The Five Elements (35 page)

Shanna chewed her lip and glanced out over the side as she'd done before. The
Griffin
was much closer to the 'ground' this time. The first sitheri and Erlek already walked about on the thick layer of white. Though their feet and ankles were lost in the vapor, they did not fall through and plummet to their deaths as Shanna hoped they might. Shanna lowered herself as before, holding tight to the rope the whole time. She held it especially tight when she very carefully probed the cloud's surface. Her foot touched something soft and yielding, like clay, but which solidified as she dabbed the toe of her boot further down. Even through the boot's thickness, it felt cold. She put her other foot down, still clinging to the rope. She did not fall through, so she finally let go.

Walking was done with caution. Each step was a slow, deliberate act, with a test performed to gauge the cloud's stability and to take measure of its ability to support each of their weights. Erlek was the first to gain enough confidence to first walk at a normal pace and then at a hurried one. He soon left the others behind. Shanna and Engus Rul took longer to convince, but after a dozen or so steps they grew satisfied enough that they didn't stop to test each footfall. Only the sitheri remained wholly unconvinced. The two of them remained stationary, lifting one foot and putting it down, and then repeating the exercise with the other foot. They were left behind to overcome their fears on their own.

The cloud's surface spread out before them like a field of newly fallen snow broken only by the towering pillars and marble white statues of Valacia. Shanna watched as Erlek, who raced ahead of them now, stepped past the first of the columns to enter the palace. Once he had, his pace slowed, but not enough to allow him time to admire the statuary or the great pillars. The man had no interest in either.

Shanna noticed that Engus Rul's gaze never stopped probing for danger. She wondered at what warnings Erlek may have given the dwarf, if any. Shanna tried to maintain her own vigilance, but her sense of wonder gained the upper hand and she found herself drawing ahead of the more cautious dwarf. She circled one of the great pillars, counting out the number of Engus Ruls it might take to fully wrap its thickness. She made it to five when she reached out a hand to touch a stem of ivy carved into the pillar's surface. Leaning back at the waist, she let her gaze follow the strand as best she could as it wrapped around and around until finally it ended somewhere at the pillar's top. The others were like that, too, carved with ivy or vines. Some even bore marble fruit. Shanna wondered if the Empyreans meant the pillars as substitutes for trees, for she felt as if she walked amidst a forest or, more likely, a grove, for the columns were arranged with such perfect symmetry she'd no doubt she walked amongst something artificial. Still, there was beauty never seen before in the artistry and arrangement. The forest was populated, too, with the most amazing creatures. Shanna readily recognized the more common animals: a pack of wolves, a solitary fox, a pair of badgers, and a family of bears, all standing frozen but so lifelike Shanna hesitated to approach at first. It was their eyes—stark and so blank—that finally convinced her of their lifelessness. Carved of white marble like the pillars, their bodies were as white as their eyes, though teeth and claws appeared so real Shanna withdrew a hand that had been ready to touch the largest bear she'd ever seen. She turned her attention to the other statues, the ones she most certainly did not recognize. Wonder mixed with fright as she looked on a great monster with a hundred eyes, another with eight limbs and three tongues, and yet another with wings covered in scales whose form reared back, ready to strike. Shanna gave them a wide berth, hurrying past them to statues more inviting. These were of men, or so Shanna thought at first, for as she drew nearer she saw they weren't men at all. They
were
man-like, but their faces were too long and stern, bare chests too sculpted, and, crowning the list of differences, feathered wings that sprouted from their backs. She wanted to ask if these were the Empyreans or just some demigods they had once worshiped, but Erlek had gone so far ahead she didn't see him at all now. Fearful of becoming lost amidst the forest of pillars, she was relieved when she spotted Engus Rul. She moved to join him and, together, they found Erlek. The sitheri still trailed behind, but they were not so distant now.

Erlek ignored the two of them. Similar to when they'd first set down on Cauldron Mountain, when he'd set off with no regard for any of the others, Erlek now performed an inspection of the space between a specific group of pillars before moving on to a different area. He eyed one particular pillar, glancing down the lines of its peers one way and then the other. A moment of that and he was on to the next. Shanna and Engus Rul watched in silence as the man continued to establish his bearings. Finally, he stopped, but it was only to say, "This way." Then he was on the move again, leading them ever deeper into the aerial palace. He followed a specific line at first, but after he'd stopped to perform another inspection, he set off in an entirely different direction. After a repeat of this ritual several more times, Shanna lost all sense of direction or hope of ever finding her way out without the savant's guidance.

