“Coal, hurry!” I screamed, as Shale rushed over, trying to help. But it wasn’t enough. Finn was too strong. Shale’s added strength wouldn’t suffice. He would break from our grasp any moment. But just as I felt my hand about to slide, just as I felt his body tensing further underneath, about to throw us off him, Ember appeared in the doorway, Juniper right behind.
They rushed over, their skin still cold from the frigid air as they pinned down Finn’s chest and legs. Gradually, Finn’s erratic movements slowed as the anesthetic component of the paste took effect. His body relaxed, the tenseness in his muscles slowly easing away as the pain left his body and Coal began to bandage the wound, wrapping it with clean cloth and binding it in place.
“I…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…,” Finn whispered, his voice hoarse as he gazed up at Aurora, but she immediately shushed him.
“You’re okay. That is all that matters now.”
✽✽✽
With his wound now treated, a makeshift cloth sling tied around Finns’ shoulder and upper arm to keep it immobile, though tired, he was starting to look himself again. Aurora sat beside him, still holding his hand. Glancing around, needing a way to make myself useful and, more so, to keep from replaying everything that had happened to us in the last days’ time, I moved towards Juniper, intending to help him continue to organize the supplies we’d brought. But before I’d even taken two steps, Coal called out my name.
I turned towards him, but his back was facing away from me as he gathered the old pieces of blood-stained cloth, disposing of them in the crackling fire.
“Hmm?”
“Come on over here,” he said quietly, now picking up a piece of clean cloth and dunking it in the still steaming water.
“What is it?” I asked, confused.
“Finn wasn’t the only one injured out there,” he said slowly, eyebrows raising at me.
I frowned at him for a moment…and then it hit me. Blaze had cut me with my own knife. I’d completely forgotten about it until now. My jacket now discarded, my fingers automatically went to my chest. I stared down at the red line slashed across my exposed skin, pink skin surrounding it disappearing beneath the neckline of my clothing.
“Coal, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it. We have other things to be concerned about right now.” Like getting something into our stomachs and using the supplies we brought with us to create makeshift bedding for seven people.
“I have the bandages here. The paste is already made up. Let me take care of it for you.”
“It isn’t necessary,” I tried again.
“I can see the redness surrounding it.” Dropping the cloth into the bucket, he rose, stepping towards me and placed his dry hand just above the injured skin. “The entire area is warm. I’m not going to let you ignore this and have it become infected.”
“Fine,” I relented, sighing as I followed him back over to the other side of the small shelter, and knelt on the floor. Shedding the top half of my black Combatant outfit, I shivered as the cold air, not sufficiently warmed yet by the flickering fire, washed over the thin material of my sleeveless undershirt. Trails of blood had dripped down along the upper part of my chest, drying into a congealed mess.
Slowly he placed the hot, wet cloth against my injured skin. At first I watched him, but he was so concentrated on his task, he didn’t meet my eyes once. Eventually, I shifted my gaze, watching the others, all while trying to distract myself from the twinges of pain.
Finn was asleep, still in the same wooden chair we’d initially dropped him into. Ember kept watch over the fire, continuing to stoke it, the wood crackling every so often and sending a flurry of sparks up the chimney. Aurora was dividing up some of the food Juniper and Shale managed to stockpile during their time in the Zone while the two of them rolled out mats and blankets, rearranging the furniture to create areas for us to sleep comfortably.
The burn of the paste had me clenching my teeth and a small hiss escaped from my lips. As Coal reached for the small white bandages to affix the edges of skin together, my gaze focused back along his neck. The bruises present there were even darker now.
“Coal, are you okay?” I asked, my voice low. He just nodded, remaining silent, again not meeting my eyes. Something had been going on with him ever since we escaped from the Zone. He’d barely spoken to me, barely looked at me. He appeared guarded, constantly. Why?
Shifting my eyes downward, I gazed at my arm. At the area where, only weeks prior, a nasty slash gouged across. But now, the only evidence that something had ever happened there was a paper-thin scar, visible only when the light caught it just so.
Feeling the touch of his fingers just below my collarbone as he pressed on a small piece of cloth and began tying it in place, I gazed around the sparse shelter where we would be spending the night, then whispered to myself, “Everything really has changed now.”
Chapter 45
Hours later, I sat beside the fire, devouring a piece of flat seeded bread. I watched as it flickered in front of us, golden tendrils working their way up into a sizeable flame. The warmth of it permeated the air and I held my fingers out towards it, allowing them to absorb more of the glorious heat.
“Sage,” a voice whispered besides me. Gazing up, I met the pair of cobalt eyes that I was so very used to. They were now the eyes belonging to the boy who saved my life.
“Can I talk to you for a minute?”
I nodded and rose to my feet, following him to the opposite side of the room, away from the others, shivering as the warmth of the fire left me. His posture was rigid, every muscle tense. And as he turned to face me, his eyes burned with pain.
“What’s wrong,” I whispered, immediately moving closer to him, but he just shook his head.
“I’m sorry.” His words came out raw.
“For what?” I asked, confused.
“For making a stupid mistake. For letting myself get distracted when fighting Blaze. For causing him to have the chance to hurt you, to almost kill you.”
