Fate of Elements (3 page)

E
ver since I
had seen the outline of a woman in my fire at the meadow, I had decided I needed to stay at the Skeleton Door. Part of me wanted to find out what my brother and sisters were up to. I knew Dayna and possibly Erion were up to no good, trying to find a way to keep their kingdoms and separate themselves even further from the rest of us, but I knew it was more important to be at the door when it opened.

Some people would think I was only angling to get in good with whoever came through the door, but it was more than that. I always knew this day could come, and I had to be there. It was part of my fate.

Standing in the shadows, I conjured a ball of blue flame in my hand. Looking into it, I replayed the scene from the meadow. I knew better than to allow my fire to burn so recklessly, even when I was alone. Opportunities for destruction arose when I allowed it to run free. The moment the flame erupted in my hand, I knew something else was there with me. Even another fire element should not be able to touch the flame of the King, unless I allowed it, and it had been years since I let anyone close enough to even feel the heat.

I knew it was a shape of a woman, but I couldn’t see her clearly. My flames raged and licked their way up her entire body, and instead of scorching her into ash, it danced as if reuniting with a long, lost friend. And then she just disappeared. If she had been burnt, she would have been writhing in agony. There was no flame in this world hotter than mine. No one could stand to be in my flame and survive. Yet she did. I knew it.

I froze the memory in my flame at the split second she reached out for me before she disappeared. I wanted to believe she was the one who was going to come through the door. I sensed her time was close. She had been able to cross over and see me. That had to be a sign.

The blue flame ball shattered when I heard a grinding sound coming from the Skeleton Door. Quickly I strode to the door and gazed up, taking in all the bones once again moving and shifting. This was the first time I had actually seen them move.

The rows of bones lined up next to each other and the four original skulls were in a line with the new one in the center. The door shuddered as the skulls weaved their elements into the frame. Live flame burned from the fire skull and spread among the bones. Vines grew around the earth skull, as fog seeped from the air skull, and finally, water poured out of the last original skull and down the door.

“It’s really happening, isn’t it?” Erion’s voice came from behind me.

“Yes, it is, brother. Are you ready?” I hoped him being here was a good thing.

“Of course.”

I turned toward him, trying to read him, his hair stark white today. “And where will you stand?”

“I will do whatever needs to be done to protect my people.”

“We all want to protect our people,” he said.

“Yes, but some of us will have to sacrifice more than others. I won’t have my people harmed.”

“Then stand beside me.”

“I most likely will until it proves to be too much. I will leave you dying on the ground if it means my people will be safe,” I said.

“You have to know the last thing I want is anyone to get hurt.”

“Haven’t you learned yet, Hallet? You can’t control everything.” He gestured toward the door. “This deity who is supposed to come through is going to be more powerful than any of us. It could wipe us all out, or it could bring us together. I agree we need to stand as one, because if it is evil, it might be the only way we will be strong enough to fight it. But I don’t trust it, or any other royalty. In the end everyone wants what is best for them. That’s a lesson I won’t soon forget.”

I watched as Erion flew straight up into the air and disappeared into a cloud. It wouldn’t take long before he let the others know how much the door had changed. The legends of the elders had said whatever came through the door would unite the elements, but as with everything, it could be open to interpretation. I worried that the deity would choose to start from scratch, eliminating all Kings and Queens, and peoples, thereby appointing its own leaders with no royal feuds dating back centuries to contend with.

The elders never said how the elements would be united or how peace would come about. It could be after complete and utter destruction and war – killing off everyone and building from the ground up. What if it meant to unite us in a common goal of overthrowing the evil that walked through it? For us to work together? I hated the fact Erion had me doubting myself. I spent so many centuries researching and waiting for this moment. Now that it was upon us, I was worried everything I had found out about this world living in peace was going to come at too great a price.

H
olding
my breath as a turned the corner, I let it out in a rush when the passageway opened up to a small, windowless room. There was a light switch on the wall. Once I turned it on, I was able to turn off the flashlight on my phone. Compared to the rest of the house, this room was quite barren with only a small table and one chair taking up most of the space. On the table were five books.

I picked up the top book in the stack, which felt heavier than it should have based on its average size. Running my hand over the hard, red leather cover, the embossed flame and number one on it tickled the palm of my hand. I skimmed a few pages before setting it back down again and picking up the next one. This one was green with a tree and the number two carved into the trunk. Flipping the pages, it almost sounded like leaves blowing in the wind. Quickly I grabbed the next one, curious to see what was next. The white of the book blinded me and the number three was surrounded by a dark grey cloud. Smiling, I lifted it up and smelled like rain to me. The fourth one was the most beautiful blue I had ever seen. It reminded me of the pictures I had seen of the Caribbean. The number four formed a wave.

