I tried to stop my fall, but there was nothing to grab onto. I fell right into Drew’s arms. I tried to get away, but he wouldn’t release me, and held me for the rest of my five minutes. The boys gathered around us when the time was done. I was furious with myself when Drew finally put me down.
I turned to Dalton. “It was you. You warned Drew I knew his position,” I accused.
He had the nerve not to look guilty. I kept underestimating that guy. He was really nice, but he was also a Lanshay, and they could be cruel. They were still harsh, but not toward me or my family. They were determined trainers. Between my teachers, Cal, and my future team, I was going to be receiving the best training anyone could hope for. I would also lose my temper, and my mind, while the boys were training me.
“You trusted him because he was left with you,” Adam observed.
“I thought he was left to protect me, and just be there if I needed him. I trusted him, but he wasn’t there to help me, but to stop me.”
Adam nodded. “Again.”
This time, Dalton went with his brothers, leaving me alone. I immediately missed someone else’s presence in this barren wilderness. Even though I knew the boys were close, and would not let anything hurt me, I was still nervous. I pushed the emotion aside. I would never find them if I couldn’t move from the fear that was slowly stiffening my muscles. I again took a breath in, and listened to the world around me. I delved into my power more and more as I continued to scan for my targets. I smelled ozone behind me, Chris. I smelled smoke to my right, Adam. And I heard a foot tapping very lightly to Chris’s left, Nathaniel.
I would start with those three and work my way to the others. I walked backwards slowly until my back hit a random tree just in front of where Chris hid. I acted startled like I thought the tree was one of them. I could hear Chris chuckle at my expense. I put my Light power into my muscles, and I stood in front of Chris in a second. He was stunned. He hadn’t thought I knew he was there. I had gotten one of them! But I knew I couldn’t fool the others like that.
I was growing tired. I hadn’t used my Light blood this much in a very, very long time, and when I did, it was never for anything quite this stressful. I listened for Nathaniel. He still hid on the other side of the rock wall that Chris had hidden behind. I gathered my strength again and leapt. Poor Nate, I landed right on top of him, tackling him to the ground.
I didn’t have time to apologize, but stood up and started walking around the area I’d started at to come at Adam from behind. Chris started following me, but I held up a hand to make him stop, which he did. I was not going to have the same trouble that I had the first time.
When I drew close to Adam, I knew my time was almost up, but I did not let the lack of time drive me to rush. The last thing I wanted was to mess this up because I was in a hurry. I stayed low to the ground, where I hoped no one could see me to give Adam a heads up. I had found two of them already, which was better than the first time, but I wanted to get the Lieutenant. I dug even deeper into my Light blood, and sniffed the air. The smell of smoke was much stronger this close. I wondered how much more I could pull from my Light blood before I started having problems. I didn’t want to push it right before infiltrating the Warlock’s palace.
I slowly, very slowly, snuck up behind Adam. When I saw him, he was turned away from me. Ever so slowly I continued closer. I was not as quiet as the Lanshay’s so I took my time. Adam didn’t seem to be in a rush to end the drill. It felt like it took me fifteen minutes to position myself behind Adam, and I couldn’t believe how quiet I was. It must have been the Light blood because I knew I was not that quiet on a normal day.
Adam about jumped out of his skin when I tapped him on the shoulder. The look of surprise on his face was priceless, and I loved it!
“Good job, Cadet,” Adam praised. I wasn’t technically a cadet until I started at the academy, but apparently, that didn’t matter to Adam. He was starting my training now, “Go take a nap before we head out. You look exhausted.”
I was exhausted. There wasn’t a soft place to lay down, but that didn’t stop me from picking a random piece of ground and being asleep in under a minute.
I was more rested than I thought I would be when Adam woke me. I was glad I had been able to sleep. It made the time go by faster, and I wasn’t missing my mate as long. I was pretty sure that was part of Adam’s plan all along.
