Children of the Elementi (20 page)

Aras stood up. “Talik, a word before you go.”

“Yes, my Lord?” The grizzled old general indicated for the others to go before him.

“I want you to do a favor for me first,” Aras continued, “I want Ecu neutralized.” A flicker of understanding passed between them and Talik left the room.

Calling for his coach Aras left the castle with confidence. Ecu would be taken care of. It was time to sort out the real threat. He wasn’t going to miss this for the world.

Mirim and Jake fell into their bodies and scrambled up. They stiffly moved out of the chairs the others had dragged them into and looked at each other. Without saying a word they ran for the control room.

A being of fire stood by the control crystals. Its arms, consumed by subdued flame, were held around Kiera. A stranger stood arm’s length away from him holding a red crystal. They seemed frozen in a tableaux. Where was Adra? Who was the boy? An arc of pure fire leapt from the fire being and enveloped the boy. Mirim tensed. He wasn’t defending himself!

The fire withdrew for a second and Jake breathed in sharply through his teeth.

“Look at the crystal. That must be the real Fire King.” Jake shouted. He ran forward, but the heat drove him backwards.

The boy fought back, determination evident in every line of his body but the Deoc just laughed and a fresh wave of heat filled the space between the stranger and Deoc. Kiera screamed and closed her eyes. Although shielded by the creature, she could still feel the searing energy wash over her. As she opened them again, she searched for the stranger. He was gone, his crystal falling to the floor. The Deoc swung around to face the new arrivals, dragging Kiera painfully with him.

“So
you
are the mighty Elementi? I don’t think much of your Fire King. Who will be next?” The Deoc created a face of skin and bone and laughed at them.

Mirim strode forward.

“No you don’t.” Years of practicing her ability in the training rooms of the Citadel meant she knew exactly what to do. She concentrated on the Deoc’s outline, pulling all the air from it while creating a barrier so no fresh air could flow back in. The Deoc’s fire began to rescind. He changed back to his full natural form. The flames dimmed further as Mirim increased the pressure. Adramelech’s holes for eyes widened in horror. He rose power from the core of his being, but there was no oxygen to fuel the flames. There was a slight hiss, and he disappeared.

Jake rushed forward and grabbed Kiera who was rubbing her neck.

“Are you OK?”

“Fine, but the boy - he was the Fire King - we don’t have the fire element anymore.” They all turned to look where Dani had fallen.

“Oh hell, we’re stuffed now.”

Just then the building stopped shaking and Shenella appeared by the blue crystals. Kiera looked out of the nearest side window. “I can see the top of the water.”

They all rushed over. Shaking his head, Jake turned to Shenella.

“Shenella, can you organize the Merpeople to find out how close Aras is?” She nodded. He saw her turn her head. She was talking telepathically to someone he couldn’t see. She turned back. “They are about twenty miles away from you.”

Mirim’s head jerked up “What!”

She hurried to the window. “Oh, gods. I can see them.” In the distance, the horizon was filled with the shapes of tall ships. “There are hundreds of them!”

“Mirim, are they real? You said they have the power of illusion are they real?” Jake demanded.

“Yes, I mean no - I don’t know. They could be real. There is no way to tell unless you are close up. They won’t have any physical presence.”

“Right. Shenella, ask some Merpeople if they will swim up close. Find out how many ships there actually are.” Jake ordered.

She nodded. Her figure walked five paces to the left and disappeared into the wall.

“Okay, we need a battle plan and we need it quickly. Any suggestions?”

Kiera’s thoughts whirled around. She disregarded her healing power. That would be useful later but not during the battle. What could she use to help them? She had control over volcanoes but that would damage them as much as their enemies. She had it.

“A force-field” she blurted out.

“Sorry?”

“I can use the planet’s magnetic field to create a shield.”

“Brilliant, at least we have some defense. Apart from the Merpeople is there anyone else who can help us?”

Mirim shook her head. “Everyone is too scared of the Empire. If we can defeat Aras, maybe we can change that, but for this, no.”

