Children of the Elementi

by Ceri Clark

  “You just happened to have that in your pocket?”

  He grinned, “I have a certain amount of precognition my dear. It has come in quite handy over the years.”

  Marta nodded without understanding and pushed open an ornate door with a fountain engraved on the wood. Ecu raised an enquiring brow at Marta.

  “This suite used to belong to the Water King and his consort,” she explained. “I thought if you were going to be important you should be given one of the more prestigious rooms.”

  In the throne room Aras realized he felt better. As he mulled over what his new adviser told him, he decided to take action. He needed to ‘eliminate’ the boy king before he got any stronger but also find that Citadel. The boy was obviously just finding out about his power or he would have got ill sooner. First, the Citadel.

  “Get the new guards,” he called.

  Within moments the new batch of mercenaries filed into the room. A few days with his generals and they made credible guards but Aras could only feel contempt for these men. Their loyalties went to the highest bidder. Fortunately for him with the Elementi treasure stolen over a hundred years ago, he was the richest bidder around - barring his Magi cousins across the water..

  Still, the men wore his uniform well, he thought with pride. There were at least a couple of hundred recruits all wearing the royal insignia. He could tell they were not comfortable with it. Aras didn’t care; he needed them to display his emblem. The more his power was visible in the streets, the better his hold of it was. The black trousers and shirts were also ideal for missions where his soldiers needed to be inconspicuous at night. For those who saw it, the silver moon and pentagrams on the back of each shirt caused disquiet among watching foe and friend alike. Another good thing about mercenaries over his own guard, he mused was that they obeyed his orders flawlessly - without question. They had no conscience and were usually brighter than the usual soldier. Stupid mercenaries didn’t last long.

  Within minutes, Aras had given his commands to the generals in the front and although the men could hear them, the generals in turn informed the mercenaries standing in line behind them. Rows of men stamped their feet on the ground and turned smartly leaving the room on their first mission. Someone out there had to know where the Citadel was.

  Task accomplished, Aras turned to the next. With trepidation he rose from the throne. It was always dangerous dealing with spirits and his command of his magic over the last couple of days had not been as good as it could have been.

  Aras waived his attendants away and walked to the opposite side of the Great Hall, He entered a small anteroom off the throne room, where a secret room built by his grandfather was hidden. He locked the door behind him, muttering a quick lock spell for good measure. He stepped across to the opposite wall.

  Reaching for the second torch bracket from the corner, Aras pressed a stud to the side of it. A tall mirror to his right swung inwards. His gaunt expression in the reflection caught him by surprise, Aras realized the tablets would only last for two hours before the pain would come back. He needed to hurry.

  This room was a lot darker than the previous one. Aras muttered “incendi” and the room lit with a dull glow. All the walls and ceiling were black. A cursory glance upwards revealed the perfect reproduction of the night sky painted on the ceiling.

  When still a child his father had told him about its construction. The artist who had created it was promised riches beyond his wildest dreams but at the last brush stroke he was killed as had the workmen who had partitioned the room off - as had the magician who had spelled the painting afterwards.

  The sky was not only a perfect representation but also it stayed that way. As the world orbited the sun, the painting changed to show the new celestial sky without the inconvenience of clouds.

  In the center of the room lay a painted white circle. Aras paused at the reminder. There were burn marks inside it. Shuddering, he composed his mind. This was dangerous. Taking slow breaths he drew in and focused his magic. When he felt he had enough he began to summon a Deoc.

  The room began to smell of sulfur as the being he called fought for its freedom. Sweat broke out on Aras’ forehead. His body felt like it was on fire. This was a strong one, or did it show how much he had been weakened by the rise of the Elementi power? An acrid stench filled his nostrils, but he held on. Throwing the last of his energy in, he felt the creature’s presence fill the room.

  In the circle, the Deoc glared at Aras. Its body was made entirely of fire but as Aras watched, the flames flickered and died out. Skin formed over the creature’s body, first on its arms and legs. At last its face formed, and it was covered completely in skin. Over this, a robe appeared until a man stood before him with red and gold-flecked eyes.

  “What do you want?”

  “I need you to kill a boy.”

  “Why would I do that?” The creature smiled, confident in its power.

  “You have no choice.”

  Testing his strength, Aras felt the creature try to find a chink in his defenses. Finding an impenetrable wall, the thing conceded. “Who and where is the boy?”

  “The boy is in another dimension. The high Elementi sent the boy to safety where I cannot follow. You on the other hand are a creature from beyond the veil - you can.”

  Contemptuously, the creature smirked, “I cannot do this without more information. I am not a god!”

  “He has the Elementi Spirit power. This means he has all the four powers in small measure so that he has the ability to focus the combined power of all the families. I too have that power. You can use mine to scent him out. He looks like this...”

  An image of the room Aras had seen earlier in the smoke appeared in front of them. “Why me? Cannot one of your own magicians traverse the boundary?”

