by M. Stratton
The morning dawned, a cool mist covering the ground, spilling over the side of the canyon, filling it. It was mythical in appearance, the silence, eerie. Something about this still didn’t seem real to me. I had to wonder if maybe I had been in a car accident on the way to my uncle’s house, and I was actually dreaming this while I was in a coma. I loved to read, and became completely engrossed in the story. Maybe I went further this time.
I felt Hallet approaching. As my powers grew, so did his. It would seem we were forever linked, and as far as we knew, no one but Ronin knew how strong he really was.
“Where’s Naida?” I asked Hallet.
He frowned. “I don’t know. This isn’t like her. This means too much to her for her to not show up. Ronin…”
“Give me a few,” Ronin replied. He whisked out. I assumed he knew where she might be.
For the first time since this all started, the reality of this adventure hit me. This wasn’t a book I was getting lost in. I wasn’t curled up on my couch on a rainy Sunday afternoon. I was here, in Aimsir, trying to figure out how I could bring peace to their world when we were standing here waiting for battle.
I began to feel a vibration through the ground. A rhythmic thud, thud, thud. A mass of troops marched toward us. We had the fire elements with us, but there were no water ones to join us. No one had been able to get ahold of Erion, so we had no idea if he was with Dayna’s troops or not. While both Hallet and I could control all of the elements, which would give us an advantage, if they had more troops for the battle, we may not be able to hold them off. I was hoping I could somehow talk to Dayna, to make this all stop, but I knew she wouldn’t listen to anything I had to say.
There wasn’t much left to the story. It was do or die. Each footfall of the encroaching troops’ march was like another keystroke bringing this adventure to its end.
Ronin whisked back in next to Hallet and leaned over to whisper in his ear.
“What? Don’t hide anything from me,” I demanded.
“Sorry, habit.” Ronin nodded in my direction. “I don’t know where she is.”
“Did you look everywhere?” Hallet asked.
“Of course I did. No one has seen her in days.”
“This isn’t right.” I couldn’t keep my nerves at bay, and I started shaking. “Something is seriously wrong. First Erion and now Naida? No, Dayna’s behind this.”
“I think you’re right.” Hallet ran his hand through his hair. “I have an idea. Ronin, you’re in charge. Keep everyone focused at hand, hopefully we’ll only need a few minutes. Come.” He held out his hand for me and without a second thought, I grabbed it, and he whisked us out of the canyon.
We appeared in a small circular room with four windows overlooking the land, not unlike the windows in the library back home. I was able to see for miles from up here and wished I was able to relax and enjoy the view for a moment.
“Sit.” Hallet pointed to the ground in front of him. Once I sat on the cool stone, he grabbed my hands. “I’ve never done this for another element, only my own. I’m assuming because of your power and now mine, we should be able to reach any element. You’ve met both Erion and Naida, I need you to focus on her water energy first. We’re going to see if we can find her. Now close your eyes, I’ll try and get us going.”
Doing as he said, I remembered the fun we had in the water, how she showed me to breathe and walk under the water just the other day. Watching her with the creatures who had called her Mother was a treat. She cared about all of them.
“That’s it,” Hallet whispered.
Suddenly, we were racing across the land to a dark, rocky fortress. There was nothing soft or inviting about this place. There was something so evil here, I wanted to turn and run. I wanted to find the Skeleton Door and use the key. I wanted to go home.
“No.” Hallet’s strong voice stopped my thoughts. “That’s what she wants. Be stronger. Change the appearance.”
I wasn’t sure what I could do, but I thought of Hallet; his strength, his warmth. This place was so dark, it needed light. I started small bonfires burning around the walls to light the area, allowing us to see more clearly.
It didn’t make things better to see the monsters waiting for us. I’d never seen anything like it. Everyone else I had met in Aimsir were human-like; these were not. These were the things nightmares were made of. These were the things in fairytales that stole little children. Their bodies were made from granite and they stood at least fifteen feet tall. Thick roots grew from their heads, moving independently of the body. There was a green glow through the slits of their eyes and their mouths gaped open, an echoing cavernous hole screaming at us from their face.