Releasing a haggard breath, he turned away from me. This was why he’d been acting odd ever since we escaped. Guilt.
“Coal, look at me.”
Gradually, he twisted back to face me.
“There is nothing you have to feel guilty about. I fought against Blaze to protect you. I fought him because he was hurting someone I care deeply about. I saw him choking you and I had to do something. I wanted to, needed to, protect you for once. And I would do it all over again. In a heartbeat.”
“But it’s because of me that you had to join the fight to start with,” he muttered, not accepting what I was saying. He didn’t understand that what happened made me feel closer to him. He still blamed himself.
“Coal,” I said again, trying to make him understand. “I don’t blame you for anything that happened today. I was the one who moved in front of Juniper and Shale. I was the one who gave us away to Blaze and Ash. Everything that happened today happened because of what I did.” At this though, he began to shake his head furiously.
“No, what you did, protecting your friends, was the only choice. I was trying to distract Blaze and Ash, to convince them that they should go after the other Rogues, leave Juniper and Shale to us, but they didn’t believe me. At least Blaze didn’t. Fighting them was inevitable. But Blaze getting the chance to almost kill you. The blame for that rests solely on my shoulders.”
Stepping closer to him, I placed a hand on his arm. “Coal,” I whispered.
Reluctantly he turned to face me, his blue eyes now brimming with moisture. At the sight of them, I felt the prickle of tears in my own.
“Listen to me. When I think about today, I think about how you saved my life.” I swallowed, the memory of it creeping into my mind. “How you defended me, defended us all when Blaze began to spout his threats. How you fought against him. And how, when he had me by the neck…when I thought it was all over and I was about to die...how I saw your face. How you wrenched away his weapon. You saved my lif
e,” I repeated, my voice cracking.
A single tear overflowed, and he quickly brushed it away. Voice rough with emotion, Coal whispered back, “And you saved mine.”
I walked into his arms, sinking into his embrace. Eventually I leaned back, gazing up at his face, though his arms remained entwined around my waist. Again, my eyes went to the angry purple bruises blossoming across his neck. I traced my fingers over them lightly.
“Does it hurt?” I whispered.
He shook his head. “Not really.” He lifted one hand, skimming it against the dressing on my upper chest. “Does this?”
Taking his hand into my own, I leaned forward, resting my head against his chest and closing my eyes.
“No. Not anymore.”
✽✽✽
Sometime later, Ember came up to where we both stood. He coughed, announcing himself in a not so subtle way. “Coal, do you mind if I talk to you for a moment? Alone?”
Blue irises traveled down to me. Nodding my head, I stepped back. “Go on. I’m going to warm myself by the fire.”
Moving back to my seat beside the hearth, I stared at the flames glowing dance again. Its rhythmic motions were hypnotizing and I squeezed my knees to my chest, lulled by it.
The sound of a body moving up from behind reached my ears.
Coal sat down next to me, and slowly, tentatively, wrapped his arm around my shoulders. The warmth of his body radiated through the layers I wore and flowed directly into my heart. It felt a little strange, though. I was so used to keeping any physical contact between us hidden from everyone else. To hide even the possibility of a friendship. And especially, whatever this was developing between us.
But we didn’t need to hide it anymore. The only people here with us now were friends.
I leaned my head against his shoulder, the wool coat he’d found earlier amongst the supplies rubbing softly against my cheek, while the ends of his dark hair brushed across my forehead. His hand slowly stroked the curls falling down my back. I reached up and laced my fingers with his.
Sitting across from us, Aurora caught my eye. The twinkle in hers was unmistakable and her lips spread into a small smile. Unable to stop myself, I grinned back.
Looking at the six other people seated next to this fire with me, the fact that I had no idea what would happen with us in the coming days was still present in my mind, but not as important right now. We were all here. And we were safe for the moment. Come morning, we would continue on. The invisible cords continued to pull, desperate for me to follow. And somehow I knew, deep within my core, they would lead us to the Healer’s.
I didn’t know what we would end up finding when we arrived there.
But I would learn soon.
I would learn more than I could ever imagine. More than I ever wanted to know.
And it would change everything.
THE END (for now).
Epilogue
EDEN
I sat there in my small room, quietly brushing my hair as I stared back at the reflection in the mirror. The rough bristles tamed my blonde strands into smooth submission as I continued to watch that mirror image. Studying her. And thought about my real-life mirror image who was currently living in Earth Society and wondered if she ever did the same.
No…all she knew was that I’d left to go to the Training and never returned. She wouldn’t even remember the time I went to see…well, it wasn’t even worth thinking about any longer. Years had passed and what had happened could never be reversed.
What was worth thinking about was the Trainees we’d again sent off to Proletariat several weeks ago. Soon the next group would arrive. And I’d teach them endless information about the Societies, the laws, the development of it all, as usual shielding against questions from the inevitably too curious mind, knowing full well the entire time that half of those I was instructing would remember nothing of me or what I taught them.
