The Elementals

Maple surveyed the building with a disgusted confusion. She didn’t understand why fancy government officials chose to meet in such a run-down place. If it was to keep it a secret, then it didn’t work, because Audrey had said that the environmentalist people would be coming to protest.

She looked out at the fields in front of her. They were marshy and the grass was unevenly cut, if at all. Terra was sculpting random things in the mud, and Steel was helping Sparky build a lightning rod. Maple squinted at the clouds forming in the distance, promising rain.

She glanced back at the building. Coal was there, leaning against the graffiti covered brick walls, deep in thought. Maple felt safe with him around, even if he did kind of scare her a little bit. Audrey and Oh’Rian were inside the building at the meeting, and Stella too, but in secret.

Audrey had seemed tense the entire ride there, which was unusual. Audrey was a pretty laid-back person. Maple had a disturbing feeling something bad was going to happen, or even worse, had already happened, and Audrey knew it.

She was safe though, with the others. It worried her that Tide was not here, and it obviously bothered Coal too. Everyone else was, so why not Tide? Again, Maple had an unsettling, unexpected assurance that Tide was special, and that’s why she wasn’t here.

Eventually, Maple saw Coal shift restlessly, and she looked up at the sky. Through the clouds, she could see the sun and deduced that it was at least a couple hours after when the meeting was supposed to end. The gnawing feeling in her gut grew stronger.

She heard the low droning of an aircraft engine and looked up quickly. She shielded her eyes and saw a familiar plane circling the fields. It landed, and Maple started running towards it as Tide jumped out.