Rocked: Elemental Warriors

by Ashley West

  Kain groaned internally. "Yes," he said. "The Prince needs me."

  Silvia snorted. "I wonder if I should be jealous," she said.

  For a moment, Kain was stricken. He couldn't tell if she was serious or not, and if she was...then she was going to be disappointed. Comman always had to come first in Kain's life. It was his duty. He'd taken an oath. And Silvia was wonderful, but he couldn't just...

  "Kain," she said, breaking into his thoughts. "Take a breath. I was kidding. I know you have to go, and that's fine." She smiled at him, and he could see the sincerity in her eyes.

  He did as she instructed and breathed out. "Alright."

  "You're silly," she said and crooked a finger at him.

  His shirt went over his head and he tucked it in before going to her side. "I know. But I'm worried."

  "About this?"

  "Among other things."

  She smiled again and pulled him down to kiss him. "Go worry about your prince. I'll be here when you get done."

  But that was just the thing, wasn't it? Kain would never be done worrying about Comman. It was his life. He also didn't have time to think about that just now. Comman actively needed him, and Kain had to get to where he was going and quickly. Walking would take a while, but...

  "Do you think you could do me a favor?"

  Twenty minutes later, Kain walked into the meeting hall with Silvia behind him. He'd tried to get her to stay in the car, but that had been an exercise in futility.

  Comman was standing in the middle of the lobby, Litta and Lennos flanking him. In front of him was a man that Kain had never seen before. He was short, even by human standards, and portly. His eyes were slanted and his nose was snubbed, and he had four arms which were all crossed.

  Definitely not human, then.

  When Kain came close, Comman seemed to relax a bit, but the tension was still palpable. Kain motioned for Silvia to stay behind him and put himself firmly in front of the Prince.

  "What's happening?" he asked.

  Comman's tone was pleasant when he spoke, but it lacked any of the usual warmth. "This is Caldo," he said. "And he has a proposition for us."

  Kain arched a brow and turned his attention to the little man in front of them. "And why do we care?"

  "Because the proposition involves us being able to keep our lives," Comman said.

  "Ah."

  "Caldo," the Prince continued. "This is Kain. He is one of my guards. Would you be so kind as to repeat what you've told me so he can be caught up? I might miss something."

  Caldo looked between the two of them with confused eyes, and Kain didn't make any moves to clarify anything. His hackles were up, and his instincts were telling him to make a hammer and smash this man in the head with it. But that wasn't how diplomacy worked, and he didn't know the situation.

  "Gladly," Caldo said finally. "It's very simple, Kain, was it? You have something I want, and I'm not letting you leave this planet until I get it."

  "What does he want?" Kain asked, turning to look at Comman, rather than address the little man.

  "Our power."

  Kain rolled his eyes and turned back to Caldo. "Do you know how many people have tried to take our power from us?" he asked. "Even we don't know where it comes from, so we couldn't give it to you if we wanted to. Which we don't."

  "I did explain that," Comman said. "But he seems to think there's some magic hidden thing that we're lying about."

  "I'm not an idiot," Caldo said. "I know it has to come from somewhere, and I've heard the legends. When we get all the powers in the universe, we'll be unstoppable."

  Kain frowned at that. "What do you mean, all the powers in the universe?"

  "You didn't think you were the only ones who were special, did you?" Caldo taunted. "With your silly rock moving? Oh, no, there are others out there. Warriors who move Fire and Ice and even those who can stop Time itself."

  Comman didn't appear surprised by any of this, though it was news to Kain that there were warriors who could manipulate time. Still, he kept his face impassive, giving nothing away. "Am I supposed to be impressed that you know that?" he asked.

  Caldo scowled at him. "Listen, you. I'm taking the power. If you don't give it to me willingly, then I'll have my pets kill you and your Prince. And then when your kingdom is plunged into a civil war, I'll just go get the power from someone else."

