Element. Flame of Elisar. Marie K. JETH

We saw lots of prints, all mixed, and then found your claws and bag. When Yoos could make sense of it all, he said that the beast was not alone, and we went on to finally end up at the crack in the rock… and then there was an insane explosion that left the mountains buzzing,” he fell into silence for a few moments, and then drew a tight sigh, “Nargara rushed that way, and we still had to roam through the rocks before we could finally come out of the maze to find you,” he stopped again, and then, piercing me with an extremely intense look, added, “and the very thought something could be wrong with you two… We had real frights of our lives.”

      “It was creepy,” I confirmed, still surprised with the severe looks on his unshaven face, which, in a moment, gave way to sorrow.

      “When we got closer, you both were on the ground, not a single movement. I thought you were dead,” he had real trouble uttering the last words.

      I gave a sob and buried my face in the shoulder again.

      “Okay. C’mon, girl. Everyone is alive, and that’s what matters.”

      “Alive…” I echoed still not sure it was true.

      Strangely enough, but there was no pain in the body, and yet I felt broken, which must have muted all the sensations somehow. Nor could I realize clearly what had happened.

      It came later when we were at home. They gave me a whole bunch of healing elixirs and put me to bed. I slept the whole day. When I woke up, there was no one around. The previous day’s images spun around in a vivid dance, leaving a clearly cut and indelible impression in my mind.

      And there I lay, living through every single bit anew. Trying to understand what had happened out there in the field. I was perfectly aware that my power had broken the blockage, yet it still remained total mystery what the explosion was, and where that strength came from to fill me.

      As Truvle was carrying me through the field, I saw that a huge part of the valley was burned down to the remotest slopes. The ground was burnt and cracked. The rocks in the distance were charred, and one – the one that was closest – had cracked and split apart.

      No, it couldn’t have been me! How was that any possible?

      The thoughts made me uncomfortable, to put it mildly. I had never met fire sorcerers, nor had I known anything about their powers or its manifestations. But even the little that I had heard and read about was very much different from what I saw that day.

      I knew that every Element had its Strongest sorcerers, and they, in turn, could possess spells of the Highest Level…

      The people of water had Ertar, a huge wave that could sweep away anything that came its way, and destroy cities; or Inglas, an enormous whirlpool that would draw in anything it came by. The thing was it could occur not in the ocean only, but could take a walk on the shore looking very much like a waterspout.

      The Earth sorcerers knew how to create monstrous earthquakes, to crack apart the ground or turn it into quicksand that could suck in one whole army of people.

      The strongest spell for the sorcerers of air was that of Sartun Hurricane, which swept

      away any life from the Earth’s surface, or even worse – Jansoul spell. Once they cast it, all the air around disappeared and all the living beings simply choked.

      I read a lot of stories about the Division of the Worlds, with numerous descriptions of the effects that the disasters inflicted by ancient sorcerers had had. Not everyone had wanted any change in the World order, which finally brought them all to a civil war, while many opposed the Division. Of course, it all seemed more like a fairy tale in our times, no more than an epic narration of a sequence of events through history, an exaltation of ancient sorcerers’ powers. But the charred land and the vast destruction left in the valley brought to my mind the fiery spell of Armaron that I once had read about in some book.

      Overwhelming and destructive fire, of monstrous power, that could leave behind charred earth only, all covered with ash. The only “but” there was that I did not know the spell! No single clue what that could be. As the description said, the flames devoured anything it came across, the sorcerer no exclusion. It was something disposable, to be used only once, and the fiery man who dared use it was nobody but a self destroyer!

      As for Elcha and myself, we were left totally intact, which, of course, could not but make us happy yet brought about even more questions.

      Not able to stand all those thoughts anymore, I sighed deeply and stood up. I could hear some voices coming from the first floor. They were engaged in rather heated an argument, once getting louder, and then going quiet.

      I got dressed and went down the stairs.

      “Guess we all got to calm down,” a female voice threw. Nargara was definitely not in her best mood, so her voice bore some steel shade.

      “Yeah, you’re right,” a man said, and I could instantly tell it was Yoos.

      “I’ll get us a drink,” Mammy added in a softer way and, judging by the steps I could hear, she left the room.

      “Got to do something about it. Rather soon!” Truvle insisted.

      “I said earlier it is too dangerous to stay here,” Yoos was irritated. “They know the girls are in the valley. The longer we stay here the more we tempt the fate.”

      “Now, where are you going to hide them?” Truvle’s question was full of irony.

      “I would say Ozeron,” Yoos replied not a slightest bit confused with the dig.

      “What?!” Truvle gagged. “In capital! You nuts?”

      “That’s where nobody will ever come to find them. Besides, there are lots of people of fire, and water, and air. Just get lost among them all.”

      “Never,” Truvle snapped. “I think Karun is a safer place. And there is nothing but two handfuls of ashes left from the Goortans. None to come after us again.”

      “You know that there may be more of them. Many more. And those behind them – they will never stop trying,” Yoos’s voice was sulky. I could easily imagine him frown with his lips curved with anger. “They’ve been trying to get us for so many years… I doubt they will give up now.”

      “Anyway, they won’t get into the valley, the magic is too strong; even the ground is soaked with it, so the mountains around are just one huge shield-artifact. And Nargara was good covering the tracks. It’s like our fortress now. So even if they do know the aim is here none of those wishing us ill can get through. They try, they die,” Truvle sank into silence for a moment

      and then added, “and as for the capital, it’s too far, not much of a chance to get their alive. I was out in the square today…”

      “Any news? What are they saying?” Yoos asked again.

      “You know people! Thanks to the Worlds, they can invent stories, each better than the previous one,” Truvle chuckled, “and that’s all full of buzz. Some are saying it was a fire sorcerer who got lost in his experiments getting his own powers to kill him, others argue they know better – it was two fire guys engaged in a fight eventually killing each other. Some even say they witnessed it, yet never mention how come they survived. Yet others scream arguing it was a scourge from above, and all that stuff, you know. But I bet it’ll finally be the second option. I guess Karun will love it best.”

      I froze with my left foot in the air as I was going downstairs, listening to the conversation, my breath held. These two were talking as if they had known each other for a hundred years. But I had never seen them before even being mutually friendly. They would only talk to each other when necessary – just nods, Hi’s and quick handshakes. Occasionally, when Truvle was in Karun, they met in our house. Now it turned out that they knew each other. Had known for a long time, yet had always just acted. But why?

      Surprised by the discovery, I stepped back a little and in the darkness got something with my foot, sending a flask down the steps. As if that was not enough, it got followed by a pot – a traitor that fell down with a crash, thus announcing there was a shy listener in the dark staircase corridor.

      Silence