Buried Embers (Elemental Seekers Book 3)

by H. M. Sandlin

  “Fire, Sievroth,” they yelled. When he let another stream of fire out, they added their own fire magic to it. Their magic twisted around Sievroth’s before blending together right before it hit the magicus. The explosion threw us all back. As I opened my eyes and looked around, I saw Mr. Mitchel staggering to his feet. The rest of the Pulhu were still scattered across the ground. Mr. Mitchel took one last look at us and disappeared.

  Someone reached a hand down to me, and I looked up. A man stood in front of me, covered in heavy red armor. Only his arms were bare. I let him help me up. As I lost contact with Richard, my knees buckled, and the man scooped me up before I could hit the ground.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  “Rest. We will talk more soon.” He carried me toward the portal. I tried to see my friends, but his shoulders were blocking my view. “Don’t worry, we will take care of your friends. You are safe for now.” I let my head rest against him as we walked through the portal.

  I didn’t sleep though. I watched as the fire realm came into view, and I tried to look everywhere at once. It was nothing like what I expected. I thought their realm would be similar to a desert, but it wasn’t. I could see a lush jungle valley in front of us, and a mountain rose in the distance.

  The sky was a gorgeous orange color, and as we walked, I waited for the colors to change, thinking it was the sunset that made the sky so orange, but it never changed. The man holding me must have realized I was waiting for the sky to change because he started talking to me.

  “That is the color of our sky. Occasionally a few purples or reds can be seen, but it’s almost always orange just like yours is blue. We aren’t sure why but you get used to it.”

  “Who are you?” I asked. I noticed that they didn’t have the same magical signatures of true elementals. They looked like ordinary elementals, like everyone at my school.

  “I am Gavin. I am a member of the fireguard. We protect the true elementals and the dragons from any trespassers.”

  “Then why are you helping us? We don’t belong here, but you came out of the portal and saved us. You could have closed the portal and stayed hidden.”

  “Eventually, that man would have found a way in. Plus, Sievroth told me you were needed here. We have been waiting for you for a long time.” I looked at him again. He couldn’t be more than twenty-five years old. He laughed. “When we are in the fire realm, time stops for us. I have been alive since before the shadow king forced us to live in these realms. Only children age normally until they reach adulthood.”

  “How? The true fire elementals were not supposed to take any followers with them.”

  “They didn’t listen. The fire elemental king allowed every follower who survived the shadow king’s wrath to come with them. We’ve been here since them. We can only go out into the human realm for short periods. Our aging starts again when we leave here. I’ve aged maybe three years since I came here because I’ve needed to go into the human realm for the true fire elementals at times.”

  “That’s amazing,” I said.

  “It can be, it can also be pretty boring.”

  I fell silent. I wouldn’t want to live forever if given a chance. I wondered if these elementals felt that way too.

  “Where are the true elementals?” I asked.

  “We will take you to them soon. First, we need to make it to the town and then refresh ourselves before heading to the palace.”

  “Where is the town?”

  “Through there,” he said, pointing at the forest. “It will take many hours to get to the town, but we have a small outpost inside the tree line where we will stop until you can all walk.”

  My friends must be in bad shape too. I reached out and connected to each of them, making sure they were ok. Abby was being carried, but the guys were walking. We were all feeling exhausted from our fight with Mr. Mitchel. Everyone’s mood picked up when we made it to the outpost. The man carrying me put me down on a bed, and I immediately tried to sit up.

  “Wait,” he said, putting his hand on my shoulder to prevent me from moving. He took a small bottle from a young woman who walked in right after us. “This is our healer. She will give each of you an energy potion to help you feel more like yourselves.”

  He handed each of us a bottle. They all looked at me, waiting to see what I would do. I went to drink it, but Adam stopped me. “Let me drink it first. If it isn’t what they say, we will know in a few minutes.”

  “I don’t want you getting hurt,” I said, frowning.

  “It’s my choice. We need the rest of you to fight if they aren’t as friendly as they seem to be. Abby can heal me while you three get us out of here.” He didn’t give me a choice, he downed the whole potion before I could stop him. I waited impatiently, worried he would fall over sick from the drink. He didn’t say anything for a minute, but then he smiled.

  “It’s an energy potion, and it’s very potent. You guys are going to feel better than yourselves after you drink it.”

  I looked at the man who had carried me in. “We wouldn’t poison you, but judging by how much energy your friend has, you won’t be able to take another potion for at least a week. That amount only gives us a small jolt of energy.” I looked at Adam. He was bouncing on his toes, ready to go. I made my decision and drank my potion. Everyone else did too.

  Within a minute, energy started to fill me, and soon I was up and standing. “I feel great,” I said. “Let’s get going.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  We headed deeper into the rainforest, following a path through the dense underbrush. I wanted to get to the true fire elementals as quickly as possible. I was sure the Pulhu would still be trying to get into the fire realm. Now that they knew where the portal door was and how to open it, they would focus all of their efforts on it. It wouldn’t take long to find a way through.

