by Gabi Moore
Lilly turned and looked back at the mall. “You really wouldn’t think it could be such a mysterious place. Looks like any other mall from the outside. But according to you, it’s the home to all kinds of elementals.”
“One of the reasons it was built was to lure and trap them,” he explained. “They might fire the ghouls from their jobs as cleaners, but they’ll still be there, just doing some work where they don’t have contact with the humans. Whoever built the mall wants the different elementals to stay put. I don’t know what they’re planning, but I’m sure they need all the power the elementals possess to make it happen.”
“What else can you do with fire elementals?” she asked him. “I like the demonstration you did this afternoon. Can you do another?”
“I guess. Hand me the lantern,” he told her.
Lilly picked it out of her bag and passed it to him. Dion took the lantern in his hand and activated the ignition switch. Soon, a small flame was burning inside the lantern. He watched it, touched the lens of the lamp with one hand, and carefully unscrewed it. As the sun’s rays began to hide behind the trees, which lined the parking lot, trees that were very new and supplied by a local nursery, he removed the lens and sat it on the ground.
Lilly watched with fascination.
The flame inside the lantern was burning a bright blue color. Dion turned down the regulator on the lamp and let it burn intensely hot, so hot Lilly could feel the heat from where she sat. He reached inside the lamp and placed his finger on the flame.
Lilly jumped back in fear. But he wasn’t injured in the least bit. Dion withdrew his hand and held it up to Lilly for her to examine.
On the end of his index finger, a blue flame danced up and down his hand. The flame moved with its own intelligence and seemed to have a will of its own. She watched the flame form into the shape of a man and, as Dion turned it over, the flame danced around in a circle in his palm. The flame began to dance faster and faster, soon it was a large flame, which appeared to engulf his entire hand.
“How do you do that without getting burnt?” Lilly asked him.
“It trusts me,” Dion said. “And I trust in it.”
Dion placed the fire elemental on the ground and let it dance over the green grass. Nothing was burnt beneath it, but the flame grew larger still. Lilly sat there in wonder as it increased in size, larger than she could possibly imagine. The flame took on the form of a lizard and walked around the ground beneath them, exploring its world. She turned and looked at Dion.
He made a few passes in the air and mumbled some words that didn’t appear to be in English, and the fire elemental stopped its motion. As Dion spread out his hands, the fire creature began to shrink in size. Soon it was down to the size of a small flame. Dion reached over to pick it up. The flame jumped into his palm and he took it back over to the lantern, where he returned it. The flame burned a brilliant blue again; he reattached the lens to the lantern, then reached down and turned it off.
The flame was gone.
“That is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen,” Lilly said.
She looked up at his brown eyes and kind face. Lilly felt something stir inside her. Where had this man been all her life? She was sick and tired of boys who would try to tell her anything to get what they wanted from her. She’d never fallen for their idiotic claims. She had one guy who took her to the drive-in telling her he was in love with her. “No,” she had told him, “you are in love with it.” She’d left the car and phoned her parents at the concession stand who picked her up an hour later.
“You told me you inherited most of your ability from your family,” she said to Dion as they walked outside the mall hand-in-hand. “How does that work?”
“My paternal grandparents were Auriel and Raphela Bach,” he explained to her. “Grandfather had the ability to work with the earth element, and grandmother the air element. On my mother’s side of the family, my grandparents were Gabe and Michael Briluth. Grandfather Briluth had the power of water and grandmother the power of fire.”
“When my father was born,” he continued, “he inherited the power of earth and air. When my mother was born, she inherited the ability to work fire and water elementals. And I inherited all four abilities.”
The mall was built on what had been a farmer’s field, so there was no need to chop down very many trees. The landscapers arrived one day unseen and set up their plans as the heavy machinery worked to dig the foundation. It was a big event when it happened and the town had no special ground breaking ceremony. When the shovel was symbolically pushed into the ground from the builder, it became so hot the he dropped it. This should have been the first warning something wasn’t quite right with the mall. No one thought much about it and the construction continued on as planned.
The first section to be built was the large clock in the center of the mall. The clock tower rose above the level over everything. It was seen all over the landscape. It was the first thing anyone noticed as they approached. The tower housed the administration offices of the mall, but, oddly enough, there didn’t seem to be any way inside it. The architect explained to the building codes inspector later that the doors would be installed at a future date. A few envelopes with enormous sums of money had allowed the plans to be approved.
The night watch on the site quit after the first week. He claimed there were weird ‘things’ that roamed it at night and he wanted out. After the building crews noted the construction materials were never bothered, they quit looking for night watchmen. Unknown to them, a few trucks had appeared one night carrying thieves who wanted the building supplies. They never returned. No one ever went to steal from the building location again.
The mall had a series of boxes buried all over the site, but few people knew about them. Every month, for a period of four, someone would make an appearance in the early morning hours, just before the workers arrived, dig a deep hole in the ground and plant a box. They would make sure the previous boxes were not disturbed and continued on their way. Each box continued something, which fixed that part of the mall to an element. Since they would be covered by tons of dirt and concrete, there was little concern the boxes would be disturbed.