  “They can, but I need you to get close to the boy. The new High-King will have to reunite the powers. He might be able to tell if any person I send is an impostor. Our magic is opposite. We use the spirits and illusion while they use natural magic. You, on the other hand, can pretend to be the fire element. Fire is natural to you as using fire would be to the real fire king or queen.

  “Furthermore, I need you to find out where the Citadel is. With this, I would have almost limitless power. I would be able to control the Elementi side of my inheritance and combine the power of the Magi with it. Together I could control the world without the need to fight the battles one by one. Within hours, I could have complete control of the entire world and there would be no one and nothing that could stop me. Not the Matrix and not even my cousins in the Magi Empire.”

  “You are mad, human!”

  “I may be mad, but you still have to obey me!”

  “As you will.”

  The creature gave a mocking bow. It realized the task might be more profitable than he at first thought. This human was stupid. If he could find out the location of the Citadel, what would stop him taking it over? He was the fire element incarnate. He stared at Aras, taking in his form, his essence, noting the dark stream of magic running through his blood. Entwined with it was the glittering white power of the Elementi, wrapping around getting stronger as the boy lived. The Elementi power was still the same strength as the Magi he observed. How long before the Elementi side took over and tried to destroy the unnatural Magi? Enough! It was not his problem. He had the scent. It was now time to find that boy!

  The spell dropped and Adramelech exploded away. For a moment he stood still between dimensions. He discarded the human shape he had taken to communicate with Aras, returning to his natural fire-form.

  Silent, in the darkness he quieted his mind, gently rotating trying to find the trail. Moving slowly now, he searched for the white thread meticulously. After a few moments he saw it, faraway, shining brightly in the complete darkness between worlds. How could he have missed that? As he drew closer it grew brighter and clearer. Whoever had sent the boy out of Eleria had sent him to the future as well. The trail was as fresh as if the b
oy was sent only a few years ago. In effect, he had. Following the cord, the creature burst into the other reality.

  CHAPTER SIX: IRELAND

  Men in hard hats watched as another caravan invaded their construction site. Hands in pockets, they stood in clusters by the main entrance, they could barely disguise the hatred that marred their normally jovial features. Some idiot had forgotten to lock the gates last night. It didn’t matter how quickly they could get rid of them, work would be delayed for at least a week, most likely more. They wouldn’t get paid for waiting - not on their contracts. There would be recriminations all round, even the union couldn't help with this one.

  Inside the compound one of the new inhabitants, Kiera, stared defiantly back at them. What did these people expect? We have to stop somewhere! Here was as good as anywhere else. Turning away bored, she picked up the washing she had taken down from the line she had put up only the night before. They were here now and the locals had better get used to it.

  She carried the washing into the caravan she shared with her father. Luckily, he was out, so after dumping it on the table, she went straight to her room. Kiera sprawled on the bed and looked up at the ceiling. The caravan was such a difference to the tent they had slept in just a few years ago. It had been the traditional way of life, but she didn’t miss it. Now her father had come into some money he had bought the best mobile home in Ireland that could be found.

  Kiera reached out to stroke the long green strands of the spider plant in the window. She marveled at their change of circumstances. She hated doing what she had to do, but she had to admit it was profitable. Still, it was only a matter of time before the Garda caught on. They had been lucky so far.

  It really was time to move on. Her face twisted with distress, “I hate the city!” She let the despair wash over her. What was the use? Her father insisted they go there. It was better pickings he said and it was a lot easier to hide in. She remembered the first time her father had realized she had abilities. When he’d finally found out she could sense the differences between precious metals and stones.

  She couldn’t remember her exact age when Aunt Clara had shown her the box of her old jewelry, but she couldn’t have been any older than seven. Her aunt had shown her what each gem was. She was surprised and pleased at how quickly Kiera picked it up. For Kiera though, it was easy to tell them apart. They not only looked different but they felt different. It was as if they resonated on a different frequency. Even if they were a different color she knew what they were immediately. She knew what their essence was. She just needed to be shown one example of a type.

  Impressed, her aunt had told her friends. Soon all the women in their camp had brought their jewelry to find out what they had. She was able to guess what they were and after a while she was also able to let them know how much they were worth. Her aunt charged them a small amount but it was at least enough to buy books. With them she was able to teach Kiera how to read and write in secret.

  Aunt Clara was not really one of the travelers but had fallen in love with her father’s brother and never left. Kiera had loved to hear the story growing up, it was so romantic, but she wasn't one of them. Kiera’s father would never have approved of her teaching his daughter.

  Her aunt had managed to keep Kiera’s skills a secret for longer than she thought possible - only the women had known, and for at least a year. Aunt Clara knew Kiera’s father only too well. That was until he arrived home early one day.

  Kiera remembered his face as he had walked in to Aunt Clara's caravan - stony.

  “I’ve been looking all over for you. What are you doing?” he’d asked. Not realizing anything was wrong; the old lady sitting opposite Kiera told him that Kiera was valuing her jewelry for her. Kiera’s heart dropped. What would he do?

  To Kiera’s relief, he acted casual. The stupid woman had warbled on obliviously.

