Lost Tides: Elemental Seekers Series

by H. M. Sandlin

  That gave me the push I needed to get to my feet. They would be looking for me. I needed to get to the other side of the trees. I stumbled to my feet and didn’t get light headed this time, so I pushed forward, trying to run as best I could. I still wasn’t sure what all was broken on me, but the pain had lessened enough for me to take deep breaths.

  After a few more minutes, I realized getting through the trees wasn’t going to be as easy as I thought. I had lost sight of the road, and now everything looked the same. I had no idea which way I was going. There was nothing up ahead, but I could hear shouts coming from behind me. They must have found where I jumped out of the car. So much for an easy escape.

  I started to pick up speed. Soon I was racing through the woods. The pain left me as adrenaline worked its way through my body. I wound my way through tree branches and over rocks, doing my best to be quick but silent. As I went to jump over a log, my foot caught, and I slammed into the ground. Dirt flew up into my face, and I started coughing uncontrollably. I tried to be silent, but I heard my pursuers heading for me and knew I had failed.

  I kept moving and thought I saw something up ahead. It looked like a light. At first, I thought the Pulhu had circled me. My heart pumped with fear, and I skidded to a stop looking for a way out. I noticed that the light wasn’t moving, and my attackers hadn’t used any lights yet either, so it must be the school or a house. Some kind of help had to be there. I took off running with a new burst of speed, and as I rounded another tree, I could start to see the shape of the school.

  I was so excited I didn’t see the attacker on my right before he barreled into me. We went down in a tangle of arms and legs, rolling over each other. He tried to put his hand over my mouth, but I bit down hard. He cursed at me, but he still hadn’t raised his voice loudly. I tried to scream, but again he put his hand on my mouth. This time I couldn’t bite him. He tried to pin me to the ground and grab my arms, but I squirmed so much that he couldn’t get a grip.

  I brought my leg up into his stomach and kicked him off me. He flew back a good ten feet and hit a tree. I was too stunned to move until I heard crashing in the trees behind me. I sprinted for the open grass in front of the school, hoping I would make it. When I was almost halfway across the lawn, four guys emerged from the trees.

  I closed my eyes and tried to remember how I had used my powers a few minutes ago when I had knocked the man off me. As I concentrated, I started to feel the Pulhu’s power building. They were getting ready to use their power to subdue me. I saw ugly black and red, and green colors swirling around them. I didn’t know how since my eyes were closed, but I knew exactly where they each were. Some had a muddier green color, but none of the colors were vibrant.

  I tried to get the air to stream around me, and I pulled it over me like a shield. I figured if the bubble of air had kept me from getting wet, maybe it could protect me from their power. When the first hit came, it slammed into me before I got the shield up, and pain ripped through my body. My shield almost burst, but I closed my eyes and steadied myself.

  Suddenly I heard a shout, and the man who had hit me with his power went flying. There was a bright blue flash of power, and another man went flying. I wanted to open my eyes but needed to concentrate, or my shield would fail. I needed the protection so their magic couldn’t get me.

  I watched the colors flying around and realized whoever was using the pale blue color was on my side. They were fighting my attackers off. I started to back up closer to the school, but as soon as I moved, someone shot power at me. It destroyed my shield, and I fell to my knees, grabbing my head.

  “Sally,” someone screamed my name. I tried to see who it was, but I couldn’t see anything through the haze in my mind. I didn’t realize I still had my eyes closed until a shimmery yellow color enveloped me. My head immediately started to clear, and I looked up to see Tider and Abby standing at the doors to the school.

  “Hurry, Sally,” Tider yelled.

  Another shot of power flew past me, missing me by inches. “She’s not going to make it,” Abby yelled. I turned around and saw three people fighting against one person. I couldn’t see who it was, he had so much power flying around him. I realized they were keeping him occupied so the other two could come up and grab me. They were only a couple steps away when Tider yelled, “Sally, get down now.”

  I fell to the ground and felt Tider’s power whip over the top of me and knock one of the men back. Tider came running toward me, and a torrent of water followed his hand. He pushed his hands toward the men, and the water hit them in the chest, causing them to fly backward. They didn’t get back up.

  A man broke off from the other fight and threw his hands at the ground in front of me. The ground shook, and a dirt wall five feet high rose up in front of me, separating me from Tider. I heard his shout of frustration and a geyser of water shot out from behind the wall with Tider riding it like a wave. As he landed, his wave grew bigger. Small shoots of water were coming out of the ground and joining the giant wave. He yelled in anger as he sent his wave at the attackers near us. They were lifted off their feet and thrown all the way into the trees.

  We heard a rushing sound as the wind increased and looked to see the guy with the bright blue power still fighting. He was pulling all the air towards him, and small flames had started to sprout at his feet even though it should have been too windy for the fire to stay lit. The Pulhu were trying to defeat him. The earth groaned as they tried throwing rocks and dirt at him, but the swirling air protected him.

  Once he had gathered enough wind, he threw it at our attackers, and the flames went with it lighting the men’s clothes on fire and throwing them into the trees. We heard yells and screams as the men tried to put the flames out. Tider grabbed my hand, and we ran to the school entrance.