  It wasn't a good plan, as plans went, and even Kain could tell that. This man had an air of desperation about him, like he was grasping at straws to try and make this happen, and it wasn't intimidating in the least. Still, it wouldn't do to get him too riled up just yet, so Kain held his tongue. "Your Highness," he said. "What would you have me do?"

  "Nothing," Comman said, as Kain knew he would. "We've been warned, certainly, and now we will have to confer. Surely that's reasonable, Caldo? Given that we've just learned of your demands."

  "Sure. Fine," Caldo said. "But I've got my eye on you. I'm watching your every move, Prince. You're not going to escape me."

  "Of course," Comman replied.

  None of them moved or spoke until Caldo had left, and then Kain rounded on Comman. "What is happening?" he asked.

  Comman sighed and moved off to the side, a clear sign that he wanted space. "You heard him," he said. "Caldo wants our power. Apparently people are trying to start a collection."

  "And there are others? I've heard of the Fire Warriors, and everyone knows about the Forans, but there are more?"

  The Prince nodded. "Yes. Those who can bend certain elements to their will. There's always been plenty of them scattered throughout the universe, fighting their own battles as we fight ours. But this is unprecedented. Someone's trying to round all of them up for themselves."

  "With a really crappy plan, at that," Silvia said, making her presence known.

  "You brought a human here?" Lennos asked, disgust in his tone. "Is that what you've been doing when you're off 'exploring'? A human?"

  Kain bristled, but Silvia was already turning to face Lennos, an unimpressed look on her face. "See, you're saying that like either of us care about your opinion, and the sad fact is that we really don't. Sorry."

  Lennos growled under his breath, but Comman held up a hand to forestall any more arguing. "Enough," he said. "Silvia, I would welcome your thoughts if you'd like to share them."

  She seemed to brighten at that, and she nodded. "Okay, well. I can't be sure about any of this because I don't know enough about any of the other warriors or this Caldo guy, but it seems to me like he's bluffing just a bit. He says he wants the power or he's going to kill you and start a civil war on your planet and take the power in the chaos, but that's really short sighted and depends on the people falling into chaos in the first place with you dead. If he was really smart, he'd be stirring up trouble on your planet now, while you're gone. But that would require having a lot of people all working together, and I don't think he has that many people."

  "And what makes you think that?" Kain wanted to know, oddly proud while he listened to her.

  "It's just a hunch. But he was here by himself. If he wanted to go for full on intimidation, wouldn't he have brought a bunch of guys with him? So he could show off his hired muscle or whatever? Have you heard of any unrest back on Jontira?"

  Comman shook his head. "No. I've been receiving reports from the rest of the guard there, and there's been nothing out of the ordinary."

  "So he's either just really stupid, or he doesn't have the resources or manpower to really hurt you right now."

  "So this is when we should strike," Litta said.

  "She's right," Kain agreed. "We have to do something before he can gather strength."

  "So, what? We're going to get into a fight here on Earth?" Lennos asked.

  "If we have to," Kain said.

  “He said he was going to be watching me,” Comman cut in. “I want to know how. I’ve checked for surveillance tech on me, all the guard, and the hotel rooms and there’s nothing. But he still knew
I was coming here today, and I’m guessing he knew that Lady Vola and I would be going to that meeting room. But I want to know how.”

  “Maybe it’s the human,” Lennos said, glaring at Silvia. “She could be some kind of spy.”

  “Maybe it’s you,” Silvia shot back, glaring just as hard.

  “How dare you, you little—”

  “Enough!” Kain snapped, patience growing thin. “Your Highness, there’s something you should know.” He hadn’t wanted to tell the Prince this with witnesses, but it was clear that he was going to have to say something now.

  “What is it?”

  “Whoever is working with this Caldo? They’re one of ours.”

  Comman frowned. “What?”

  “They’re one of us. It has to be. The creatures I killed were going after Silvia when I found them. I killed them and buried their bodies under the ground. Under asphalt and stone. And when Litta and I went back to try and find them, they were gone. The only way someone could have taken the bodies and put the ground back just as I left it is if—”

  “Is if they had the same power,” Comman said, and his voice was heavy. He hung his head for a moment and then sighed, drawing himself up. “Who is it?”

