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

by Claire, Nicola

  How had Theo drowned his sorrows? I knew him, even though I'd only known him intimately for a few days before I'd left. I'd crushed on him for so much longer than that. Watched his every move. Fallen deeper and deeper with every interaction. Until in the end I had a pretty good idea of how the three thousand year old Theodoros Petropoulos behaved.

  And unlike Aktor, his much older servant, Theo chose distraction to deal with the hurdles that arose during his long life. Who had he used to distract from the pain of losing me?

  So, I didn't ask any questions, for fear that one would burst free before I could stop it.

  "Safe flight," I wished him instead, praying the next few days would go quickly.

  "Oraia," he murmured. "I have missed you, my sweet little Gi. You have no idea how much."

  If it was half as much as I had missed him, thinking him gone from me forever, gone from this world forever, then it would have been too much. At least he'd known I lived, and had thought I was being cared for by kin.

  I was picking he was going to have a sleepless night, dealing with the knowledge of my reality.

  "I've missed you too," I said softly in answer. A simple statement which I could have ruined with so many more words of the heartache and pain I had suffered. I clamped my lips shut. Theo didn't need to hear them. He probably already knew.

  "My Casey," he whispered as the flames flared briefly and began to wane. The communication about to be terminated. "I love you, Oraia. Eternally."

  I didn't get a chance to reply, the flames settled and crackled, changing tone and letting me know he had gone. He'd done it on purpose. Maybe fearful I didn't feel the same anymore and wouldn't return the sentiment. So much had happened, I couldn't blame him that doubt. But was infinitely grateful he'd worn his heart on his sleeve and said the words I so needed to hear.

  I promised myself, they would be the first words he heard from my lips when I saw him again.

  I watched the fire burn slowly for a few more minutes and then fatigue took over. I'd experience a gamut of emotions today. From fear and terror, to shock and surprise. To an unbelievable amount of wonder and relief. And now, after such a roller-coaster of a day, I needed sleep, and the only emotion that really counted.

  Love. My love for Theo. Which was no longer a fool's love, no longer a love never to be requited. But a true love of two souls meant to be together, despite hurdles, despite rules and the parameters of the world they were stuck in. Love that transcends all.

  And hopefully, conquers all.

  I fell asleep with a smile on my face, vaguely aware that the battle ahead for both Theo and I was not yet won. Not by a long shot.

  I became aware that fireworks were exploding in the sky in a multitude of iridescent colours. Electric blue. Dazzling white. Flame red. Sunburst yellow. Vibrant green. Laughter from an invisible source sounded out in my mind, as the dreamscape coalesced around me. A huge bonfire sat in the middle of a farmer's field, sparks floating up in dizzying patterns into a blackened night sky.

  I'd seen this bonfire before. In a book my grandfather had given me when I was young. A book titled, Heat And The Properties Of Fire.

  I spun around searching for my dead grandfather, knowing instinctively that he'd be here. That he'd appear real and alive. And that he had a hell of a lot of questions to answer. I may not be able to trust the sanctity and security of my Gi Stoicheio right now, but something told me these dreams were entirely different, and entirely true.

  An impossibility, but then much in my world now days was impossible, yet true.

  "Gramps," I said when I saw him walk out from behind the larger than life bonfire. He looked the same as he did in the last dream, when he stood beneath the boughs of a Moreton Bay Fig Tree. Much the same as he did the day before he died.

  Greying blond hair, swept back off his almost wrinkle free face. Smooth, stubble free cheeks, blue dancing eyes, and a wide, amused grin on his lips. At sixty, he'd appeared forty-five. Never ageing the same way my grandmother did. A fact she continually bemoaned, until he was lost at sea and she realised image was never as important as life.

  "What's happening to me?" I demanded, not waiting for him to speak.

  He chuckled, a rumble from deep inside his chest. A sound so familiar from my childhood it brought back sudden memories of sitting in his workshop, playing with his wood carving tools, as he told my brother and I stories to pass the time. I realised now, with dawning comprehension, that those stories were about Elements. The Earth and all her beauty. The Fire and all its magnificent power. The Air and all its complex controls over the environment. The Water and its essential part in the world's balance.

