The Soothing Scent Of Earth (Elemental Awakening, Book 2)

by Claire, Nicola

  But they'd forgotten something too. Three months of being separated from the Earth, only tasting it through the sadistic power of my interrogator, had made my body crave contact. My soul cried out for communion. The moment the vine touched my flesh my Stoicheio flared to life.

  I was no longer defenceless, but a little power drunk.

  I moaned with abandon, rolled over the concrete neglectful of the rough surface scraping my skin, and forced the vine to break flesh, to sever a vein and touch my blood.

  Tingling rippled through my body, as finally shouts of alarm sprang up from either tower and more Stoicheio filled the air. But it was too little, too late. The Earth had been denied my touch, my blood, for three months also, and it sang with joy at the first crimson drop.

  You are here, it whispered on the wind, in my mind. We missed you, it complained, and sighed out in bliss as more of my blood flooded down the vine until it reached soil. Run, it commanded, a sense of urgency replacing the euphoria. She knows you escape, it added, sending a wash of chills down my spine.

  I sprang to my feet, the vine already releasing my ankle, scanned the ground for the doctor, but couldn't spot him, and so, with one regretful breath in, I bolted for the fence behind the Kapok.

  The Guards commanded the Earth to attack, but with a swipe of my arm before me, those vines and roots it sent my way fell uselessly to the ground. My bare foot touched down on grass, dirt sifting between my toes.

  The Earth cried its happiness.

  The Kapok Tree started to groan, its boughs swaying in the still, thick air, the leaves rattling and the cotton from the seeds flying free. White fluffy clouds rained down, creating a fibrous haze of cotton-candy-like feathers wafting in the non-existent breeze. I soon became engulfed in it, but somehow not suffocated.

  The Earth was shielding me from sight, giving me a fighting chance to escape unseen. Oh, the Gi Guards knew I was there. The Basilissa, according to the Earth, also knew I was here running for my freedom, for my life. But none of them could actually see me. I was coated in, surrounded by, Kapok cotton balls of fluff.

  The fence loomed before me and I ordered a vine to rise from the soil at my feet and pierce my wrist. Blood dripped down my fingers, splashing in the dirt and being absorbed by the Earth.

  Make a gap, please, I asked it, my breath coming in ragged pants as the delay in escape made my blood pressure rise.

  A massive branch from the Kapok slammed down over my head, crushing the chain-link and creating a path over its fallen limb. I clambered across tattered leaves and scraped bark until I made it through the opening and only the dense forest met my eyes.

  I turned back slowly and took in the wall of cotton fluff that hung suspended unnaturally in the air between where I stood and the bunker I'd been imprisoned in for three months.

  Hurry, the Earth urged. She comes, it added. We cannot hold her off like the Guard, it whispered ominously in my mind. She is too strong.

  I nodded, wished the doctor was still with me, and then ran.

  The forest opened up before me, a beckoning treasure trove of scents. Branches parted, providing a makeshift path, leading me further and further away from the chaotic shouts and commands of the Gi. I ran until my lungs were fit to burst. Until my legs ached and a trembling had started up in my frame. Until I had to stop and vomit surged up my mouth.

  It had been hours since I'd eaten my meagre meal of bread and cheese, but within seconds my stomach was emptied. Sweat coated my brow and I wiped it frantically, feeling the stinging bite of salty water in my eyes. I blinked, sucked in heavy, hot air, and tried to catch my breath.

  The dizziness was back. The trees moving in a warped fashion that had nothing to do with my Stoicheio and everything to do with the fact I was about to pass out. I staggered, laid a supporting hand against the rough bark of a nearby tree and felt my fingers dig into the trunk seeking relief, seeking a solution to my compromised and extremely dangerous situation.

  Help me, please, I pleaded with the Earth, knowing that any moment now it wouldn't - couldn't - follow my commands. Once the Basilissa was close enough she'd take control and my weakened Stoicheio would be no match.

  Take me deep, I pleaded, thinking a cell within the Earth was surely better than a cell surrounded by concrete.

  No, the Earth replied, confirming my worst fears. Someone approaches, it added.