Kiera took one of the high backed seats next to her crystals and sat back observing the others. “What powers do the Magi have?”

Mirim sighed. At least they were all there and she wouldn’t have to say this again.

“They have the power of illusion and of course they can control Deocs. They don’t want to control other elemental beings - just the fire. Maybe they don’t know they can.”

“So we have illusion and Deocs to worry about. The sun is starting to set now. If they arrive after it gets dark, they won’t have as much energy to fight. We’ll have to distract them somehow.”

Shenella cut in. “They’re ten miles away now.”

“How are they moving so fast?”

He felt a niggling at the back of his mind. The Matrix - he’d forgotten about that. Allowing himself to connect fully again with the alien mind, he saw how he could get a better view. His panel was in the center of the semicircle. At the prompting of the Matrix merge, he concentrated on the middle of his desk. A wall of flickering white light rose opposite him against the wall. It expanded to produce a globe of light hovering above the ground. Pictures of the surrounding area outside the tower appeared within it.

Jake wished he could get a better view and the picture zoomed in on the ships. Mirim was right, there were hundreds of them. Fighting despair, he tried to get a better look at the ships. The picture responsively zoomed in again.

Everyone got up to take a closer look,

“Are you controlling this?” Kiera asked.

“Yes, through the Matrix - it’s anticipating what I want. Can anyone see Aras?”

The picture expanded again.

“There!” Shenella pointed. At the bow of one of the ships they could see a man point in their direction, as he talked to another man in a black uniform. It was either a general or an admiral, Jake guessed. Kiera looked from the image in the light and back to Jake.

“I know. Apparently we are related. He’s my great-nephew or something.” Jake explained.

Abruptly Shenella twisted around as if to answer an unseen call.

“Several of the temple guards have swum out to the ships. They swam through most of them. They report there are about forty of them that are real.”

As she spoke Jake imagined the guards bumping into the ships. In response the picture behind them altered to show the bottom of the ships underwater. They could see three guards swimming together beneath the hulls. Through the churning water, they could see oars regularly beating the waves.

“That’s how they are doing it - slaves.” Mirim blurted.

Aras sat on his ship. The white towers of the Citadel rose from the sea, promising more power than he had ever dreamed of. He was half Elementi, and perhaps he could use that rather than fight it. Without a crystal he would not be as strong but if he attacked Jake, maybe he could beat him with the element of surprise.

As he had done hundreds of times before, he sat down and let his awareness float from his body. He sped towards the Citadel - following the white thread, which bound him and Jake together.

The four were talking quietly. It would be short-lived he vowed. He knew he had to act quickly, a part of him knew that if all five got together he would not have a chance. He couldn’t see the fire element but he was sure he or she would be around. The dread at the pit of his stomach told him so. If he took down Jake, the others would crumble. He jumped into the boy’s body.

Kiera was looking in Jake’s direction when he faltered mid-sentence. As she watched he choked, his face turning red before he collapsed in front of her. From her console she reached out her arm. She could just touch him. She frowned; there was something... someone else there.

As she felt his arm, she experienced an overwhelming sense of pain and despair. She probed deeper. It was Aras! He was trying to take over Jake!

Kiera rushed over to Jake. His body convulsed on the floor. She grabbed hold of her crystal from the console and concentrated on it. As she held the small clear rock in her hand she saw two ghostly images superimposed on Jake's body. The two were evenly matched. Jake needed help.

Pulling the magnetic field from the ground deep beneath the ocean bed, she shaped it, altering it slightly and directed it at Jake’s body. She watched the ghostly figure of the older man leave the limp body. Tuned to his frequency she followed Aras as he fled back to his ship. He was in so much pain, and she couldn’t stand it. It was his Elementi side she saw. It was strangling him. Gathering her power again she once again tuned it to his resonance. She delved her awareness into his body searching for the tell-tale white stream of his Elementi power.

Kiera floated above Aras' body. This was the man who would kill them all if he could. But, he was in so much pain, would she be able to resist killing him? She could stop the entire war now. All she had to do was stop his heart. It would be so easy. It frightened her how simply it could be done. Just a little tweak here and all their problems would be over. She gave the idea room to roam for a moment. Deep down, the revulsion grew. She could never do that. Where did that thought even come from?

