Fury of Earth

by Kat Adams

  15

  “Aperi oculos.” I pictured the entrance to the grove and sliced the air. The tear opened, revealing beautiful blue skies, deep green grass, and warmth that oozed out through the opened. I motioned for Bryan to go first since he was already familiar with the grove and all the residents and could introduce our guests.

  And they would only be guests. As much as I wanted my guys with me all the time, I had to be smart about this. We all did. It wasn’t about us, not anymore. This was about protecting our world. That was so much bigger than us having the ability to see each other every day.

  Once we were all through the portal and inside the invisible bubble, the cold and damp world faded away, replaced by bright skies, a perfect temp of mid-seventies and a warm breeze that kept the trees singing. It really was paradise.

  “This place is cool,” Clay declared, swiveling his head and turning in circles to take in everything. The fragrant grassy field where we’d set up stations for the alchemists and blacksmiths. The rope bridges connecting the trees so we could easily move from house to house. Several separate arrangements of seating around firepits so the individual covens could still meet. The arena where we held Sentry meetings. “Which treehouse is ours?”

  I didn’t correct him, didn’t inform him he’d only be staying here temporarily while I trained them on how to control all my elements. It would be a battle to get them to agree to leave, a battle I didn’t want to have right now.

  We made our way to the training field—a smaller version of the one at the academy—and stood in a circle. “Okay, you all know how to call air, so we’ll leave that one out.”

  “No,” Clay butted in. “You know how to call it, sure. But you don’t know how to control it the way I know how to control it.”

  “Cocky much?” Bryan lifted his eyebrows.

  “Hey, I call it as I see it. It’s not an insult.”

  “Chill, bro. He’s right.” Rob’s admission shocked us all. He rarely admitted to anyone being stronger than him. “We all have the ability to call air, but it’s not our primary. Just like when you guys call fire. You can do it, but I’m better, more controlled, stronger.”

  There was the arrogant fire elemental we all knew and loved. I decided not to argue his point, even though my fire matched and even surpassed his at times. Now wasn’t the time to split hairs.

  “Okay,” I conceded with a nod. “Let’s start with air since we can all call it. Clay, show us what you got.”

  “With pleasure.” He grinned wide and bowed before walking into the center of the circle. “So you know when you call air and it tickles your tummy like when you crest a hill too fast?”

  “Tickles your tummy?” I snorted. “What are you, five?”

  He laughed and saluted. “On most days, I do channel my inner child, thank you very much for noticing, Montana. Anyway, that sensation when you’re floating for that split second… Push that to the rest of your body. Your air is charging. When your entire body tingles, when you can’t keep still from the buzzing inside you, you’re ready.”

  “Ready for what?” I tried to feel the floating sensation and came up empty. The only thing I felt was heat in my cheeks for not getting it.

  “For this.” Clay disappeared and reappeared levitating ten feet in the air. He casually strolled around as if walking on an invisible floor before taking a seat in an invisible chair. Nope, an invisible couch that he now stretched out on and stared straight up, his hands laced behind his head. It was very cool.

  “How are you doing that?” I still couldn’t feel any tickles in my tummy or any other sensations.

  “It’s called control, Montana. My primary and I are always connected.”

  “I think I feel something,” Rob announced and tapped his midsection. “It’s like when you get nervous and your stomach flutters.”

  “The impervious Rob Emmett gets nervous?” Leo mused.

  “No,” he barked back as his face reddened. “I said when you get nervous. Whoa.” He lifted a few feet into the air and spread his arms to stabilize. “Why am I floating?”

  Clay sat up. “Your air wants out. Use it to teleport, or levitate like I am. Sometimes, when my element is too charged, I have to pop to the middle of a field of rocks and lift them all at the same time to give it an outlet. I’ve even teleported them around a bit.”

  Rob popped out and back in on the other side of the field, waved, and disappeared again. “Up here.” We all looked up to see him on top of a treehouse. He teleported back to us and brushed off his hands. “I think I got it.”