“What are they?” My voice was barely audible.
“They are made of the Earth. These were created from Dayna’s darkness, to protect what she holds most dear. They are very dangerous creatures.”
“What does she hold most dear?”
“I don’t know, but I’m willing to guess whatever it is, it is in there.” He pointed to a small building in the middle of the fortress. It didn’t look too difficult to get into, if you could get past the thousand or so rock monsters.
“Any ideas?”
“Besides fighting them? No, I’ve never seen anything like this in our world. I wasn’t sure it was even possible for an element to create something like this.”
If Hallet hadn’t ever heard of anything like this and had no idea what to do, what could I possibly bring to the table? How could I make this all go away?
I stopped. Maybe that was it. What could I do to make it all go away? I was more powerful than her. I was more powerful than anyone else in this world. I was certainly more powerful than some rock monsters whose only purpose was to guard a small house.
Closing my eyes, I thought about the monsters. What they were made of? Dayna. Earth. Jealousy. Envy. Power. Anger. So much anger. I needed the opposite of her. We had been focusing on Naida, and it brought us here, which would mean she was here. She was the opposite of Dayna.
Grabbing Hallet’s hand, I squeezed it. “Focus on Naida, help me send her strength. She is nothing like Dayna. If we can focus on her energy, we can defeat this.”
Water bubbled up from between the cracks of the rocks around our feet. Drawing more water up, we created a stream, sending it rushing down the hill. Within moments, it was rising higher and higher. The rock monsters were unable to move fast enough to higher ground. Their long roots trying to find air while their rock bodies became harder and harder to move until finally they tipped over and the glow went out of their eyes. It was easy enough for us to move through them, under the water, to the small house.
Using my magic I was able to open the door, I gasped and raced over to Naida who was on the rock floor, barely breathing. I let the water flow in through the door, her element surrounding her, bringing her back. I willed her back.
Hallet came up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders, adding his magic to mine. She began to stir. I breathed a sigh of relief. She was going to make it.
“Naida. Can you hear us?” Hallet’s deep voice was muffled under the water.
“What? What are you doing here?” Her voice was weak.
“We could ask you the same thing.”
“No, Hallet, how are you under the water?”
“That’s the first thing you want to ask me? Now?”
“Well, it is kind of a big deal. You know, water puts out fire.” Her voice was getting stronger, and she sat up narrowing her eyes at Hallet. “Your eyes…” She looked back and forth between us. “It wasn’t just you the other day. It was both of you. Your combined magic is what I was feeling. How could this happen?”
“I almost killed him during training. When I went to heal him, this is what happened.”
“You know there is more to it than that,” Naida said. “This is part of the prophecy. Together you are stronger. You need to go defeat Dayna. You have no idea what she’s planning.” Pushing hersel
f up to her feet, she pulled me up with her, gripping my shoulders tightly. “She’s discovered a way to steal magics from others for herself. Other element magic. She started with our fringe, testing it out with them while learning our magics, but she needs more, if her plan is to work.”
“Did she take your magic?”
“She took most of it. She’d been siphoning off my magic a little at a time, letting me heal enough to produce more, but Hallet –” she grabbed her brother’s arm and pulled him closer. “The others, my people, the people of the fringe, they weren’t as strong as me,” she pleaded with him to understand.
“They didn’t survive.” Hallet ran his hand over his face. “I’m so sorry, sister, I didn’t know she’d do something like this.” He shook his head. “We need to make this right.”
“No one knew she’d gone this far off of the deep end. Don’t worry about me. I can feel Raina healing me as we speak. I’ll be back to normal in no time. Now go, keep your people safe, especially Ronin. She knows she won’t be able to get to you. You were always stronger than her, but she wants his power, and if she gets it, she’ll have all four elements.”