  My whole life I'd been trained for this moment and never knew it was coming.

  My hand found my mouth, covering the sad horror of realisation as it slipped through my lips in a groaned sigh. My grandfather knew about the Athanatos. Knew about Ekmetalleftis. Knew what I would become.

  I felt my knees buckle and the ground rush up to meet me. Gramps took several quick steps towards me, hand outstretched, but when he saw whatever was on my face, stopped in his tracks. He looked in pain, regret tracing the only lines I'd probably ever see on his handsome face.

  "You're an Alchemist," I accused, and watched as his head slowly nodded. Oh, sweet hell. This was just not fair.

  No one should have to confront the reality of their loved one betraying them to such a degree. I wasn't sure how to swallow this bitter pill. It was choking me, killing me slowly. Destroying what little solace I had left in memories.

  "Go away," I blurted, unthinking, uncaring right now. The pain of deception stabbing me right through the chest. "Just leave," I ordered, my voice rising. "How could you do this?!" I shouted, my hands digging into dirt at my sides, the ground in the dreamscape rolling and rumbling to life.

  My grandfather looked shocked, his eyes scanning the surroundings and then flicking back to me with mounting surprise.

  "Casey, sweetheart," he begged. "You need guidance. Until we reach you, I cannot visit again. It takes an Awakening to allow this to happen. Your next Awakening may not be for months."

  "Reach me?" I cried, staring daggers at the man I had once loved so deeply, trusted so much. "You've already reached me. Noah the Doctor got me out of that hell hole, no thanks to your little group of power hungry mortals allowing me to be there in the first place. Because," I added sarcastically, "it was for the greater good!"

  "Oh, sweetheart," he murmured. "There is much at stake."

  "No!" I shouted, and with a wave of my hand made the wood in the bonfire explode.

  Sending searing hot, flaming charcoal down all around my grandfather. His image wavered as he made a sound of shock mixed with pain, and then the dreamscape followed suit... and exploded.

  I woke up sweating, panting for breath, and trying to get my bearings. I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach.

  And the hits just kept coming, didn't they?

  Chapter 8

  So Much Said In One Simple Word

  I had loaded the fire with more wood before I fell asleep for a second time. Making sure Fire was present in the clearing the Earth had led me to, combining its strength to help keep me hidden. I should have been able to sleep soundly, knowing I was safe. The Gi might be able to commandeer my Earth, but they couldn't touch my Pyrkagia. I was a stronger enemy now, but I had one enormous failing.

  I was an emotional wreck.

  Three months imprisoned had nothing on the turmoil of spinning feelings vying for attention inside my head and heart. Theo was alive. I couldn't even begin to assimilate that knowledge without tears streaming down my cheeks. I kept going back to the Hederin hallucinations Davos had subjected me to. How real they felt. How I thought I was seeing what had transpired after my sentience was stolen on the Gi Rigas' command.

  For three months it had been a truth, and I was finding it surprisingly difficult to accept what had happened last night as real.

  Even my grandfather's o
ld words of belief being a tangible thing didn't help. All they did was make me relive my bonfire dream.

  Fuck. There was no other word for what I was having to deal with right now. Nothing else could come close. My world had been blown apart before yesterday, but somehow it felt like it had detonated all over again last night. Explosive, shattering, shocking, violent in its consequences. My mind couldn't take much more, and even the numbness of sleep didn't help.

  I tossed and turned, and before the sun rose I was up and staring blindly into the flames of the fire. Drawn to it, probably because of my Stoicheio, but all I could think, as my eyes kept swinging back to the licking yellow-red glow, was once-thought-dead Theo had talked to me through this fire, and my once-thought-dead Alchemist grandfather had stood next to one similar in my dream.

  I let out a wounded sigh, weighted by my confusion. Was Gramps alive and really visiting me in the dreams? I had to assume he was. His body had never been found after the fishing accident. He'd faked his own death. God, another hit.