  Leo was next and channeled his air to move entire stations, much to the dismay of the blacksmiths and alchemists working at them. After a lot of apologizing and putting everything back where it was, he joined Clay in the invisible living room.

  Bryan turned to me. “You feel anything?”

  I shook my head. “Is there something wrong with us?”

  “Maybe it’s our primary. Since earth and air are opposing elements, maybe it won’t let us channel it the way they can.”

  That was disappointing. I wanted more control of my ability to teleport and actually stick the landing. I eyed Clay and Leo ten feet in the air, wondering if I could pop up there or if I’d end up somewhere else, like in the middle of a Council meeting. No matter how hard I tried, how much I concentrated on my destination, I only stuck the landing about half the time.

  “Earth elementals rarely have the ability to call air,” Bryan went on. “And even when they do, their air element is weak at best. This I know from experience.”

  Not mine. My air was my go-to when I needed to defend myself and didn’t want to set anyone on fire. It was strong. In fact, all my calls were strong.

  So why couldn’t I feel the sensation of the air element charging inside me?

  Frustrated I wasn’t getting it, I blew my bangs out of my eyes. “Can we move on to another element now?”

  “Don’t be a party pooper, Montana. Teleport up here. Don’t make me come down there and get you.”

  I didn’t want to land in the void by accident and shook my head. “I’m good.”

  “Do the thing,” Leo told Clay, who responded by losing his smile. “You said you’ve been working on it.”

  “With rocks, not with a person. I’m not going to experiment on our girl.”

  “What thing?” I asked.

  When Clay wouldn’t answer, Leo did. “He’s been practicing teleporting objects without touching them. You know, like the way Spencer teleported you to that warehouse against your will.”

  Fond memories. Not. It was one of the many times he and his buddy Alec had tried to kill me. And now they ran the academy. A skill like teleporting something without actually touching it would be handy. Not just using the element to move an object, but to actually have it disappear and reappear in your hand could give us a huge advantage.

  “Let’s push that cool trick to phase two. For now, let’s try an element not all of us can call. Come down.” I waited until all the guys were back into our huddle. “How about earth?”

  Bryan nodded enthusiastically while Clay curled his lip. “No,” Clay whined. “I don’t want to.”

  “Element up, you big baby. We did your primary. Now it’s our turn.” I looked to Bryan, who nodded. We stepped back from the circle and raised our arms. The grass beneath our feet grew tall, the blades snaking around the guys’ feet and up their legs. The trees joined in and leaned toward us, their branches’ long skeletal fingers reaching in.

  Roots slowly rose out of the ground, weaving into a makeshift chair for me. I took a seat and had it lift me a few feet into the air. “Feel the tingle on your skin? Like an electrical charge?”

  “I only feel dirty.” Clay shuddered and kicked the blades of grass from his legs. “Gross.”

  Rob ran his fingers along his arm. “That feels weird.”

  “Try calling earth. Focus on that feeling and see if you can do it.”

  He furrowed his brow in
concentration and zeroed in on one of the roots. It shrank back, offended. After trying several times and with several different flavors of the element, each one ignoring him and some even outright doing the exact opposite just to spite him, he gave up with a shake of his head. “It’s not working for me.”

  “Me either.” Leo shrugged. “I mean, I can feel the humming on my skin and all that, but I can’t get it to channel into a call.”

  “Interesting.” I sent the roots back into the ground while Bryan smoothed the grass, returning it to its normal size and repairing the surface where the roots had broken free. “Looks like we can’t call an element not already within our power to control. We can just channel it to protect us. And if that element is the opposite of your primary, you can’t charge it up.”

  “That’s still better than nothing,” Rob eagerly pointed out. He didn’t want me to strike up the conversation about removing the ward again. “Should we try fire, just in case?”

  “Or water?” Leo added. “Bryan is the only one who can’t call fire. How about we work on an element only a few of us have the power to control?”

