by Mia Hoddell
He sighed and rubbed a hand over his tired face as the realisation that he was losing set in.
“Fine, but we pull her out and stop if there is even the slightest possibility something is going to happen to her.”
Three heads nodded in agreement but I thought it was more to placate Kai than acknowledge what he had said. As what I had got myself into finally hit home I began to panic about what I had just signed up for.
Oh god what are they going to need me to do, please don’t say it involves my death or anything, I thought as I remembered the line from the journal “aligned with death the elements will be mastered.”
I stood up to gather a few of my belongings as I was unsure of how long we would be gone and also wanted to be out of sight. When I returned the E.Ks were bent over a map, circling and drawing lines everywhere in red pen.
“We need to end up here, somewhere up the side of this mountain,” Kai said putting a dot on the map. “As it is a common place for hikers it shouldn’t be too hard to find a path but we will have to stop off to buy some equipment just in case. I don’t want us getting there and having to postpone it.”
The others nodded in agreement.
“Once we think we are high enough, hopefully there will be a sign that we are on the right lines. Everyone understand what we are doing?”
Again they nodded, before they dispersed.
“Rea? Can you help me carry some of the stuff to the car?” he asked, gesturing to the bags of food, a few journals, clothes and guns.
“Sure,” I said heading for the least deadly items in the pile and carrying them out into the boot of the 4X4. I was beginning to get nervous as the reality of what we were about to do struck me.
“Kai what am I meant to do when we’re there? I really have no idea about this whole original thing.”
He continued packing as I leaned against the car.
“We’ll figure it out when we get there. I’m still unsure as to whether you should be with us and what the riddle means right now. Please tell me now if you want to stop this though. I’ll take you away, just the two of us if that’s the case. You promised me Rea. You said you wouldn’t get involved with any danger. ”
I sighed at his kindness.
“I really appreciate it Kai but you need me. I know you want the Elementals dead and we can’t help that I have to be the one to do it. Nothing will happen OK. We can run off together after if you want,” I said as I held his hands in mine, trying to ease his conscience and he just nodded.
Once the car was packed we had something quick to eat, using the rest of the food we weren’t taking and headed out to the car. Kai drove, with me in the passenger seat while Alanah and Jack sat in the back trying to plan our route. With the snow and ice completely gone now, we were able to cover a lot more ground at a quicker pace than the night before. It didn’t take long for us to reach the outdoor store Kai and myself had been to when we originally travelled to the house.
Kai sent Jack in to buy the climbing gear as he apparently had the best knowledge of the sport and before long he came out with four full carrier bags. It seemed that all E.Ks were surprisingly wealthy and didn’t mind spending money on anything. Once we set off again Kai said it would take about three hours to reach the base of the mountains so I decided to curl up and sleep. I had never been a good distance traveller.
* * * *
When I awoke the first things I noticed were the huge mountains in front of us. Alanah and Jack were happily chatting in the back which was unusual and Kai was silently focused on the road.
“How can you sleep so much?” I heard Jack tease from the back of the car.
“I’m not a good traveller and it goes quicker if I sleep, plus it helps if I don’t get kept awake at night,” I said looking in Kai’s direction but he just shrugged remaining silent. I heard Alanah draw in a breath as I turned back to face Jack and only then did I realise what I had implied through my comment. I blushed in embarrassment at what I assumed she thought Kai and I were doing at night but thankfully Kai announced we had arrived before anyone could say anything.
We stood at the base of the mountain which the E.Ks were sure was the highest mountain on the isle. Jack whistled as he looked at up peak that wasn’t visible through the cloud bank.
“They want us to go all the way up there?” Alanah asked incredulously.
“Looks like it. Everyone get kitted up, it looks like there’s a trail over there so I doubt we’ll need the climbing gear. Just pack one set just in case,” Kai ordered and the others moved to the boot of the car.
They began filling their rucksacks with supplies before loading the guns and holstering about four each, on different places on their body.
“You don’t expect me to use a gun do you?” I whispered to Kai as I held him back from the car.
“Of course not. You can carry one if you want, just as a precaution but I expect you to stay close to me and Jack who will protect you if we come across any Elementals.” He gave me a reassuring smile and I breathed a sigh of relief.
With Jack and Alanah packed, Kai and I moved to the boot to pack our things.
“Don’t pack too much ’kay? Just food and drink.”
I nodded and grabbed a few energy bars, bottles of water, fruit and crisps.
“Did you want a gun?” he asked as I was deciding which flavour water I would like better: normal, citrus or berry.
“Um no, I wouldn’t be able to use it even if you gave me one. If something happens today then I’ll rely on you and Jack as I doubt I could shoot anything.”
He gave a curt nod while placing the last gun in his holster and slamming the boot shut.
We began the ascent up the mountain and I was already feeling the strain in my legs. There were loose rocks that meant I had to tread carefully everywhere I stepped and soon I became frustrated at lagging behind the others. Kai held back with me but I could tell he wanted to move at a quicker pace.
“I’m sorry, I’m slowing you down,” I said as we paused to take a break.
