The Elemental Diaries - Complete Series

by Andrea Lamoureux

The fair-haired man lifted his round shoulder. “It matters not to me which sovereign I pay tax to. They’re all the same, all greedy for gold.”

  I felt Chel stiffen beside me as I tutted, “I doubt you’d feel the same if you knew King Zaeden is working with Vesirus to bring Mnyama here.”

  I watched as the innkeeper’s eyes bulged and his hands shook. “You—you must be jesting!” he stuttered.

  “I’m not. Tell your neighbours to prepare for war.” I pushed the door open and left him speechless.

  “I’ll fetch our horses,” Chel offered.

  “That was mean,” Zephyra said, coming up beside me.

  I faced her. “If these people know what’s coming… maybe they’ll stand a chance if they’re prepared to fight.”

  Zephyra brushed Percifal’s comforting hand away. “Likely they’ll run, and there will be nowhere to hide if King Zaeden and Vesirus win.”

  “So you’d rather lie and let these small villages die without even knowing what happened?”

  “Yes—no—I don’t know! You didn’t have to be so cruel about it though. You’ve scared the poor man half to death.”

  I gave her a dark smile. “It’s a cruel world, Princess.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Apologies… Princess.” I couldn’t help myself. She got worked up way too easily.

  Percifal stepped forward, fists balled, to defend his lover.

  I raised my hands in surrender just as Chel came back with the horses.

  We tied our bags to the saddles and took off to the north.

  “There’s another village at the base of the Acuties. We can purchase furs and supplies before we make the trek up the mountains.” Percifal told us. The Acuties… a vast mountain range the Kingdom of Ventosa nestled in. Snow covered their rocky peaks permanently, making them dangerous to travel through. I remembered hearing Queen Nicola once grumble about having to attend Noctis there. As I recalled, she hated the ‘kingdom of ice and frozen hearts.’

  A couple days rest had done Percifal well. He had more colour in his face, though he still hid how much pain he was in as we rode into the foothills at the base of the mountains.

  My eyes widened as Chel rested her hand against my thigh. I smiled into her shiny hair and squeezed her softly with my arms. We’d spent the previous night sharing pleasant memories of our pasts. Mine few, hers many. My grief had turned from a sharp pain to a dull ache over our journey. The thought of giving my heart to another didn’t seem so impossible now. I wondered if Chel felt the same as she let herself relax against me. The storm raging within the water elemental was turning into a warm, summer rain.

  We stopped a few times to let the horses drink; besides that, we rode straight until darkness made it too difficult to see. We built a small fire and slept on the ground around it, covering ourselves with blankets. There was a kind of serenity to being out in the open all on our own. The night air stayed fairly warm at the bottom of the Acuties, the wind blocked out by the evergreen covered mountains. I rolled onto my back and watched the stars blink, wondering if my real mother and father looked down from somewhere among them with our goddess. I fell asleep wondering what my life would’ve been like if King Lelund would’ve claimed me as his son, only to wake up stiff the next morning from the long ride and the hard ground.

  Each day went much the same the closer we grew to the trail that would lead us up the Acuties, until we reached the village Percifal had told us about five sunrises later. He knew the layout of Sarantoa well. He had been brought up to be King Zaeden’s right hand. I trusted his navigational skills more than my own.

  This village, much like the last, had merchants set up to sell their goods. Only, the items they sold were different. We purchased rooms for one night at the sole inn to allow ourselves a good night’s rest before hiking up the Acuties. After seeing to our horses and dropping off our bags at the inn, we visited the merchant shops and purchased warmer clothing and more food. We still had coin, but it was beginning to run low. We’d have to spend it wisely to make it last.

  “I wish we could’ve afforded our own room,” I whispered in Chel’s ear, glancing to the bed where Zephyra and Percifal slept entwined.

  She smiled wickedly at me and reached for my hand. She slowly brought it up to her mouth and pressed her soft lips to my skin before saying, “Perhaps once we’ve saved the world we’ll, have time for ourselves.”

  I hoped she was right. And I hoped Vesirus wouldn’t snuff out that little spark of light that had kindled between us. For if that little spark died, I knew my heart would never escape the dark again.