  Those final words rang out inside my mind, stealing all my recently returned confidence, sealing my fate. I sunk to my knees in amongst fallen leaves, feeling the coolness of the rotting vegetation seep into my clothes, as the scents tried to ground me.

  I sucked in a shattered breath of air. Three months imprisoned. What felt like only three minutes free and in touch with my Stoicheio. And now I would have to return.

  A frustrated, defeated sound escaped my lips as my fingers dug into soil. Grounded. Surrounded. For this brief moment in time, safe.

  The branches of the thick foliage before me quivered, shook and made a tinkling sound similar to those I'd made the Rimu Trees at home bordering my drive achieve... and then they parted.

  I closed my eyes, prolonging the moment of capture, for what it was worth, and heard the footfalls of my captor approach.

  One last blast of Stoicheio. One last reminder that I am like them.

  I opened my eyes as the command formed in my thoughts, and watched as a root emerged through the leaves and soil three feet in front of my face and sprang directly at the doctor's neck.

  Aktor had told me to always aim to kill. "Aim for the neck, Cassandra. Sever the head before they sever yours. Do you understand?"

  I screamed at the horror of my mistake, as the doctor yelped, and then raised both hands to protect his vulnerable throat.

  Too little, I thought.

  But then his eyes, which were usually dark blue like mine, and flashed green when he called on his Stoicheio, flashed... gold.

  Pyrkagia gold.

  And the root incinerated before our eyes.

  What... the freaking hell... was that?

  Chapter 4

  It Was The Flaming Rose Dream That Woke Me

  "You're...you're Pyrkagia," I stammered, unable to get my head around what I had just seen.

  "What?" the doctor replied, stunned. Whether it was stunned at my question, or still stunned from being attacked by a root because of me, I'm not sure. But he was stunned.

  "Um," I murmured, suddenly doubting what I had seen. Then my eyes landed on the charred remains of the root. I pointed a shaky finger toward the evidence. "Pyrkagia," I said simply, then flicked my eyes to his.

  He stared down at the root for several moments and then smiled. It was an amused smile.

  "Oh," he offered and pulled a lighter from his trouser pocket, flicking the flint-wheel ignition and making a burst of tall, robust flames flow from the top. More powerful than normal lighters.

  "Oh," I replied, noting the disappointment in my tone. For a brief moment he'd been a connection to Theo.

  A heart-aching blink of my eyes and I pushed forward, dusting my hands down my pants and stumbling to my feet. Remnants of the dizziness determinedly clinging to my mind.

  "We need to keep moving," I suggested, suddenly wanting to put as much space between me and the Gi stronghold as we could.

  "Definitely," the doctor agreed. "Are you able to run?"

  I wanted to laugh, but I lacked the energy.

  "Maybe walk, I'm not so sure of running."

  "Have you fed?" he asked, cocking his head to the side to study me, as though he'd see evidence of the fuelling of my Stoicheio on my face, or in my frame.

  "A little, but time's not on our side. It'll have to be enough."

  He nodded and then replaced his lighter with a compass from his pocket. He check the direction and then nodded off to the left, indicating the path we needed to take.

  I was too tired to argue or question his plan. He obviously had one, and right now I was not in a position to complain. Without him
here I'd have to rely on the Earth to guide me, and although that was a pretty solid plan, it also had a major downfall. If the Queen's Guard, or the Basilissa herself, got too close, the Earth could be compromised.

  I hated doubting my Stoicheio, but for now I had no choice. I was still in enemy territory. I needed the hell out.

  So, that left me with the doctor, whose name I didn't even know.

  We'd been hiking several minutes by the time that realisation hit. Taking a short pause under the canopy of a Seringueria - or rubber - Tree, I turned to my unexpected ally and asked, "So what's up, Doc? Got a name?"

  He laughed, a deep chuckle, and swung to face me. "Noah," he said, surprising me with its un-Greek like sound.

  "Noah?" I queried. "That's..."

  "Not Greek," he supplied.

  "Yeah."