“Don’t worry Rea, it doesn’t matter how long we take,” he said before he took a large gulp out of one of the bottles.
It took us about two hours of climbing before we reached somewhere we considered high enough. We could see out across the Andaco forest and there was even a ledge where we could pitch our tent to shelter.
“This has to be it, it’s like perfect for the riddle,” Jack said ecstatically as he started to erect the tent.
“Let’s not get too ahead of ourselves Jack, we may have climbed all that way for nothing yet,” Alanah said as she sat with her feet dangling over the edge of the ledge, looking across at the view. Thankfully the air was warm that day so we weren’t going to need a fire and also, even though the climb had been slow, we hadn’t come under attack from any Elementals.
“So what now?” Jack asked once he had finished setting up camp.
“We wait until dawn and see if anything happens,” Kai replied as he studied the view. He was deep in thought when I approached him, looking at his compass at random intervals and scribbling on a piece of paper.
“What are you doing?” I asked as I sat down beside him. He looked up at me briefly, holding out a finger telling me to hang on for a minute. Noting one last thing down I could see that he had the riddle in front of him and a series of drawings. Kai looked around to check that the other E.Ks weren’t within hearing distance before he spoke.
“I think I have figured out what’s going to happen at dawn. I’m not one hundred percent sure but I’ve been working some stuff out and it seems like a plausible explanation.”
I nodded for him to continue.
“OK, so over there is where the sun will rise from, the East.” He pointed behind him to the left.
“I’ve been trying to figure out what the forest will look like at dawn and I think a lot of it will be in shadow. I’m hoping that the shadows created by the outcrops of rock over there will be triangles and because of where the sun is I
’m hoping three of them will point in the same direction,” he said pointing to the rocks.
I stared at him open mouthed. “How did you figure that out?” I was stunned. His reasoning certainly seemed logical, I just hoped he was right so we would be able to save ourselves a lot of time looking for something when we had no idea about what it was.
“I was just thinking. I was watching the sun set over there and I don’t know, something about the shadows generated a thought in my head.”
He looked at the pad in his hands.
“The only problem is, is if I am right we are going to have a tough job finding the spot on the ground.” I edged a little closer to him as we watched the sun set. Alanah and Jack were faint mutters in the background as we sat there silently enjoying each other’s company.
We all turned in for the night at around seven o’clock, knowing we would have to be up early and full of energy the next morning. The tent, even though sectioned off, was small and crowded. Kai and I took one compartment and Alanah and Jack took the other, which was decided surprisingly easily with little fuss from Alanah. After all the exercise everyone fell asleep almost instantly and before I knew it Kai was shaking me awake the next day.
“Come on Rea we have to get up.”
I yawned and rolled over so I was snuggled up on his lap, refusing to open my eyes. He laughed and shook me gently again.
“Rea wake up, we need to watch the forest.”
I muttered something like, “go without me,” in response and I pressed my head further into his lap, blocking out the sound of his voice.
“Rea if you don’t wake up now we’re going to leave you here.”
I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke.
“No you won’t, you love me,” I groaned. His constant talking was waking me up, which was probably his plan so in the end I pushed myself off him with a mutter about not liking him.
Jack and Alanah were already outside the tent when we emerged. They were watching the forest floor but the sun had yet to rise so not a lot was visible. The four of us sat on the edge waiting, only me and Kai had an idea about what was going to happen. He had told me not to say anything as he wanted to see if they would notice anything different that would be overlooked if we were all concentrating on the shadows.
The sun began to rise finally and just in the spot Kai had said. We waited for half an hour but still nothing had changed except for a faint orange glow behind the mountains in the distance. It wasn’t until we hit the hour and a half mark did Jack call out.
“Guys do those look like triangle to you?”
I looked at Kai to see him smiling smugly. His guess had been right and on the floor in front of us were now a lot of shadows cast by the mountain range. There were however only three, created by the outcrops, pointing in the same direction towards something and it was then we knew we were on the right track.
“So how do we get to that point then because those shadows aren’t going to stay for long.”
Kai pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures, making sure he covered every angle, tree and tiny detail. Nobody looked sure of how they could transfer the information from what we saw on the ledge to what we would see on the ground though. While they discussed it between themselves I studied the view in front of me for a little longer. As I focused more intently on the scene I noticed that there were regular breaks in the trees.
“Kai, look closer at the forest. Can you see that there are repetitive breaks in the trees? There are four until you get to the tip of the triangle and the fifth one lands there. If we follow the gaps I’m pretty sure we’ll end up in the right place. We could also use that map app on smartphones to track our position from above to help count.”
It was now Kai’s turn to stare at me, his jaw slack in shock.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing. That should work though.”
As Kai informed the other E.Ks of my idea as I was too shy to talk to Alanah directly, especially when it involved orders, I programmed in the settings on my phone to bring up the right map. When everyone had set their phones correctly we packed up and started our descent, which I must admit was a lot easier and quicker than the climb up.
