to open a new dimension where only gods can act; humans will simply be frozen. Time inside won’t flow in the human world, but it will here.”

  Rodrigo still didn’t understand.

  “Don’t worry, you’ll remember now,”

  Tania replied.

  Ana dropped the spark to the ground and, like a shockwave, the entire space filled with a blue-gray hue. Rodrigo immediately recalled what had happened when he’d tried to kill Almanzor.

  “This is a new dimension, Rui. Whenever I use one of these ‘pocket dimensions,’ we can fight safely inside. And don’t hold back—the walls of this dimension are indestructible,”

  Ana explained, raising her arms.

  “Incredible,”

  Rodrigo said, astonished.

  “When the training’s over I can close the alternate dimension. As you can see, these little things can easily serve as prisons for divine beings,”

  Ana continued, and Rodrigo watched as dark feathers sprouted from the goddess’s left arm.

  The black feathers swirled into a small vortex and took the shape of a sword, which Ana swiftly gripped with her left hand.

  “This is my ability, Rui: dark matter,” Ana said, swinging the blade and slicing the air in front of her.

  “I can create anything I imagine with this power, but I prefer to make weapons.”

  She moved the sword in a horizontal arc; immediately a great variety of weapons appeared behind her—swords, spears, bows, knives—then vanished, leaving only tiny black feathers that dissolved into the air.

  “Gods are bound to the elements we’re born with. Mine is darkness; Tania’s is fire,”

  Ana said, still playing with the sword.

  “Well, I was born under the element of water,” Tania chimed in,

  “but I never felt satisfied with that, so I trained to use fire. In short: even if you’re born with an element, it doesn’t mean you can’t learn another.”

  The two goddesses gazed into Rodrigo's eyes.

  “The first thing we need is for you to manifest your element,”

  Ana said, pointing the sword at Rodrigo.

  “That divine blood in your veins, inherited from one of your parents, should give you the elemental affinity you need for the next lesson. Manifest your divine energy now!”

  Tania urged, “like when you were furious attacking the Moors.”

  Rodrigo nodded. He clenched his fists and bent his knees slightly, concentrating. His brown hair began to rise, a trail of light forming beneath his feet as dust and pebbles lifted into the air. Rodrigo’s eyes took on a brighter green; his body started to emit a white halo of light. He shouted, and a huge cloud of dust expanded where he stood.

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  “I’m ready,”

  he declared, looking defiantly.

  Ana, fanning dust off her hand, commented,

  “We’ll have to refine how much energy you spend,”

  coughing as she spoke.

  “Okay—can you generate energy now?”

  she asked after catching her breath.

  “Energy?”

  Rodrigo asked, confused.

  “Yes, like this.” Ana formed a kind of blue flame with her right hand and then made it vanish.

  “The energy you produce will show what element you wield.”

  Rodrigo tried to summon energy in his right hand, but nothing happened. As he pushed harder, the ground trembled; rocks began to float and the earth cracked. His light flared violently.

  “No, no, Rui; calm down,” Ana said.

  “You must generate your energy by calming your mind.”

  He reduced the destructive force and focused on his hand, but when nothing occurred he unconsciously increased his power again—the earthquakes resumed.

  “Calm down, Rodrigo!” Tania shouted.

  “No, Rui. That won’t get you anywhere,” Ana said in a soothing tone, trying to cool the apprentice’s rage.

  “Calm your mind and your heart; feel as if you are part of the sea, the land, the air. Breathe deeply and relax your senses.”

  Rodrigo tried once more, but frustration made him surge, and new tremors spread.

  “You’re a lost cause,”

  Tania said irritably.

  “Don’t say that, Tania. Give him time—you’ll see he can do it,”

  Ana replied, disappearing her sword.

  She approached Rodrigo and placed both hands on his shoulders.

  “You’ve been through so much, and I know there’s a great deal of pain and anger in your heart. I feel the fury you hold against the Moors, against Al-Mansur; but you must put your mind in order first.”

  “I can’t, I can’t!” Rodrigo screamed, his energy expanding and crackling with lightning around him.

  “I want to kill him! That damned Almanzor!”

  Ana immediately looked at Rodrigo's frustrated look with her two big blue eyes.

  “Forgive me, Rui,”

  Ana said, watching his tear-filled eyes with her great blue gaze.

  “Forgive Tania and me for stopping you from taking revenge,”

  she continued.

  “Forgive yourself for not having been able to defend your mother. It wasn’t your fault,”

  Ana said in a calming voice.

  “I know it will be impossible for you to forgive your enemies fully, but you must try to accept it. It’s hard, I know, but if you continue to carry that hatred in your heart it will destroy you from within. We believe in you.”

  Rodrigo let his power drop and collapsed to the ground. Ana knelt beside him, continuing to hold his shoulders.

  “You’re good at that,” Tania muttered, bored, leaning her head on her left hand.

  “I’d have beaten him to a pulp by now.”

  Rodrigo breathed more slowly and more calmly.

  “Are you better?”

  Ana asked.

  Rodrigo nodded.

  Ana then stood up and offered Rodrigo her hand to help him rise. He took it and got to his feet.