“What does Sun say?”
“She loves Moon but agrees with Father. She couldn’t like the idea of destroying Moon again, and she can’t stay away. She is trying to temper his outrage as she did a hundred million years ago.”
Ignis remembered that: the Hawaiian volcano cracking and slipping into the sea. Another one of Moons attempts to control and bring the waves to the height of the Eiffel tower on Earth. Moon had been pissed, and Terra had been heartbroken with the destruction. Father would not take kindly to Moon once more tormenting his third and sometimes sensitive son.
“Do you ever think the stars will come to an agreement? Not all of them can form shapes humans will idolize. They fight amongst themselves because others are held in higher esteem. I don’t know why the constellations feel so threatened. Change won’t kill them, they need to acknowledge their ancestry, but new stars are forming and detest the old ways.”
“Why is change so damned difficult for some, Ignis? Really? Surely you must understand. You can’t see it because you are fire, you will always be fire. You will always know who and what you are, forever. You will always know where you come from and where you will be. You will always belong to the same family. Even though you think you have changed you will never really change except to grow older. I am wind and will always be wind and Nimbus is water, he will always be water. Fumus is smoke and though he may change to mature in attitude, he will always be smoke. There may always be stars but not always the same stars. If they can control the heavens they will never change.”
“Yes I get it.”
“Then come with me. Father wants us to crack some heads together. The star that calls himself Jag will not let harm come to Flame. He is part of the Universe.”
“He says he’s going supernova.”
“Foolish star. It’s not happening now. Father has too many other things to worry about and will discuss this with him later.”
“He’s not the only one who will be discussing this with Jag,” Ignis said when he noticed the rogue star battling. The bastard was no longer on the vessel and Orion was getting his ass kicked. Scowling, Ignis once more checked on Flame mentally with the help of the universe; she was fuming in a cabin, alone. Ignis shook his head, wishing he could go to her, then went to war.
* * * *
Once again, the door to the cabin slammed open. Barkley stood there wild-eyed. He had changed into another shirt and no longer smelt like a cinder block. The idea amused Flame when she pictured him roasting like a marshmallow. Gasping in a deep breath, he raced to Flame then pulled up short, stopping a respectful foot away and commanded her to follow him or there would be hell to pay. His pale face made the hair at the nape of her neck stand tall, but nothing more, she wasn’t afraid of him; he looked creepy, like he had seen a ghost. She had to jog to keep up with him as he fled onto the deck.
The wind was crazy-wild, flapping Flame’s hair into her face and eyes. The darkness of night was almost upon them. Barkley was pointing at an object in the sky. Flame gaped. Half of a body was visible amidst a ball of glowing white. The torso vanished into the mass soon followed by the thighs, calves and feet. The brilliance of the star was stunted then gone altogether when it hit a funnel of smoke.
“It was Jag,” Barkley screamed in her face. “How is that fucking possible? He was talking to me one second then pulled into the air, howling he wasn’t done. Wasn’t done what?”
Flame could see he was on the verge of hysteria. Only sheer will power kept him from grabbing bodily at her. Flame was feeling very smug. It was about time someone or something scared the shit out of this bastard.
“What the hell is going on?” he bellowed.
“Why not ask your lover, you bastard. I’ve got nothing to say to you,” Flame yelled to be heard over the storm, she clung to the railing. Her hair whipped around her face. Splashes of waves swept over her bare feet.
“Bitch, let’s see how smug you can be.”
Barkley took off below and Flame had a bad feeling in her guts. He wouldn’t. But he did. When he returned, he carried a terrified Lisa in his arms.
“She’s your child,” Flame yelled.
“I have two others and am capable of having more,” was his response.
“Oh my God, how does Jag not see what a sick and twisted bastard you are? You will never love anyone but yourself.”
Barkley held Lisa over the railing. The child screamed; Flame had no choice.
“He’s a star, Jag is an actual star.”