  “I don’t have a name for you, yet,” Kain admitted. “Though I do have my suspicions.” He looked at Lennos pointedly. He expected denials and threats, and was prepared for both. What he wasn’t prepared for was for Lennos to shake the whole building with his power.

  Litta swore under her breath and grabbed for Silvia, who had nearly toppled over at the first shake. Kain shot her a grateful look and went for Comman who was standing perfectly still in the center of the lobby, face cold.

  “Why?” he asked.

  “Why?” Lennos snapped, face incredulous. “You have to be kidding. Look at you. You can’t even fight back. I would bring this whole building down around your head, and there’s nothing you could do about it.”

  “Try it,” Kain said, eyes flashing danger. “Try it and see what happens to you.”

  Lennos rolled his eyes. “You won’t be here to protect him all the time. Not with that little human to look after.”

  “You think I can’t do both?” Kain added his power to the mix, cracking the marbled floor right down the middle. He had to dig down under the foundation to get what he wanted, but the rocks came to him, easy as breathing, like they always did, and he called them to his hand and formed his hammer, never taking his eyes from Lennos. “Try it,” he said again.

  The thing was, Kain knew that none of the others had ever really taken him seriously. For whatever reason, they thought he was too soft or too easy going to ever be good at what he did. But the truth was that Kain was as good as or better than any of them, and he knew it. Lennos was coming to know it, too, if the flicker of hesitation in his eyes was anything to go by. Kain just waited, hammer in his hand.

  Of course, at this point, Lennos couldn’t back down. Now he’d gone and started this, and the only way for him to walk out of here was to finish it. So he closed his eyes and summoned his own weapon from the earth under them, forming the spiked maul he preferred to use and hefting it in one hand.

  “Your Highness,” Kain said, voice commanding. “Please step back.”

  Comman didn’t listen, of course he didn’t. He stood there staring at Lennos like he had never seen him before. “I don’t understand what I did to make you hate me so much,” he said. “I’ve tried to do what’s right for our people. I’ve been kind to everyone, no matter how much you’ve fought against me. Tell me what I did.”

  Lennos’ voice was pure hate when he responded. “You got Maraath killed. Others are going to fight and die for you because that’s how this works. And you’re not worthy. You’re not. You don’t deserve for people to throw their lives away on you while you simper and make deals with people who aren’t our kind.”

  “Bit of a hypocrite, aren’t you?” Silvia put in. “Considering you’re working with that Caldo guy, and does anyone even know what he is?”

  “I’m doing that for the good of our people,” Lennos spat. “To keep this idiot from opening our borders and getting us all killed.”

  “Does he even hear himself?” Silvia wondered out loud.

  “Sil,” Kain said. “Not the time.”

  “Sorry, sorry.”

  “How is giving away our power for the good of the people,” Comman wanted to know. “How will that do anything other than weaken us?”

  Lennos hesitated but then stood firm. “It’s not all of it. Just enough for them to leave us alone. Everyone will blame you for what happened, for not being able to defend us, and then they’ll never put anyone like you on the throne again. No one else will have to die for your weakness.”

  “He isn’t weak,” Kain said, voice lashing out like a whip. “There is more than one kind of strength, Lennos, and you don’t have any of them.”

  That seemed to be the final straw. Lennos growled and rushed forward, weapon held aloft. Kain dug in his heels, ready to fight back. He wished for a moment for the bare earth beneath his feet, absorbing his will and amplifying his power, but he didn’t need it for this.

  Lennos was older than him, and more experienced, but he was of the old guard. He had guarded Comman’s mother back when she reigned and then gone right into guarding Comman, which meant it had been some time since he’d been in active service. Kain, on the other hand, had been in active service much more recently. And he was much less cocky, which meant that instead of feeling secure in his skills and never training, he trained all the time.

