Elemental (14 page)

I thought about that for a minute and
sympathized with them. I liked the idea of that sense of belonging
to something, relating to those who lived thousands of years
before. Maybe their actions seemed overzealous to some, but they
retained a sense of who they were, not even giving in to other
people from their own planet.

I envied them. I wished I had such a
connection.

We traveled in a circle now, following the
steady incline up the hill. Each house we passed loomed larger and
more lavish than the last. Eventually, green hedges and stone walls
hid the estates altogether. The blue-stoned streets reflected the
sun’s rays into my eyes with blistering intensity. I wiped away the
stinging tears.

“There it is.” Meir pointed to a three-story
limestone palace on green lawns that encompassed most of the block,
just below the very top of the hill.

Malik turned the speeder up the winding
drive past towering trees with pink and white blossoms. Vines of
lavender flowers covered the palace’s white walls.

My hands ached to reach out and touch them.
I inhaled, hoping to get a hint of their scent.

The speeder stopped in front of a set of
wooden double doors. The surrounding windows were dark with the
curtains drawn closed.

Finding the doors unlocked, we followed Meir
inside, stepping into a large, open foyer packed from floor to
ceiling with books and maps and little doodads that weren’t
familiar to me. A gust of wind came in behind us and sent thick
layers of dust flying through the air. The place didn’t look like
it’d been occupied in a long time.

“Perhaps we’ve come at a bad time,” Malik
said.

My eye caught some subtle movement at the
end of the foyer just behind sweeping, curved stairs. A dark
figure, hunched and limping, slid out of the shadows. He growled at
us and shouted, “Onan orsk azoori!”

Meir took a step forward with a broad smile
on his face and his arms extended. “Oni latuli.”

The figure halted. “Meir?”

My savior threw his head back and laughed.
“It’s good to see you, Ranen!”

Ranen came forward to greet his friend,
hurrying despite his limp. Impatient, Meir closed the distance and
swooped him up into a bear hug. I’d been wrong—Ranen hadn’t been
hunched over, he was just very short. His feet dangled at least a
foot in the air as Meir pulled him up into his arms. When he’d been
set back onto the ground, I was surprised to see even I dwarfed
him. Considering how all the other Ladeshians had towered over me,
I’d been expecting to meet another giant, not this gimpy little
man.

He smacked Meir on the back and said in the
thick, slurred accent I’d been growing accustomed to, “It’s been
too long, my friend. Far, far too long. Tell me, what brings you to
me now, after all these years?”

Meir turned his bright, excited eyes to me.
The deep look of adoration made my skin warm. I didn’t deserve such
a friend. “We need your help.”

Ranen raised his eyebrows. “Of course.” His
voice turned grave. “Come, follow me.” He waved his arm over his
head dramatically in an awkward gesture. But as he did it, his
short-sleeved tunic hiked up and revealed a mark on his arm. I
might not have noticed it if it hadn’t been for the fact that it
appeared to be glowing.

I had this deep urge to find out what it
was, but Ranen didn’t give me a chance to ask before he turned and
beckoned us to follow him down the hall and through an opened door
to a large, gloomy parlor. While he drew back the curtains, Ranen
motioned us to a small sitting area by one of the windows. The
sudden light was staggering. “There. Much better.” Ranen rubbed his
hands together as he brushed past me to sit down.

I lowered myself onto the sofa by Meir while
Malik sat on the edge of the chaise. The layer of dust disturbed by
my weight flew out around me in a whoosh. I held my hand in front
of my mouth and nose. It was too late. The back of my throat
tickled, and I coughed.

“Ahh…” Ranen sank into his own chair,
apparently undisturbed by the filth around him. He smiled at us,
his eyes flickering first to Meir, then Malik, and finally resting
on me. When they did, they widened in horror. Ranen’s skin turned
bone white and he leaned toward me. I ducked into Meir’s arm.

Ranen started muttering to himself,
seemingly unable to form a coherent sentence. I felt the tingling
in my blood as my body registered the possibility of danger. I
fought it back, clenching my jaw as I subdued it.

He wiped his hand over his face and some
semblance of calm replaced the horror. “I wait no longer,” he
whispered. “The Destructor has come.”