“Erion.”
The way Hallet said that one word almost broke my heart. There was so much pain in it. Erion had been missing longer than Naida. If Dayna was stealing his magic also, it would crush him.
“Go,” Naida said. “I’ll find him. I have a good idea of where he is. We are connected now, Raina. I will let you know if there is anything you can do.”
“Be safe.” I wasn’t sure this was the best thing to do, but we couldn’t let Dayna get Ronin.
“Go now.”
We whisked out and back to the canyon where a bloody battle waged. The smell of blood filled the air. It was senseless, this death, and the weight of it buckled my knees. I’d already lost.
Raina
“No!” Hallet screamed as his fire rushed across the canyon where Dayna held a rock suspended over Ronin. I saw his magic flicker and fall back on his element: fire. In the heat of the moment, he had forgotten that he had Earth magic of his own. I willed the rock to explode into tiny pieces, and Dayna whipped around facing me as I ran up fast behind Hallet.
“Dayna, Queen of the Earth Elements, you are to relinquish your crown immediately.”
Dayna’s lip curled back. “Who will take it from me? You and what army? Because the one you brought here is almost all gone. You can’t beat me.”
“This is your one and only warning. Step down now, or you will be put to death.”
“If I have my way, I won’t be the one dying, you will. I don’t think you understand the power I have.”
“Oh, I think we do.” Hallet’s voice shook with anger. “How could you? We all grew up together.”
“I’m so sick and tired of hearing about how we grew up together – and what – we owe something to each other? No, we don’t. You know what? I watched my parents wither away, weaker than the other elements. All the while the others grew stronger, they were the ones who had more power. Not us, my parents wouldn’t fight for it. They said it wasn’t important to have all the power – that it wasn’t meant for us. It wasn’t fair. I deserved it. I deserved to be the one everyone knelt down to, the one true Queen. But no one would listen because they were stuck on this prophecy. Some god who would walk through the Skeleton Door. I needed to do something to make it all stop. To make them understand how powerful I am.”
“What did you do?”
“I killed them. I killed them all.”
“Who?” Hallet’s voice was dangerously low, vibrating the ground beneath him. Flames ignited on his flesh, flashing wildly.
“Your parents, Naida’s, and Erion’s, too. You all thought they were taking each other out, or that the battles were fought over injustices between one element and another, but it was all me. I killed them, and everything was unfolding exactly as I had planned, but your damn temper got in my way. My parents weren’t supposed to die, but you couldn’t control your fire, and you burned them.”
“Because you had made me believe your parents killed my parents, and Erion’s! Our parents treated you like one of their own. How could you do this to them?”
I reached out and grabbed Hallet’s arm. His fire raged; I didn’t want him to do something he would regret. My touch radiated control into him whether he wanted it or not.
“Easily. You know what the best part was? Watching the utter horror in their eyes when they realized it had all been me, and they had foolishly underestimated my power. My only regret is not knowing I could have taken their powers and added their elements to mine. Otherwise, I could have ended this whole thing before it ever began.”
“This can’t continue,” I said. “Call off your people before anyone else gets hurt.” I knew Hallet wasn’t in control of his fire, and if I didn’t end this, we all would be destroyed.
“The only one who’s going to get hurt is you.” Her voice shook. “You’re the reason all of this started.”
I watched as Dayna closed her eyes and stretched her arms out. I saw ribbons of light being pulled into her. Somehow I felt like I should know what was going on, but my brain didn’t seem to work fast enough. I began to feel lightheaded, and I couldn’t catch my breath.
With a boom so loud it shook the ground, a rock materialized in front of us and knocked us back, distinguishing Hallet’s fire.
I’d never felt pain like this. Uncontrollably, my body started shaking, and all I could focus on was the agony. Even Hallet disappeared from my vision. I could no longer feel his spirit. I didn’t know if it was because he was dead, or because I was dying.