  Mr. Connor ran out of the doors. He threw people-sized tornados at the attackers, keeping them from being able to attack as the person with the bright blue magic ran towards us. I looked at the guy who was trying to protect me. The wind was still whipping around him, but I thought I recognized something about him.

  “Come on,” I yelled. “We need to get inside.”

  He turned and looked out at the trees one last time, and then he glided on the wind to us. His power was immense. Once he was closer, I looked up at him, and recognition hit me.

  “Richard?” he looked different from during school. He looked older and a little scary. “What’s wrong, Richard? What’s going on? Why do you look different?” I put my hand on his arm, and he flinched away.

  He took a few deep breaths trying to calm himself, and his face returned to normal. Abby and Tider were staring at him speechless.

  “Wow,” said Tider, “I didn’t realize how much power you actually have.”

  Richard laughed, “You aren’t too bad yourself.”

  “They had the weakest on Sally and me. The strongest were trying to keep you occupied.”

  Mr. Connor ran inside the school and shut the door behind him. “Go get changed, eat, and then meet me in Mrs. Sullivan’s room. We have a lot to discuss,” he told us before walking down the hall to make a phone call.

  “How did you know I needed help?”

  “When you left, I had a bad feeling. I went and talked to Mrs. Sullivan, and she told me you would be fine, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. I grabbed these two and talked to them about it. Abby told me she felt the same way. We have been pacing this hall since then, waiting for you to come back. Mrs. Sullivan came running out a few minutes before you showed up and took off in her car to go to the office for an attack. She said you were on your way back with Natasha, and we should lock up as soon as you got in.”

  “We waited for Natasha, but she never showed up. I was getting ready to take off down the road to look for you two when I saw something in the woods. No one should be out there, so I figured they had to be the Pulhu, and they must be chasing something. I didn’t know it was you for sure until you made it out of the t
rees.”

  “Thank you for helping me. I don’t think I would have made it if you hadn’t stepped in.” I looked at them and realized we were all a mess. We were covered in dirt and leaves, and in my case, blood. I felt my knee where I had hurt it jumping out of the car, but it didn’t hurt, neither did my arm. There was blood on my clothes, but I couldn’t find a single scratch.

  “Guys? Why don’t I have any scratches or bruises or broken bones? I jumped out of a moving car and then ran through the woods being chased,” I looked at Richard and saw a small cut on his right arm, though from the amount of blood on his shirt, it should have been much worse.

  “A lot of us heal fast,” Richard said. “It’s one benefit of having magic, though if you broke your arm and it’s already healed, you must have super fast healing abilities.”

  “But I was hurt pretty bad. I felt like my head was about to explode when that last one hit me. I couldn’t even see straight, and then a yellow light wrapped around me, and I felt much better.”

  “That was probably me,” Abby said. We all stared at her. “I don’t know what you mean by the color, but I can heal people, sometimes. I sent healing magic to you when I saw how badly hurt you were. I didn’t think you were going to make it.”

  I gave her a big hug, “Thank you for healing me, Abby.”

  “You’re welcome. I’m glad I was able to. It isn’t a very reliable power.

  “Let’s go get cleaned up and eat,” Tider said. “Then we can talk about this more.”

  “I have a lot of questions,” I said. “I still don’t understand what happened.”

  “We can talk when we get to Mrs. Sullivan’s office but food first, and I have some questions for you too, “Richard said.

  “Like what?”

  “I want to know more about these colors you see.”

  “Is that not normal?” I questioned.

  “Not that I know of,” he replied. “Go get dressed. We will meet you in the lunchroom,” I looked at Tider and thought about asking him about the colors since he could see auras, but he had asked me to keep his secret, and I didn’t want to say anything in front of Richard and Abby. I decided I would ask him later when no one else was around.

  Abby and I headed to the East wing. “Hey, Abby, can I borrow some clothes? I don’t have a clue where my room is or if I even have any of my clothes here.”

  “I know where your room is. Mrs. Sullivan told me to show you, but I was planning on doing it after dinner. I didn’t realize we were going to have such an eventful day.”

  “Do you think my parents made it to the airport?” I voiced the question that scared me the most.

  “I’m sure they did.”

  “How can you be sure?” I asked her as we finally made it into our wing.

  “I just can,” she said before she showed me my room and walked into hers across the hall.

  When we got to the cafeteria, the guys were already there. They had plates of food for all of us. “They were shutting down for the night, so we grabbed as much as we could for you. Eat up.”

  “Did you see Mrs. Sullivan?” I asked.

  “No, but we will go check her office when we finish here,” Tider said.

  I sat down in front of one of the plates of food. It smelled amazing. There was ham, potatoes and lots of different veggies. My mouth watered as I unrolled my napkin to take out my silverware. I was suddenly so hungry I couldn’t concentrate on anything else but eating.

  I quickly devoured all the food on my plate and even looked around for seconds. Tider pulled a few rolls out of a bread basket I had missed and handed them to me. “Jeez Sally, you really are starving,” he laughed.

  My face colored with embarrassment as I realized I had not even looked at my friends during the meal. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know I was so hungry. I don’t think I’ve ever been that hungry before.”