The shock hit me like a hammer. “What?” I
murmured.

Ranen’s gaze swept past me now. He talked
slowly, to no one in particular. “To those who wait, the Destructor
will come. In the year of decision, those who hide will show their
faces.”

“What?” Meir repeated my sentiment.

Ranen’s eyes focused on me again and then
dropped to my chest. They lingered there for a moment and I sank
even deeper into Meir’s protective arms. Ranen didn’t seem to
notice. He dropped his head into his hands with a groan and fell
forward on the seat with his forehead resting against his
knees.

“Ranen, what’s wrong?” Meir’s voice turned
gruff as he pulled me tighter, almost roughly against his side.

I glanced at Malik. He glared at me and I
could only guess at what he was thinking. He’d seen what I was
capable of. Cold calculation filled his eyes as Ranen’s words
registered. This Mamood would no longer be led by honor.

Ranen started muttering to himself again. “I
don’t know what to do. I’m not ready for this. But the prophecy…”
He groaned again. “Of all the Orsilis who could have prepared the
warrior for battle, it had to be me.”

The weight in my stomach turned to pure
lead, sinking me down into the couch.
Warrior? Battle?

I wanted to throw up.

Meir cupped his hand against my jaw and
stroked his thumb along my cheek. He pressed his lips against my
head for a moment, and then leaned forward. “Ranen, snap out of it!
What are you talking about?”

The tiny little man raised his head and
glared at me before turning to Meir. He gave a tentative smile.
“Forgive me, my friend, for my poor behavior. Would you like
something to eat or drink? I’m sure you are tired after such a long
journey.”

“Ranen…” Meir growled.

Ranen gulped. He turned back to me with
piercing eyes. “I’d like to… talk to you… alone.”

My eyes widened. There was no way I’d let
myself be alone with this man.

“It isn’t going to happen,” Meir said.

Ranen sighed and sank back into his seat.
“Fine.” He sighed again. “I don’t really know where to start. It’s
complicated.”

“I want to know how you heard that name.” My
tongue was thick and heavy, like my body had decided I’d reached my
limit on what I could handle and was now determined to keep me from
asking any more questions. But this man had knowledge I knew deep
down I needed. “Why did you call me the Destructor?”

Meir pulled away and looked down at me with
questioning eyes. I ignored him as I stared at Ranen. There wasn’t
time to worry about his reaction. Later, after I knew what
everything meant, I’d let his hate for me sink in.

Ranen studied me, weighing my resolve. I was
sure he wondered just how much information I could handle. Little
did he know I’d already been bombarded with more than enough to
change me forever. Anything he said now would be nothing compared
to what I’d already learned about what I was capable of. Still, I
needed to hear it. Apparently, the look on my face was enough to
convince him because he squared his shoulders and leaned toward
me.

“The Orsilis were chosen by El thousands of
years ago to identify the Destructor and inform him—her—of her
mission. He sent a servant, Elysia—our mother—to mold the Ladeshian
clan in preparation for the help the Destructor would need. She was
an Auri, like you.”

Meir went completely still—cold.

Ranen smiled and his eyes glazed over for a
moment. “She taught us how to fight, how to build our glorious
cities, and how important it was to cling to what she had given
us.” His gaze turned dark. “She warned us, though, that we would be
alone for many, many years. The Auri had been warring with each
other for centuries. Rebels had gone off on their own to rule the
weaker peoples across the universe, pretending to be gods. Elysia’s
own son was the first Aurume—the Child of Auru—gifted with the
ability to control the three elements of fire, water, and air.
Before him, races had formed amongst the Auri—the Firestarters,
Watergatherers, and Windbringers. They each wanted to rule the
others, so El sent one who could rule them all. The Aurume visited
us, the Ladeshians, on occasion after his mother died to make sure
we were prepared. But after him, no one came. There was a new,
unbreakable law in Auru: no contact with outside worlds.” He
paused, contemplating.

I wasn’t ready for him to stop talking,
though, so I urged him on. “And what is the Destructor’s mission?”
The other important detail—the one about me being an Auri, whatever
that was—could be broached later. I needed to know as much as
possible on this front first.

