Mink ran his fingers over the surface of the crystal, but each facet he checked in turn was blank. Finally, on the fifth facet of its eight sides, he heard her dulcet voice. She sang the whole song of Oongk Ggyoriah Ahtima to him and then translated it. He was so grateful to have her voice preserved. Closing his eyes, he put his hands in his pockets and visualized her face in front of his, her voice in his head. He listened through the whole translation.
It was the story she had described. A princess loved a man who had to work very hard for very little. Once she opted to struggle with him, they were happy and finally able to marry. What Gyov hadn’t told Mink was that after their marriage, their life got easier. She became a queen, and he her king.
Mink almost put the crystal away after the translation, but before he let it go, her voice continued. She had recorded to him, “Thank you for making me feel better last night. I have been scared about what might happen, but now I know I only need to stay by you. You make me feel safe.” Mink hung his head with remorse and let tears flow.
The recording continued, “I am so glad for you that you get to see your parents and hope you introduce me to them. Maybe you already have. If not, then shame on you. Hmph. But, I trust you are the kind that will have me meet them. You are a unique guy and have a warm heart. I’m rambling now, but I want to also say. You are a good kisser. I wasn’t expecting that.”
Mink put away the crystal. There may have been more to the message, but his heart couldn’t hear it. Not yet. He watched as the last of the black cloaks slipped through the shrubs in the distant hudlew grove, imagining her form gliding among the puppets and recalling how he held her in the vale last night.
“Goodbye, Gyov. Thank you for the crystal. I love you.”
The Elementalists had long since been in the heart of the wilderness and out of view. Mink couldn’t even see the top of the Tear of God, despite how massive it was, over the great distance of what once were ocean depths. He folded his arms over the knife-cut slits in his clothes and walked over to the enormous hole that remained.
A few dozen Machinists had the unenviable task of surfacing and bagging all the bodies that had fallen into the cavern. It helped that the Soil users had raised the ground inside closer to the top and hadn’t Dispelled the Materialized Soil. Hundreds of dead lined the ground between the opening and their transports. The clean up process lasted until dusk.
Separating himself from the morbidity, Mink ventured just far enough to the eastern edge of the plateau to see the line of the Great Barrier Range. He caught the last of the day’s light glinting off the geode now cresting the horizon, a faint but discernable speck made visible across the expanse of the land. That the Elementalists were able to get the Tear of God so far in less than a day was all the proof Mink needed to know that it was real.
Awestruck, Mink squinted as his parents and former allies disappeared over the eastern range with one last shimmer of the geode dropping out of view. He took solace in the fact that they came to possess it. Would they forgive him for not joining them? For allowing them to believe he was dead? That was out of his control. More importantly, he had discovered his Elemental affinity.
Raymond Henri has enjoyed writing from an early age. After exploring a variety of other formats, he just recently started writing novels. His character-driven stories reflect the diversity of the places he has lived and the jobs he has had, focusing on animals and film. He lives in Coastal North Carolina with his wife and two daughters.
Visit the author at:
www.bhcauthors.com
Cover design, interior book design,
and eBook design by Blue Harvest Creative
www.blueharvestcreative.com
Table of Contents
About The Book
Title Page
Copyright Information
Elements: Tear Of God, Book One
Acknowledgments
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Coming Soon
About The Author
Meet The Design Team
Elements (Tear of God Book 1) Page 24
