Guardian of the Earth House (35 page)

“Stop.”  Panic and suspicion had Ty pulling back.  “What are you doing?”  She desperately shook her head. “You can’t touch me like that.”  Nobody touched her, at all, except her cousins.  Ty didn’t like to be touched.  Usually.  Right now, she felt like she was starving for the feel of Gion’s hands on her skin, though.  Something had to be wrong.  “You can’t just…
touch
people without consent.”

Gion glanced pointedly at Ty’s hand, which was still fisted in the material of his cape, and then back up at her face.

Ty flushed, slightly.  She slowly released her hold on him.  “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.  I don’t mind being pawed at by women.”

For the first time ever, Ty read Gion.

He was lying.  He didn’t like being pawed at by women or by anyone else.  He was just okay with
Ty
touching him.

“I’m sorry.”  She whispered, again.  Only this time, she wasn’t sure what she was apologizing for.

“Parald’s coming.”  Gion told her unnecessarily.  “You need to leave.”

“Yes, but…”

“But
what?
What else do you think you can do here, Tritone?”  Gion switched back to his normal “God, you’re pathetic” tone.  “Nothing.  There’s
nothing
you can do.  You can’t fight the Air House.  All you’ll do is get yourself recaptured and I’m not wasting any more of my time freeing you from shackles today.”

Too weak.

She was always too weak.

Except…

“What about you?”  She asked worriedly.  She could hear the voices getting closer.

“I’ll be fine.  I always am.”  Gion turned towards the door.  “If you don’t leave, now, I’ll take you back to the Water Kingdom myself.”

Ty’s lips tightened at his high-handedness.  “You can’t get through the Water House’s barriers, remember?”

Gion sent her a pointed look.  “Do you really want test what I can do?”  He challenged.

“You’re utterly unlikable, most of the time.”  She muttered, annoyed with Gion’s stubborn arrogance and her own lack of power.

“Yeah, I get that a lot.”  He headed out of the cell.

Ty bit her lower lip.  “Gion?”

The word stopped him on a dime.  He glanced at her over his shoulder.  “Yes?”

Ty couldn’t hold his intense gaze for more than a second.  “If Parald finds out that you helped me, he’ll kill you.  I know that you’re strong, but he’s evil.  He’s very evil.  He’s capable of anything.”

“So am I.”

“Just… be careful.”

Gion shot her an odd look, as if no one had ever said that to him before and he didn’t know how to respond.  “I’ll see you, again, Tritone.”  He told her seriously.  “I’ll see you very soon.”

Ty met his eyes, unsure if that was a threat or a promise.  Either way, her answer was the same.  “I know.”  She agreed and jumped back to the safety of the Water Kingdom.

Here’s a preview of the next book in the Elemental Phases series:

Exile in the Water Kingdom

Prologue

Ye unbeliever!
 
Learn a wiser part,

Distrust your erring senses, and search your heart

Jeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon- ‘The Nativity’

Chaos.

The world had fallen into chaos around him.

Gion, of the Air House fought his way through the main gallery of the Air Palace, stepping over a dead body without even noticing its wide, staring eyes.  There were too many dead bodies for him to process just one.  In less than thirty-six hours, Gion’s world had been reduced to nothing but sickness, and war, and the paralyzing knowledge that he stood at the edge of oblivion.

Parald had doomed them all.

An Electricity Phase, his face bright with fever and his eyes filled with rage, came at Gion with a broad sword.  It swung out, the man’s fury and desperation giving him strength.  Gion ducked sideways as the blade swished past his head.  He felt the vibration of it in the air.  The sword missed him by half an inch and imbedded itself in the wall.

“The Air House murdered my family!”  The anonymous Electricity Phase screamed.  “My Match and children are dead!”  He tried to pry the blade free for another go at Gion’s throat. “I will fucking kill you!”

“Yeah.  I get that a lot.”  Gion agreed and raised his solid black sword.  The blade sailed out, more from instinct than any real plan, and took off the other man’s head in one clean slice.

Gion watched his unknown adversary fall to the stone floor and firmed his jaw.  The man had been dying, anyway; sick from the pestilence that Parald had unleashed into world.

This plague without a name had struck the Phases the day before with unstoppable, unpredictable force.  It spread like ripples in a pond, one person after another falling ill and dying.  The bodies grew hot with fevers, their bodies shook with chills.  Their skin took on a ghastly, shriveled grayness, like they were being sucked dry from the inside out.  The sick coughed and coughed, until finally sinking into a deep coma-like sleep that they’d never awake from.  Most of the patients felt only relief when they reached that stage.

Gion had undoubtedly done the Electricity Phase a favor.  The decapitation had been fast and painless, while wasting away from the plague left Phases shrunken shells of their former selves.  The man died honorably, fighting for his family.