  “It’s a side effect of using a lot of magic,” Richard said.

  “And of healing,” Abby chimed in.

  “Why?”

  “You are using a lot of energy when you use magic. That energy has to be replenished. Food is the fastest way to do that. Sleep also works, but I doubt you would consider taking a nap right now,” Richard explained to me.

  “You’re right, no naps for me. I have to find out about my parents.”

  “Let’s go see if Mrs. Sullivan is back yet and if she knows anything,” said Tider. After picking up our dishes, he led the way back to her office. The door was closed, so we knocked and waited. When no one answered, I pushed the door open.

  “Sally, you can’t barge into Mrs. Sullivan’s office.”

  “Actually, I can. The door is unlocked. Besides, I’m just going to sit here until she comes back. I’m not going to touch her stuff,” I said as I walked inside.

  “Sally,” Abby hissed at me.

  “It’s ok, Abby. I promise to be good. You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to. I understand.”

  Abby came into the office and plopped onto the little couch, “I’m staying with you.” Tider and Richard came in too.

  “Well, now what?” Richard asked.

  “I guess we wait.”

  “In that case, let’s talk,” Richard began. “What were you talking about when you said you saw colors during the fight?”

  “When you were fighting, if I had my eyes closed, I could see your power by the color. Yours was a bright blue color, Richard.”

  “What about mine?” Tider asked.

  “You have a very pale blue color, Tider.”

  “Wow. That’s so cool.”

  “Abby, you have a shimmery yellow color. It’s beautiful.” I told her. “What do the colors mean?” I asked Richard.

  “I have no idea. I’ve never heard of someone seeing power as colors. So you could see their colors too?”

  “Yes, most of them had either a black and red color, or a muddy green color. It looked like their colors were tainted by something.”

  “That could be the effects of using dark magic. That could be very helpful to know who is on the Pulhu’s side.”

  “I felt you using your power out there, but I wasn’t sure what you were trying to do,” Richard said.

  “I was trying to make a shield out of air, so their power couldn’t hurt me. It didn’t work though.”

  “I think it did,” Tider said. “They didn’t hit you until you moved. It didn’t make any sense to me at the time. I kept waiting for them to take a shot at you, but they waited until you tried to get to the school. I wonder if it only works when you are still.”

  “I made it like you had me make the bubble of air when we were at lunch. That’s the only thing I knew how to do, so I tried it.”

  “That’s quick thinking, but I don’t think it worked as a shield,” Richard said.

  My face fell. I thought maybe I had done something.

  “I think it made you invisible as long as you didn’t move,” Richard said. This time my mouth felt open.

  “No, we could see her,” Abby and Tider said together.

  “Yes, but I don’t think they could. If they had seen her, they would have continued firing at her, trying to break through if it was a shield. They wouldn’t have stopped and waited.”

  “It makes sense,” said Tider. “Except for the fact that I’ve never heard of it being done before. I didn’t think anything like that was possible.”

  “Really, not possible? You can shoot water out of the ground, but invisibility is impossible,” I scoffed at him, and Abby laughed.

  “We don’t really know what kind of powers are out there. Usually, you get the same ones over and over, but sometimes a strange power will show up in a person. Maybe that is yours.”

  “I guess it could be worse. Invisibility would be cool.”

  The door to the office opened, and I flew out of my seat, “Are my parents ok? Did you see them? Did they got on the plane?” I asked before the person had even walked in. When I realized it wasn’t Mrs. Sullivan, I s
topped. Mr. Connor stood in front of us all.

  “Tell me what happened from the beginning, when you left Dr. Griffith’s office.”

  I told him exactly what had happened all evening. He let me speak, not interrupting me, and only inhaled sharply when he heard me say I had jumped out of a moving car.

  “Where is Natasha now?” he asked.

  “Oh no. I completely forgot about her. She said she would be fine, and I didn’t think anything else about it once I got in the woods.”

  “It’s ok, Sally,” Mr. Connor said. “I’m sure she is fine.”

  “I suppose we do not need to test you for air, now do we?” Mr. Connor said.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “What other elements do you have?” I looked at my friends, not sure how much to reveal.

  “She has three of them for sure,” Richard answered for me.

  “Three?” Mr. Connor looked at Richard.

  “She hasn’t been tested for earth yet.”

  “You must keep this hidden if you can.”

  “How am I supposed to do that?”

  “I will ask Mrs. Sullivan to put you in a masters class with Mr. Jared Merrem. He will be able to work with you on fire and Earth if you have it. I can help you with air and water. No one needs to know what you are actually working on. Now, what did the people attacking you see you use?”

  “I only used air. Why?”

  “That is what we will tell people. You are an air elemental.”

  “Why is it so important to protect me from them? Why are they after me like this and not anyone else?”

  “You have a lot of power which they want on their side. They are also after a specific person. They go after anyone who has more than one power in case they are the one the prophecy is talking about. That’s why we don’t want them knowing how many powers you have.”

  “Am I part of the prophecy?”

  “We have no idea. Not many people know the full thing. At this point, the prophecy could be talking about any number of people. Let me call Mrs. Sullivan and see what she knows about your parents.”