And for the first time, I saw what Bradley saw when I did what I did. It was less a case of matter and more a case of alien energy and potential mass – yes, that’s what it was. I was bending, altering, manipulating not solid fire, but mass that had yet to exist. I was not making mass from nothing; it was being drawn from a source in–

I stopped myself. Just because I could see the mysteries of my power did not mean I was ready to comprehend them, able to comprehend them without damaging myself more than any physical injury I had ever suffered. I scowled. June was determined, but it would not be helping her. The black pillar exploded into a blazing mist of hazy flame in her general direction, mostly blunt force to her abdomen.