We headed out again when I was fully awake, and this time I was excited to walk. Each step brought me closer and closer to the man I loved. I would have run if I could have, but we still needed to give time for a search of the palace before we arrived there, so like Nathaniel had said, we walked with extreme slowness. Okay, it wasn’t that slow, but it felt like forever. My impatience slimmed when Carmon’s voice came to my mind. We only exchanged a few sentences, but it was enough to know he was okay.
The palace came into view at dusk. We stopped and waited for the sun to fully set before continuing. We didn’t have any lights with us, and the palace gave off little illumination, so it was difficult for Nathaniel and I to see. Adam helped me not break anything, and Dalton helped Nate. We tried to stay out of view of magically enhanced eyes, but there was only so much we could do. By the time we drew near to the palace, we were crawling.
Apparently, it was time to stop when I almost ran into Jeff. A little heads up would have been nice. They all had a link to each other, so they knew, but Nate and I were left hanging. I supposed I would grow used to it since Carmon assured me I’d be on their team soon. I would be working with these boys a lot.
“Okay, Cadet,” Adam spoke to me, “you’re up. Stay low, and take your time. We’re not in a hurry. Carmon is fine, or we would have heard otherwise. Remember what we talked about. Swim through the canal, and when no one is around, climb out and open the door. You’re not going to have a change of clothes so try to keep to places no one will see puddles from you dripping when you climb out. Then find the door and open it.”
We’d been over this so many times, but since this was my first mission and I was technically untrained and their lives depended on trusting me to do my job, I let him go over it again. I listened politely, but when it came time for me to leave and do my part, I grew extremely nervous. This was it, and I couldn’t let them down. Everyone depended on me.
I moved forward so they wouldn’t see my hesitance. I did not want to appear weak, like they couldn’t trust me to do my job. I had crawled a few feet when a hand wrapped around my ankle. I looked up to see Jeff was the one who had grabbed me.
“We know you’re nervous, Sylee. You do not have to hide it from us. You’ll do well. We have every confidence you will. If we didn’t, you would still be with your family, and not here, no matter what Carmon had to say about it. You’ve got this. Dig into that Light blood of yours again, and you’ll be just fine,” he said quietly.
I nodded my head at him. I did not trust my voice to speak. I would probably talk way too loud, and way too much in my current state. I still couldn’t believe they trusted me to do this job, but since I was the only one who could breathe underwater, it was not like they had much of a choice.
I continued crawling until I reached the water. Then I slipped in and went beneath the surface before I gasped too loudly. For being summer, the water was freezing cold! I was stunned for a few moments, but then my brain kicked it into gear, and I started swimming toward the wall. I stayed as deep as I could so no one at the top of the wall would see me. Not having to worry about oxygen was a relief. I would have needed to surface right after going under had I not had this new ability. My breath would have released automatically at the temperature of the water.
Luckily for me, the water was flowing toward the palace, the direction I needed to go. Unfortunately, I hit a fork in my “road”. If I chose the wrong one, I would be fighting the current to swim back to where I needed to be, and that was unlikely to happen. I only had seconds to choose. I chose the left fork. Nate had said the door was to the back
of the palace, and the left led more that way. I prayed my logic was sound and correct.
I swam until I reached the wall. I tried not thinking about what would happen to me if I were caught. No one would be able to rescue me. I would be alone, and chances were good that I wouldn’t live long.If I did live, it would not be a fun existence. This Warlock guy sounded completely horrible. I’d take Carmon’s previous behavior for the rest of my life over being hauled in front of the Warlock without my new brothers by my side.
I used my arms and hands to stay close to the wall. Slowly, I rose to the surface. I checked for witches constantly. There was no one at the section of wall I emerged at. I stayed close to the wall and walked toward the back of the palace courtyard. Creeping along quietly, I didn’t see the woman standing in a shallow alcove on my left until I heard her voice.