  Water was my weakest call. Rob’s too. It wasn’t a bad idea to find a way to tap into Leo’s power to boost ours. “It won’t work on Clay or Bryan, and fire won’t work on Bryan. You saw how earth reacted when Rob tried to call it. It did the exact opposite. Having an elemental without the power to call the element seemed to offend it.”

  “I felt that too.” Bryan moved up next to me. “I think we should probably stick with the one element we all have in common.”

  “At least we stick to the elements we can call,” I amended. “We’ll work on fire with Rob while you sit that one out, and work on water with Leo while you and Clay observe.”

  That…was the exact opposite of what he apparently wanted to hear. Bryan suddenly stiffened as he forced out a sharp breath. His nostrils flared as he inhaled just as sharply. The look of betrayal that flashed across his face tore at me. “You’re sidelining me?”

  “No, that’s not what I meant.”

  “That’s what you said.”

  “No,” I repeated with stronger conviction. “I said those who can’t control the element we’re working on will sit that one out. Quit making this about you. Clay will be right there with you when we work on water.”

  “Dude,” Clay jumped in. “Why are you getting all riled up? You said you felt your primary resist Rob’s call. We don’t want to piss off the elements. Chill.”

  “Don’t tell me to chill.” Bryan bared his teeth, shocking me. He wasn’t acting like my levelheaded earth elemental. He was, dare I say, acting like my hotheaded fire elemental. The wards had us tapping into more than our elements. It had us channeling each other’s emotions, the traits that made us who we are. Rob and his short temper. Clay and his carefree attitude. Leo and his detached mannerisms.

  What did the other guys pick up from Bryan?

  “Bry.”

  “Stop.” He brought up his hands and backed up. “I get it. This is turning into the trio club. The more power, the better.”

  “I’m not a trio,” Clay pointed out.

  “Your primary is the one element we all share. That makes you pretty fucking powerful.” He retreated several more steps. “Rob, our leader, the most powerful trio at the academy, got to be the first to meet Katy, the first to bond with her, and is now running patrols for the Council. Clay, the one who blows off any level of responsibility, gets to have the power over our common element and has influence over the direction the Council takes Clearwater. Leo is a trio and running patrols alongside Rob. Katy is the prophecy, the one destined to save our world. You all have a purpose. Where does that leave me?”

  “You’re my rock.” And I refused to have his insecurities—wherever they were coming from—drive a wedge in this group. We were stronger together, as Rob had said. That meant all of us had to be onboard and be confident in our direction. I closed the distance between us as I went on, “You’re the one who grounds me, Bryan. When my crazy gets out of control, you’re there to pull me back in. When I’m at my breaking point, it’s you who gives me the strength to keep going. When I don’t have the confidence to do something, you build me up until I do. You don’t talk me out of whatever batshit insane plan I’ve concocted. You just make sure you’re there for me if I fall. I love you.”

  He cleared his throat as he looked away. After bringing his hands to his hips, he finally spoke. “I love you too.”

  “We’re all scared.” It sucked to admit, but there it was. “This isn’t going to be easy. I get that. If you want to tap out, I’d totally understand. No one is asking you to lead a revolution.” That’s my job.

  “I’m not going anywhere.” He pulled me into his arms and sighed into my hair. “Sorry for freaking out on you like that. I just feel like I’m not bringing enough to the table.”

  Several sets of arms appeared as the guys all stepped in for another one of our epic group hugs. God, how I loved them. They charged me while at the same time centering me.

  “You’re my best friend, bro.” Rob slapped Bryan on the back harder than necessary. “Don’t let me catch you ever thinking you’re not worthy of the title.”

  “And you’re my nemesis, but in a good way.” Clay grinned and gave the classic Bieber flip. “We’re opposing elementals, and yet you’re still one of my brothers. It makes no sense, but I love it. If you weren’t around to challenge my—how did you put it? Oh yeah, the way I blow off any level of responsibility—I’d never get anything done.”

  Leo rounded his eyes and blinked at all the stares in his direction. “Uh… I’d teleport for you. Willingly.”

