Lost Tides: Elemental Seekers Series

by H. M. Sandlin

  “What do you mean we? I’m going to be in Ireland looking, not here.”

  “I know. I will be there too. At least for part of it. Mrs. Sullivan asked me if I would go with you.”

  “Why?”

  “In case there is trouble.”

  “So you are one of the people assigned to watch me? Do you know who else?”

  “Technically, I am not assigned to watch you. It will look like I am there visiting. Same as you. You will still have a few adults watching you. I’m there to help you if you need it.”

  “But what about Tider? He is supposed to be coming to stay at your house.”

  “He is going to be coming too. He will come to my house for a couple days, and then we will be headed over there. Wait for us before you go searching,” he gave me a stern look.

  “I will wait for you,” I told him. “It’s only a couple days, and I want to spend some time with my parents first anyway.”

  “Thanks, Sally. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

  “I know, Richard. When you guys get there, we can start exploring. I already know exactly where I want to start. It’s an area called Annagh Bay. It’s the perfect spot for water elementals to hide.”

  “Sounds good. We need to make sure we are prepared when we go. We don’t know what we will find there.”

  “I know. We will be,” I told him. I headed down to the library to do a little more research on the first elementals. After looking through the books for a couple of hours, I still hadn’t learned anything new. No one really knew what the elementals were like in the beginning. A lot of the books repeated the same tales over and over with different people trying to decipher them. I put the books away, grabbed dinner, and headed to my room.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I knew I was dreaming right away. The field of daisies I was standing in was too bright, the whites and greens standing out sharply against the browns of the ground. Even the blue of the sky was too blue against the white puffy clouds. I started walking along the path, trying to figure out where I was.

  I felt a peacefulness in the air around me, and everywhere I looked, animals were running around. I ran across a rabbit and her babies and sat and watched as they scampered in the tall grass, playing with each other like they didn’t have a care in the world. Their mama looked up, startled, and quickly nudged the babies into her den.

  I looked around too but didn’t see anything. I continued along the path and came to the edge of a lake. I looked out across it in wonder. It was so huge I couldn’t see the other side. A splash caused me to look out at the water. A few feet into the lake, a dolphin poked his head out of the water. He made squeaking and chirping noises at me, but I didn’t know what he wanted.

  He kept making noises until I walked towards him. He dipped under the water and came even closer to me. When I was close enough to touch him, he pushed his nose at my hand. A barrage of images flew into my head.

  He was swimming near the center of the lake. When he came up for air, I saw an island covered in black sand. There were ruins on the island. I could feel waves of misery coming from the shore. As the dolphin watched, black clouds began to gather above the island, and the wind started to kick up the sand and waves.

  The island soon became obscured, and the dolphin dived under the waves, swimming away. He popped his head up one more time and looked back. I saw that the dark clouds were at least twice as big as before, and I could hear the wind.

  I opened my eyes and looked down at the dolphin. “What was that?” I asked him not really expecting an answer.

  He shook his head and then touched his nose to me again. I saw a picture of myself in a boat rowing out there with Richard, Tider, Abby, and another guy I didn’t know.

  “Wait. Are you saying I’m supposed to go there?”

  The dolphin nodded his head.

  “Why?”

  As he touched my hand again, I saw the darkness taking over the earth. I stood with my friends on the island, and a circle of light glowed around us.

  “That’s the prophecy?” I asked.

  He nodded again.

  “Why are you showing me this?” I needed to know more. He looked back out at the lake, and this time I could see the dark clouds. They kept getting bigger, and I could hear the wind getting closer. He nudged me with his nose urgently. I saw a picture of a large white wolf standing on a cliff with his head thrown back. I heard the words, “Find him,” before the picture changed, and I saw myself running back to where I had started the dream.

  As the image faded, I heard the howling of the wind as it tore at my clothes and hair. The dark clouds were getting closer. The dolphin looked at me one last time and then dived under the water.

  “Run,” I heard in my head. I turned and ran. The wind whipped past me, dragging long strands of hair into my eyes, making it almost impossible to see. The sand flew all around and stung everywhere my clothes didn’t protect. I tried running faster. I knew if I let the dark clouds get to me, I wouldn’t be able to wake up.

  The world would be covered in darkness, and evil would rule. I couldn’t let that happen. I pushed myself even harder, sprinting past the rabbit’s den, hoping they would be safe in the storm. I made it back to the spot I started in and closed my eyes, hoping to wake up.

  When I opened them I was back in my bedroom at the school. I was covered in sweat and could feel the grittiness of sand all over my body. It hadn’t been a dream. Somehow I was really there at the lake even though I was in my bed.

  Shakily I got to my feet and headed towards the shower. I wanted to get the sand off of me and needed a few minutes to pull myself together. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but I knew it was a warning. The darkness was growing closer, and somehow I had to stop it. At this point, I had to believe I was the one in the prophecy.

  I felt a little steadier as I headed down to the common area. I knew the cafeteria wasn’t going to have breakfast ready yet, but I didn’t want to stay in my room. Maybe I would hang out in the library for a while. I glanced at my phone, only a few minutes after five. I grabbed a book and started reading.

