Quintessence (Statera Saga Book 2)

by Amy Marie

  Joe’s hands glow on the yoke of the plane and he uses the driving force from the plane’s propellers to boost his power. A howling wind picks up and shoves the remainder of the soldiers away from the hangar door in a gale force. The destructors look to the source of power in the aircraft. They begin to move in.

  I close my eyes and feel my core begin to stir my own power within.

  Every emotion I’ve ever held in throughout my life stirs in my belly. I use my body to channel the energy force into my hands.

  My eyes open and I know they’re glowing with power. I can sense more than see the gaze of the others on me. They’re attracted to the warmth of the light, leaning in, yearning for it.

  The cabin is filled with a soft glow unlike any other light I’ve ever seen. But it’s a familiar light. Something tells me I’ve dreamt of it.

  The destructors stop dead in their tracks.

  I move my hand forward between the two front seats, and careful not to shatter our own windshield, I concentrate on the door of the hangar. The beam of light from my hand surpasses our aircraft safely, and completely obliterates the hangar door.

  Without looking at Joe, I speak in a voice I’ve never heard myself use before. A voice so full of authority that it would be wrong to deny it. It’s lulling, compelling.

  “Fly.”

  Without hesitation, Joe follows the command. Using his own power against the winds of the storm, he pushes full throttle, gaining the appropriate thrust, and we take off right from the ramp outside the hangar.

  Around us, I can feel the energy of panic from the Air Force base. I can feel the shock of the others as they’re entranced at the glow emanating from me. I can feel the emotion from Darcy, and the matching dark power of his own he’s trying to hide. My senses are opened up to a whole new world. A new energy, and a new connection to… everything.

  “We’re safe.” Darcy puts his hand on my shoulder and grounds me, bringing me back to our own reality. I let go of the pull of power and the connection fades. The glow dims out and I’m left back to the chaotic feelings of not completely understanding what just happened.

  I turn to my dark counterpart and my vision swirls. My energy is drained. I lose my grip on consciousness, and the soft hum of flying through the air pulls me under.

  I wake up in Darcy’s bed back at our sanctuary below Andover Hall.

  “Good morning, sunshine,” Darcy says to me, cupping my face in his hand.

  “What happened?” I ask.

  “You have been out for quite some time,” he says. “Your power has drained you.”

  “My power?” I ask, confused.

  “Yes, your power is above all others,” he replies, almost eerily.

  “But I don’t want that kind of power,” I shake my head.

  “But you have used it already. You have controlled the things around you. You have bent them to your will.”

  “No!” I say in denial. “No, I would never do that!”

  “But you have!” Darcy’s eyes glow with a dark light and for some reason, I fear it.

  “That’s not my power!” I continue to argue. “I would never control anyone or anything.”

  “Oh, my light,” he smirks, “that is our power. We can combine our powers to rule them all!” His hands are glowing, rubbing all over me and I feel myself losing my grip as if I’m on some sort of medication, being drugged, losing control.

  “Darcy, no!” I push against him, fighting the overwhelming feeling to give in to the darkness overtaking me.

  “With our powers combined, we will control everything,” Darcy is being consumed by a dark light, and I can feel myself falling under his spell. My desire for power is growing. I’ve lost all sense of responsibility.

  I realize I do have the ultimate power. Everyone could bend to my will…

  “NOOOO!!!!” I sit up screaming, waking from my nightmare.

  My eyes strain to recognize my surroundings in the dark.

  “Shhh, Nora. Everything is alright,” Darcy whispers words of comfort to me in the dark. I jump at the contact as his hand cups my cheek. My nightmare haunts me still.

  “Darcy, where are we?” I ask into the darkness.

  “We are back in Cambridge, safe below Andover Hall,” he replies.

  My heart skips a beat. How real was my dream?

  “How did we get here?” I ask.

