Her Elemental Dragons: The Complete Series

The journey back to Soulspire was faster and easier now that Carth was a dragon too. Erroh spent a few hours showing Carth the basics before we left the Water Temple, and then they took turns flying us until we reached the palace.

When we landed in the castle garden, Varek was waiting for us, along with Parin and Zain. My other mates did not look pleased that he was there, and I shared their sentiment.

Carth set down on the ground and let out a roar, spreading his blue wings wide, and Zain gave him an approving nod. I quickly hugged Zain and Parin, and then turned to my fifth mate. ‘What brings you to the palace you hate so much?’

Varek snorted. ‘Sorry to disturb you, princess, but I have news about the Unseen.”

“It’s the only reason we let him inside,” Parin said, eyeing Varek with disdain.

I tried not to bristle at Varek’s nickname. “Continue.”

“As suspected, the rally you witnessed near my bar was a recruitment effort on their part. They’ve been holding them all over the city, and rumor is they’re spreading outside Soulspire too.”

“Do so many people hate the elementals and the Dragons?” Erroh asked.

Varek shrugged. “They make some good points about the inequality among humans and elementals, but I’m not going to stand back and let them attack us again. I know I run in some questionable circles, and many may think—’ He shot my other mates a wry look. ‘That I’m only a criminal, but I have a line I won’t cross. I’m pretty sure they do not.”

I crossed my arms, feeling exhausted after our long journey. “Do you have any actual information?”

Varek clenched his jaw. “I was getting to that. I sent some of my people to join their cult to gather information. They say the Unseen have something planned, something big they want to show everyone.”

“What do you suspect?” Parin asked.

‘I believe the Unseen are somehow stealing elemental powers, but I’m not sure how.’

“That should be impossible,” I said, but then remembered what my mother had said. “Although you might be correct. We’ve had reports of missing elementals.”

“If they are stealing elemental powers, we need to stop them immediately,” Zain said.

“There’s an Unseen meeting at midnight tonight at the old warehouse that burned down at the northern end of Soulspire,” Varek said. “We can sneak in and learn more then.”

“I know the place,” Erroh said. “But can we trust a criminal?”

Carth crossed his arms. “I’m with Erroh, I’m not sure we should work with a man with his…connections.”

“My connections saved you once already,” Varek snapped. “While you’ve been off having sex in fancy temples, I’ve been investigating these cultists. You wouldn’t know anything about them if not for me.”

“Or maybe this is some kind of trap,” Zain said.

“Believe what you want.” Varek spread his hands. “I’ll be at the meeting. You can join me if you wish, or I can handle things on my own. Your choice.”

“We’ll be there,” I said, the words slipping out of my mouth immediately. My mates didn’t trust the man, and in many ways I didn’t either, but I believed he was helping us. I felt it in my gut.

Of course, I’d seen him do some seriously heinous things in my dreams. He couldn’t explain away cold-blooded murder. I wouldn’t forget that either.

Parin cleared his throat. ‘We appreciate any accurate information you can give us.’

‘Come inside,’ I told my five mates. ‘We can speak more privately in our chambers.’

‘As you wish, princess,” Varek said, but his inflection had changed. The offensive pet name didn’t have the same level of vinegar in it this time.

We headed inside the palace and got many looks from the guards as Varek walked with us to the other wing. Then we entered our communal dining room and sat down to a huge meal. I wanted to kiss the cooks for having food ready even though they didn’t know when we’d return. My parents were still gone, and the responsibility of dealing with the Unseen was firmly on our shoulders. I’d be able to form a plan for infiltrating the meeting a lot better with a full stomach, and hopefully my mates would be less grumpy about Varek’s presence too.

At least he was here in the palace. That was a start.

Varek didn’t stay long. During our meal we sketched out a rough strategy, and then he headed back into the city with plans to meet us at the warehouse after dark. He said he would procure us some masks too.

We were relying on him a lot for this mission. I hoped it wasn’t a mistake.

I borrowed a dress from a servant and donned my black cloak, before heading out. I was far too recognizable in Soulspire, but hopefully with a mask and my hair under a hood, I could avoid notice. My other mates were similarly dressed in plain clothes, including Carth, who had to borrow something from Erroh.

We split up into two groups to travel in different paths to the location. A woman with four men might be a little too obvious. Of course, my mates tried to talk me out of going, until we were standing outside the building that had once housed a large warehouse before a fire destroyed it years ago. A fire that was caused by elementals. The irony was not lost upon me.

As we moved down an alley toward the back entrance, a large man suddenly stepped out of the shadows directly in front of us. I jumped, along with Erroh and Parin at my back, all of us reaching for our weapons, but then I recognized Varek.

“Are you trying to get yourself stabbed?” Erroh asked.

“Put these on.” Varek held out three gray masks toward us. ‘The password to enter is ‘nameless.’ We’ll go in two at a time, or our number will draw suspicion.’

“The others?” I asked. Zain and Carth had taken the shorter route to the warehouse.

“Already inside. The meeting is starting soon.”

I donned the mask with a nod, then pulled the hood up to cover my hair. Parin stayed back with Varek, while Erroh and I approached the metal door and knocked.

A slat opened at the top of it. Eyes peered out. Waiting. Watching.

“Nameless,” Erroh said.

The slat shut, and then the door opened. We stepped into a dark hallway with stale air, the walls blackened and charred in places. A large man grunted and gestured for us to move forward.