Setting them aside, I looked at the last book which seemed to encompass all of the other books. The cover was sectioned off into four equal squares, one for each of the symbols in the standalone books. In the center was another square with a skull and the number five on the top of that.

I couldn’t understand why this room existed. What was so different about these books that they were in here and not with the rest of them? I should have known better, but I didn’t listen to myself. Sitting down in the chair, I grabbed the first book and started reading. Within the first page, I was lost. The world around me could have ended, and I wouldn’t have noticed.

In fact, being in that room, there was no way to tell when the sun set and the stars had come out.

“
D
ayna’s up to something
,” my second-in-command, Ronin said.

“She’s always up to something.” We were sitting under the trees watching the door.

“True. At least we always know where we stand with her. Have you talked with Naida?”

“She hopes I’m right, and will stand with me until proven wrong. At least there is that. If we can get Erion on our side then we have a chance of making sure everyone survives, and we can bring peace to our world.”

“Have you given any thought to what we are going to do if whoever comes through the door is evil? Or an evil army?” Ronin snapped his fingers, and the sparks he created with the friction flickered down to the ground.

It was the last thing I wanted to imagine. The only thing that brought me solace was the fact that, if for some reason, whoever entered was here to destroy us, it wouldn’t have been me who brought them through that door. It had been written a long time ago this would happen. All I could do was prepare as best I could.

Living as we had for centuries, we’d always been ready for battle. The four of us tried to keep the peace as well as we could, but our people were always fighting; always thinking some other element had caused them harm, or taken something of theirs. We had learned to keep everything as separate as possible, but we all needed each other to survive. That was the one truth in the end.

“Our people are fighters. They will do what needs to be done.”

“Since the betrayal, we’ve been living in this constant state of waiting to be attacked.” Ronin built a ball of flame, tossed it in the air, and caught it. “Once this is all over, I hope we can let our guard down and live in peace.”

“I’m all for that.”

“Did you hear some of Naida’s people have disappeared?”

I frowned. I hadn’t, but I’d been spending more and more time here. “Tell me.” We weren’t immortal, but we did live for an extremely long time. There were specific rituals when death was coming for us. Unless we were killed, we always knew when it was coming, and we could prepare for it. Each burial was dependent on the element. My people were always set afire, much like the Viking the Librarian told us about. There was always a scorch mark where we died. None of us simply disappeared.

“They were on the fringe to begin with, so the scouts really weren’t sure how long they were gone. Naida had some of her guards go out to bring them in closer to her castle since we figure the Skeleton Door is going to be opened soon, and she wanted her people close. They weren’t there. Nothing out of place in their homes. It looked like they were going out for the day and would return. Except they didn’t.”

I narrowed my eyes. I didn’t like the sound of this; something about it bothered me. “What about my people? Have you checked on them lately?” I was charged with protecting them. The thought of them disappearing didn’t sit well with me.

“After I heard about Naida’s, I started checking on ours.”

“And?”

“We aren’t missing as many, but yes, some of our people are missing, too.”

“Could the fringe elements be bonding together? While they all are only one specific element and don’t typically conform to society, if they all worked together, they could create a new Kingdom. Do you think they have something they might be planning?”

“I doubt it. While they don’t have issues with the other elements, they don’t want to spend any time with them, let alone their own people.”

“Do you think Air and Earth elements are having the same thing happen to their people?”

“I’ve casually asked around, and so far nothing, but I’m sending out some people we trust to see if they can find out for sure.”

“This could be very bad. Especially if it is only our people who are going missing.”

“I know.”

“Make this a priority.”

“Already done.”

W
eary from sitting
and reading for so long, I stood up and stretched my back, moaning as the muscles protested the movement. Rolling my shoulders, I tried to keep my mind still, but after all the reading I had done, I couldn’t. My fingers danced across the five books I had finished, wondering, hoping it was all true. Another dimension where everyone was born of one magical element or another. Where kings and queens ruled their people, each element separate.

But it hadn’t always been that way. Once, they had all lived together, each element working together to build a better life. Then it all went wrong, and they segregated, and no longer trusted each other. Blood, betrayal, and battles were fought and many people died. Centuries had passed, and the rulers gathered, bringing their children together, raising them as one from birth with the hopes they could bring peace once again to their dimension.

I looked around the room, hoping I had missed book six because I was left with questions. I couldn’t seem to find a publisher or even author for the series, so I had no way to find out what happened next. Were they able to work together? Could they all live in peace again, no longer fearing the other elements? I desperately craved the answers. I needed to know what happened next.

Suddenly, the exhaustion I had been keeping at bay hit me. My eyelids drooped, and I could barely keep them open. Using the wall to keep me upright, I made my way out of the room and carefully down the stairs before finding the first couch I could. I dropped facedown onto it. Within seconds, I was asleep and dreaming of battles so fierce between elements, I swore I could smell their heat.