  We all laughed, knowing what that meant. Offering up something like that was the equivalent of donating a kidney in Leo’s book.

  “I’m hungry,” I declared, suddenly famished. “Let’s get some food and figure out our next move. We have legends to recruit.”

  All but Bryan froze and lost all expression. Clay spoke up. “Uh, come again?”

  “The legends, they’re real.” I nodded for them to follow. Someone was barbequing, and I wanted to partake. The smell of glorious burgers filled the air.

  “And you know this…how?”

  “Cressida told us,” Bryan explained. “I got to meet her, like in person meet her. She manifested in front of me. It was pretty cool. A bit weird to have the original prophecy from hundreds of years ago suddenly appear, but I handled it.”

  Was that what he called handling it? He’d freaked out and hid in the shadows until she told him to come out. Even then, he’d been reluctant to approach. Yep, that was handling it great. “According to Cressida, every element has a legend attached to it. Air pixies, snow ghosts, lava snakes, and something about an earth yeti I’m not quite sure I understood.”

  “It’s the legend of Bigfoot,” Bryan explained. “Everyone knows it. There’s supposedly a sasquatch living in the Pacific Northwest that can turn into earth itself. That’s why no one has ever been able to catch it. A Nelem could be right on top of it and never see it.”

  “If you believe in legends.” Leo made a face. “Snow ghosts? Really?”

  “They’re not snakes,” Rob corrected. “They’re dragons. Well, a form of them anyway.”

  “Wait.” I paused, my hand up. “Dragons are real?”

  “Not in the way you see them on TV, giant winged lizards flying around terrorizing small villages and sacrificing virgins. Lava snakes have wings, but they’re too small to carry them. They have feet too but don’t really need them since they travel through small pockets underground.”

  “How do you know so much about them?”

  “My brother Frank had one as a pet growing up. We found it while turning over rocks looking for scorpions.”

  “You purposely went looking for scorpions?”

  He looked at me. “It was just something you did growing up in Arizona. Anyway, when we came across this sickly-looking snake, we brought it home. That
’s when our dad explained what it was. We had no idea what it was doing so far away from lava and knew if we released him back into the desert, it’d kill him. It wasn’t warm enough. Frank built it a makeshift lava bed of sorts, and we all took turns keeping the rock in liquid form so Lenny could burrow down. That’s what we named him: Lenny the lava snake. He created all these tunnels, like you’d see in an ant farm. He was super cool.”

  “How long did you guys have him?”

  “We brought him with us when we moved here. One day when I went into Frank’s room to do my turn heating the rocks, Lenny was gone. We don’t know what happened to him.”

  “Interesting.” I turned to Clay. “Did you own an air pixie growing up, by chance?”

  “I didn’t even own an air fryer growing up. My parents were all about research and diseases. They said having a pet was too much responsibility and turned me down flat whenever I asked to get one.”

  “It’s like they knew you or something,” Bryan teased.

  Clay flipped him off. “They rarely came out of their lab, so it wasn’t like they’d notice if I did have one. But, to answer your question, no. I didn’t have an air pixie growing up. I’d love to think they’re real, but I’ve never seen one.”

  “They live in the rain forest.” I repeated what Cressida had told us. “Yetis in the woods, air pixies in the rain forest, snow ghosts in the mountains, and lava snakes near a volcano. Since Rob has experience with a lava snake, I say we start there.”

  We joined the crowd already forming around the outdoor cafeteria we’d set up to feed the masses. Once we had our food and found a place to sit in the shade of a tree, we continued our conversation.

  “It seems like starting with the deadliest of the legends isn’t that great of an idea.” Bryan took a bite and swallowed before adding, “Why not start with the one element we have in common?”

  Made sense. “After lunch, we travel to the rain forest to recruit our first of the legends to join Sentry.” We lifted our burgers to toast to our victory.

  “To Sentry!”

  16

  It took us three days to find the air pixies, but find them we did.