If someone had to die, they should always die fighting for something they believed in.

Gion had searched for that all his life.

A vision.

Something to truly believe in.

In the five hundred sixty years he’d been alive, Gion had only ever found one clear vision, though.  Only one person, place or thing ever gave him hope and let him see past beyond the invisible bars of his fate.  She meant everything to him.  Now, at the end of the all things, he had to somehow keep her safe.

First, he had to reach her, though.

Gion pushed his way through the battle raging around him.  The exactingly formal interior of the Air Palace had been obliterated under the solid mass of fighting and death.  Blood coated the elegant Oriental carpets.  The antique furniture lay in splintered pieces.  The priceless artwork had been ripped from the walls.  All the ornate trappings of the palace lay in ruins.

Just like the rest of the Air House.

Gion plowed his fist into a Weather Phase’s larynx and then used his powers to slam a Dust Phase into the wall.  Gion might have even struck down an Air Phase or two as he fought towards his goal.  He didn’t care who had to die, he
would
get to those fucking stairs.

The Air House was under attack from the rest of the Elemental realm.

Since, the beginning of time, the Elemental Phases had held together the interconnected processes of nature.  They controlled everything from Fire, to Earth, to Weather.  Each House depended on the others and each Phase held a bit of the whole.  They supported the very pillars of life.  Without them the entire world would topple into nothingness.

The universe simply couldn’t exist without the Elemental Houses.

But, now they were falling, poisoned by an invisible killer.  A germ, of all things.  Set loose as revenge against the Water House, this plague was already spreading too fast to stop.  It was merciless, killing the guilty and innocent alike.  And there was absolutely no way to stop it.  In thirty-six hours, it had already killed hundreds and thousands more were sick.

Gion still felt healthy.  So did a handful of others.  That gave people hope.  Maybe a genetic immunity would kick in.  Maybe some of the Phases would be saved from the plague.  Even if Gion wasn’t one of them in the end, he hoped that some would be spared.  If the illness continued its wild burn through the Elementals ranks, the Phases would be extinct in a matter of days.

And they’d drag the rest of the creation down with them.

Total blackout.

Another Phase attacked him and Gion didn’t even take the time to check the man’s House designation before he lopped his head off.

Every Elemental was born with a colored streak at their temple.  The different shades designated the different Houses.  The Air House’s color was yellowish gold and it sliced through Gion’s dark hair, marking him as an enemy of the free world.

The severed head rolled slightly, hitting the wall, the mouth sagging open in an expression of accusation and horror.  Gion grabbed the man’s sword and stabbed into the midsection of a Water Phase as he passed.  Water Phases had turquoise blue at their temple.  Gion deliberately ensured that this attack wasn’t a death blow.  He didn’t like killing Water Phases, even ones who’d soon die from the plague.  Truthfully, he didn’t relishing any of these deaths because the invaders were right.

The Air House
was
to blame.

Or, more specifically, the blame fell on Parald, the Air House’s false king.  His vengeance against the Council of All Houses and against Tritone, of the Water House would end the world.  Parald’s germ warfare could exterminate everything in every realm.

Gion had always hated that asshole.

Parald wanted Tritone for his queen.  When she’d denied him, Parald’s megalomania festered into mass murder.  Ty renounced Parald to the entire Elemental world, refusing the Match.  Dooming them both to be alone for eternity, rather than join with him.  Then, her family had whisked her away, keeping Ty safe from Parald’s clutches in her beautiful homeland of graceful waterfalls and crystal clear pools.  Enraged that Ty was beyond his reach, Parald called on the primordial Khaos to strike out at his enemies.  One tiny microbe slipped past the Water House’s barriers and, within hours, the deaths had begun.

Except this plague wouldn’t be satisfied until it had consumed them all.  The deaths were speeding up, like a freight train building momentum as it roared towards its final destination.

Parald had finally confessed about the plague in a panicked, rambling speech to Gion that went on for far too long.  By that time, everyone already suspected who was responsible and it was too late.  Parald had begged Gion for help.  He’d ordered it.  He’d denied his own guilt.  He’d blamed Ty and Kay and Job.  He’d cried and screamed and generally made an ass of himself.

Then, the invasion had begun.

Scenes played out around Gion as he wrestled his way through the fray.  Limbs hacked off.  Blood spewed forth, coating the floor.  Bodies stepped on as Phases fought to destroy one another.

Alder, of the Fire House fought three Air Phases at once, his blade swinging around like a baton.

Europa, of the Sound House was shoved backwards by her opponent and hit the ground.  She swept out her sword, loping off the Air Phase’s leg at the knee and then slicing the man’s throat as he fell.

Saxon, of the Air House decapitated a Magnet Phase and then kicked the body hard enough to send the corpse flying into an Energy Phase.  At which point, Saxon killed that guy, too.