  We were off again the next morning, packed with our new items and riding refreshed mounts. I knew travelling the Acuties wouldn’t be easy, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the crushing cold and relentlessly harsh landscapes awaiting us.

  Chapter 27

  I had never seen snow. Winter never came to Terra. The higher we climbed, the colder the air became. My body wasn’t used to the type of climate we rode into a little over a fortnight after purchasing our furs. I admit the white powder dusting the ground gave it a sort of clean beauty, but the clouds of steam swirling from our mouths and noses with each breath we let out had me feeling uneasy.

  I poked Chel in the back from atop our horse. “Why do I feel like I’m a dragon?”

  She snickered. “It’s what happens when the air is really cold. Does it not get cold in Terra during the winter?”

  “Not like this, no,” I grumbled, pulling my fur cloak tighter around myself.

  We traveled up a small road winding through the towering mountains the regents of other kingdoms took when they travelled to Ventosa for Noctis De Celestia. We stayed at inns along the way when we could, but there were nights when we had to make camp outside. Those nights were the worst. We built shelters with branches and logs to block out the wind, but the cold, snow-packed ground didn’t make for a comfortable bed. I barely slept, spending most of my nights shivering against the bodies of the others. We began to run out of food and had to ration what little we did have left. I was cold, hungry and miserable. We all were, though no one spoke of it. We had agreed to this. I cursed Celestia a few times for sending me to the icy kingdom.

  One crisp, clear morning, I dug into one of our sacks and pulled out the last of our dried berries. The dried meat we’d brought had gone first. The bread had got wet and turned moldy. I tossed the berries at Chel and pushed myself up.

  “Where are you going?” she asked. Zephyra and Percifal were already out hunting, but they’d had little success so far.

  “Fishing.” I’d seen a lake just off the road the previous day. It was frozen over, but if I could make a hole, maybe I could catch a fish.

  “Wait. I’m coming with you.”

  We plowed through the untouched, pristine white snow. Ice crystals sparkled in the sunlight beaming through the evergreen trees. By the time we reached the lake, the bottoms of our trousers were soaked.

  “Let me go first,” Chel said. “The ice could be thin. Let me make sure it’s safe.”

  “Awe, are you protecting me, Lady Water?”

  She rolled her eyes at me. “Don’t be stupid. I can breathe underwater. You cannot.”

  “After you, my lady.”

  Chel stepped carefully onto the ice, testing its strength. When the ice held, she beckoned me over.

  I joined her and, kneeling down on the ice, I took out my dagger and began chipping away at the white surface. The air burned my face as I hacked away; stopping only to swipe away the slush I’d created.

  Chel watched with her hands on her hips. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

  “I don’t, but the rodents Percifal’s been catching aren’t enough for the four of us.”

  I hacked and hacked, but the ice was too thick. I grunted in frustration and threw my dagger down. I sat back and breathed in the frozen air. Sweat coated my forehead. At least I was warm for once. It wouldn’t last long.

&nbs
p; “Perhaps you’d like some help with that,” Chel taunted. “Move over.” She crouched down beside me and placed a hand over the place I’d carved a dip in.

  Realizing she planned to use her power, I scrambled backward. “Are you insane? What if the whole lake erupts through the ice?”

  “Have some faith in me. I can control my power.” She turned her focus back to the ice. The ice around her hand turned dark, and then water pushed through. She pulled more and more water up until a hole formed in the ice, bringing three fish up with it. Satisfied, she scooted back from the hole and smiled. “Have you ever even fished?”

  A strangled sound caught in my through. “What kind of question is that? Of course I’ve fished. Terra has rivers and lakes.”

  “You’ve never seen snow before. Who knows what else you’ve never experienced?”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. “I can be just as useful as everyone else, you know?” I turned and bent to gather the silvery fish.

  “Uh, Seph,” she warned as a whining sound filled the air and froze my muscles. “Sepheus, move!” Chel screamed. A crack shot down the ice beneath my feet.

  I made to run, but it was too late.