  “Joe flew us safely to Boston last night. We made it back to the sanctuary, but everyone was exhausted from everything that happened over the last few days. We all split up to get some rest. I carried you to my room, and gave Joe and Tara yours. I hope you do not mind?”

  “Of course not,” I say, relaxing into the crook of his arm. “Everyone’s safe?” I ask.

  “Yes. Though I cannot say for how long. Something is happening.”

  “What do you mean?” I ask.

  He stays silent for a moment before answering. “The weather. Something is wrong. It has been out of control lately. I did not notice it right away, but it started with the rain and has been building. It is all over the news. There are record amounts of storms, hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes happening all over the country. Thousands have died. They are blaming natural disasters, but it is more like orchestrated destruction.”

  I attempt to swallow the thick lump of guilt in my throat.

  “Do you think it could have something to do with the elements?” I ask.

  “It certainly is a strange coincidence. I cannot ignore the feeling that something is reacting to us finding the elemental souls.”

  “The emptiness?” I whisper, afraid of the answer.

  “Perhaps the change has begun, just as Talbot said it would. We just do not know enough about the emptiness, or its powers.”

  “Darcy, what is your power?” I ask, remembering not only my dream, but Talbot’s taunting words in the hangar.

  Darcy moves to light a candle in the dark. He turns to me and looks me in the eye. The now familiar feeling, the charge of the reminiscence, greets me warmly.

  “Nora, you have been knocked out for some time after your exertions on the airplane. You should take it easy before we get into anything too serious.”

  “I want to know.” I stand my ground.

  Darcy sighs. “What did you dream?” he asks.

  “What does that have to do with anything?” I retort.

  “Usually, this kind of argument is due to something I have done in one of your dreams. Whether it be something your mind has made up, or something foolish I may have done in another life,” he says.

  “It’s not like that,” I say. “I’m not upset. I just realized… I have some questions.”

  “I believe I have several powers associated with the darkness. Just as I believe you have several powers associated with the light. After what happened when we escaped the hangar, I think I have a better idea of what some of yours might be. But unfortunately, there are things that I believe I am capable of that I do not want the others to know. Certain powers I have, but would never use.”

  I stare into his eyes, searching for the meaning of what he’s saying.

  “What are you capable of?” I whisper, fearful.

  A knock at the door interrupts us.

  Uncle Mike pokes his head into the bedroom. “Ah, I was hoping you were awake. Could you two join us in the great room?”

  I nod and follow Darcy, stubbornly vowing to finish the conversation later.

  We walk out to see all the others have already gathered.

  “We all haven’t had much time to sort things out,” Uncle Mike says, pouring us some coffee. “Everything has happened in quite a rush.”

  “Is something wrong?” I ask, glancing around.

  “No, my dear. Not wrong. We’ve been discussing some things, and we’d like to share them with you,” Uncle Mike says.

  “What is it?” Darcy asks taking a seat next to me.

  “I think we have realized Eleanor’s greatest power. And if you hear
me out, it could explain quite a bit,” says Uncle Mike.

  I cringe at the mention of power after my recent nightmare.

  Darcy rests his hand on mine. “We were just talking about that as well.”

  My gaze moves between the two of them like a deer caught in headlights.

  What did I do?

  “Please, my dear, there’s no reason for alarm.” Uncle Mike sits down, reading my expression. “It’s just that you gave us quite a show. It was a side of you I’ve never seen before. But the more I’ve gone over it in my head, the more it makes sense.”

  “What makes sense?” I ask.

  “Your power. It’s driven by the power of light. Light holds such energy, that its possibilities are endless. As you’ve seen, you can create a beam of light so strong it can blast through a door, or perhaps cut a rope?” His eyebrows raise, and my mind flashes back to the moment under the docks when I freed Dylan from his bindings.

  “Okay, so I can manipulate a type of light energy and create dangerous laser beams that destroy everything in their path. That’s comforting,” I say, veiling my discomfort with overloaded sarcasm.