  I finished reading and grabbed some breakfast before meeting Mr. Merrem. He had me practice everything I had learned since I came to the school.

  I met up with Richard that afternoon, and we walked down to see Mr. Connor. He wanted to go over a few last minute things before I left, and I was glad I would get a chance to say bye to him. He was still one of my favorite teachers. When we got to his room, he stood up from his desk with a big grin.

  “I hope you have a good time seeing your parents,” he said. “I have something for you to take on your journey.” He pulled out a small black bag, opened it, and took out the contents. There were a bunch of small vials filled with different liquids. “I made a bunch of potions for you to take just in case. Don’t worry about getting through security at the airport with it. It’s enchanted to look like a regular bag of toiletries,” he laughed. “It’s a great disguise. No one wants to go through someone else’s personal bathroom products.”

  I laughed as well, “That is a great disguise. What are they for.”

  “There are a couple of healing potions in the red vials, a potion that enhances your sight in a blue vial, another one that enhances hearing in a green vial, and a few that explode like bombs. You need to be careful with those last ones. They are in the black vials. They only blow up a small area, about a five-foot diameter, but it might come in useful. Don’t blow yourself up.”

  “I will be extra careful,” I told him.

  “Good. Only use them if you really need to. It’s incredibly hard to get all the ingredients for some of these, but I want to make sure you can defend yourself if anything happens. With the Pulhu, you can never be too safe.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Connor. I won’t use them if I don’t have to. Hopefully, I won’t need them. I’m hoping to have a nice holiday with my parents.” We chatted with him for a few more minutes before leaving.
/>   “That went well,” Richard said as we walked out. “I definitely think these might come in useful on your trip.”

  I spent the rest of the evening in the library but didn’t find anything new. After a few hours and lots of yawning, I finally gave up and went to sleep. I didn’t have any more weird dreams and felt fully rested when I woke up. When I got to my class, Mr. Merrem made me practice everything he could think of to prepare me for any problems on my trip.

  I was up early and waiting for Natasha to pick me up twenty minutes before Richard even showed up. I couldn’t help it. I was super excited to see my family. It felt like I had been away from them forever, even though I talked to them almost every night before I went to sleep. As soon as Natasha pulled up, I hurried down the stairs, put my stuff in the trunk, and hopped into the car, ready to go. Richard took longer, and I started tapping my fingers impatiently.

  “You need to relax,” he whispered to me. “The plane is leaving at the same time, whether you get there in ten minutes or in forty-five minutes. You are still going to have to sit at the airport and wait,” he laughed.

  I shot an irritated look at him, “I know. I just want to get there. I will feel better once I’m at my gate. Right now anything could happen. What if we get stuck in traffic, or get a flat tire?”

  He laughed again, “I’m sure Mrs. Sullivan thought of everything. That’s probably why we are leaving so early. Your flight doesn’t leave until ten. You are going to be stuck in the airport for a few hours.”

  “What time does your flight leave?”

  “Not until eleven. I’m going to stay with you until you board, then I will head to my gate.”

  “You don’t have to stay with me. I will be fine.”

  “I’m sure you will, but there’s no reason either of us needs to sit at the airport alone,” he glanced towards Natasha quickly and then looked at me.

  He didn’t want me saying anything in front of her. I closed my mouth. I didn’t even think about the fact that I had to be careful about what I said around everyone else. I didn’t want anyone knowing that Richard was really here to protect me, even if I didn’t want him to be. I looked up to the front of the car and saw Natasha watching us from the rearview mirror. Richard was right, we couldn’t trust anyone.

  “Fine,” I huffed, “but you get to buy me breakfast.”

  He laughed and sat back in his seat. We were both quiet the rest of the way, and I was glad when it was over. I kept looking around, making sure no other cars were following us, but I didn’t see anything. When we got out at the airport, Natasha pulled me aside.

  “You need to be careful,” she hissed at me. I looked at her in surprise, she barely ever spoke to me.

  “The Pulhu are still watching you,” she said quietly. I could barely hear her. She turned and walked away from me so fast I almost stumbled forward since I had been leaning in to hear her.

  I looked at Richard, but he didn’t appear to notice that anything had happened. I wasn’t sure what had actually happened. I knew Natasha didn’t like me, so I wasn’t sure why she was warning me. Besides, I hadn’t seen anyone follow us. I didn’t think they could possibly know I was leaving the school. I looked one last time at Natasha getting in the car. She didn’t even look up at me as she drove away.

  I debated if I should tell Richard, but I decided against it. We made our way closer to my gate before stopping and grabbing breakfast. While we waited for our food, I saw Richard looking around.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked him.

  “Nothing. I want to make sure no one followed us or recognizes you. This is one of the worst parts of your trip.”

  “We are at the airport. I can’t imagine someone would try to take me from here. Did you see all the security?”

  “Yes, and I’m sure Mrs. Sullivan has people here keeping an eye on you too.”

  “See, we don’t have anything to worry about.”

  Richard still looked skeptical. Once we finished, we sat down at my gate to wait. We only had another hour until boarding, and other people were starting to fill up the seats. I looked at all the people waiting but didn’t see anyone watching me.

