Forgotten Elements

Mythics Realm: Earth Court, Tree houses 

Caspian squatted next to the body of a Mythic that had been possessed. He didn’t know how long ago this man’s soul had been ejected from his body, and neither did Ashe. The fact he was so integrated into the Mythic society was worrisome to the men and highlighted a flaw in their society. Neither of them had an inkling there was a possessed involved with several royals. They didn’t know how deep his alliance ran or what lies he could’ve told them.

It was clear to the men that the man had been careful to stay away from them, which could only mean he’d recognized them and knew they’d know he was possessing someone. He knew they were here, and yet, he remained and continued working in the shadows.

Titan was meeting with the rulers of the lunar courts that had been in contact with “Seth” to attempt to figure out what his plan was. Because they hadn’t spent any time around the imposter, they needed to learn everything they could about him and why he was here. Was it simply to know everything they knew? Was it to find out where the keys were? Was it to spread misinformation, or was there something else to it?

After this mess was cleaned up, Ashe would go to the blood mage courts and piece together who the real Seth was and figure out when he died. Roman had the unfortunate job of talking to Callahan, Alpha of the dragon summoners, and telling him one of his closest allies was working against him. He wouldn’t tell him all he knew, but he would tell Callahan everything the others knew. The dragon summoner siblings would end up telling their Alpha everything anyway. There was no way around that. But it was for the best if Roman broke the news and was the one to explain everything.

Caspian knew the group knew more than they let on to him, just as he knew Emeria had said something to them. It would be just like her to share something they shouldn’t know, simply for her own amusement.

Ashe didn’t share Caspian’s worries. He knew the youngest cursed sister could be discreet and wouldn’t reveal something if it wasn’t necessary. She’d managed to sneak into this realm multiple times without drawing the attention of the royals and for the most part, stayed under the radar.

Caspian pulled out a small, cylindrical container and unscrewed the lid, releasing the tiniest of flames. He guided the blue flames toward the body, careful to make sure the elemental fire only burned the body and not the grass.

“I’ll give them this: they did a good job at cleaning up after themselves,” Ashe said, placing his hands on his hips as he surveyed the grass and nearby trees again. Caspian had already mended the cracks in the trees. Although you could still see a line from where the crack once was, but unless you were looking for it, you wouldn’t notice it.

After his meeting with the other rulers, Titan would return and cast a spell to help hide the magic impressions left behind, just as Ashe and Caspian were doing at the moment. Their combined magics wouldn’t remove the traces of magic or the signatures left behind, only time could do that, but they could make it harder to sense. Only those looking for it would be able to find it. With how they were being careful as to who knew, they didn’t foresee anyone looking for this scene. Other than those who were working with Seth.

One thing they all agreed on was that there was no way he’d been working alone. Yes, he had to have been working with the necromancers, but there had to be more possessed that had integrated themselves into their world, unbeknownst to them.

There was little doubt in their minds that Neven was possessed, albeit a little more recently. Caspian had seen him multiple times when he had the unfortunate displeasure of having a meeting with Sky. Until nearly three years ago. Looking back on it, Caspian knew that was when he’d been possessed. How Sky and those around him hadn’t noticed the changes was beyond him—if they truly hadn’t known.

Neven being possessed was the only way it made sense how he’d known to use the scar in the realm to create a rift to the empty space. He’d probably been the one to give Acheron the spell to steal the magic of the realm through sacrifices. It was also probably why he’d taken Artemis in the first place. Both Caspian and Ashe were still amazed he hadn’t outright killed her, but they supposed it was for the best he hadn’t. They’d rather not deal with Roman’s temper should anything happen to her—well, besides her being abducted and tortured.

“Everything is going to change,” Caspian murmured as he watched the body turn to ash before he extinguished the flames with elemental water. “They’ll find the remaining keys and the rift will open, allowing all of them to walk free.”

“As is the way of life,” Ashe said since apparently he was in a philosophical mood today. “This has always been a short-term solution, not meant to last. It’s like we’ve been waiting for them to come back without even knowing it.”

Caspian gave a derisive snort as he ran a hand down his face. “The sisters only do what’s in their best interests.”

Ashe gave him a patient look, just barely holding back a sigh. “And it’s in their best interest to help deal with those who will come crawling out of the rift once it’s opened. Remember, they created the realm.”

Caspian made a noncommittal sound as he tapped into the surrounding elements, double-checking they’d done all they could to hide what occurred here. The realm wasn’t ready for the storm coming their way, changing everything they thought they knew.

“How close is she, a month?” Ash dropped his voice to a whisper despite the fact there was no one else around for at least a mile.

Caspian shook his head, shifting his focus to his friend. “No more than a week, if even.”

Ashe let out a low whistle. “You tell Roman?”

Again, Caspian shook his head. “You won’t be able to hide it from him for too long,” Ashe warned.

“I know, but we don’t know what will happen when she turns twenty-eight.”

“Everything will change,” Ashe repeated Caspian’s words from earlier.