Fallen branches and twigs scratched against my ankles. I never slowed. My legs burned into exhaustion. I was sure I was bleeding, but I didn't care. I kept running everywhere, anywhere, and in all directions. I had no idea how much time had passed or where I was because it didn’t matter anymore.
Nothing mattered.
Eventually, something caught my foot and I tripped. I curled into a ball as I rolled down a rocky hill. Sharp edges tore into the bare skin on my arms and legs on the way down. I screamed while my hands extended out, attempting to latch onto something. Dirt got into my eyes and I had to close them. I peeked out of one eye long enough to watch as I rolled right through a strand of hanging vines. I didn’t stop moving until the ground leveled.
The soothing, trickling sound of the cool clear stream filled the air. I opened my eyes. I crawled to the edge, cupped water in my hands and flushed out the muck from my eyes. Once my vision fully returned, I glanced over at a beautiful waterfall cascading gently over a large, rocky cliff. Butterflies circled the branches of the surrounding fruit trees. I was next to patches of picturesque multi-colored flowers adorning the side of the stream. It was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. If the Garden of Eden existed, this is what it must have looked like.
I took off my shoes, dipping my feet into the cold stream. Goosebumps peppered my calves as I ran the water over the bleeding cuts on my legs. Each scratch sent a ping of pain through my body.
The water in the center of the stream bubbled rapidly like boiling water. I blinked twice to make sure I wasn’t imagining it. Slowly, a woman with white henna tattoos on her face rose from within. Her wet aquamarine hair dripped over her shoulders as she floated in my direction. A strapless dress made of coral pink fish scales tightly wrapped her tiny frame, her fingers gripped a gold trident staff. I recognized her immediately from the council meetings. She was the water court queen: Brita of the House of Necksa.
Our eyes locked, and I heard her voice in my mind.
"I'm impressed, halfling from the House of Paralda. The entrance to my palace is a mystery to most elementals, and yet, you stand before me. Perhaps I underestimated you?”
I rose. “I actually found this place by accident.”
“I do not believe in accidents, young halfling. You were drawn here and I sensed your arrival at our gates. I also sense something different about you. Your future is unclear to me; too many possibilities.”
I had no direction as I was running through the forest. No planned destination. How could I have found this place without even thinking about it? It didn’t make any sense. Then it hit me; only an akasha could tap into each court. Was I the next akasha? No, it couldn’t be possible. My powers would’ve triggered by now if that were true. I shrugged it off. “I would like to ask a question.”
"What is it you wish to know?”
“Do you have the ability to enter the dreams of other elementals?”
“If you’re asking if I helped your father enter your dreams, the answer is yes.”
Anger grew in the pit of my stomach. All this time she had the ability to help him. She could have contacted him even before I arrived in Avalon and none of this would have ever happened. My fists clenched at my sides. "Why didn't you use your power to find my father?”
A rushing wall of water rose from behind her. With eyes narrowed, she replied, "You would serve yourself well to remember who you are speaking to with that tone. You will be respectful when addressing your superior.”
This conversation was going bad in a big way. Okay, I needed to calm down and diffuse the situation. "I apologize, Your Majesty. I did not mean to disrespect you.”
She huffed, crossing her arms across her chest. The wall of water returned to the peaceful stream. "The connection requires power on both ends. When I tried to contact Taron, his life energy was too weak. I could have killed him if I went any further.”
Judging from my vision, I knew she was being truthful. "Thank you for protecting him.”
Silently, she watched me with curious blue eyes. I had a feeling she was in my head again. "I sense Taron is not your only concern? You care for the shadow prince, Rowan.”
Hearing his name made my stomach knot like a pretzel. Overwhelming guilt gushed to the surface as I replayed the last image of him fighting his own siblings so we could escape. "Can you sense if Rowan is still alive?”
Brita lowered her head, closing her eyes. "Yes, but his life force is weak.”
Knowing there was still a chance that I could save him released some of the tension in my shoulders. Unfortunately, I had no idea how I could do it alone. Would the water queen help me? Jarrod said she abandoned the council. Was foresight one of her gifts? Had she foreseen something she wanted to avoid? Regardless, I doubted she would reveal her secrets to me. "Will you help me save them?”
"I will not put my court in danger.” With her eyes opened, her stare bore into me. "The elements are unstable.” She made her way over to me, placing her index finger on my temple.
In an instant, visions flashed in my mind like someone was flipping television stations. One after the other, I saw forest fires, floods, tornadoes, and earthquakes. I was overtaken by the fear of the mortals running from danger. Were those events real? Was this what happened when the elements were unstable?
"If Liana dies, Rowan must be the one to inherit the House of Djin. Only he will return balance to the court of fire.” With each backward step Brita took, she receded farther into the water. Soon, only her head was visible above water. "You cannot fail, air princess.”
Then, she sunk completely into the water until she was gone.
For the first time, I finally understood the full weight of the situation. This was more than an elemental war I was trying to prevent. I had to stop the elements from destroying the entire world.
A lump settled in my throat.
Who was I kidding? I couldn't do this. I was one person. A half-elemental with powers I didn’t know how to use. This was too much for me to handle.