  The ice opened up underneath me, and I plunged into the icy water.

  Nothing can describe the amount of shock I felt in that moment. My blood froze inside my veins. I couldn’t breathe… couldn’t move. My eyes were open, but I saw nothing but darkness. Endless, deadly darkness.

  My whole life flashed inside my mind. My childhood full of bloodshed and a loveless father. The lonely nights I’d spent wondering if I’d ever have a friend. My failures at succeeding to make my father proud. Claudia. King Corbin. Queen Nicola. My witch grandmother.

  And even when Blaise’s face entered my mind, I felt nothing but despair and regret. I’d wasted my entire life, and now it was ending. Maybe it’d be a relief to be dead.

  But one face hadn’t yet flashed through my mind.

  And there, through the water, Chel appeared, swimming franticly for me. She was going to save me… save me from this freezing water. Save me from myself.

  I clawed at her as she dragged me upward. She struck me on the head and the world disappeared.

  When I opened my eyes again, I had been laid out on the ice. Chel panted, her hair and clothes sopping wet. We both shivered uncontrollably.

  She believed I was worth saving. She believed in me. I wouldn’t die empty and alone. And so I reached out a shaking hand and cupped her cheek. “Th—th—thank you.” Then I said the words I never thought I’d say to anyone. “I—I think I’m s—starting to fall in love with you.”

  “Me too,” she breathed. Tears pooled in her eyes and she slapped my hand away. “So don’t die on me, you fool!”

  My throat tightened and I looked away. No one had ever told me they loved me before. My own mother hadn’t even thought I was worth her own life. What Chel had just given me… I blinked away the wetness in my eyes.

  I was so cold. The initial shock began to wear off, and my teeth now chattered so hard I couldn’t hear my own thoughts.

  We slunk off the ice, treading back through the snow. We followed our tracks from earlier.

  “Zephyra!” Chel bellowed.

  We stumbled to our camp. Zephyra met us, taking in our state. “Oh my goddess, what happened?”

  I’d begun drifting in and out of consciousness. I was so damned cold. I couldn’t feel my hands or feet.

  “He fell into the lake,” I heard Chel say. “You need to use your power to warm him.”

  “I—I’m not sure if I can,” Zephyra stuttered.

  “Zephyra, now.” Chel’s voice cracked on the last word. “He may die if you don’t.”

  “What if I burn him from the inside out?”

  I didn’t hear Chel’s answer. My heart pounded too loud, my ears rang in an endless note. Fools, we’d been fools to set foot on that lake. Icicles clung to my eye lashes as I tried to blink.

  Whatever Chel had said must have been enough to convince Zephyra. The fire elemental took both of my hands in hers and looked into my eyes. “Sepheus, I’m going to try to warm you. If I kill you, I’m sorry. Do you accept?” It took me a moment to comprehend she wanted me to agree, so she repeated a little louder, “Do you accept?”

  I nodded. “J—just d—do it.”

  Zephyra breathed in deeply and closed her eyes. Percifal brought over the blankets. He wrapped one around me and one around Chel.

  Zephyra’s hands warmed, the first sign her power was working. The warmth transferred to my own palms. Then, like liquid gold, the warmth spread, melting the ice in my veins. I felt colour return to my face. I breathed evenly once again. I stopped shivering as her fire magic warmed me from the inside out.

  Sweat pooled on the back of my neck, and I pulled my hands away. “Enough. That’s enough.” I grinned at the very concerned fire elemental. “Thank you, Zephyra. You did it.”

  She returned my smile.

  “You need to warm Chel now,” Percifal said to her.

  Indeed, I hadn’t noticed Chel also shivered from where she watched. She may have been able to breathe underwater, but the cold air still affected her. And being wet in this climate wasn’t safe. To my amazement, my clothing had completely dried from Zephyra’s power. We should’ve been using her to warm us since we’d entered the Acuties. But after she was done warming Chel, I noticed the tiredness in her eyes, the way her back bent forward as she dragged her feet to stand with Percifal. It took a lot of control to hold her power back enough to keep it from burning us alive. Warming us for comfort wasn’t worth draining her.