Barkley yanked Lisa to his chest. His sinister look made Flame’s skin crawl. “A star for a lover, interesting. No wonder he could heal me. You can’t touch him, can you, bitch? If you could have, you would have burned him. This is proving to be very entertaining.”
Flame almost hit the floor. Barkley would do anything for power, anything at all. “You better be careful,” she warned. “Look around, you’re not the only one with a lover of intense power.”
“I have yet to see anyone looking after you, except for burning my hands with a parlor trick. Are you human or a star?”
Flame clamped her mouth shut until Barkley once more dangled the child over the railing.
“I’m human,” Flame screamed. “Which is more than I can say about you.”
“Who burned me?”
“Ignis’ firewall. Go ahead you sick bastard, touch me.”
“Will you burn the child? Hmm. I doubt it. Go ahead—Flame. Save yourself, or the child.”
Barkley thrust Lisa into her arms, balled a fist and smashed it into Flame’s face. Flame went down.
Chapter 10
Ignis bellowed in rage, feeling Flame’s panic and worse—her pain. If he didn’t have a constellation in his flaming grasp he would have exploded onto the yacht. Nimbus wasn’t able to jump aboard the vessel carrying Flame; Ignis’ brother was too busy battling Moon for control over the tides. Every element had their hands full with the stars and Orion’s hunters. Mother Nature gathered her sons and battled alongside them with Father Universe.
With a snarl, Ventus began whirling the heavens scattering the stars and constellations. It was a good thing Fumus obscured everything from the humans below. Ignis could only imagine what they would do if, when looking up, they saw Orion change form and fling arrows or race across the sky.
Orion, Taurus and Gemini banded together, encircling Ignis. Enraged, he crushed three lone stars offering the constellation aid with their promises of a joined union. Gemini backed off a bit in surprise as the life of the stars was snuffed out in powerful explosions, a testimony of Ignis’ rage. Betelgeuse formed a union with Bellatrix, Mintaka and Rigel. The four stars glowed brilliantly. An intense ball of whirling and whizzing light, pounding their forces at Ventus. Ventus would have none of that. Like the constellation Monoceros who once thought foolishly to battle Ventus, the four stars were flung far into the celestial equator.
“Say hello to the little unicorn for me.” Ventus laughed deep within his belly, the noise thundering across the sky as the stars grew dull with each mile they slipped further away.
“Damn you, Ventus,” Orion bellowed. “It will take half my strength to pull them back. And damn you too, Ignis; those young stars had promise.”
“Damn the lot of you for placing my Flame in this position. If any harm comes to her, I will hold you, Orion, responsible and Betelgeuse won’t go supernova, I will crush him into super nothing.”
“Then end this now,” commanded Father Universe.
Taurus attacked. Grabbing the bull by the star-horns, Father Universe once again flung the constellation farther than Ventus had blown the four stars. Warily Gemini approached, but it would seem the other constellations realized their folly and were slowly backing off.
“Enough,” Terra boomed. “As we battle, the Earth is in an uproar. There is no one controlling the elements running amok. Fires blaze, tidal waves bash my shorelines. Humans are being killed and injured. This ends now.”
Ignis couldn’t have a
greed more. He could hear Flame calling frantically, she was terrified and he was wild with his worry for her. Barkley was near land, Nimbus could just make out the vessel. Moon was neither aiding Barkley nor stopping him. The damned stubborn moon was on his own rampage. Sun tried her best to calm her partner but until Moon settled, the waters would be a war zone with Flame in the middle of it.
Working together, the element brothers hurled constellation stars deeper into the bowels of Father Universe, scattering them like human remains. It would take too much energy for the constellations to draw them back to where they once settled and called home in the galaxy. For a constellation, the loss of one star was akin to losing a finger or toe, but to lose many was the shedding of a limb. Over and over like baseballs, the stars were pitched, turning them into shooting stars.
Every so often, a human would witness a star’s falling as it annoyed an element. This night there were millions of them flying across the heavens.