Kai had to catch me a few times as I stood on some loose gravel type rock, causing me to slip but soon we were back on solid ground, immersed by the trees that towered over us.
“OK so we go through four breaks and stop in the fifth. Hopefully there should be some kind of stream or quarry there,” Kai said as we set off, trying to stay in a straight line as we walked.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
The walk in the forest was just as taxing as the descent down the mountain. Little twigs, logs, leaves, brambles, the list went on of all the obstacles we had to avoid in our path. The leaves on the trees were starting to change colour already and the few evergreens stood out dramatically amongst the orange and yellow canopy. While I was admiring the different shades of colour in the tree tops, I wasn’t looking where I was placing my feet so it came as a shock to me when Kai picked me up all of a sudden, halting me mid-stride.
“What the...” I squealed as he lowered me back to the ground on the other side of the fallen tree that I had missed while I was looking up.
“Please keep your eyes on the ground Rea.”
Jack laughed at Kai’s reprimand but Alanah didn’t find it as funny. She continued to walk on, pressing deeper into the forest as we all trailed behind her, following the path she had created.
It didn’t take long to reach the first clearing which was even more obvious on the ground. We stopped, resting on a pile of logs, long enough to have a drink and eat an energy bar but that was it before we began walking again.
“Seriously...how are you not...out of breath?” I panted at Kai as we neared the second clearing.
“How are you out of breath is a better question. I thought you were into sports and all that.” He smirked at me as I bent double trying to catch my breath as we stopped for a second time.
“I haven’t done any in a while okay. Plus that’s only an hour of running around a court, not trekking up and down a mountain before traipsing through a forest. I think I need to start again when this is over though.”
Tactfully he remained silent on the topic, knowing that whatever he said would probably land him in trouble.
We were about to head off again when Jack signalled for everyone to stop walking. He lowered his hand to the floor and everyone but me began to slowly fall into a crouch. Kai pulled my arm and I slowly did the same thing. The E.Ks obviously all knew what this signal meant and they were communicating with just head nods but I was extremely lost and confused. Out the corner of my eye I saw Jack draw his gun and Alanah followed not far behind.
Kai was pulling me towards a fallen tree where he pressed me against it hard, I guessed telling me to stay there as he too pulled out his gun. Before I could find the Elementals I heard six rapid shots ring out, echoing across the forest, scaring the birds in the nearby area. The flapping of wings challenged the sound of the wind that was whipping through the trees. Looking around I saw three balls of Elemental energy – green, blue and purple – vanishing into the trees.
I was stunned though when I turned back to face the normal direction and what I saw caused me to scream. A chilling gust of wind befell me and I felt it sucking all the air from my lungs, cutting my scream short and causing my voice to dry up. The air Elemental was closer than I had ever been to one. Her purple hair was floating around her like she was underwater. She had deep purple eyes and a little tattoo of a triangle with a line going through the top of it on her shoulder. Like the earth Elemental I saw with Kai a few days ago she wore a purple bodice that flowed into the essence of her spirit, forming something that resembled a dress.
I felt myself losing consciousness as she continued to draw the air away from me, but I was only interested in her beauty. Black spots started to appear in my vision and then a bright purple light blinded me. I g
asped as a sudden rush of air returned to my lungs, hitting me like a tidal wave and when I looked up she was nowhere in sight. Instead where she had been stood, was Kai, Jack and even Alanah.
“Can you speak Rea?” Kai asked crouching down so he was at my level. I held up my palm telling him to wait while I caught my breath, gulping in as much air as I could get.
“Thank god the necklace was hidden under her jumper,” Jack said, filling the silence and instinctively I looked down at my chest.
“Water,” was all I managed to say as I tried to come to terms with what had happened. Two bottles were thrust in my face as I spoke and to no surprise it was Kai and Jack who were offering me them.
After taking a long drink I felt as if I could talk a little.
“That was really weird... It was like all the air around me just...disappeared and there was nothing left to inhale. I just couldn’t breathe.”
The E.Ks nodded.
“She was manipulating the air so that you wouldn’t be able to get any oxygen. She basically put you in a vacuum.” Alanah was the one who spoke and it startled me that she was the one giving out an explanation.
“Do you think you’re okay to walk?” Kai asked.
“I guess we’ll find out, give me hand up,” I said. My legs still felt shaky as I gripped Kai’s hand but I didn’t want to slow them down any more. I stood still for a minute, trying to find my centre of balance but I still felt pretty unsteady.
“You OK?” Jack asked.
“Yeah, just keep a hold of my hand alright?” I said turning to Kai. He squeezed my hand tighter in reassurance and we began to press on towards the third clearing.
By the time we reached the open space I was feeling more comfortable walking again and because we had been delayed and wasted time at the second clearing we decided not to stop. Instead we continued onto the fourth without any hassle. Kai still kept a tight grip on my hand and as we neared the empty space he pulled us back slightly, deliberately slowing our pace so we were out of sync with the others.
“What are you doing?” I asked. I didn’t want Jack and Alanah to think I was slowing Kai down again.