  After a few hours, we stopped for lunch. Gavin gave us a variety of fruits and bread. They also gave us water and fruit juice. When I asked Gavin how much longer we would be in the jungle, he told me we should be to their town by nightfall. He didn’t say how long it would take to get to the true elementals, but I was sure it would be at least another full day.

  I was starting to get antsy. I felt like Gavin and his men were keeping something from us. Every time we tried to talk about the true fire elementals with them, they would clam up and change the subject, saying that we would see them when we got to the palace. It also felt like we were taking a very roundabout path. When I asked Richard, he said he felt the same.

  There was definitely something going on, but until I figured out what, we would have to play along and follow Gavin and his men. If we left them, we could be lost in this jungle for days and who knew what kind of creatures were in here. We hadn’t seen anything yet, but the men and women all carried weapons on them, and if they weren’t fighting each other, they must need the weapons for some reason.

  I talked to Richard through our connection as we walked. I didn’t want them knowing what our plans were in case they decided to turn on us. Gavin walked back to me and started pointing out different things in the jungle. There were different trees than we were used to, and even the birds were oddly colored. I saw a particular bird watching us. It was purple with a bright blue beak, and it stared at us as we passed by.

  When I stopped to watch it, it turned and met my eyes. I would swear the bird knew exactly what we were doing and who we were. It made a loud screech and took off into the treetops. I heard answering calls throughout the jungle, and Gavin looked spooked.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked.

  “That was a tarandul. They are not native to the fire realm. We don’t know where they came from. Something about them makes me cautious,” he said. “They seem to be able to understand us and communicate with others far away. They always know what we’re doing. Sometimes I wonder if they aren’t reporting back to someone on our activities.”

  “Maybe the true fire elementals use them to keep an eye on you,” I said
.

  “No, it’s definitely not them,” Gavin replied.

  The way he said it made me think something was wrong with the true elementals. It didn’t sound as if he thought they wouldn’t ever do that to them, but more that they couldn’t do it.

  I tried asking about them again but got the same result. Gavin switched the topic to something else. I let it drop. We would find out soon enough what was going on.

  When we walked into the town, I was surprised by the flurry of activity. Everywhere we looked, people were working. Some were working in gardens and fields while others cleaned the roads. We moved through the town toward the center, people stopping to stare at us. I’m sure they were surprised to see people from the human realm since they had been here so long without anyone being allowed to come through.

  No one stopped us, and they cleared a path for Gavin and his men. Gavin must have a lot of power over them. I wondered what his position was exactly. The people weren’t scared of him. They showed him a lot of respect. The people looked excited as we moved farther into the town. As we reached the town center, a man with long white hair came running up to us. Gavin and his men bowed slightly to him.

  “This is Tristan,” Gavin said. “He would like to speak with you.”

  “Is he the leader in this town?”

  “Yes, he is the leader of all the towns in the fire realm. He is here to greet you. He has traveled a long distance to get here.” My suspicions amped up. I thought Gavin was taking us a roundabout route, and now I was pretty sure he did it to allow this man, Tristan, to meet us here.

  “Why does he want to speak with us,” I asked, eyeing the new man.

  “I will tell you all you need to know about this realm,” the man said. “Come with me.”

  He led us to a house nearby. We went inside and sat on pillows on the floor. A woman brought heated water on a tray with cups. She set it on the floor in the center of us. The man added tea leaves to the water and let them steep. Abby went to say something, but I shushed her. I wanted to see what this man had to say. After he poured a glass of tea for everyone, he sat back on his own pillow.

  “Drink up, it’s not poison. It’s a tea made from the leaves of the buhbul tree in the rainforest. It doesn’t do anything to you. I enjoy the taste.” He raised his own glass and took a sip. I reached down and grabbed my cup, taking a small sip. My friends did the same. It felt like this was a test of sorts but for what I didn’t know.

  Tristan finished his tea and put his cup back on the tray. “I know you have questions, and I will answer them, but first I need to ask for your help.”

  “What do you need?” Tider asked.

  “What about the true fire elementals?” Adam asked at the same time. “Can’t they help you?”

  “The true fire elementals haven’t been able to help us for a long time. We were running out of hope until Sievroth’s egg started to hatch. It was said a dragon egg would hatch when the chosen accepted their gift. Only then would we be able to awaken the true elementals.”

  “What do you mean, awaken? Are they asleep?”

  “They are in some sort of stupor. It happened slowly. We all thought they were just getting tired, even lazy from being stuck in this realm for so long with nothing to fight for. They stopped coming to the towns. Then they stopped inviting people to the palace to train. By the time the first true elemental fell into a stupor, it was too late to do anything. We tried to protect the rest of them, taking them from the castle, but nothing worked. Eventually, even the king and queen fell.”

  “Where are they now?” I asked.

  “We brought them back to the castle. All the true elementals are there now. We think you can wake them.”

  Tristan and Gavin were watching me, waiting for my reaction. It took me a minute to answer. “Of course, we will help, but if you haven’t found the cause of the stupor, what are we supposed to do?”