  I pushed thoughts of Gramps aside. I just couldn't cope with the questions and anger that were festering inside. Instead, as I waited for light to brighten the horizon, I let myself dwell on Theo. Another day and I'd have irrefutable proof that Davos had been an evil, lying, piece-of-shit Gi, with his use of Hederin to make me believe Theo was dead.

  I presumed Theo had already boarded a plane by now, but just in case, I crawled closer to the flames, as close as my face could get without singing eyebrows, and whispered, "Theo?"

  The flames crackled and hissed, flared a little brighter, I was guessing because I'd used some Pyrkagia Stoicheio, and then changed in pitch.

  "Miss Eden," Aktor replied through the fire. "Is everything all right?"

  A wash of conflicting sensations swept through me. Happiness at hearing Aktor's sweet, familiar voice. Disappointment that it wasn't Theo who answered my call. Regret that I hadn't stayed up last night and insisted we continue to talk. Guilt that I'd allowed my fear of the truth and cowardice rule my decision to let him go.

  "Aktor," I said on a rush of air. "How are you?"

  He laughed, a small humorous sound. "I am fine, Miss Eden. Are you?"

  "Exhausted," I admitted truthfully. Emotional turmoil can do that to you. Not to mention running and fighting for your life.

  "No doubt," the old butler agreed. "But you will keep going, won't you, my dear?"

  "Because there's no other choice?" I offered, knowing exactly how Aktor thought.

  "Because he'll be waiting for you in Manaus, Cassandra."

  A small smile crept onto my face, making my lips twitch unfamiliarly. He was right. Nothing would stop me from reaching Theo.

  "How has he been?" I asked, at length.

  There was a long pause, then Aktor, voice quiet and subdued, replied, "It has been a very difficult time for all involved."

  "Was he hurt badly?"

  "Nothing he couldn't heal physically from."

  There was that distinction again. Fire had told me I would be safe from 'physical' harm. Both my new Stoicheio and Aktor's choice of words were telling.

  "How did the Gi get away?" I asked, settling in to have at least some of my questions answered. "I would have thought the Pyrkagia wouldn't have liked them attacking their Prince."

  "No," Aktor murmured. "We were not amused. But surprisingly the battle that ensued was short lived. As soon as the Gi Rigas had you under control, they attempted to restart the volcanic activity beneath the city. Only to realise they were outnumbered when our Rigas turned up with Alchemists at his side."

  Alchemists siding with Pyrkagia? Just whose side were the Alchemists really on?

  "They abandoned their attacks on Auckland and on Theodoros, for a quick and painless retreat. Unfortunately, our Rigas was not concerned with your safety, Cassandra. I am sorry," he added. "There were many Pyrkagia shocked that Anaisthetikos had been used on you; their long lost Princess."

  A small unamused sound slipped out on that.

  "Yeah, not so much their Princess, I'm afraid. And they knew it."

  "So it seems. But we were not aware of this until last night."

  I frowned. It was obvious Aktor and Theo had been talking about getting information out of Manaus in the first fire I'd heard their voices in. But it hadn't occurred to me that they didn't know the Gi were aware I was not their Princess. I'm not sure why, I just assumed the Gi would have made a fuss about that publicly. Obviously not, as far as the Pyrkagia are concerned, anyway.

  "I thought you guys had spies in amongst the Gi?" I asked.

  "They had been recalled when the battle began. As far as we knew, the Gi were helping you acclimatise to your new environment. We had no reason to believe you were being mistreated. Even after the Anaisthetikos command. It was decided by the council that the entire episode was particular to the Gi and, as such, expected behaviour."

  "Then why were you and Theo talking about news from Manaus?"

  "Because Theo and myself are, by no means, of the same opinion as the council. He needed to know you were safe, Miss Eden. He was using every contact he had to find out. But our efforts had been blocked at every turn."

  "The Gi," I offered.

  "We suspect so. They like to keep things in house. It has been notoriously difficult to garner intelligence from their village. And now we have no agents in the area at all, we must rely on human allies, which is never foolproof."