  “Not to mention the blinding light she can emit. It can stun or cast illumination in darkness,” Rafe adds. I glare at him, remembering the night we found the Statera, and he just shrugs.

  “Okay, but what exactly does that explain?” I ask, turning to Uncle Mike.

  “It doesn’t. Those are some of your basic light powers. But your most formidable power, I only just figured out after we escaped the hangar.”

  “We already talked about the beam of light,” I say, confused, thinking back to blasting through the door.

  “No, not that my dear. There was a moment, when your entire body took on a glow. It was unlike anything I’d ever seen. It felt like a dream. It was captivating!”

  I can feel my face scrunch up in a lack of understanding. “So, my greatest power is to glow?”

  “Not just glow!” He looks around the room for inspiration. His eyes settle on the plants in the underground garden. “Aha. Okay, my dear. These blooms, they have a natural instinct. In order to grow, in order to live, they break through the soil and lean towards the light.” He points towards the heat lamps that feed the garden. “They yearn for it. It’s a natural instinct.”

  “Okay?” I’m still not understanding.

  Darcy must already know what Uncle Mike is trying to say, because he interrupts to explain. “Nora, you gave off a sort of illumination that captured the attention of everyone on the plane. In that moment, all our eyes were on you. We leaned in, we yearned for your request. We were bound to it, awaiting your command. Just like a plant needs the light to survive, we needed to obey you. As soon as you told Joe to fly, he complied. You compelled us. That is your ultimate power.”

  Chapter 23

  “But I don’t want to control anybody!” I stand up and move away from the group, getting myself upset. My dream comes back to mind and hits me hard with fear.

  “Not control,” says Darcy, “compel.”

  “I’m not seeing the difference!” I’m breathing hard in my panic.

  “My dear, it’s not what you think. You haven’t abused anyone, or anything,” Uncle Mike insists.

  “Bending people and things to my will sounds like a terrible abuse of power. I don’t want that! I don’t want people to obey me!” I say, shaking my head.

  “Don’t you see that’s why you’re perfect for this power, Nora?” Char speaks up. “If I’m being honest, I could say I’d love to have that kind of power. I’d use it to get whatever I want. Most people would feel the same way. But not you. That’s what makes you different. That’s what makes you so special. To me, it’s clearly why you were chosen.”

  The others nod their heads in agreement with Char’s words.

  “Commanding people and things to follow my will takes away their own free will. It’s not right! This must be what led to Lucifer’s fall. I don’t want this. I don’t want to be anything like him,” I argue.

  “You are nothing like him,” Darcy maintains. “It is not taking away free will. I told you, you are not controlling people. You are compelling them. Inspiring them. If someone is on the fence about something, or you catch them off guard, you may be convincing them into doing something. But I can tell you for certain, if you try to get a person to do something that they are totally against, not even your power would be able to force them.”

  “How do you know?” I ask.

  “Because that is not compulsion. That is possession. Those are two very different powers,” he replies.

  “Darcy, how do you know that?” asks Uncle Mike.

  He sighs. “Because possession is a power of darkness.”

  We all freeze at his words.

  I search his hazel eyes. This is what he’s been hiding all along. This is what he didn’t want anyone to know. This is why he’s been fighting against himself. His fear of abusing power surpasses my own.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.

  “I have struggled with the concept of power perhaps even more than you, Nora. For hundreds of years, I have fought to suppress any part of it. I did not even understand any of it until recently, when we have been discovering the elementals and their abilities. There was one occasion long ago that I discovered what I was capable of by accident. But I just did not know enough about it.”

  He speaks to all of us, urging us to see his struggle.

  “It was shortly after I was cursed, back during the Revolution. I traveled to deliver a message to a group of rebels, but we were found by two soldiers and they shot the lot of us without any questions. It was quite dishonorable, by standards back then.” He turns to me. “I told you this story once, but I never told you what happened afterward.”

