Forgotten Elements

We ended up at the first body I had found, where the chest-high grass surrounding the body had been burned away. The good news was the body hadn’t gotten any worse, but the bad news was that it was still as disgusting as the first time I saw it. Starling’s nose wrinkled as she stared down at it.

“I told you not to come,” Ander said to Starling in exasperation as he crossed his arms.

“Don’t start with me, Leander.” Starling’s words were clipped as she closed her eyes and sighed.

Oh shit. She was pissed. She only ever called Ander his full name when she was annoyed with him.

“I’m allowed to be grossed out by this,” Starling added, pointing at Ander. “It’s disgusting.”

Ignoring my burning curiosity at what started their argument, I removed the lid from the bowl, the flame leaping up now that it was exposed to open air. Once I retook control, the flame somewhat calmed.

“For the best results, I think it’s best we use a combination between elemental and dragon fire. Just to be on the safe side.” Parker glanced between Starling and me, waiting until we voiced our agreement.

“Absolutely not,” Ander said, shaking his head the moment Starling said yes. “That’s way too much energy for her to expend.”

“I used way more in sealing the rift before.”

At the same time, I said, “You can always lend her energy.”

“This time is different, and you know it.” He gave her a knowing look that I couldn’t decipher.

“Allegedly,” Starling said, looking exasperated and pissed off at the same time, as she glared at Ander and came to stand before him, poking him in the chest. “This is the best option, so get over it or get out of my way.”

Ander sighed, cupping Starling’s face and dropping his forehead hers for a moment before backing away.

“Ready?” Parker asked, looking my way as he got us back on track.

Taking a deep breath, I concentrated on the fire and painstakingly disconnected a sliver of the flame before nodding.

“On three.”

“Wait,” I said, cutting Parker off before he could count. “Do we go on three or after three?”

Ander sighed from where he stood behind Starling, wiping a hand down his face. “Go on three.”

As Parker counted to three, Starling held out a hand toward the body. Once he said three, I tugged the sliver away from the flame and threw it at the body as a blast of fire flew from Starling’s palm. Within seconds, the body became engulfed in blue, orange, and yellow flames.

With the dragon and elemental fire, the body was soon dust, and I used the elemental water to douse the flames. Before the body disappeared, the threads of magic connecting this body to the others were severed, and a slight quake rumbled through the ground. At the same time, the web of magic wavered, no longer complete.

“We need to move quickly. I doubt he didn’t feel that,” Parker said as he made another portal.

The other bodies followed a similar pattern. Based on the number of bodies we found on the mainland and the unoccupied islands, I was beginning to suspect I was the only one from the retreat still alive—including the traitors.

Each time we destroyed a body, the web of magic kept weakening until it finally dissipated and a small earthquake followed. As the spell lost its strength, the realm’s equilibrium began stabilizing, returning to normal.

Hopefully, destroying the spell gave the others a fighting chance against the thing—I had to believe the others were still alive.

Mine and Starling’s use of fire had taken its toll. Loose strands of hair and my clothes clung to my skin from how much I’d been sweating. Starling’s hands shook on the last body until Ander took them in his and sent a burst of energy into her.

Too bad we didn’t have time to rest and take a breather, not when we had a traitorous elemental to kill.

It wasn’t lost on me that we were getting ready to kill a king’s advisor—a king that was a jackass and wasn’t a fan of ours. No doubt this would leave us with a mess to deal with when Sky heard about it. Of course, we’d have to live through this first.

Parker planned this out well: the island with the last body was the same island Neven was on. He’d chosen an island that was the quintessential of tropical getaways: the ones you’d see on a postcard in the human realm. In front of us was a towering volcano, the thread of magic leading up the side.

Parker stared up at the volcano, looking between different ledges over halfway up before making another portal.

Creating portals took a bit of energy to make, and he’d been creating a lot of them. My increasing worry over his energy levels had me carefully watching him, looking for any signs of fatigue. The only sign was the sweat darkening his hair, but that also could’ve been due to the heat from the fires.

Heading into an unknown and a most likely dangerous situation after expending a shit-ton of energy was the way Mythics ended up dead. While Parker wasn’t displaying many signs, I knew he was far from one hundred percent.

The thought of anything happening to Parker had my breath catching, and I knew there was no way I could let that happen. The only thing that somewhat eased my worries was that Starling and Ander were here with us now.