Dayna strode over to me and leered down. “Here, have some water.”
Though the pain, I could feel the water start to soak my back and rise around my body. Between the crushing weight of pain, and heaving in breaths through broken ribs, I knew at this point the water was overkill. It wasn’t going to take much to finish me.
“Oh, poor little girl. Finally realizing you aren’t strong enough to play with the grown-ups?” She crouched down and bent her face close to mine. “You’re not as easy to kill as I thought you’d be, I’ll give you that. But your uncle, he was easy.” She snapped her fingers. “I didn’t need that crazy old man coming around here filling everyone with the stories of your world. But you know what? It was easy for me to go into his world and kill him, but I never knew about this.” She reached into my pocket and pulled out the Skeleton Key. It glowed in her hand. “Now it will be mine, all I have to do is kill you and take your powers. Add that to what I’ve already taken from Erion and Naida, and will take from your precious Hallet, I will be God in this world and yours.”
She stood up and sloshed through the water over to where Hallet lay. Painfully, I moved my head. I wanted a better look at him, one last look before I died. Vaguely, I wondered what would happen if I died here. Would I somehow be transported back to my world? Would I die there? Or would I wake up there, just to be tortured with the guilt of knowing this beautiful place was lost to the clutches of evil because I had failed?
The water was at the edge of my mouth now. There wasn’t much time left. My heart ached, knowing I wasn’t going to be able to grow old with Hallet. Finally, after all of these years, I had found someone who understood me, who appreciated me for being who I was, and it was all going to be ripped away from us. I could see his strong, red essence being taken from him. She was stealing it.
How I could heal myself? I was so broken there was no way I could get to Hallet to help him without helping myself first. Closing my eyes, I tried to push away the panic of the water rising, of the air leaving my body, and the rock crushing me. I was panicking, thinking my magic was leaving me. Focusing on my inner light, which was dimming much faster than I wanted, I tried to nurture the small flame that was me. I built it back up, little by little, until I didn’t hurt as much. Until I felt a little stronger. Then I worked some more, all the while knowing it might not be quick enough to sav
e Hallet. I couldn’t hold back the tears that escaped my eyes. This wasn’t how the adventure was supposed to end. I wanted my happily ever after.
As the screams of battle grew louder, my desperation peaked. I needed help. If I was a god in this world, then the people here should have to listen to me, no matter the element.
“Stop.” I licked my lips, my voice was so weak. “Stop,” I said louder. My conviction surged through my body. “Stop!” I screamed. The rock exploded and everything went quiet.
Deliberately, I got to my knees, my eyes fixed on Dayna. I wanted her to know she couldn’t beat me. Her people were simply following her orders; I couldn’t punish them, but I could punish her.
“Stay down, little girl, I’m not quite ready to finish you off. Let me get the rest of Hallet’s powers first. Then we’ll see how long I can keep you alive to keep feeding off of your powers.”
As my bones creaked, I stood up straight facing her. “Dayna, you are no longer the Queen of the Earth Elements. You are stripped of all of your powers, those you were born with and those you stole.” I held a hand out toward her and imagined the ribbons of power flowing out of her and into me.
“No!” she screamed. “You can’t do this.” She frantically tried to hold onto the ribbons of her spirit and power. “They’re mine, all mine, you can’t take them.” With a wild look in her eyes, she charged me, pulling a knife from behind her back.
Erion appeared in front of me, her blade slicing deep into him.
“Erion! No!” I didn’t know what he was doing. I tried to get around him, but he wrapped his arms around Dayna and created an impenetrable bubble around them. I banged my fists against it, not knowing if they could hear me.
She struggled to get free from him, but he wouldn’t let her. I could see the long blade of her knife had pierced him through and through. His blood flowed quickly, mortally down his body, but he was consumed in his fight with Dayna. In that instant, I knew what he was doing, and it broke my heart that I wasn’t going to be able to help him.