He looked at me in confusion. “To kill
Manoo.” His tone added the “of course.”

My jaw dropped. This man wanted me to kill a
god
? Was he crazy? I glanced at Malik again. He continued to
glare at me. In fact, his whole body seemed to have frozen in place
since Ranen had opened his mouth. I still didn’t have the guts to
look at Meir, but I felt his eyes on me, too.

“Kill… Manoo.” I had a hard time wrapping my
mind around that idea. It was too much, too crazy. Sure, I’d
envisioned it for one fleeting moment once, but that didn’t mean I
was even remotely capable of carrying it out. The man must’ve lost
his mind.

“It’s the whole reason for your existence.”
He was talking quickly now. “El promised to send Manoo’s
destructor, and you are she. There is no reasoning around it.”

“And just how am I supposed to do it?” I
shook my head to keep his words from seeping in and turning me into
a certified crazy like him. He actually thought what he said made
sense.

“Well…” he drawled. “I assume you’re a
Firestarter. El had said Manoo would be destroyed by Fire, since it
was Fire that Manoo chose to use as a servant.” He cocked his head.
“Have you ever used your ability before? Do you know which element
you control?”

I froze the muscles on my face into an
emotionless gaze so no one would see the terror surging inside of
me. I refused to answer him. There was no way I was going to tell
him—in front of Meir, no less—that not only could I control fire,
but the desire to do so built with each moment that passed.

But it was Malik who spoke up. “I’ve seen
her use fire… and air.”

I whipped my head around at him—the traitor.
Oh, he’d seen plenty and he was about to see a lot more.

Meir’s arms tightened around me.

“Fire
and
air?” Shock and fear
saturated Ranen’s tone. “You’re the Aurume? The
Aurume
?”

Grudgingly, I ripped my gaze—my burning
hate-filled gaze—away from Malik and turned back to the now-shaking
little Ladeshian.

“Do you have any idea what this means?”
Ranen stood up and started pacing in the little sitting area,
growing more hysterical with each step. “The Auri are surely on the
warpath now. I’d heard rumors of sightings over the last few years,
but I thought they were nothing—just the ravings of the same
lunatics who think unicorns live outside their doors.” He stopped
in front of me and grabbed me by the shoulders. “They’ll come here.
They’ll find you, but you must not go with them. You
must
stay here.”

“Enough!” Meir shoved Ranen’s arms away and
stood in front of me, facing Ranen. “I don’t want to hear
anymore!”

“Meir…” I grabbed his arm, hoping to calm
him down.

“Ranen, you’re my best friend, but I can’t
sit by and let you scare Ella like this.” He spoke through his
clenched teeth. “Don’t you dare tell her what she
has
to do.
Or we’ll leave.”

Ranen looked ready to argue, but with his
teeth clenched just as tightly as Meir’s, he nodded.

Meir yanked me off the sofa and dragged me
out of the room, away from Ranen, away from Malik, away from
everything I couldn’t stand to face.

Chapter
Eleven
:

Shadra

Meir led me through the second floor of the
house to a rather large bedroom that was just as dusty and grungy
as the rest of the place. What with being royalty and all, I
would’ve thought Ranen would be able to afford a maid. Malik had
stayed with Ranen in the parlor. It had looked like the two of them
were eager to talk.

Meir left me alone so he could find room for
himself, and so I’d decided to try for a bit of sleep. It’d been
quite a few hours since I’d slept, so I was pretty glad to have a
moment of peace.

But as I lay on the covers on my bed, sleep
eluded me. My mind and body were far past the point of exhaustion,
but too many thoughts ran through my head.

Cailen had said something to Olorun about
the Auri. Ranen said I was Auri, but not only one of them; I was
the Aurume, the Child of Auru, the leader.

Great.

But where were my wings? Or was I gimpy,
like Ranen? And what about this ability to control
three
elements? I’d only used two. Should I expect another explosive
episode?

I groaned and pressed the heels of my palms
against my temples. I was never going to get any sleep. I turned
and buried my head in my pillow in a futile attempt to drown out
the noises in my mind. It didn’t work. They just wouldn’t stop.