We ended up two-thirds of the way up the volcano, with a wide path winding up the side. Parker led the way, with Ander at the back of the group. We jogged up the path, not risking sprinting, just in case there was a trap waiting for us.

I didn’t know all too much about Neven, but I was pretty sure he was at least a couple of centuries old. Based on how Magnus thought Neven’s signature changed, I feared he had stolen magic to power himself.

Parker was sparing in his magic, not using it to look up ahead, fearing it would alert Neven of our presence. He signaled for us to stop and peered around a bend at something I couldn’t see. I held my breath for several beats as I willed my pulse to slow. I could practically hear Ander’s voice in my head from our many training sessions, telling me to breathe and focus on the task at hand. Nerves and panic would do me no good here.

As long as Neven was alone, we could handle him. There were four of us and only one of him. We beat him in the numbers game.

Even without having said those words aloud, I still ended up jinxing us. A damn wyvern appeared before us, its powerful wings loud as hell as its orange-slitted eyes landed on us. While it was smaller than Thea in dragon form, it still was over thirty feet long and something I wasn’t too keen on fighting.

As I created a wall of compressed air to stop its blast of fire, Ander began drawing sigils. The fire was a continuous stream and almost as intense as dragon fire. As a result, it took all of my focus to keep the shield in place until Ander’s spell was ready. Parker sent a spell that sizzled the air and sent the wyvern reeling back, but not enough to throw off its rhythm, not until Ander let loose his spell that drew shimmering black blood dripping down its brown scales.

“We don’t have time for this,” Ander said with a low growl as he began drawing new sigils. “We need a coordinated attack. I want both of you to use your fire and aim for its face. I’ll take out its wings. Parker, I want you to aim for its underbelly.”

None of us wasted time questioning his orders. I’ve always trusted Ander’s judgment, and I was already preparing to do as he said. I reaffirmed my connection with the elemental fire that was now the size of my thumbnail. By my guesstimate, I had around three more uses from it, so I had to make it count. When Ander gave the signal, Starling and I both sent blasts of fire at its face.

Even though I used the fire multiple times, it still was difficult to control and had me gritting my teeth.

As the wyvern reared back and screeched, trying to get away from our attack, Ander and Parker sent coordinated attacks at its wings and underbelly. Ander’s spells ripped into its wings, tearing them into ribbons, which only had its shrieks growing in pitch. At the same time, long and deep gashes appeared in its abdomen, starting at its chest.

The wyvern continued screeching as it plummeted toward the ground, its wings uselessly flapping, trying to gain traction.

As soon as it began falling, we pulled our attention away from it, preparing for what else we might face. Parker led us around a bend, and onto a wide, flat area where at least ten trolls waited. I’d never seen them in person before, and they were more hideous in real life than I’d been expecting. Their proportions were off, with bulbous noses that were way too big for their puffy faces. Even though I expected it, I was still surprised by how hairy they were. The hair looked coarse and wiry, making me not want to come into contact with them. With my lack of weapons, keeping my distance from them was in my best interest.

I’d already put the lid back on the bowl, containing the flame. If I had only two more uses, I needed to save it for Neven and the man. For the trolls, I went with connecting to the black rocky wall, breaking off chunks to crush a nearby troll. I followed the move up by connecting to the air and using it to send a gust of wind at another. While trolls might not be as imposing as other creatures, they were strong, and as a result, the troll managed to stay on his feet. But it did distract him long enough for Parker to take it out with an energy ball.

Compared to the other creatures, the trolls were easy to kill, but they were still a nuisance. Soon enough, we finished them all off and continued following the path around another bend. Please don’t let there be any more creatures.

As I came around the side of the volcano, my gaze immediately landed on Neven. He was pushing himself to his feet, sighing like we were a mere inconvenience. I probably should’ve been insulted by how relaxed he appeared.

He wasn’t all too tall or even attractive, in my opinion, but that could just be due to him being an asshole. His nearly white hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail, emphasizing his thin and pale face. I didn’t spare him too long of a glance, not when there was a demon with gray skin and blue markings, standing above Ari.

She was lying on the ground beside the wall, unconscious, with blood staining her hair and the side of her face. Her wrists and ankles were bound, and I was confident the handcuffs were silver.