Not sure why, but an image of Mom floated in my mind. She was so brave to leave Avalon and raise me alone. I couldn’t wrap my head around the amount of sacrifices I was sure she made for me. There was never another man after Dad. I had no grandparents or aunts or uncles. She was always alone. I would have given anything to have her with me. To have her comfort me as she had my whole life.
A dull ache bloomed in my chest.
I yearned for a time when my life was simple. Back to my childhood when she read me bedtime stories over and over again because she knew that made me happy. I loved the years when we would dress up in matching Halloween costumes. She spent hours sewing them which made them better than anything the other kids bought. Or, when she would let me paint dozens of Easters eggs, even though it was impossible for us to ever eat them all. I laughed out loud picturing the multi-colored mess we made on the kitchen counter.
I missed her and I wished I could be brave like her.
But what was I supposed to do? By now, Jarrod had led the armies into fire court territory. Had Valac known what the war was doing to the elements? Did he understand the entire world was in danger? Maybe he did, but he didn't care because he was blinded by his own desperate need to reclaim the fire court.
Regardless, Valac had to be stopped.
I had to let go of my own fear.
I would not abandon the ones I loved. I refused to sit back and watch the world crumble. No, I would go back and find a way to save them.
I cracked my knuckles while I paced.
There was no stopping this war without my father. I had to convince Valac to take me to him, but I would need help. A plan came together in my mind. It was risky, lots of pieces had to fall into place at the right time, but it was all I had.
I pushed through the hanging vines, racing out of the beautiful gardens. The way back to the air court castle wasn't clear. I had to stop and start a few times as I got my bearings. Circling around, I realized everything
looked the same in every direction.
I was lost.
A loud screech shot out from above my head and I glanced into the tree tops. An oversized yellow-eyed brown owl perched on a branch very close to where I stood. He cocked his head as if staring me down. Was I meant to be his next tasty meal? I swallowed hard. He let out another scream then flew over my head. After landing in the distance, I heard him once more.
I had the strangest feeling he was calling for me to follow him. After my Harry Potter moment settled in, I took off after him. What did I have to lose? My breath was heavy as I zigzagged through the trees, pushing limbs out of my way. Every time I caught up to my flying friend, he flew even farther away. I wanted to slow down and rest, but he wasn't having any of it. If I stopped even for a second, he screeched.
Damn bird had a lot of attitude.
In between heavy pants, I thought of Ariel. Had she remained at the castle with her family? I had to find out because I would need her if my plan was going to work. And if I was really lucky, I might also find some elementals and iron weapons.
After what seemed like hours, the owl led me to the edge of the forest where I had left Ariel. As soon as I could see the castle in the distance, he was gone. My muscles tensed as I made my way toward the castle.
There was not a single elemental in sight.
This did not look good at all.
Chapter Twenty-Five
When I entered the grassy courtyard, it was completely empty. The castle seemed oddly quiet, deserted even. A cold chill raced down my spine. Was I already too late? I ran at full speed toward the inner chambers. Once inside, I searched feverishly through every hallway running up and down every stairwell in hopes of finding anyone.
I found no one.
Panting, I called out, “Is there anyone here?” No one answered. The emptied halls made me shudder. Nevertheless, I refused to give up hope that Ariel might still be here. My legs burned, I wanted desperately to collapse, but I had to keep going.
I stopped suddenly. I hadn’t checked Dad’s royal chambers. I turned around, heading in that direction.
This was the one place in the castle I hadn’t gone. My footsteps echoed on the white marble floors. The air was thick, almost as if I was walking inside a cloud. Large windows were cut out of the crystal walls, allowing the sun's rays to illuminate the area with a creamy yellow glow. For a second, I wondered how Mom could have ever left this amazing castle, but I moved past those thoughts, refocusing on my search.
At the end of the lengthy walkway, two air court knights stood guard outside my father's door. Their faces were expressionless. Seeing me, they crisscrossed their spears―iron, I assumed―blocking the entrance as I approached.
“Who’s behind this door?” I asked.
Neither guard responded to my question.
My anger grew and I shouted, “I’m princess of this court, and I demand to see who’s behind this door!” I didn’t recognize my own voice.
“Ariel is being held by order of Jarrod. She is not to leave this room until they return.”
I blinked hard. “What? Why? What's happened?”
“We were given no other information beyond that,” he answered bluntly.
I pointed to the door’s handle. “Open it already.” The guard hesitated. “Guys, seriously, I don’t have time for this bureaucratic crap. Open the damn door now!”
They glanced at one another once again, uncrossing their spears. I opened the door. Blinking hard, I did a double take when I stepped inside. The walls were more like moving movie screens, flashing images of nature from different parts of Avalon. A yellow-eyed brown owl perched on a wooden stand stared back at me. It was the same owl who’d led me back to the castle.
Sneaky little thing.
Ariel was sitting on the edge of the biggest bed I had ever seen in my life. It was its own island, made of fluffy white pillows. Her elbows balanced on her knees, her hands covering her face.
