Deadly to Love (26 page)

“Come on Rea we have to get up.”

I yawned and rolled over so I was snuggled up on his lap, refusing to open my eyes. He laughed and shook me gently again.

“Rea wake up, we need to watch the forest.”

I muttered something like, “go without me,” in response and I pressed my head further into his lap, blocking out the sound of his voice.

“Rea if you don’t wake up now we’re going to leave you here.”

I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke.

“No you won’t, you love me,” I groaned. His constant talking was waking me up, which was probably his plan so in the end I pushed myself off him with a mutter about not liking him.

Jack and Alanah were already outside the tent when we emerged. They were watching the forest floor but the sun had yet to rise so not a lot was visible. The four of us sat on the edge waiting, only me and Kai had an idea about what was going to happen. He had told me not to say anything as he wanted to see if they would notice anything different that would be overlooked if we were all concentrating on the shadows.

The sun began to rise finally and just in the spot Kai had said. We waited for half an hour but still nothing had changed except for a faint orange glow behind the mountains in the distance. It wasn’t until we hit the hour and a half mark did Jack call out.

“Guys do those look like triangle to you?”

I looked at Kai to see him smiling smugly. His guess had been right and on the floor in front of us were now a lot of shadows cast by the mountain range. There were however only three, created by the outcrops, pointing in the same direction towards something and it was then we knew we were on the right track.

“So how do we get to that point then because those shadows aren’t going to stay for long.”

Kai pulled out his phone and snapped a few pictures, making sure he covered every angle, tree and tiny detail. Nobody looked sure of how they could transfer the information from what we saw on the ledge to what we would see on the ground though. While they discussed it between themselves I studied the view in front of me for a little longer. As I focused more intently on the scene I noticed that there were regular breaks in the trees.

“Kai, look closer at the forest. Can you see that there are repetitive breaks in the trees? There are four until you get to the tip of the triangle and the fifth one lands there. If we follow the gaps I’m pretty sure we’ll end up in the right place. We could also use that map app on smartphones to track our position from above to help count.”

It was now Kai’s turn to stare at me, his jaw slack in shock.

“What?” I asked.

As Kai informed the other E.Ks of my idea as I was too shy to talk to Alanah directly, especially when it involved orders, I programmed in the settings on my phone to bring up the right map. When everyone had set their phones correctly we packed up and started our descent, which I must admit was a lot easier and quicker than the climb up.

Kai had to catch me a few times as I stood on some loose gravel type rock, causing me to slip but soon we were back on solid ground, immersed by the trees that towered over us.

“OK so we go through four breaks and stop in the fifth. Hopefully there should be some kind of stream or quarry there,” Kai said as we set off, trying to stay in a straight line as we walked.

The walk in the forest was just as taxing as the descent down the mountain. Little twigs, logs, leaves, brambles, the list went on of all the obstacles we had to avoid in our path. The leaves on the trees were starting to change colour already and the few evergreens stood out dramatically amongst the orange and yellow canopy. While I was admiring the different shades of colour in the tree tops, I wasn’t looking where I was placing my feet so it came as a shock to me when Kai picked me up all of a sudden, halting me mid-stride.

“What the...” I squealed as he lowered me back to the ground on the other side of the fallen tree that I had missed while I was looking up.

“Please keep your eyes on the ground Rea.”

Jack laughed at Kai’s reprimand but Alanah didn’t find it as funny. She continued to walk on, pressing deeper into the forest as we all trailed behind her, following the path she had created.

It didn’t take long to reach the first clearing which was even more obvious on the ground. We stopped, resting on a pile of logs, long enough to have a drink and eat an energy bar but that was it before we began walking again.

“Seriously...how are you not...out of breath?” I panted at Kai as we neared the second clearing.

“How are you out of breath is a better question. I thought you were into sports and all that.” He smirked at me as I bent double trying to catch my breath as we stopped for a second time.