  A shrug of his shoulders. "Just because the Athanatos are centuries old, does not mean we must all conform to time's traditions." Now that sounded more like an elitist immortal.

  "OK," I said with a small smile.

  His eyes studied me closely for several long, and rapidly becoming uncomfortable, seconds. I shuffled my feet under his intense stare.

  Finally he gathered himself enough to murmur, "It's still another two hour trek from here, so let's get to it."

  Two hours. I wasn't entirely sure I could do two hours.

  One hour in and my clothes were soaked with sweat and moisture from the humid air. My lungs were straining for breath, my heart was beating a cardiovascular workout fit for an aerobics instructor, and my feet had actually become numb.

  I wondered if I could get gangrene after so short an amount of time barefoot in a jungle. I dreaded to think of what diseases and infections I was subjecting myself to. But the Earth seemed to make each footfall gentle and soft, protecting the tender flesh of my soles. Even though I couldn't trust its direction and compliance when still so close to Gi land, I could trust it to show care. The Earth was rejoicing in my return.

  I should have been too. But so much had happened to weaken my resolve. I gained what sustenance I could from Earth's delicate touch, but my mind was replaying my captivity relentlessly, like a horror movie that just wouldn't stop.

  Davos was dead, but I couldn't take solace in that fact. He got what he deserved, but I knew there were a hundred more Davoses out there, ready to step into his evil shoes. I'd never met the Basilissa, but Davos had mentioned her once or twice. From what he'd said, I'd gathered he answered to her and her alone. And if it was her instruction that led to my captivity and torture, then meeting the Queen was the last thing I wanted to do.

  And yet I couldn't help thinking she was hot on our tails, breathing down our necks. About to burst out of the foliage, scattering small creatures in her path, and blazing green from her eyes as she brought me to my knees. She was a shadow, a threat, that wouldn't go away.

  So, I kept putting one foot in front of the other, accepted what the Earth offered in support, and followed behind Noah the Doctor with ever increasing drooping lids.

  The sun set at some point, turning the forest into a foreboding and darkened place. Noah became a little edgy, but even without light to mark our paths, I felt at ease. My natural affinity to Earth, and all its abundant plant and animal life, setting my nerves to rest. Strangely Noah didn't share that same affinity. I wondered if he was a weaker Gi. Theo had said I was exceptionally gifted. Something like the direct descendant of an elder. Noah was probably nowhere near as old as Theo; probably only a fifth, sixth or further generation of Athanatos.

  By the time we'd come to a vine covered opening, in what appeared a rock face surrounded by tree life - something that simply appeared out of nowhere before my eyes - I had stopped thinking and was only operating on automatic; one step in front of the other. I was exhausted. Battered and bruised still. My body succumbing to fatigue, my mind already lost some time ago.

  "Here," Noah said, lifting the branches of the vines and ushering me inside. "This is far enough away from the compound for us to be safe. It's also shielded against Gi detection. Make yourself comfortable while I gather some food." His eyes flicked over my weary body. "I suggest you feed your Stoicheio," he offered.

  "What about yours?" I mumbled, as I shuffled past.

  "Mine's fine," he said dismissively, and then let the vines fall once I'd crossed the threshold.

  Inside was damp and musty, a sweet cloying smell that I associate with vegetation mixed with the clean scent of spring water. I heard the trickle of a stream come from the back of the cave, and watched, mesmerised, as the light from fluorescent algae along the back wall, above the running water, gradually brightened.

  I sank to my knees gratefully on the edge of the stream and dipped my hands into the clear liquid, splashing my heated face and then drinking cupped palmfuls to slate my thirst. I felt a million times better immediately. So didn't waste any time using the water to wash the dirt from my hands and feet, and with a quick look over my shoulder to determine Noah was not yet back, proceeded to give myself an impromptu bath.

  I'd had to hand wash myself for the past three months, never knowing if Davos would storm into the room while I performed my ablutions. I'd gotten very good at carrying out my daily hygiene routine in the thick of the night. Davos tended to leave me alone during the darker hours. He was a creature of habit, which thankfully worked to my advantage until today. Where he took things one step further.