Finally, Erlek stopped. He did not look about this time. "The Element is here."

Shanna, Engus Rul, and even the sitheri, who'd caught up now, looked all around. They saw nothing but pillars lined up as far as the eye could see and more of the statues—a winged serpent in flight, another of a great cat-man prowling, and others—but that was all. There was no sign of the Element of Air.

Erlek turned to face Shanna. "Bring forth the Elements of Earth and Fire and come closer."

Shanna took the Element of Fire out of its protective box. The flame of it sprang to her hand with little prompting. The fingers of her other hand closed around the Element of Earth. With both held before her, she approached the savant. Erlek stepped away, giving her room for whatever came next.

"Now, stand ready. All of you! The moment we have the Element of Air, the curse—the guardian—of Valacia will be on us. I do not know what form it may take, but be prepared." Erlek looked to Shanna. "Concentrate on the Elements. Just as Earth guided you to Fire, let them both now reveal Air to you. They remember the purpose for which they were created and long to complete their long journey. Only let them know their wait is nearly over, that Air is near and that soon they shall be one. Now, invoke their power."

Unlike before, Erlek did not provoke her. He simply hovered in the background, waiting expectantly. He knew something was different about her, just as she did. She felt no great mastery over either of the Elements. But holding them in her hands, feeling their presence swelling into her, it was all easier. As the Elements came to life, power suffused her. There was a moment of panic, for she'd never felt such energy before. But it caused her no harm. Unbidden, the two Elements called out to the third.

Shanna saw the Element of Air then, right before her, so close she could reach out and touch it. The Element was air itself, immaterial and indefinable, yet it was there, a swirling mass like a vortex. She felt only the slightest disturbance from its presence. Shanna wanted to raise a hand to touch its edge, but both her hands already held something. The matter was decided for her when the Element of Air, with no prompting, moved to touch her. Only it didn't stop there. Shanna squeezed her eyes shut as, with a brief flurry, the Element encompassed her. But the flurry only lasted a moment, then a relative calm settled around her. Shanna opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by a swirling vortex. It lifted her hair about her mask, ruffled her jacket, and blew across the bit of skin still exposed, but caused her no harm. In her hand, the flame of the Element of Fire flickered. She looked at the others, seeing them as if they existed in a world apart from her own. Engus Rul was shouting something indeterminable. The dwarf had his hammer held ready, but not the axe Soljilnor. The sitheri were crouching, the tips of their spears leveled. None of the three looked at Shanna. Neither did Erlek, who stood still and quiet and unperturbed by the commotion, as if simply waiting for something. Shanna was just beginning to wonder what when she saw it. It was small in the distance. But only for the span of two heartbeats, for then it came for them. Not slowly, but in a flash of movement. One moment it was a speck amidst the distant columns and statues. The next, it stood—or rather hovered—before them.

'It' was ethereal, like the Element of Air, but tall and thick like the great Empyrean pillars and rimmed with a gray column of smoke that shifted, churned, and seethed up and down the full length of the thing.

Engus Rul and the sitheri moved back. Shanna wanted to do the same, but the Element of Air kept her fixed in place. Only Erlek actually moved closer. The man was weaponless, feeble before Valacia's guardian. Yet he stepped forward as if he'd gone mad or—realization struck Shanna—as if he knew exactly what he was doing.

Erlek raised his arms before the swirling pillar. "We know our trespassing offends those who once dwelt here! We have not come to disrupt anything of theirs! What we have come for does not belong here!"

The pillar of smoke emitted a wail and closed on Erlek.

"No! Wait!" Erlek stood taller, shouting at the top of his lungs to keep from being drowned out by the whirl and wail of the pillar.

Cocooned in the vortex of the Element of Air, Shanna barely heard him.

"We know there is a price and we shall pay it!"

The pillar kept coming.

Erlek stumbled, falling to his knees. With one last great effort, he flourished a hand in the direction of Engus Rul and said, "Behold! We bring you Soljilnor!"