“Whatcha doing here, missy?” she asked, coming forward so I could see her. “You’re with that boy we caught earlier, aren’t you? Decided to take a swim tonight in an effort to rescue him, I see. The Warlock will find that funny. Then he’ll kill you.”
I knew I had to act quickly before she used magic on me. My arm shot out, and the heel of my palm connected with her nose, breaking it. Before she could scream, I pushed her into the alcove and wrapped my arm around her neck, closing off her air supply. She fought me, and I did my best to keep a tight grip on her. Finally, she slumped to the floor. I checked her neck for a pulse, but there was none. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my nerves and shaking body. My second kill was only slightly easier to move past than my first, but I never wanted to be completely comfortable with it.
Soon I was on my way again. I quickly found the door I needed to open, and to my surprise, it opened easily outward. I guessed the witches weren’t expecting someone to swim in and open it. Another surprise, my boys all waited right outside the door. Thankfully, I didn’t scream like I would have before I met the Lanshay’s. That would have given us away in a heartbeat and brought down condemnation upon my head from the best warriors the Light had.
I stepped aside and let the brothers enter. The summer air was warm, but the sun wasn’t out, so I shivered in my wet clothes. We’d had to leave our packs behind, and it wasn’t like my clothes would be dry if I took my pack in the water, and if the boys had brought it there was no time or privacy to change. I was not changing in the open, or in front of them.
“I know you’re cold,” Adam whispered in my ear. “Will you be fine for a little while until we can get you warm?”
I nodded my reply. My teeth were starting to chatter. If we could move this parade along, and I could walk, I would warm up. My wish came true when Nate set off toward the palace itself. I was glad we had a guide. I would have gotten so lost.
The entire palace was made of white marble. Sounds echoed everywhere. I dug deeply into my Light blood power to keep from making noise like the guys with me. Even Nate was silent as he moved. I was so glad we’d had training before coming into the palace. At least now I knew how to be silent. I’d never needed it more than this moment.
The halls were lit with torches. They were attached to the wall, but the flames weren’t real fire. They, of course, were magic. No heat came from them, sadly for my clothes, but they lit the halls well. Most, if not all, of the human castles in the rest of the country had been modernized so flames were no longer needed, and torches were for decoration alone. I thought the torches gave the hallways here character.
Somehow, Drew always knew when someone was coming. I was pretty sure it had to do with his Earth element. It had taken me a while to remember which brother had which element. Jeff was easy, but I kept forgetting he had two elements.
We hid each time we could find a spot to fit us all to avoid the witches coming down the hall, but when we couldn’t, the brothers took care of the threat or dismissed it. I had to force myself to look when the witch was too strong to be compelled to walk away. I didn’t want to become callous to the ending of a life, but I needed to get used to this sight so I didn’t shrink away, and/or vomit, each time a life ended. If they could, the brothers would first use their power to command the witch to leave the palace and not to come back in until given permission. That was an incredible gift.
Eventually, we made our way to a lower level that housed the prison cells. Everything was still made of marble. That made the snores coming from farther down the hall seem like the man making them was right next to us. I assumed it was a man, but I supposed it could have been a woman. We crept around a corner and I verified it was, indeed, a man.
In the next moment, he abruptly awoke and sat up. His mouth was open like he was trying to gasp for air, and his eyes were open wide as far as they would go. It wasn’t long at all until he collapsed on his chair and his head lulled to the side.
“What just happened to him?” I whispered to Dalton.
He looked a little uncomfortable as he whispered back to me, “I just suffocated him.”
My eyes grew round and my eyebrows rose. I kept learning things about this quiet man that didn’t seem to go with his demeanor. He could kill someone by suffocating them and not touching them!
“It’s an ability from my Air element,” Dalton explained while I was in shock.
Of course, he could remove air as well as move it. Wow, did I have so much to learn about these men. No wonder they were the best the Light had. If I were the Dark King, I’d be scared out of my mind that these guys would one day come after me. I was so happy they were on my team, or rather, I was on theirs.