“Ariel,” I called out in a soft voice, “Are you okay?”
She peeked up. The bottoms of her eyes were stained with black, dried mascara. Leaping up, she opened her arms and I hugged her neck.
“Everything happened so fast.” Ariel pulled back, so we were eye level, but didn’t let go. “I tried to tell Jarrod and King Orion about Valac, but they wouldn’t listen. Jarrod is convinced that Queen Liana kidnapped your father. Jarrod refused to cancel the attack. When I tried to stop them myself, they locked me in here.” A tear fell down her cheek.
I shook my head. “The castle is basically empty, minus a few guards. Jarrod has taken everyone with him for what I'm sure will be a blood bath.”
Her eyes widened. “There's no way to stop this, is there?”
I wasn't sure. I could only hope. “We need to find my father.”
Ariel paced around the room. “Okay, but how can we do that? I doubt Valac is simply going to hand him over.”
“First, we have to get you out of here.”
“How will we pull that off?” Ariel’s shoulders dropped, she hung her head. “The room has been sealed with magic.”
“That certainly complicates things.”
She sat back on the bed with her hands tucked under her legs. Staring up at me, she said, “I feel like I should have known. I mean, if I had paid closer attention, maybe King Taron—”
“You can’t blame yourself. Neither of us can. All we can do is try to stop this war before anyone gets killed.”
Ariel rubbed the back of her neck. “Finding King Taron won't be easy. We should come up with a secondary plan in case we fail. If we only had some kind of evidence linking Valac to your father.”
“There's nothing other than our word. Valac was very careful with his tracks. Trust me, the only way we're stopping this is to find my father and have him explain what happened.”
“But how can we get him back? We can’t take on Valac by ourselves. We have no idea who else could be working with him.”
My plan raced through my head. “We don’t need to defeat Valac. We only need for him to show us where he’s hidden my father. If you can create a pathway, then I will distract them long enough for you to grab my father for a quick escape.” I held Ariel by the shoulders. “We have to go back to Vegas.”
“Wait, wait, wait.” Ariel waved her hands in the air. “You’re making this all sound really simple and this is not simple.”
“Yeah,” I replied, shrugging. “But what other options do we have?”
Ariel sighed. “None that I can think of.”
“Okay then,” I said, sounding a lot more confident than I felt. “First, let’s deal with the guards so we can get you out of here.”
Ariel crossed her arms. “Have you forgotten about this little issue with the magical seal?”
“Leave that to me.”
The plan was in place. At first, the guards refused to disobey Jarrod. However, once I explained that the entire court was in danger, they agreed to help us. One guard was sent to find the other council members and make them aware of what had occurred. No telling whether they would help us, but we had to try. Another guard was sent to find weapons in case this got ugly, as I suspected it would.
A short time later, the guard returned with iron swords and blades, which Ariel hid with a glamour. Next, Ariel insisted that I change my clothes since they were torn and bloody from my fall in the forest. She brought me some air court warrior-wear that looked like something straight out of Game of Thrones. I changed into a leather pleated skirt and thigh-high boots. The corset top matched my skirt with the exception of the breastplate, which was strung with chainmail. Gazing in the mirror, I pulled my hair back into a ponytail wondering how anyone would not start laughing hysterically when they saw me wearing this.
Ariel appeared wearing the same thing, except the expression on her face was fierce and confident. My heart kicked in my chest. I fiddled with a knife I had hidden in my breastplate, hoping she didn’t notice my trembling hands. I had no idea if a
ny of this would work. If the plan didn’t work, I prayed everyone would get out alive.
As she approached me, I noticed her eyes were the deepest violet I had ever seen. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
No, I didn’t want any of this. I was scared out of my mind. My palms were sweaty and I wanted to puke. I thought of the simple mortal life I had with my Mom and wished more than anything that none of this were real. “I have to find my Dad before Valac starts an all-out war.”
She nodded.
Ariel put her hand out and a wind tunnel pathway appeared. We joined hands. I let her lead me inside.
Please let this work.
Chapter Twenty-Six
The pathway opened right in front of the entrance to club privé. Two ladies who must have been in their eighties glanced up from their slot machines and shot us a surprised look.
I nudged Ariel with my elbow. “Impressive. Next time, we should just appear in the fountain out front and really give them a show.”
“That wasn’t me. I had planned for us to land in the alley behind the hotel.” She stared off into space for a second. “If the pathways aren’t stable, it’s likely the elements are unbalanced. We have to put an end to this war as soon as possible or this will spill into the mortal world.”
Brita was correct; the elements were unbalanced. “And the good news keeps rolling in.” I gave a weak smile to the old ladies, but a bell went off and they quickly returned their attention to their slots. I turned around, facing the entrance. The guards weren’t there. I wiggled the knob—the door was unlocked. “I guess it’s time to go say hello.”
I stepped inside the private club after her. My mouth fell open. The once luxurious suite now resembled an empty storage space. All of the furniture, game tables, decor, and carpets were gone. The large room was dimly lit, only two white bulbs hung from a wire in the ceiling. An ashy aroma lingered, yet nothing appeared burned.
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