  The sun had risen while we'd been talking, and the temperature in the small clearing had begun to climb. Not helped by my proximity to the fire. I was sweating slightly and needed a drink, but I didn't want to stop talking to Aktor, nor did I want to extinguish the flames and be vulnerable to the Gi Guards' detection again.

  Pyrkagia was new to me. I had no idea how I would wield the Stoicheio when not staring into the welcoming glow of flames. I knew Theo did it, he used other forms of heat. Such as passion and anger, and differing human emotions that still, after everything I had been through, made me blush.

  "You should get going, Miss Eden," Aktor said, breaking into my musings. "I should think daylight has arrived by now."

  "What time is it in Auckland?" I asked, starting to prepare myself for the trek ahead; stretching, breathing deeply to settle my nerves.

  "Nearly midnight," Aktor answered, surprising me for a couple of reasons. It was about seven in the morning here and I hadn't got my head around time zone differences.

  "Why have you still got a fire going, Aktor?" I asked.

  "Miss Eden," he chided gently. "I have kept a fire going since we first heard your voice. You are alone in the Amazon rainforest, connected to Pyrkagia somehow, so I will sit by this fire until the master reaches you, in case you need my guidance at any hour."

  Tears welled in my eyes again, however this time the emotion was not laden with heartache, but overflowing with sweet love for this old man, who had simply accepted me in Theo's life from day one.

  "Thank you," I whispered into the flames. They flared briefly. Either from Aktor or from me, I couldn’t tell.

  "Don't thank me, Cassandra. Get to Manaus safely and find Theodoros. He plans to stay on the outskirts of the city, as close to the rainforest as he can get, in a hotel called The Tropical Manaus. If we don't get to talk again before you reach there, a room has been booked under your mother's maiden name from tomorrow onwards, with instructions to allow a bedraggled young woman, meeting your description, access should you arrive before Theodoros does."

  They'd thought of everything. Except how the hell I was going to find the place and walk there barefoot from out of the forest wearing threadbare and filthy cut-of pants and a ripped sheet for a halter-top.

  No one said this was going to be easy, and first I had to evade capture. But, suddenly the idea of having a hot shower and slipping between crisp laundered sheets on a proper bed had me eager to get this show on the road.

  "OK, got it," I said, standing up and stretching for real this time. "I'll try to ge
t back in touch with you this evening when I set up camp. Thanks for everything."

  "You are most welcome, Miss Eden. I wish you the best of luck."

  The fire flared, then settled with its change of pitch, and I sucked in a breath of air in preparation for what I had to do next.

  Delaying for just a moment longer, I asked the Fire, Are there any Gi nearby?

  None, it confirmed, thankfully. They seek you elsewhere.

  Well that was reassuring. And that also meant there was no reason to hang around here. I thanked the Fire and kicked dirt over the flames to make it go out, feeling the distance its absence created between me and my new Stoicheio. It was an unusual feeling. With the Earth, the only time I had felt any distance, which ended up being a complete severance of contact, was when I was in my concrete bunker prison. Otherwise, even when walking on footpaths, or inside a house, I could still feel it somewhere a short distance away. Pot plants helped when indoors, but even with a few feet separation, I could feel the Earth calling.

  Now with the embers of my camp fire extinguished I felt no call to Fire. Strange didn't even cover it. I wondered if it was like this for all Pyrkagia. For Theo. Did he feel cut off at times like this too?

  It was a question that would have to wait. I still had at least a day of trekking ahead of me. For now, with the Fire having helped strengthen my Gi Stoicheio, I could trust any answer the Earth gave regarding direction. As the day progressed though, its guidance would have to be taken with caution, in case Gi Guards or the Basilissa managed to get within commanding distance.

  I thought it best to get a few things out in the open before we set off.

  How quickly can we get to Manaus? I asked, dusting myself off and sucking on a few left over fruits, following that up with a nibble of nuts. I could have done with something more substantial, but my appetite was not one hundred percent, so the trail-mix of sorts would have to do.