“My grandparents on my father’s side of the family came over from the old country almost a hundred years ago,” Dion continued. “My father came along late in life. They were in their fifties when he was born and he was the only child. They told me there were all kinds of innuendo as to who his parents really were, but he was just late coming along. A change of life baby, if you will. They felt he might inherit one of their abilities, but it turned out he had both. When he was just a baby, they had him out in the stroller and a gust of breeze would blow every time he wanted the bottle. When he got older, he would play in the sand box and cause sand castles to rise out of the ground. Scared the crap out of the neighborhood kids, he once told me.”
Lilly looked up at him with attentive eyes.
“We’ve been element workers in our family for generations. No one knows where the talent originates. But we have it. Hundreds of years ago, people would come to us for help. To get a wind to send a ship out to sea, bring the rain down, start a fire, or just make the soil churn so that it would be fertile. Every now and then, one of us inherits the power of several elements… but it’s rare. So far, I’m the only one who has inherited all four elements. And I don’t know of any of us who has the ability to work the fifth element.”
Dion stopped and turned towards Lilly.
“I was taught from an early age to keep quiet about my abilities. The last thing my parents wanted was to see me in a scientific lab or prison camp. It’s not easy holding it back. My dad talked about the time some bully pushed him on the playground at school and he almost had the earth swallow him up. The kid was up to his neck and going down when dad forced him to apologize. The school claimed it was a sinkhole and filled it in, but dad and the other kids knew better. He was never bothered again.”
“My mother
almost burnt down the house when she was a toddler. She found out the elementals were fun to play with and made a whole bunch of fire spirits dance. By the time her dad unleashed a rainstorm inside the house, the kitchen table was on fire. She was like my dad, a double elemental worker. When she became old enough to date, one of her boyfriends tried to get a little too familiar with her and found himself under a rainstorm for two hours. He couldn’t understand why only he was under the cloud that drenched him and no one else.”
“My maternal grandparents also came here from the old country in the Balkan Mountains. There are entire villages of elemental workers over there, or at least there were before the wars broke out. We’re scattered all over the world now and I think it’s better that way. It helps us survive and we don’t have to worry about bothering each other. You have too many elemental workers in a given area they can start getting on each other’s nerves. It’s a miracle we marry each other, but it works out better that way, I’m told. I don’t know much about my great-grandparents, but I’m told only the husband in each union was an elemental worker. It’s the way it normally happens.”
“A lot of time the wife or husband doesn’t know their bride or groom is an elemental worker, but they find out later. It’s a nice talent to have around the house and we learn how to make it work for the other. I’ve met a few families where the wife was an elemental worker and it doesn’t cause any issues. My other aunt and uncle, for instance. My other aunt is my mother’s sister and is a fire worker. She uses her ability to keep the house warm if the furnace isn’t working. I wish you could use the ability nonstop, but it tends to wear you out.”
“My parents taught me how to control the elementals when I was very young. You start with small abilities, such as what you just saw with the fire elemental. Only an Elemental Grandmaster can confer you full abilities and they have to see proof you know what you are doing. It’s why I need to find the Elemental Grandmasters here in the mall. Only they can give me the permission to use my abilities. Until then, they’re only good for small tricks… like knocking over cards.”
“How did you parents meet?” Lilly asked him.
“They were introduced by each other’s family. Where they come from in the old country, arranged marriages are common. Since double elemental workers are so rare, the elders decided they should marry to see if a full elemental worker could be produced. I know it sounds like I was the product of a breeding program, but my parents have always loved each other. When they found out I had all four abilities, there was a flurry of interest in the community of elemental workers. They hadn’t had someone with my talents in hundreds of years. They’ve seldom had a person who could work the fifth element and I think the elders hope I’ll be the one.”
“You keep talking about this fifth element,” Lilly said. “Tell me more about it.”
“It’s the aether, the force which binds it all together. It’s the root of the power of fire. You can do all kinds of transformations with it if you have the ability. From what I understand, there have only been a few of us who can work this element. You need to have the ability to work all four before the fifth can even be attempted. It’s why they have such interest in me. If I can work that element, it will be a huge break-through.”
They walked a little further, hand in hand, and watched the sun set some more.
Lilly couldn’t believe she had spent the entire day with Dion; her parents would want some kind of accounting when she returned. However, for the time being, she didn’t really care. The important thing was that they were together and he’d revealed his abilities to her. Lilly had always known the world was full of magic, but she didn’t have any way to prove it. Now she did. And his hand felt good around hers.
“We need to figure out a way back in there,” Dion said. “It will close soon and I have to reach the Earth Element Grandmaster. We were so close several times, but it doesn’t count unless I reach her and she bestows the ability on me to use the earth element. If she doesn’t, I’ll never be able to do more than party tricks.”
“So all these incantations and spells really do work?” she asked. “I saw you make some passes in the air when the fire elemental appeared.”