“I haven’t done any in a while okay. Plus that’s only an hour of running around a court, not trekking up and down a mountain before traipsing through a forest. I think I need to start again when this is over though.”

Tactfully he remained silent on the topic, knowing that whatever he said would probably land him in trouble.

We were about to head off again when Jack signalled for everyone to stop walking. He lowered his hand to the floor and everyone but me began to slowly fall into a crouch. Kai pulled my arm and I slowly did the same thing. The E.Ks obviously all knew what this signal meant and they were communicating with just head nods but I was extremely lost and confused. Out the corner of my eye I saw Jack draw his gun and Alanah followed not far behind.

Kai was pulling me towards a fallen tree where he pressed me against it hard, I guessed telling me to stay there as he too pulled out his gun. Before I could find the Elementals I heard six rapid shots ring out, echoing across the forest, scaring the birds in the nearby area. The flapping of wings challenged the sound of the wind that was whipping through the trees. Looking around I saw three balls of Elemental energy – green, blue and purple – vanishing into the trees.

I was stunned though when I turned back to face the normal direction and what I saw caused me to scream. A chilling gust of wind befell me and I felt it sucking all the air from my lungs, cutting my scream short and causing my voice to dry up. The air Elemental was closer than I had ever been to one. Her purple hair was floating around her like she was underwater. She had deep purple eyes and a little tattoo of a triangle with a line going through the top of it on her shoulder. Like the earth Elemental I saw with Kai a few days ago she wore a purple bodice that flowed into the essence of her spirit, forming something that resembled a dress.

I felt myself losing consciousness as she continued to draw the air away from me, but I was only interested in her beauty. Black spots started to appear in my vision and then a bright purple light blinded me. I gasped as a sudden rush of air returned to my lungs, hitting me like a tidal wave and when I looked up she was nowhere in sight. Instead where she had been stood, was Kai, Jack and even Alanah.

“Can you speak Rea?” Kai asked crouching down so he was at my level. I held up my palm telling him to wait while I caught my breath, gulping in as much air as I could get.

“Thank god the necklace was hidden under her jumper,” Jack said, filling the silence and instinctively I looked down at my chest.

“Water,” was all I managed to say as I tried to come to terms with what had happened. Two bottles were thrust in my face as I spoke and to no surprise it was Kai and Jack who were offering me them.

After taking a long drink I felt as if I could talk a little.

“That was really weird... It was like all the air around me just...disappeared and there was nothing left to inhale. I just couldn’t breathe.”

The E.Ks nodded.

“She was manipulating the air so that you wouldn’t be able to get any oxygen. She basically put you in a vacuum.” Alanah was the one who spoke and it startled me that she was the one giving out an explanation.

“Do you think you’re okay to walk?” Kai asked.

“I guess we’ll find out, give me hand up,” I said. My legs still felt shaky as I gripped Kai’s hand but I didn’t want to slow them down any more. I stood still for a minute, trying to find my centre of balance but I still felt pretty unsteady.

“You OK?” Jack asked.

“Yeah, just keep a hold of my hand alright?” I said turning to Kai. He squeezed my hand tighter in reassurance and we began to press on towards the third clearing.

By the time we reached the open space I was feeling more comfortable walking again and because we had been delayed and wasted time at the second clearing we decided not to stop. Instead we continued onto the fourth without any hassle. Kai still kept a tight grip on my hand and as we neared the empty space he pulled us back slightly, deliberately slowing our pace so we were out of sync with the others.

“What are you doing?” I asked. I didn’t want Jack and Alanah to think I was slowing Kai down again.

“Are you really OK? You had me scared out of my mind when I heard you scream.” His eyes were filled with a mixture of concern and anxiety as he looked me up and down.

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“I shouldn’t have left you Rea. I should have at least given you a...” His concern was replaced with guilt as he spoke.

“Don’t. It wasn’t your fault so don’t start with that. I’m fine, I’m still here so don’t dwell on it.” I cut him off, not wanting him to feel guilty about something he had no control over. He nodded and it was only then did I realise we had stopped walking entirely.