  I remember him telling me the story. I remember him having to pretend to play dead to escape the massacre. But I thought that was the end of the story.

  “What happened?” I ask.

  “I was so caught up in my emotion. Here was this group of men that I was just laughing and drinking with, and then they were all dead, riddled with bullet holes. When the British soldiers left the room, I snuck out the window to escape. But outside, I heard them come back in congratulating each other on their well-fought battle. They were laughing at the dead men, congratulating each other on being the most skilled and clever warriors. One of them even moved to piss on the dead bodies. I was enraged. I snapped. My emotions took over, and I could feel my power burst out of me and into the body of the soldier. I could read his thoughts, force his movements, I was in complete control. I controlled his gloved hand as it took out his pistol and shot his friend. I then forced his hand to turn the gun on himself and swallow a bullet.”

  The room is silent as we all picture the dreadful scene.

  “It is the worst thing I have ever done. Cold-blooded murder. I did not even understand it until recently, but it is the first and last time I have ever used my power. I am not even sure of any other powers I may have, and I do not intend to find out. I vowed to let that be the end of such darkness.”

  I lay my hand on Darcy’s arm, trying to force some sense of comfort.

  “I’m sorry,” I whisper. Behind the hazel energy in his eyes, I can sense his fear and pain. He’s held this secret in for a very long time.

  Joe shakes his head at the story. “I personally don’t think you had much choice. The whole possession thing may not have been right, but if you had no weapon, that may have been your only option. I’m a military man. Killing an enemy soldier is an unfortunate part of war. Sounds like they had it coming after what they did,” Joe says, and Tara nods her head in agreement.

  “You’ll get no judgment from me,” Dylan chimes in.

  “Agreed,” says Rafe.

  Uncle Mike speaks up after a moment, directing his words to me and Darcy. “I think the both of you should understand that these powers are not curses. They were given to you for a reason. And you’ve already
proven that you won’t abuse them,” he says. “I cannot think of two finer examples of people to hold such power and maintain perfect responsibility. You both make me proud.”

  Darcy’s head bows to acknowledge Uncle Mike’s words. But there’s still an uncertainty behind his eyes. The only reason I can recognize it, is due to the uncertainty of my own power. I pray we can both live up to the responsibility that hangs so heavily on our shoulders.

  Uncle Mike excuses himself from the group, heading up to his office to catch up on some work and research, as well as arrangements after our parents’ deaths.

  Over the next few hours, Rafe does everything he can to test the abilities of the air and earth elementals.

  Joe has proven his ability to control the wind, create lightning from electricity, and manipulate anything to do with air. Rafe even mentioned a possibility that he might be able to fly, but we’ll have to wait to test that one out.

  With Tara’s powers, she has doubled the richness of the underground garden in a matter of hours. She can grow anything in the harshest conditions. We’re aware of her ability to shake the earth, but we’re hesitant to have her test anything until we can get to an open area where no one will be hurt. Rafe thinks she can create chasms and move the plates of the earth, but Tara refuses to do that, insisting that the earth will move how it likes on its own.

  In another corner of the room, Dylan is showing Darcy the weapon he’s been working on that combines the pepper spray and lighter into a metal, pistol-like flame thrower. He’s so proud of his prototype, he’s been trying to come up with clever names all day.

  After our two new elements are exhausted of their strengths, Rafe goes over the Statera with Joe and Tara and compares their relationship with the gods of old.

  “Look here, all these cultures revert back to a Mother Earth and Father Sky. Just like everything else we have come across, there are so many interpretations. If you think about it, I don’t believe this is the first time you two have found each other.”

  I’m amazed again, at how everything in our ancient history has pointed to this great element battle. Nearly every culture touches on the elements in some form or another. It’s almost as if the quintessence of our existence has been revolving around this battle of good vs evil, and although we’ve known about it for thousands of years, we as human beings have carried on in our selfish lives as if it’s all just a fairytale.