“Look,” Dion said, his face growing serious, “this isn’t something from a Hollywood movie. All that nonsense you see on TV, forget it. These are very powerful forces I can manipulate and I only do it because I have their trust. Try to use an earth elemental to find a buried treasure and you’ll have a mine collapse on you. Walking on water can be accomplished, but it’s no parlor trick. You have no idea the level of concentration it takes me to do the simplest of things. So just forget what you might have heard about flying broomsticks.”
“I’m sorry,” Lilly said, looking apolitically at the ground.
“No need to apologize,” he said, “it’s one of the reasons we don’t let just anyone know about our abilities. I’m aware of all kinds of elementals. Most people aren’t. And it’s good that the average person doesn’t know about the air elemental flying through his house or the fire one dancing in her fireplace. If they could see what I do, they might go crazy. You ever wonder why insane people go around talking to things that aren’t there? It’s because they can see them and you can’t. Believe me; most people are better off not seeing them.”
“My father knew a man who realized one day dad was an elemental worker. He wanted to use it for profit, which is something strictly forbidden. When he found out dad wouldn’t help him, he decided to learn on his own. He went to some disreputable place that offered to teach him the basics for a large fee. The guy’s car caught on fire with him inside while he was on his way to close some stockbroker deal. The police never did find out what caused the fire and there were people who thought it was some kind of mobster hit. I think the elementals found out what he was up to and struck back. They can overact in a hurry if you don’t treat them right. The last thing you want is a creature made out of fire angry at you.”
“So what do you plan to do with all this ability when you have it bestowed on you? You can’t make money with it, what good can it do you?”
“I can help people,” he said. “Especially if I can grandmaster the aether. There are all kinds of things I can do for people who need help and they never have to know their benefactor.”
“But enough about me,” Dion told her. “I don’t know a lot about you. So where are you planning to go after leaving this town? I thought I heard you say something about college?”
“International studies,” she said. “I’d like to be a diplomat, or the wife of one. I think that would allow me to travel the world and see places. I’ve always dreamed of attending parties with the rich and famous.”
Dion looked at her for a few seconds and returned his gaze to the mall. “I don’t think that is a sure thing. What happens if you spend all that money on college and can’t get a job afterwards?”
“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Lilly replied with assuredness. “I mean, there is a test you can take that will get you a government job if you graduate high enough in your class.”
“I wouldn’t count on that test being around forever. Something tells me it’s going to go up on the chopping block someday.”
“Not all of us can do what you do,” she snapped back. “Or is it possible to learn these things on your own without having your car burst into fire?”
“You can,” he said calmly. “But it takes a lifetime of study. I’ve only been able to do what you saw because my parents made sure I knew how at an early age. I tell you, these elementals can be dangerous. They don’t reason the same way humans do. Look at those ghouls, they may pass for human, but they’re far from it. Anyway, I have to figure out a way inside that mall without confronting Officer Karanzen. I could just waltz inside there, but he might have some of his minions on the watch for me. I don’t need any further trouble from him.”
“Why does he have it in for you so much?” Lilly asked. “It wasn’t you that kidnapped Emily
.”
“I’m an unknown factor to him. I caused some disruption inside the mall by being there and he didn’t understand why. He worries that I might upset the delicate balance inside the mall between all the elements and he would be out of a job. So, by his reasoning, the best thing he can do is keep me out. But I have to get back inside if I am to reach the Earth Element Grandmaster and acquire my full powers.”
The sun was blotted out by a band of clouds as they passed overhead. Lilly looked up and noticed them, realizing that the clouds were nowhere else, just over them to block the rays of the sun. It became chilly; she felt the air drop a perceptible level of degrees and hugged her sides as a slight wind began to blow from the north. Something changed and she knew it had to do with Dion. Since meeting him earlier in the day, she was ready for any strange occurrence.
He seemed to attract eeriness to him.
She felt odd, but not in a way she’d felt before. Something was stirring in the air and it had to do with the intersection of Dion and the mall. There was a feeling of two sources of energy struggling to find a common way to talk. Yet, it was not a dangerous sensation; she felt the power in the air was simply the forces trying to communicate. It was two different languages in an attempt to find a common way to speak. Whatever the mall contained was struggling to contact Dion. She watched him turn his eyes in the direction of the mall and cock one ear as if he wanted to hear something.
Lilly looked up, but the clouds were not storm clouds overhead. Nerveless, they could turn that way in a second. She realized the elements had them both under close observation. They wanted to know what Dion’s intention was and how she figured into the picture. Lilly felt electricity spark into her soul. There was something gathering in the air and she didn’t know what it was.
An elderly couple began to walk up to them from a distance. Lilly thought they were just another pair of old retired people who wanted to go the same direction as them. However, they were very intent on reaching them. She watched them slowly walk up the path to the fountain where they stood. They didn’t walk so much as glide across the pavement. They wore clothes that were out of style twenty years ago. Finally, they reached Dion and Lilly. They stood facing them.