We picked up a light jog to catch up with the others who had already made it into the clearing.

“Last one now, the next one shouldn’t be far away. Keep your eyes open for any sign of a stream,” Jack said as we set off, hopefully for the last time.

Eventually we reached the final clearing but to our dismay there was no stream. There was a swamp stretching the length of the clearing so we all paused as Kai took out his compass and pad once more.

“It says look west of the swamp and south of the stream to find the rook. That way is west, so we are on the right track with the swamp. We now just need to find the stream and rook.” He fiddled with a few dials on the compass before saying.

“We need to head that way. Hopefully something will be there.” We all nodded and walked forward, making sure to keep the swamp on our left.

We had to walk for another half an hour before the faint trickle of water was audible. It was easy to tell when each individual heard it as a big grin spread over their face, all except Kai anyway. I knew he was questioning the reality of everything and setting himself up for failure.

“We’re close,” Alanah stated as we burst through the last line of trees to find a crystal clear stream that ran through the forest.

There were a few stepping stones to the right of us and quickly we crossed the stream.

“Right, now we have to find some sort of castle. Shouldn’t something like that stand out in a forest?” Jack said as I was looking around the area. It looked too bare to be part of the natural forest as the trees were a lot more spread out in the small clearing.

“Guys I think this is it. I don’t think we are looking for a rook. Has one of you got the journal with it in on you?”

Alanah pulled off her rucksack and started to hunt through the content.

“Why do you think this is it?” Kai asked, walking towards me.

“First of all we are south of the stream and west of the swamp. Secondly, look at this place, it is different from the rest of the forest. It appears as if the trees were cut down, the gaps between them don’t blend into the natural surroundings. There are less obstacles here,” I said, believing in my conviction more as I explained it. As I finished Alanah came up to me holding out the journal on the page with the riddle.

When dawn alights the highest peak, three triangles will align to reveal a stream. Look south of the stream and west of the swamp to find the-

I stopped reading as I reached the last word. The ink looked smudged on the weathered pages and I wondered if maybe they had misread the word and it really said rock.

“Kai, didn’t you tell me that the necklace was used in a rock?”

He was still looking around the mini clearing but when I spoke he turned all of his attention onto me.

“Yeah why?” he asked cautiously as if he wasn’t sure what I was getting at.

“I think we misinterpreted the riddle. Instead of 'rook' I think it should say 'rock,' only the ink has smudged and faded making it hard to tell.”

He held out his hand for the book and read over the passage again. I used the word ’we’ deliberately to avoid blaming anyone specifically.

“I think you may be right. It looks similar to the other letter Cs he has written. Okay everybody we now need to find a rock. I’m guessing it would be pretty large and may have something to do with the Elements on it.” Everyone nodded and split up into pairs to begin to search the clearing.

“How do you figure this stuff out Rea?” Kai asked suddenly.

“What do you mean? You figured out the shadow triangles, I just saw this one.” I shrugged, I had always been good at solving puzzles and riddles. I remembered how Mum used to make treasure hunts when I was little and how her clues would always be written in riddles. I smiled at the memory before turning my attention back to Kai who was looking at me confused.

“How do you know about the tree stuff and all that back there though?”

“I used to live near a forest Kai, I went for walks there nearly every day so I just notice these things. I don’t know, I guess I look at the smaller details rather than what is just in front of me.” I didn’t understand why he was questioning me about the topic as he had done more than me with working towards this.

While we were busy discussing who had done what, Jack shouted from across the clearing, telling us to run over to them. When we got there I saw that they had uncovered a large ancient stone that was almost twice the size of me. They were holding the brambles back with some sticks they had found so we could see what the weathered engraving said on it.
Elementa alchemica: Ignis, Terra, Aer et Aqua.
Under each word was a triangle. There were four of them, one normal, the other upside down, another upside down with a line through the bottom and the final one was the right way up with a line through the top.