The constellations scattered across the blackness in defeat, their stunning brightness stunted from battle. Ignis knew by the time Orion was able to bring Jag back Barkley would long be dust in his grave. Even now, he could hear the star weeping his loss, begging to be brought back. In Orion’s fury, Ignis knew Jag would be one of the last to return to his place. Jag would still shine and would still be seen from Earth; many humans might not even notice. The star’s place was now way back in the galaxy, tunnel vision. Ignis couldn’t care less, the star had brought this upon himself, let him grieve.
Ignis had bigger problems; he couldn’t go to his Flame yet. It would take the concentration of all the elements, Mother Nature and Father Universe as a whole, to stop Moon. It was touchy at best. Moon couldn’t simply be tossed away or obliterated. Moon was needed to aid Earth. If Moon left, Sun would follow. Earth would die. Terra would be devastated to have no home. The elements would need to take a more coaxing effort.
“Your followers are being injured,” Father Universe said to Moon.
“Any human to have set foot on me is protected.”
“What of their loved ones?”
Ignis and his brothers held their breaths as Father Universe and Moon squared off. The stars had crept back behind Moon to lick their wounds.
“I only ask for a little life,” Moon wailed. “A tiny flicker of breath.”
“Don’t you see, you have life, human life,” Father Universe explained. “Humans are so drawn to you they built devises that would bring them to you. They come to you. Humans are so fascinated with you they developed a love of finding other planets.”
“Which makes me obsolete,” Moon said, pouting.
“Never. You will remain in human hearts forever. Even now, they orbit you, gaze in adoration up at you. Let them explore you now the way you are, they will appreciate what they have with you as an example. Both you and Sun are proof if you take too much there is a consequence.”
“When will humans learn?” Moon asked, his tone now scathing.
“They are learning,” Terra insisted. “They are slow but coming around. With you here and space flight increasing, more will travel to see you, more will understand the beauty of Earth and the wonder of you.”
Ignis heard Flame in his thoughts, she was screaming in terror. If Moon didn’t come around soon, his Flame would go out.
* * * *
“Both of you into the boat,” Barkley demanded.
Flame still held Lisa to her chest; Barkley warned her if she set the child down, he would shoot her. With disgust, Flame realized he meant it. If her firewall went up, the child would be incinerated. Every so often, Flame felt the soles of her feet heat up, her fingers smoldered and she had to keep shifting Lisa in her arms, lest she scald the child. Barkley reminded her as she shifted again, if she dropped the child he would shoot his daughter. Flame was panicking. She couldn’t let Barkley murder his own daughter, but the child was getting heavier by the second. The boat was pitching and rocking; it was all she could do just to stay upright.
Flame climbed into the small power boat that had been lowered from the vessel. The tiny craft seemed to jump with the intensity of the storm. The waves slapped at the boat’s sides and over Flame and Lisa. They were almost on land; the irony of the warrant still molded to her breasts was bittersweet. She could arrest Barkley, but he would only laugh at her. While she held the child, she could do nothing.
The boat was battered by waves and try as she might, Flame could see no sign of Nimbus. Barkley took them deep inside a watery cave. The water was rising higher. A small light on the front of the boat guided them. He ordered Flame and Lisa out when they bumped into the ledge of the cave. Flame looked around, the cave was smallish, there didn’t look to be another way out, they would drown in a slow agonizing death.
“You can’t leave us here,” Flame shouted. The girl’s arms were locked around her neck.
“I’m not,” Barkley said and laughed. “Just you.” He stood and reached over to yank Lisa from Flame’s grasp. Her firewall went up immediately.
“A lot of good it will do you now,” Barkley yelled and laughed.
Flame could hear Lisa howling for her as the boat powered up and moved away. Flame was alone on the ledge. The fire enclosure offered little comfort. Before long, there would be nothing left of it.