  Percifal prepared the rabbit he’d caught for us to eat afterward. There wasn’t much meat when split between the four of us, but it was more than the mouse he’d caught the night before. We’d lost all the fish when the ice broke and it wasn’t worth the risk to try again, so we had to be grateful for any morsel of food we could get. Finding anything worth eating in the wintery land proved tough, and I supposed Percifal was still off his game since recovering from his wounds. Arrows would have been nice. We could’ve used them to hunt birds. Why had no one bought arrows instead of blades? Blaise would have. I shoved the thought away as I accepted my piece of meat.

  After our skimpy meal, we packed up and left.

  Frustration gnawed at me at having to ride with Chel after confessing my feelings to her. I wanted to show her exactly how I felt about her, but I couldn’t do that with Zephyra and Percifal beside us. I ran my hand along her thigh and brushed my lips against the back of her neck. She leaned back into me before stopping my hand with her own.

  “If I have to suffer, so do you,” I whispered into her ear. Oh, it’d been a long time since I’d been able to take pleasure in a woman. Too long.

  “You don’t think I’m suffering too? What I wouldn’t give to lose myself again.”

  “Did we miss something back there?” Zephyra put in, annoying me.

  “Seph told me—” I clamped my hand over her mouth before she could finish her sentence.

  Zephyra raised one eyebrow.

  “We’re both restless, is all.” I smiled at Zephyra. Admitting I may have a heart to other people… I wasn’t ready for that. Besides, keeping our desires a secret felt more intimate, more thrilling.

  Chel tossed her hair over her shoulder, causing it to hit me in the face, surely on purpose. I simply ran my fingers through the silky strands and felt her relax. I chuckled, enjoying our little game.

  We climbed higher up the mountains until the road came to a plateau, a sign we were getting nearer to the kingdom of air.

  I slowed our horse so we fell back a little ways from Zephyra and Percifal. Just out of earshot. “I’ll need to thank you properly for saving me,” I murmured to Chel.

  “I wasn’t going to let you die,” she said, still staring ahead. “We need you.”

  “Regardless.”

  She ducked her head to the side to peer at me. “Don’t scare me again. I’m tir
ed of losing people. I can’t do it again.”

  “You won’t lose me,” I promised, and then added, “I’m a knight. I shouldn’t need saving. I’ll have to be more careful.”

  She nearly chocked at my words. “You’re a knight?”

  “It’s quiet shocking, isn’t it? I’m also a royal, though I don’t actually consider myself one.”

  Now she twisted to stare at me. “Excuse me?”

  I don’t know why I felt the need to tell her my truth. I guess I needed someone alive to know before I died. My plunge into the lake had been a close call. So I confessed to her, “King Lelund was my father. My mother was his mistress.”

  “You’re an heir of Terra? Does King Corbin know?”

  I shook my head. “He doesn’t, and I want to keep it that way. My father never claimed me before he died. I’m not legitimate, and I don’t wish to be royal. Even being a prince is too much responsibility.”

  Chel shifted in the saddle and looked back through the horses ears. “Ironic you’re currently responsible for saving all of Sarantoa then.”

  I let out a long breath. “It wasn’t by choice. And after we’re done banishing Vesirus and his demons back to Mnyama, I’d like to live a long, simple life.”

  “Nothing about life is simple, but don’t worry. I’ll take your secret to my grave.”

  I pushed our horse into a trot to catch up to the others and said, “Thank you.”

  We had to make camp for one more night. This time we spotted a deer through the snow covered trees. Zephyra used her fire to kill the animal. She cried about it after, but we ate well that night.

  As we lay down to go to sleep beneath a pile of furs, the smell of rot drifted through the air. I tried to ignore it, believing it to be only my imagination. But an unsettling feeling crept over me as the wind stilled.

  A loud screeching had us all scrambling to our feet.

  “What was that?” Zephyra whispered.

  As if in answer, a shadow darker than the night sky loomed through the snow covered trees. One of the Dark Lord’s demons had found us.

  “It must have tracked us by scent,” I answered, calling to the spark of my magic, preparing to fight.