  When Lennos rushed at him, Kain was ready for it, and the blow Lennos dealt just glanced off the hammer that Kain had aloft. He pushed back on the other warrior, using his planted feet and strength to send him flying back in the direction he came from.

  That just enraged Lennos, and he came lunging forward again, this time aiming lower. Kain engaged him once more, pushing back and bearing down.

  It went on like that for long minutes, with Lennos attacking and Kain deflecting each and every one with seemingly no effort at all. Lennos was getting more and more enraged as time went on, which made his form sloppy and his hits more erratic. That was dangerous in its own way, but Kain was prepared for it and launched a volley of his own attacks.

  The thing about using a hammer as a weapon was that it was slow and required both hands and a fair amount of strength to wield, but it covered a wide area and packed a punch. When he made connection with Lennos side, using his rage as a distraction, the other guard crumpled to the ground with a low grunt.

  A few of his ribs were probably broken, but Kain had made sure not to kill him. He had a family, after all, and after what had happened to Maraath, Kain was reluctant to take anyone away from their family, especially before the rest of the guard found out that Lennos had betrayed them.

  There wasn't much Lennos could do other than lie there, groaning and holding his side, and his weapon had already gone back to rock on the floor.

  The once very pristine lobby was now a mess, several wide cracks in the marbled floor and chunks of stone everywhere. The building settled from its shaking, and Kain was sure that he could hear Silvia breathe a sigh of relief.

  He glanced at her, seeing that she had gone to Comman's side as soon as it was safe, and his heart swelled. But this wasn't the time for that now. There was still work to be done when it came to finding out just how deep the corruption in their ranks went and what exactly Lennos had told Caldo about Comman.

  Speaking of the Prince, he was picking his way over to Lennos, eyes hard. "You're a disgrace to our people," he said. "And you're very lucky. Lucky that I have more mercy in me than my mother did, or else your partner and children would be very sad to find out that you had died. But I wouldn't do that to them. However, you are stripped of all rank and title effective immediately, and you will be held under guard for the rest of our visit here to Earth. Is that understood?"

  Lennos made some gurgling sound tha
t Kain was willing to bet wasn't acceptance, and Comman just sighed and looked away from him.

  All of a sudden Kain was very tired. There was no honor in fighting his own people, and he'd only done it because of the danger Lennos posed. He wanted to go home and fix this, but he couldn't leave this planet until everything had been sorted out. It was messy and exhausting, and when he glanced at Silvia again, he could see that she understood how he felt.

  She took a step closer to him and he met her halfway. They didn't kiss, not there in the middle of what had been a battlefield of sorts, but she did put her hand on his arm.

  "Is it a bad time to say that it's really hot when you do that?" she murmured, and Kain smiled down at her.

  "Do what? The hammer thing?"

  "The hammer thing," she agreed. "Too bad it's not really a trick you can whip out in the bedroom."

  He outright chuckled then, some of the heaviness easing in him. "I have other tricks for the bedroom, and you well know it," he whispered to her, and was gratified to see her blush and smile at him.

  It felt good to have her there, and Kain amended his thoughts about wanting to go home immediately. This was a fine place to stay for a while.

  Telling the others that Lennos had essentially defected was even less fun than fighting Lennos had been. No one wanted to believe that Lennos had turned traitor, and Kain lost his temper and punched a wall. It left a good sized dent in it, and Comman sighed and pulled Silvia to the side. He murmured to her for a moment, gesturing to Kain, before going back to his conversation with the others.

  Kain frowned as Silvia came over to where he was seated on the floor with his back against the wall, arms folded. "What does he want?"

  "You to leave," she said. "He thinks you're stressing yourself out."

  "Oh, I wonder why?" Kain bit out. "This is a mess. Everything is a mess here. We've got our own people turning on the Prince, we've got some kind of idiot running around saying he wants to steal our power and start a civil war. We still don't know if there are more of those creatures he calls pets out there attacking humans and who knows what else, and you want me to relax?"