  After completing my task and feeling infinitely better for it, I moved my aching body across the dirt and leaf strewn floor to rest again a wall of the cave. The moment my back came in contact with what I had assumed was rock face, I realised I'd misjudged our shelter. It wasn't a cave, but a hollow. Inside an enormous tree. The algae was lichen on the bark of the massive and intricate internal trunk and root system. The stream somehow existing beneath the plant and not hindering its structure with rot. I guessed the types of trees that existed in a rainforest were more adaptable to wet environments, but on closer inspection the roots had managed to grow around and above the trickle of water, drawing hydration when needed, but avoiding any adverse effects by its proximity.

  Nature, or the Earth, is a very clever thing.

  I settled into my spot, feeling the tree accommodate my position, softening its trunk to cup my back and provide a snug seat to rest in. I sighed, closed my eyes and finally succumbed to the doctor's suggestion. Stoicheio rushed through me as the Earth hummed in contentment, surrounding me with comfort and sustenance, fuelling my starved soul, attempting to repair the hideous damage my isolation had created.

  I was sure it would take multiple feedings to bring myself back to anywhere near normal Gi capacity, but I took what I could and the Earth gave me what it could spare. By the time the doctor returned, I was almost asleep, weary beyond compare.

  Big meals can do that to you, but the part of me that is human also needed to feed.

  Noah pushed through the vines at the entranceway and glanced in my direction, a large fish hanging from the fingers of one hand. You'd think being in tune with the Earth, its plants and animals, I would baulk at eating its bounty. But I was hungry and I was not born Gi, so although the fish was still whole, its bulging dead eye staring back at me, my mouth watered and my stomach growled.

  The doctor chuckled at the sound. "Arapaima," he said holding up the fish. "The most popular food fish in the Amazon. I'll start a fire and we'll eat well tonight."

  I didn't offer to help prepare the fish, my body was beyond movement and thankfully the doctor could tell. Twenty minutes later a small fire had been set beneath a gap in the tree above us, to allow the smoke to escape, and Noah was gutting and cleaning the fish. The smell of cooking meat filled the hollow not long after, and for the first time since our drastic escape I began to feel my body truly relax.

  Still, I had to ask, "Are we really safe here?"

  Noah sat across the space, leaning against the tree's trunk, turning the fish over the fire on a long twig. I noticed
the tree hadn't adjusted itself to make his back snug. Maybe I'd subconsciously used Stoicheio to achieve it, and the doctor didn't feel the need. In any case, he shifted several times trying to get comfortable before he answered my question.

  "I scouted this hollow several months ago, before you arrived. I always thought it would be a good place to go if war broke out, so I reinforced it with some shields and have kept an eye on it since. No Gi has ever come close. I believe we're safe."

  I supposed the war he talked about was between the Elementals, something similar to what had happened in Auckland when the Gi came to take me. It could easily happen here too, from what I understood of the dysfunctional relations between Athanatos. But being here now made me realise, if the doctor was aiding me, maybe I could finally get some questions answered.

  But first, the most important.

  "Why are you helping me?"

  He turned the fish over twice before answering.

  "The Basilissa believes you to be the answer to their plight."

  "They have a plight?" I asked, when he seemed to stall.

  "Of course. Deforestation of the Amazon is something we all should be concerned with."

  "And how does she believe I can help them with that?" I could see no correlation between myself and the drastically reducing size of the world's largest rainforest.

  "You have to understand the effects of deforestation on a group of people in tune with the Earth."

  My stomach roiled nauseatingly at that thought. How close to the forest the Gi were, both physically and elementally. Could they feel the Earth's cries of pain when swathes of the forest were culled? Did it make them as sick as the thought alone was making me?

  "You understand," Noah murmured, bringing the fish out of the fire and beginning to break off the cooked flesh for us to eat. "Deforestation has been going on since the Gi moved here from Greece in the 16th Century," he added, while he distributed the pieces of food onto two large sized leaves. "In the past forty or so years it has increased exponentially. To the point where hundreds of thousands of square kilometres have been destroyed. The effect on the Gi has been devastating."