  Suddenly Richard reached out for me and hissed, “Put your head down.”

  I did as he said and pretended to be reading something on my phone so I could keep my head down for a while. I let my hair fall slightly over my face, trying to hide it. “What’s wrong?”

  “One of the Weetwoods is here. I think it’s Sasha’s mom or her aunt. I’m not sure, but I don’t want her recognizing you.”

  “Is she getting on this plane?”

  “I don’t think so. It looks like she is waiting at the gate across from us, but she doesn’t have any luggage.”

  “Maybe she is meeting someone here.”

  “Who would she be meeting?”

  “No idea. I would assume a kid since she is at the gate. I didn’t think you could get past security unless you had a ticket or were getting a child off a plane.”

  “It’s the Weetwoods. If she wants to be in here, she will be, with or without a ticket.”

  We fell silent as we watched her out of the corner of our eyes. She didn’t seem to be paying us any attention, and I started to relax. Right before my plane boarded, another plane pulled in to the gate where Mrs. Weetwood was. I hung towards the back of the line so I could see who she was waiting for. Richard stayed near me and walked up in line with me.

  As we crept closer to the flight attendant, I finally saw Mrs. Weetwood greeting somebody. I didn’t have a clue who it was. It was a tall man dressed in a suit with a tie and briefcase. When I looked at him, alarms rang in my head. This man was scary. He started to turn towards me, and Richard grabbed my arm.

  “Calm down, Sally. I can almost feel how scared you are. What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know. That man with her, do you know him? Something about him terrifies me.”

  “I think I recognize him from somewhere, but I can’t remember where.”

  I turned away from them, holding my phone up as if I was taking a selfie, but instead took a picture of the man. As I snapped the photo, he looked up at me. He couldn’t see my face since I was facing away from him, but I was sure he knew it was me.

  “Sally, you have to go. There’s barely anyone left here. You need to get on the plane before they notice you.”

  “Ok,” I said shakily.

  Richard put his arm around me and gave me a hug, “Don’t worry, I don’t think they saw us.”

  I hugged him back and turned to hand the flight attendant my ticket. When I looked back, Mrs. Weetwood and the man were gone.

  “Ms. Abeneb, you need to board the flight now,” the flight attendant brought my attention back to her.

  “Bye, Sally, see you soon,” Richard called as I boarded. “Everything will be fine.”

  I hoped he was right. I put my luggage in the overhead bin and took my seat, trying not to think of everything that could go wrong. I pulled out my phone to look at the picture and try to figure out who the man was. As soon as I pulled it up, a gasp escaped me. The man was looking at the camera and winking. He definitely knew who I was.

  He had a thin, gaunt face, and his eyes were such a dark brown they looked black. His lips were set in a cruel smile, and I hoped I never had to see him in person again. What could Mrs. Weetwood be doing with this man, and how had they disappeared so fast?

  “Are you ok, miss?” asked the old man sitting next to me.

  “I’m fine,” I told him. “I’m not used to flying.”

  The man smiled at me before putting out his hand, “I’m Chet. I’ve been on this flight a dozen times. I never had a problem before. Why are you headed to Ireland?”

  I looked at him closely, remembering Richard telling me to be more careful. This man seemed like a good person. He had blue eyes that seemed to sparkle when he laughed and a great big smile. He looked like the perfect grandpa.

  “I’m Sally. I’m heading to see my family
for the holiday.”

  “That sounds like it will be fun. Do you have any plans while you are visiting?”

  “Not that I know of.” I didn’t want to give him too much information about me to be safe.

  “You’re going to love it. There’s so much to do and see.” We spent the next couple of hours talking about all the different sights in Ireland before my eyes started drooping.

  “I can see I’ve talked your ear off, and you’re about to fall asleep,” he said.

  I assured him I was enjoying our conversation, but he insisted on letting me rest for a while. He said he could use the rest too, so I put in my headphones and started watching the movies I had downloaded on my phone. Eventually, I fell asleep, and when I woke up, we were descending. I looked over and saw that Chet was still sleeping. I reached over to gently shake him awake.

  “We’re here,” I told him when he finally opened his eyes.

  “Time for me to get to work then.”

  “What do you do?” I asked him. I had completely forgotten to ask earlier.

  “I study ancient cultures.”

  “You’re an archaeologist?”

  “Yes, but I don’t go out to sites that often anymore. It gets too tiring.”

  “Why are you headed to Ireland?” I was excited to find out. I loved learning about ancient history.

  “That’s where I work. I have a place in Castlebar that I work from most of the year.”

  “Oh,” I said disappointedly. I had been hoping there was a site he was going to.

  “Don’t be disappointed. Why don’t you come to my shop? I will show you what I have been working on in the area.”

  “Really?”

  “Of course. I can tell you like history, and I love to encourage young adults to learn. Here’s my card. It has the address of the shop on it. I’m usually there until three every day, but if not, ask for Tad. He’ll know where I am and can send a message to me. I’ll tell him to keep an eye out for you.”

  “That’s awesome, Chet. Thank you,” I said excitedly. I really hoped I would have time to go visit his shop.