Water was pouring into the cave; Flame was trying not to panic. The area surrounding her boiled and hissed, turning the ocean before her into a mass of bubbly soup. Her firewall stayed up but inch by inch it was doused. The water sizzled and steamed, adding to the intensity of the situation like an anticlimax. Flame clawed at the smooth walls, her fingernails tearing off in her effort to be free. It was so dark without Barkley’s light and the flickering flames were slowly dying. She smashed the walls with her fists until her knuckles ached and protested in agony. Flame kicked sideways, toppled over into the water and came up spluttering. There were no higher ledges to offer an escape.
“Ignis,” she screamed, succumbing to fear.
But he couldn’t come, he couldn’t help her. If he exploded onto the scene, he would be doused. She was caged within a cave, within the walls of dark watery death. Barkley had used the information she was forced to give him about her firewall to his advantage—but she had to tell him; he was capable of killing his own child. Perhaps Flame’s death would buy the child some time. She knew Ignis wouldn’t let her death be in vain, but that was little consolation.
On her tiptoes, Flame gasped in air; the water rose over her head forcing her to tread water—she had only seconds left as the tide rose. Cold wetness slapped at her face, adding insult to injury. She choked, dragged in a ragged breath, her lips almost pressed to the ceiling in her cave coffin then everything went black as the water seemed to explode and swirled over her head.
The feeling was surreal. She was living death, a swimming corpse; it was only a matter of time. Flame knew she was about to die. A motion caught her attention and to her left Flame saw a huge apparition approach; she whimpered wondering what it was. Barkley had teased mercilessly of sharks, swearing he would drip his child’s blood into the water to coax the beasts into a frenzy. The figure became more defined the closer it came. It was a man’s face; bright, glowing blue eyes mirrored her fear and Flame was soon engulfed in a strong embrace.
The need for breath was overwhelming now. She struggled; strong hands roamed her body in a soothing gesture and Flame knew it was Nimbus. He was the cause of the last burst of water, to transport himself to her. It was too late, Flame tried to draw in a breath and water streamed down her throat into her lungs. She felt it racing through her veins to her heart. Nimbus cupped her head to his chest and she could feel him inside of her.
Breathe.
How?
Remember.
Flame did remember—amniotic fluid. At one time, she had been surrounded with liquid; at one specific time, all life had been privy to Nimbus who watched growth from inside the womb until birth. He would then release his children into the worl
d, to make their way amongst the elements. Only now, Flame was part of Nimbus again, he flowed through her, allowing her to be one with him. Slowly, the ocean water was pushed back as it swirled around them. Flame looked deeply into the rolling waves. Back through time, her memories were taken to keep her mind off what was happening while Nimbus controlled his element—she felt his struggle as he attempted to turn the tide.
Flame could see tiny creatures emerge from the water as her mind was propelled to the beginning of time, and she felt strangely drawn to the creatures. She could feel the excitement of a young spirit, an entity—no—an element. Nimbus had been so pleased to watch these creatures crawl from the surrounding pools of a substance so like amniotic fluid. He had helped Mother Nature create life—it was no wonder humans were made up of so much water. Nimbus flowed through humans.
Power, rage and ferociousness stormed into Flame’s thoughts and she could tell Nimbus was fighting for her life while trying to keep her calm. Could Nimbus overpower the moon? Moon wasn’t cruel, but there was order to the universe and what Nimbus did was going against everything taught to the elements. But in the recesses of her mind, she felt her thoughts joined by each brother. Each element banded together to offer aid. The Earth shifted and roared while trying to halt then turn back—back. Terra was in control of his own element; they were joined by Ventus who blew the winds with all his might, aiding Terra. Flame felt them all, battling to save one single human.
The idea was almost too much as she felt each thought bombard her, paralyze her. Fire was in her thoughts too—she heard him hammering away at the cave, the water dousing him, back he came again and again. Flame felt Fire’s anger, his rage and his fear. There was too much to focus on, too many thoughts until Flame thought she might panic, and suddenly they were gone. Nimbus was once more in control of her mind. He again took her on a thought travel to spare her sanity of being trapped near death while elements battled the natural order of life.
Fire's Flame [Elements Book 1] Page 10