I let loose a small sigh, then placed the brush back down upon my dresser. Raven. That was her name. This Training’s too curious mind. I’d overheard some of the students murmuring the next day that she hadn’t returned after Flint ordered her brought to River. My chest tightened. I had no idea what happened to her. My guess would be they carted her off to Proletariat straight away. Or…worse. But who knew? I was in the dark here about most things unless River told me about them. And he’d made no mention of her.
Shaking my head, I peered into the mirror once more. While I was only twenty-seven, only ten years older than the trainees I instructed here, it felt like much more. Though my outward appearance was still youthful, with rose-hewed cheeks and unblemished porcelain skin, still resisting the hint of a wrinkle, inside I felt old, crushed, slowly withering away as time repeated itself over and over, each time harder than the last.
Something heavy banged against my bedroom door and I glanced over just in time to see a figure burst through.
“River?!” I gasped in shocked annoyance, but he just pressed a finger to his lips, motioning me to be silent as he pressed the oak door closed with a soft click. Stunned, I hurriedly pulled on my black silk robe, though it ended just above the knees and did little to hide the sheer nightgown I wore underneath. But as River turned toward me once more, if he noticed, he made no indication of it. Rather, it was me who started growing nervous as I took in his shaking shoulders, his rapid breaths. He ran a hand over his short, dark hair, though his fingers trembled, and his brown eyes were tight as they locked onto mine.
But my expression changed from one of concern to one of outright shock at his next words.
“Eden, we have to leave. Now.”
“Wha…what?” I sputtered, so startled I lost my grip on the robe for a second and it flapped opened. Flushing, I hurriedly wrapped it together, then turned my gaze back to River who was now beginning to pace.
“We have to leave tonight. Get out of here, out of Elemental entirely. Things have changed, and I don’t have time to explain everything. We are running out of time with every moment that passes.”
I stood there frozen, just staring at him. “Are you mad? We can’t leave, it’s impossible. And why would we? You’re not making any sense.”
Moving over suddenly, he grabbed my wrist, trying to tug me towards the door. He’d managed to pull me several steps before I dug my bare heels against the wooden floor. “River, stop!”
He paused finally, though his breathing didn’t slow. “Eden, trust me, we need to go now.”
I yanked my hand from his tight grasp, but kept my eyes on him, only now realizing how harried his expression was.
“Why? What is going on?”
Instantly he was in my face. “There’s no time!”
“If you want me to come with you, leave with you, make time!”
Breaths heavy, his eyes burned with fiery frustration, though there was fear there as well. I could feel both coming off him in waves. “They’ve escaped. She’s escaped.”
“Who’s escaped?”
“Sage. Coal. A few of the others always around them. They’re gone.”
“But…but how? They went to Combatant? How could they have escaped from there?”
River twisted around, pacing away from me again. “I don’t know. I don’t even know when it happened. They haven’t told me. I just overheard Flint and Wade muttering about it in the hall.”
“But…but why wouldn’t they tell you? You’re in charge here.”
River let out a short, humorless laugh. “They’ve been keeping things from me, Eden. They don’t trust me. At least it took them this long to realize they never should have in the first place. It isn’t safe to stay here anymore, though.”
“But why?”
He smiled darkly. “Because they’ve finally smartened up. And it won’t take long before they come after us. That’s why we have to go. Now!”
I remained unmoving, watching him warily, not knowing whether to trust him or not. A look of understanding slowly crept onto his face and he took several steps
towards me.
“Eden, I protected you all those years ago. Kept you safe.” Immediately images of my twin sister flashed through my head as I remembered just what it was he’d done for me. He watched me with knowing eyes. “I didn’t betray you. Not once. I’m asking you to trust me now. Trust that I’m trying to keep you safe again. Will you?”
Swallowing thickly, understanding nothing, I nodded slowly.
“Good,” he muttered in relief. A moment later his gaze wandered down as he finally seemed to notice what I was wearing. “Get dressed. Quickly,” he said, then spun around, waiting until I shed my midnight dressing gown, hurriedly changing into a pair of black pants, a thick gray sweater, and a dark overcoat.
“Alright,” I murmured as I tied my hair back into the tight knot it had been in all day. He twisted back around, moving towards the door, but hesitated as he took in my face and the sheer terror visible at what we were about to do. His expression softened as he reached for my hand, squeezing it gently.
“I’ll tell you everything, Eden. I promise you. Once we get away from here. Once I know we are safe.” He tugged me forward and cracked open the door. Slowly he peered out into the deserted hallway.
“River, I don’t understand what’s happening,” I whispered desperately, my entire body trembling now as my heart thudded against my chest.
A guilty expression crossed his face. “I guess being completely honest starts now,” he murmured to himself, then glanced back at me, his fingers tightening around my own.
“My name is not River.”
Letter from the Author:
Thank you so much for reading Awakening Earth and Fire, Book 1 in the Earth and Fire Trilogy.
From coming up with the concept for this series over five years ago to finally publishing the first book, I can definitely say that it has been a truly enjoyable experience. I loved creating this world and characters and I can't wait for you to find out what will happen to Sage, Coal, and the rest of our gang in Book 2.
Awakening Earth and Fire: Earth and Fire Trilogy Book 1 Page 40