Suddenly, a Gravity Phase attacked Gion.  His sword rose, ready to chop off Gion’s head, and Gion didn’t hesitate.  Air slammed out like a cannon.

Gion could control Air.  Most Elementals wouldn’t use their Element to inflict damage on one another.  It took a lot of power and the vast majority of Phases just weren’t strong enough.  Also, it wasn’t an honorable way to fight; the equivalent of challenging someone to a fencing match and then shooting them before the first “en guard!”

But, Gion was incredibly powerful and he’d never been mistaken for an honorable sort of guy.  Cheater, liar, moral reprobate… Whatever.  Just so he won.  Gion drove his energy straight through the guy’s midsection, leaving a hole the size of a bowling ball.

Nobody could recover from a wound like that.

Another corpse for the pyre.

Usually, Phases couldn’t travel into other Houses’ territory without permission.  But, the confusion created by the pestilence and the deaths of so many Phases meant that barriers were weak.  Vulnerable to attack.  And
so
many people wanted to attack the Air House for what Parald had done.  As the stacks of bodies grew larger, hundreds of sick and dying focused their attention on revenge.

From the corner of his eye, Gion saw a Smoke Phase wrench a woman around by her hair.  Gion vaguely processed that the victim was an Air Phase.  Amarna, the niece of the old Air King, Seneca.  The old,
dead
Air King, thanks to Gion and Parald’s successful usurpation plot the year before.

Shit.

Gion was nobody’s hero and, since at least five or six of the people who’d attacked him today had been women, he certainly wasn’t working off of some “save the damsel in distress” ego trip.  In fact, his instincts told him to press onward and ignore the Smoke Phase’s attack.  It didn’t concern him.  Urgency pounded through Gion, insisting that he get the hell out of there and find Ty.

Except, Amarna was about to die and the girl didn’t deserve that.  This plague had nothing to do with her.  Most Air Phases were victims, too.  Victims of Parald, since they were dying of the Fall, and victims of other Elementals, since they were now under siege.  Amarna shouldn’t suffer for the mistakes of others.

Besides, the Smoke Phases annoyed the hell out of Gion.

He took quick detour, twirling his sword around in his hand as he shoved his way towards Amarna.  The Smoke Phase had his back to Gion, Amarna’s blonde hair fisted in one of his palms as he tore at her clothing with the other.  Amarna attempted to wrestle free, her body turning so she faced Gion.  She saw him coming over the Smoke Phase’s shoulder.  Gion watched her pale blue eyes widen in an, “Oh great, is he going to try and kill me, now, too?” sort of expression.

His reputation really did precede him.

“Duck.”  Gion ordered flatly.  He wasn’t particularly surprised when she listened and instantly crouched down even though it must’ve wrenched at the roots of her hair.  The girl had always been the brains in her family.

The Smoke Phase never had the chance to see Gion, at all.

One of the best parts of being a conscienceless bastard was not caring too much about playing fair.  For instance, Gion didn’t even blink when he decapitated the Smoke Phase from behind.  Giving the other guy a sporting chance didn’t exactly rank high on his list of priories.  Anyone who whined about the ethics of
killing enemies while their backs were turned had never really had an enemy.

Amarna cringed as the Smoke Phase’s blood sprayed across her.  The weight of his body pulled her to the ground, her long hair tangled around the corpse.  She cried out and tried to extricate herself before she was trampled by the battling throng around her.  “Gion!”

Shit.

He didn’t have time for this.

Gion used his sword to quickly cut her hair free, hacking the strands away from the Smoke Phase’s carcass.  “Move.”  He seized Amarna by the arm and yanked her to her feet.  “Just get the hell out of here.”  He grabbed the Smoke Phase’s fallen sword and shoved the hilt into her hand.  The girl looked like she was in a fog.  “Focus!”  He gave Amarna a shake and she finally seemed to hear him.

Stricken blue eyes met his.  “What?”

“Anybody gets too close, take off their head, alright?  I don’t care what House they’re from.”  Aside from this plague, decapitation was the surest way to kill an Elemental.

Amarna looked down at the sword as if she had no idea how it had appeared in her palm.  “Are you crazy?  I don’t know how to use this!”

“It’s fucking
sharp
.”  Gion snapped.  “It
cuts
things.  I’m fairly sure you can figure out how it works.”

Gion didn’t wait for Amarna to react to that pronouncement.  His sense of desperation grew stronger.  He had to get to Ty.

Swords and combat surrounded him as Gion headed upstairs.  Intruders, fighting for what they’d lost, clashed with any Air Phase they saw.  The entire palace was filled with the sounds of horrible conflict and dying.  Screaming, metal clanging, cursing, and the relentless coughing that signaled the plague.