  “We know it has something to do with the dragons. They have also fallen into a stupor. We think they fell first. We stopped seeing them in the skies around the mountain years before the true elementals fell. When we asked about the dragons, the true elementals told us they were fine. They were spending more time in their caves because they were getting ready for an important event. No one thought it was a lie until the stupor started to hit the true elementals.”

  “If it started with the dragons, then we need to figure out what caused it with them first. Can we go see them?” I asked.

  “Yes, but we will stop at the palace first. We will need to get the talismans.”

  “What are the talismans?”

  “Only a few elementals had talismans that allowed them to walk into the dragon’s den without getting hurt. You will each need one to pass through the mountain unharmed. Usually, only one person goes into the mountain at a time to check on the dragons. The rest of the talismans are in safekeeping at the palace under guard.”

  “Will they allow us to take them?”

  “Yes, once Gavin explains who you are,” Tristan said.

  “We will rest here tonight, and tomorrow start our journey to the palace. It is too dangerous to leave now. We would be stuck in the forest when predators wake up and hunt. Even though our sky always remains the same, we still have nighttime and daytime. Many of the predators in the forest prowl around at night. Even for us, it can be dangerous. Especially with those birds around.”

  “Why haven’t you tried to get rid of the birds?” I asked.

  “We have, but they come back in greater numbers. It’s better to let them be. All they do is watch us. They never try hurting us.”

  Tristan stood up and gestured for Gavin to take us. We followed him through the town center and to another house. Gavin directed us to our rooms and left, saying he would be back shortly to take us to dinner. Abby and I went to our room and cleaned ourselves up.

  When we finished, we headed back out into the main room. The guys were already cleaned up and waiting for us. Tider tried to say something, but I shook my head. I created the silence bubble around us before speaking. “Let’s be careful here, guys. We don’t actually know what they want or what’s wrong with the fire elementals. We could be walking into a trap.”

  “That’s what I was going to say,” Tider said. “I just forgot to create a silence bubble first.”

  “So far, they don’t seem like they want to hurt us,” Richard said. “I know that doesn’t mean they won’t,” he continued when I gave him a look. “But I think we need to look at them as friends rather than enemies, after all, they did help us with the Pulhu.”

  “We won’t look at them as enemies, but I’m not ready to look at them as friends yet. They could have gotten us to this town much faster but instead chose a roundabout route in order to give Tristan time to arrive here. They could’ve told us in the beginning what was going on.”

  “Would you have waited here, or would you have tried to get to the palace tonight?” Adam asked. They all knew me so well. I would have wanted to get to the palace today. When I didn’t answer right away, they laughed.

  We didn’t have long to wait. Gavin knocked on the door before entering. After making sure we had everything we needed for the night, he escorted us out of the house and down a few streets. We approached a large building with a few scattered tables around the side of it. I could hear music and laughter coming from inside.

  When we walked through the doors, the laughter stopped. Heads turned our way, everyone looking us over until their eyes landed on Gavin. Suddenly, they threw their heads back and laughed more, some coming over to slap us on our backs and shout good luck. I looked at Gavin.

  Once we were seated, he tried to explain. “They all know you are here to help save the true elementals. They are celebrating and wishing you luck on the journey. No one has been able to help them. We are all hoping that you will be able to do it.”

  I looked at the people again. They all appeared to be in good health and happy. “Why are they so excited to wake the true
elementals?”

  “The true elementals are our friends and our teachers. They saved us when the shadow king was destroying all elemental humans. It’s our turn to save them.”

  A woman came over to our table, asking what we would like to eat. Since we weren’t given menus, we looked at Gavin. He ordered pizza for everyone.

  “What?” he said when he saw our faces. “I told you we occasionally go out in the human realm. Last time Beeble went out, he came back with a recipe for pizza. We have been making it ever since. Everyone loves pizza. It’s the same in the human realm, right?”

  We laughed. “Yes. Many people love pizza.”

  Our pizza came, and we enjoyed ourselves, watching everyone joke around and celebrate. When we were almost finished, a man came over and sat at our table in Gavin’s seat. Gavin had gone to talk to one of his friends and wouldn’t be back for a few minutes.

  The man didn’t say a word. I looked him over and tried not to shrink away from him. He had a scar across his eyebrow that obviously hadn’t healed properly, and his hands were gnarled and scarred too. His beard was matted, and when he grinned, I could see his yellowing teeth. This man hadn’t been taking good care of himself.

  “What can we do for you?” Richard asked politely.

  “You can leave,” he replied. “You will destroy everything. You need to leave now before you make things worse.”

  “What do you mean before we make things worse?” I asked.

  “You don’t belong here. The true elementals need to remain asleep.”

  “Why?” Richard asked.

  “Because they refused to listen to the shadow king. This is their punishment. They were not supposed to bring human followers with them. I’m sure the shadow king is punishing them, and that is why they won’t wake up.”

  “How do you know it’s the shadow king?”

  “What else could it be? It’s the only thing that makes sense,” he said. “If you continue trying to wake them, we will stop you.”