Reproaching herself, she began to focus her powers again. She gathered the magnetic field around her and sent small bursts of energy to unravel the white strand from around the darker stream coursing through his body. She hovered for minutes, ensuring it was completely free before blasting the cord with the power of Eleria's magnetic field. Satisfied the link was broken she left to re-join her own body. He wouldn’t be able to do that again.

Moments later, Jake coughed and sat up. He shuddered at what had just happened. A thought occurred to Jake, he said aloud,

“Show me Aras.”

The picture on the wall changed. This time, the uniformed man had gone. Aras was sitting cross-legged on the deck, a painted circle in front of him. He was murmuring something.

“What’s he doing now?” Kiera asked.

“He’s calling a Deoc,” Mirim explained.

“No, he’s calling several Deocs!” Jake shouted, and he pointed at the corner of the picture. The image zoomed in. Forty Deocs appeared floating in mid-air.

Shenella shivered in distaste. The fire-beings touched a deep-seated fear ingrained in her water-psyche. “There’s one for each ship,” she noted.

The Deocs hovered over the ships for a few moments, keeping pace with their speed. As one they moved off the ship and sped towards the Citadel.

Kiera ran back to her console. Placing her fingertips on her crystal she concentrated on the planet’s metallic core. She could feel the energy radiate out in waves. She reached out and pulled it towards the surface. In her mind’s eye she took the waiting schematic of the building from the Matrix and manipulated the energy to cover the surface of the Citadel. Increasing her pull, she felt the air fizzle around her.

“We have a force field,” she called, “...but I have to concentrate on it to keep it up.” As she spoke two of the Deocs reached them. They were heading straight for one of the windows. Expecting the crash of glass, they ducked; instead there was a large bang. As they hit the force-shield, the Deocs exploded.

Relief showed on everyone’s faces. The remaining Deocs halted in mid-air, seeming to consult one another and froze. Turning back to the ships, they could see Aras was summoning more of them.

“They may be able to get through if several try together.” Mirim warned.

Jake hesitated. There was only one thing he could do.

“Are there any weapons here?”

“Weapons?” Mirim repeated.

“Yes, you know guns, swords, that sort of thing?”

“In the corridor, there should be some swords in the cupboards.” Mirim stood and led him to the cupboard. She took out a small brass key from her pocket and unlocked the heavy wooden doors.

“Why is it locked?”

“Habit I suppose,” she replied.

The cupboard was huge, spanning the entire corridor that split off at the far end into the Royal apartments. The section that she had opened held long heavy broadswords, standing upright in long rows. On the pommel of each sword was smooth white ivory. In drawers to the side were small daggers, each looking as expensive as their larger counterparts.

“Wow, I could have done with these when we were doing battle re-enactments!”

Jake saw her blank expression and shrugged. “Never mind.” He grabbed the first one and tested its weight. It was half as tall as him but he swung the sword with practiced ease. It was well balanced. Happy with his choice, he ran back into the control room.

“Send me over to Aras.”

“Are you sure? He will have been fighting with swords since he was a child,” Mirim warned.

“So have I, Mirim, so have I.”

Mirim looked doubtfully at him but nodded. She placed her hands on the crystals and Kiera copied her. Jake nodded at them and a swirling mist of light began to surround him. It brightened and he gave a brief brave smile before he disappeared from their sight.

Karl chose that moment to join them at the control room.

“Was that Jake?”

Kiera nodded. “He’s gone over to fight Aras.”

“Are you mad?” Karl looked from the image on the far wall. “There is more than one man on that ship. He’ll be killed before he even gets to him!”

“We can’t fight that way,” Mirim replied.

“I can. Send me over to help.” Karl ran out of the room and grabbed a sword from the open cabinet visible from where he stood.

Running back to the control room, he shouted at Mirim.

“Send me now!”

“You’ve got no powers, you’ll only hinder him,” Mirim protested.