The pillar stopped.

Half-immersed in the mist of the cloud, Erlek went on. "Soljilnor! The Flaming Cutter! Axe of Firl, son of Jelheim! It is yours! Also, take—"

"What treachery is this?" Engus Rul's voice thundered almost as loudly as the pillar's cry. "You cannot offer what is not yours, bloodsucker!"

"Also," Erlek said, his voice a scream, "take him!" The savant pointed a single finger at the dwarf. "Let the axe satisfy your masters' need for trade! Let its wielder satiate
your
need for blood!"

So many things happened so quickly in the next few moments Shanna wasn't sure which of them happened first. Engus Rul snarled as he raised his hammer at Erlek. But the pillar, already on the move toward the dwarf, demanded his full attention, and so any harm he meant the savant went unfulfilled. The sitheri, who had drawn near Engus to better take advantage of the law of numbers, leaped away the moment full comprehension of Erlek's words sank in. Engus Rul stood alone before the approach of the gray, churning pillar.

Alone but for Shanna who had no intention of letting her only ally die while she stood by and did nothing. The hand that guided the Element of Fire reached out toward the pillar, causing the flicker of flame to burst into an inferno that jetted out from her hand. It made it no further than the swirling vortex as the flames were swept up into the currents of the Element of Air. Shanna focused her effort, but still the Element of Fire failed to penetrate that ethereal barrier. "Stop!" she shouted into the flaming vortex. "Obey me!" But she had never truly learned to control any of the Elements, least of all this new one, and so her command went unheeded. "Stop!" She stepped forward, to see if the whirlwind moved with her. It did not. "Stop!" she said again, desperation in her voice. Then it no longer mattered.

The churning pillar scattered the mist of the cloud as it advanced on the dwarf. Engus Rul did not wait for Valacia's guardian to take him, leaping at it with only his hammer for still he refused to wield the flaming axe wrapped and slung over one shoulder. Gray, smoking tendrils whipped out from the column and spun with the motion of the thing's body. Longer and longer, the tentacles reached for Engus Rul. The dwarven lord ducked beneath one as it whipped around, then he swung his hammer at the next. The hammer punched through, scattering smoke and the arm's connection to the body. The severed portion dissipated until nothing remained of it. But, like a hydra, the damaged tendril reformed, billowing out until whole once more. It lunged, latching onto the haft of Engus Rul's hammer and yanking it from his grasp. Engus Rul refused to submit, striking at the smoking column with fists and kicks that did less damage than his hammer. Then one tentacle grasped his outstretched arm. Another spun around and latched onto a leg. In that moment, Engus Rul, realizing he had no other choice, reached over one shoulder and took hold of Soljilnor. It seemed a touch and a purpose was all it took, for the instant the weapon was grasped firmly before him it became suffused with flame. Wrappings were consumed and so too was the dwarf's hand. The price of wielding the Flaming Cutter. Engus Rul's howl of pain was cut off as the tentacles grasping arm and leg lifted him from his feet and spun him around again and again with the pillar's motion. With each revolution, the tentacles receded further into the pillar. Engus Rul's attempt to use Soljilnor was without effect as centrifugal force nearly tore the axe from his grip, giving him no chance to use the weapon. The dwarf bellowed. Shanna thought it a curse directed at Erlek. Then the pillar of smoke drank him in and Engus Rul and Soljilnor were no more. The guardian of Valacia, given its due, swirled away, back to whence it came. In moments, it was gone, with only a swirling of cloudy mist to mark its passing.

Shanna screamed in frustration. Though the Element of Air absorbed her outburst, this time it reacted, slowing and diminishing until the air was still, calm, and silent. Shanna felt the Element hovering around her, but it no longer impeded her. Shanna turned on Erlek.

The sitheri must have seen the murder in her eyes, for they leaped between her and their patron with spears leveled. Behind them, Erlek shouted something—something about not harming his Tool. Erlek's utterance infuriated Shanna all the more as her mind latched onto the Element of Air. This time, her fury bent it to her will. It obeyed. Violent currents of air assaulted the sitheri, hurling them far enough away they were no longer an obstacle. Then, with flame, earth, and air, Shanna prepared to end Erlek's life.