The hallway opened up to a big room filled with people, most of them wearing gray masks, though some didn’t bother. A large wooden stage had been set up on one end, and more masked people waited there, along with something big and boxy that was covered by a black cloth. A large crate maybe?

I gazed around the room, sizing up the audience. So many people, a lot more than I expected, all crowded together and eager for this meeting to start. My mates were among them somewhere, but I couldn’t pick them out with the masks on. At least I had Erroh at my side.

The masked people on stage suddenly clapped their hands three times, making the room go quiet as everyone realized the meeting was starting. One of them stepped forward, wearing a black mask.

“We are the Unseen, but we will not be ignored any longer,” the person said in a booming voice, repeating a phrase I’d heard at the rally. The voice sounded vaguely feminine, but I recognized she was trying hard to deepen and alter her tone. Probably for anonymity. “We applaud your bravery for meeting us here tonight, for recognizing the inequality humans face every single day, and for being willing to put an end to it through whatever means necessary. It’s time to put humans first again.”

My stomach twisted as people in the crowd raised their fists and chanted, “Humans first, humans first, humans first!”

The leader raised her hands and flames burst forth from them, causing the audience to settle down again. “For years, we’ve been powerless against the elementals and the Dragons, but no longer. We’ve discovered a way to gain magic ourselves, and tonight we will demonstrate for you. Soon, we will be equal to the elementals…and then the Dragons themselves!”

The crowd surged forward in anticipation and I was shuffled along too, anxious to see whatever they were about to do to gain magic. As I watched, the leader nodded at some of the other masked figures, who yanked off the cloth. Underneath it was four cages, and inside them were elementals—one of each type. They were in bad shape too, the fire elemental’s flames dim, the water elemental’s body too thin, the earth elemental’s rock body partly smashed, and the air elemental little more than a wisp. I couldn’t help but gasp in horror at the sight, and quickly covered my mouth. Something terrible was about to happen. I needed to stop it, but I had to know what they were doing too.

“Do we have a volunteer?” the leader asked.

Dozens of people raised their hands, and she chose a young woman with red hair who wasn’t wearing a mask, then asked her, “What type of magic would you like? Earth, air, fire, or water?”

The redhead glanced between the elementals with excitement in her eyes. “I think… air. Yes, air.”

“A fine choice.” The leader stepped toward the cage with the air elemental, who floated backward as she approached, but there was nowhere to go. ‘Step forward, initiate.’

The redhead moved closer, and the leader took her hand, before reaching toward the elemental with her other one. Dark tendrils lashed out from her fingertips and sank into the air elemental’s chest, causing it to scream, a sound like a whirling tornado. It struggled and fought, but the iron cage kept it contained and unable to use its magic.

“No!” I yelled, rushing forward.

A strong hand clamped down on my arm, holding me back. I glanced over my shoulder and saw black hair. Varek.

‘Don’t do anything stupid,’ he hissed.

‘I have to stop this!’ It was my duty to protect those elementals from the humans, and vice versa. I couldn’t stand back and do nothing as they hurt it.

As I struggled to get closer, the leader’s dark tendrils yanked out something from inside the elemental, a swirling vortex of glowing yellow air, and shoved it into the redhead’s chest. The air elemental immediately dissipated, vanishing before our eyes as it passed away. A yellow glow surrounded the redhead for a brief second, before fading.

“You now have the powers of an air elemental,” the leader said. “Try them.”

The redhead looked uncertain, but she waved her hand and a breeze went through the room. The crowd erupted into a loud cheer, stomping and hollering, and the woman cracked a huge smile.

The leader gave her a nod. “You are one of us now. We will train you in how to use your new magic to defend humankind and take back the world.”

“Thank you,” the woman said, and another masked member led her away.

The leader gazed back at the crowd. “I need another volunteer.”

This time just about everyone’s hand raised. It made me sick. Did no one care that this was murder?

I wasn’t going to stand around and let this happen. It was time to end this meeting and free these elementals. I shrugged Varek’s hand off my arm and used my air magic to lift me up toward the ceiling, then used my newest elemental magic to spray water down on everyone, drenching the crowd. People screamed and looked up.

I yanked off my mask as I hovered over them. “What you’re doing is murder and I won’t let this continue! Free the elementals now!”

“It’s the Dragon spawn!” the leader yelled. “They’re here to stop us from gaining the power that should be ours, but we will not be stopped!”

She launched fire at me, and I stopped it with a blast of water magic. Erroh flew up next to me, while my other mates surged through the crowd toward the remaining cages. They knew what to do—freeing the elementals was our number one priority.

Most of the crowd screamed and fled in a panic, but many of the people on stage started fighting us back with their elemental magic. There was not enough space for Erroh or Carth to become dragons with so many people running around, so Erroh and I fought from the air, while my other three mates climbed the stage. Zain and Varek used fire and death magic to stop some of the cultists, while Carth ran to the first cage and freed the elementals.

It was total chaos in the warehouse. I didn’t want to hurt anyone in the crowd who wasn’t attacking us, but it was hard to know who had magic and who didn’t. I tried to go after the leader, but she’d vanished into the crowd at some point.

Soon the warehouse was empty except for the five of us, a few cultists we’d knocked out, and the freed elementals, who I immediately began healing as best I could. The Silver Guard showed up, hearing the commotion, but by then it was over. The leader and most of the cultists had fled, but at least the other three elementals were safe.

And now we knew why they were going missing.