  “It’s amazing,” the lady said, “you must be very proud. I don’t know anyone else who can value a stone without even looking at it!” Kiera could tell this infuriated him. Small red dots of anger appeared on his cheeks... but still he managed to keep his rage in check. He just nodded, his eyes flickered briefly and then he stalked away.

  She thought he’d forgotten about it. For days he made no mention of it. As usual she made breakfast for both of them on the open fire and each morning he went out, returning in the early hours.

  It wasn’t her father’s fault, she reflected. He just wasn’t any good at adapting to change. He used to be a tinsmith her aunt had told her. They didn’t need much and he had made a respectable amount of money - enough so they could live on it - until plastics became ubiquitous. This was before Kiera could remember, but she was told he was a different man.

  As it got harder and harder to travel and more difficult to sell his skills, he became bitter. It was their right to travel, he kept insisting, and Kiera could tell it was only a matter of time before he exploded. Every year more campsites were taken away, and every year a small part of his heart was turned to ice.

  ...And that is where I came in, she thought. That evening he returned home, but this time with a stranger. It wasn’t like any traveler Kiera had seen before. To Kiera he was big, not tall. He wasn’t fat, but he had to be the largest man she had ever seen.

  She watched as they talked at the campfire. As she approached they quieted as she served them coffee in tin mugs, chatting animatedly again when she withdrew to the other side of the fire.

  Through the crackling flames she studied his features. The stranger had a scar running from the corner of his left eye, along his cheek to the lobe of his ear. It must have healed wrong she thought. Whatever happened to him happened recently and had left that vivid purple mark. Although she tried, she couldn’t help staring at it. As she watched she grew nervous, they were talking about her - her father kept pointing in her direction across the fire and gesturing excitedly at the man.

  Kiera shivered with apprehension, wrapping her arms about herself. Trying hard to lip-read, she found it very difficult to understand what was going on. Without warning their voices became clearer. It sounded like they were seated right next to her. Her father explained what she could do. Tingles of fear trickled down her back and despite the fire, she felt cold. The man seemed very interested but hope rose as he seemed skeptical.

  She could almost swear that she heard more than they were actually saying. It was impossible but she knew that if she couldn’t to do what they would ask her, that man would happily kill her father - for wasting his time just as easily as if she just refused to do it.

  They wanted to test her first, so the first job had been easy. They were checking to see if what her father had said was true. They picked her up the following night when the rest of the camp was asleep. It was too dark to read the number plate or even see the color of the car clearly, but she suspected that they would not be the real plates anyway.

  There were four men already in the car. She squeezed into the remaining space in the back. They all wore black suits and looked like bouncers she’d once seen in Dublin. The cramped two-hour drive was excruciating - no one spoke, not even to introduce themselves.

  She had no idea where they were going and she wasn’t told what to expect. When grilled about the journey later by her father she could only describe the outside of the house they had arrived at. For all she knew they had been driving in circles for the two hours she was gone.

  They pulled up outside a large detached town house, passing a Ferrari shining silver-grey in the moonlight. Three men got out quietly and signaled for her to follow them. At the door she was surprised to find that they already had a key. The tallest man fitted the key in the lock but it didn’t work. Unperturbed he tried another similar key from the ring. It wasn’t until the third key the door opened. Everyone piled inside, eager to get away from any prying eyes. One of the men spoke in a whisper.

  “Right, Campbell said you were good. The owners have gone on holiday for a week but we still have t
o be quiet. There should be some diamonds here. Can you find them?”

  Kiera frowned. Standing still, she let her awareness gradually spread out from her body, seeking that special resonance that only a diamond has. There was nothing on the ground floor. Climbing the staircase she let her awareness spread out further as she moved. There! She felt it. The vibrations were tighter upstairs. With helping her aunt’s friends, she learned early that the higher quality jewels always vibrated faster.

  Her whole body resonated on the same level as the stone. She nearly laughed out loud. It was too easy. She was almost running along the corridor. Her feet trod silently on the plush carpet. At the third bedroom on the right she stopped abruptly and confidently opened the door. Standing at the center of the room, she pointed under the bed.

  “Down there, under the bed.”

  The men were directly behind her and the closest nodded. Inclining his head at the others, they picked up the bed and shuffled it across the room. Placing it in the corner without a sound, they rolled the rug away from the polished wooden floor. Underneath Kiera saw a small hatch cut in the floorboards. As she watched, the first man opened a black doctor’s bag he was carrying and carefully pried open the hatch with the tool he took from it.

  Out of the way in the corner, she couldn’t see clearly how he opened the safe. He listened hard while turning a dial and within moments, it was open. The man beckoned her to sit beside him.

  Reluctantly she moved closer, kneeling by the open hatch. She looked at the man who nodded in response. She reached out and took out three velvet wrapped parcels from the hole laying them beside her. The man beside her reached out for them but she shook her head violently. Ignoring everything but the vibrations, she went straight to the bottom of the safe. She knew from the feel of the jewelry that the boxes beside her held only worthless costume fakes. The real diamonds were beneath.