Chris popped his head into the cell the guard was sitting in front of. I heard my mate say something sarcastic to Chris, who joked back. I did not like being at the back of the group now. I wanted to push through the wall of men in front of me so badly, but I held my ground. When I did step in the cell, I was the last, and right behind Nathaniel. I almost bumped into Nate when he stopped. Cal was on to his next drink, apparently, because he was hanging onto Nate’s neck with his teeth.
Carmon didn’t stay attached to Nate very long. Cal closed his eyes as he stepped back. He took a deep breath in, and let it out slowly. When he looked up at me, I thought his eyes appeared brighter than normal. Maybe it was the weird magic lighting on the marble walls.
Cal walked to me, and I almost took a step back as he advanced. Power flowed from him. It took everything in me to stay upright and not cower away from him. I did my best to keep my face clear of everything but a smile. I didn’t want him to know he affected me in a negative way. He smiled at me too, and then he was drinking my blood again. Like always, I lost all concept of time, and the world around me disappeared. I’m pretty sure I moaned again, too. That part I hated. In private it wasn’t so bad, but I wished I didn’t do it in public. My mate had a tendency to gloat.
He pulled back from my neck and winked at me. Then he started bouncing on his heels.
“Whew! Let’s go bag ourselves a Warlock,” he said. I thought his eyes were growing even brighter. He led the way out of the cell, and the rest of us almost had to jog to keep up with him. There was so much power radiating from him.
He added soon, “Though, we do need to get as many people out of this building as possible. He’s stealing their power and life force.”
Stealing their life force? How could he do that. I almost ran into Drew when he stopped walking. I really needed to stop almost running into walls, aka my brother-in-law’s.
“Keep going. I’ll get everyone out of the palace and build a wall they can’t penetrate. It should at least diminish the Warlock’s pull on them a little,” Drew told Carmon. Wow, I was always amazed at the power these guys held. “Chris stay with me and watch my back.”
“Yes, sir,” Chris responded, but I could tell he was serious when he said it, even if he said it in his usual joking manner.
We left the two of them behind and were on our way again. I had to get used to the screams and shouts coming at us from every direction. At first I thought the people were right next to u
s, but then realized that the marble affected my hearing once again. The screams kept growing more and more distant. Whatever Drew was doing I hoped he kept doing it.
My nerves had relaxed when we found Carmon, but now that we were headed to “the big guy,” they were almost out of control. Cal was concentrating, and his mind wasn’t on me. If it were even on me a tiny bit, he would have felt my nerves through our link. Not that I wanted him distracted by my feelings, but he was about to confront the strongest witch known to man, and I wanted him to know I loved him. Not that he did not know that already. Okay, I was just super nervous.
We reached the throne room and Carmon went to push the door open. He went ridged and my hands flew to my mouth as black fog swirled around his hand. I wanted to pull him away from it.
“Don’t touch him!” Adam said, pulling me back quickly. All I could do was stand there and watch the black fog wrap around my mate’s hand while Adam held me in place.
Carmon finally moved and placed his other hand on the door to his left. His eyes opened and the brightness from the cell was nothing compared to the glow coming from his eyes now. I couldn’t even look at him. I gasped when I saw the black fog rapidly retreat from his right hand as Carmon pushed the door open and stepped into the throne room. We followed right behind him.
In the middle of the room stood a man in Harbor Witch robes. He looked to be in his late fifties even though, according to Nathaniel, he was very, very old. He was short, rotund, and his beard looked like it hadn’t been tamed in years. I had no idea how this man became the Warlock, but if he was stealing power from the witches around him, that explained how he had kept his position, at least.
The Warlock was not looking at us, but at a black, oval cloud made of fog in the air above him. It was swirling and I could hear a cackle coming from inside it. I halted, so did the others, except Carmon. The creature. Were we too late?
Life and Water: The Elementals: Book One Page 22
