Buried Embers (Elemental Seekers Book 3)

by H. M. Sandlin

  I heard students moving through the halls. We needed to hurry up and get to class.

  “That is all I can tell you for now. When it is time, I will tell you more,” Mrs. Chanley said.

  Kids started to walk into the class, and I walked out with Richard. I followed the connection Richard and I had and spoke into his mind as we walked. I told him I didn’t trust anything Mrs. Chanley was saying.

  Since she wouldn’t tell us everything, I couldn’t believe anything she said. He thought we should give her a chance. She never tried to hurt us, even the few times she sensed us in the south wing. I still wasn’t sure, but I agreed not to go to Mrs. Sullivan yet.

  Chapter Twelve

  Walking down to the dome with Abby made me uncomfortable. I hadn’t been in the dome since Mr. Mitchel almost killed me. When we got closer, we saw Mr. Merrem waiting on the path. He stopped us before we walked into the dome.

  “Are you ok, Sally? I know the last time you were here didn’t turn out so well. None of us realized what Mr. Mitchell was going to do.”

  “I know, Mr. Merrem. I am doing fine,” I assured him. He walked into the dome ahead of us. Mr. Connor was waiting inside and walked over to me.

  “Sally, I’m glad you were able to come down here. We are going to teach you a few more offensive and defensive spells. Mrs. Sullivan told us some of your plans. We want you to be completely prepared.”

  They had me come to the center of the dome, and Mr. Connor asked me to try and use water and air at the same time and merge them. This time when I tried, I did exactly as Mauevene had shown me and was able to make them combine. Fog drifted from around me, getting thicker as I increased the power of the spell.

  “Now, Sally, that is great for defense, but you may need some offensive spells too. We’ve taught you a few, but this one is going to be the hardest and has the potential to really hurt someone. I know you don’t like this type of spell, but we think you need to learn it.”

  “I will learn it, but I won’t use it unless I have to,” I said.

  “You need to add fire to the fog droplets, like when you made the bigger fireballs and covered them with air and buried them in the ground. Except here, you have millions of tiny air and water droplets that you need to add fire to. They won’t realize it’s a fire fog until it’s too late. As soon as they step into the fog, the droplets will shatter, letting the fire out. Each tiny flame will only last a second, but hundreds of them will be bursting at the same time on a person’s skin. It will feel like they have fire ants all over them.”

  “It doesn’t sound like it can really hurt anyone,” I said.

  “If someone with fire magic throws their fire into the fog, it will ignite the flames and make them grow stronger,” Mr. Connor said.

  “Remember when you used your fire against mine, Sally. It’s the same thing,” Mr. Merrem said.

  “I don’t know about this,” I said. Now I understood how someone could get hurt or even killed with this spell.

  “Sally, you need to learn this. It might save our lives,” Richard said directly into my mind.

  I watched the fog swirling around me and slowly fed fire magic into it. I felt the fire collecting in the droplets, but before I could add fire to even half of the fog, I had to stop. I was exhausted. It used too much power. Sievroth appeared next to me, and Mr. Merrem and Mr. Connor backed up.

  “Mrs. Sullivan told us you had a dragon with you, but I didn’t realize he was always around.”

  “He usually stays invisible,” I said worriedly. “What’s wrong, Sievroth?”

  He hung in the air, his wings flapping slowly as he reached his head out to me. He put his snout against my head, and a rush of magic flooded my body. Sievroth slowly disappeared again.

  “What just happened?” asked Mr. Connor.

  “He gave me more power. I’m at full strength. We can try again.”

  “That’s ok, Sally. We have other things to teach you, but you need to practice it every day until you leave so it won’t drain your energy. We know you can do it.”

  “I will practice it. What else do you want me to learn?” I asked.

  “I want you to be able to stop a large group with earth. It’s your least used element, so it’s not as strong as the others. You need to work on it more. Earth is a great element, and it’s always around you. You need to learn to use earth quickly. You can already raise the earth and create ditches, but you need more. We need to leave the dome for this lesson.”

  “But…”

  “I know it’s a risk, but it’s worth it. Only masters can use earth powers the way I’m going to show you. I want you to control the trees. They are living things, so it’s hard to control them. Flowers and weeds are easier because they are small and have very little will, but trees are rooted. They don’t listen to anyone if they don’t want to.”

  We headed out to the woods, the teachers checking to see if anyone was around. I didn’t see anyone, and neither did they. We were no longer under the protection of the school. It didn’t extend this far into the trees.

  “Sally, all plants are living things. They have the same emotions that we do but on a much smaller scale. Trees are very slow-growing, so their emotions are also slow. You can talk to the trees and get them to listen if you know how. Trees will only listen to certain people. I think they will listen to you.”

  “Why?”

  “Many reasons, but the main one is compassion. Trees don’t like causing pain.”

  Mr. Merrem taught me how to push my earth magic into the trees and find their centers, which is where I would be able to connect with them. As soon as I did, I could feel the tree’s emotions. It was slow like Mr. Merrem said, and the tree was full of contentment. It was nice to enjoy such a feeling.

  When I heard Mr. Merrem ask me to talk to the tree and see if it would move, I balked at the idea. I didn’t want to force the tree to do anything.

  “Ask the tree, Sally, don’t force it. You only need to force them if it is an emergency.”

  I asked the tree to move but also decided I would never force the trees to do something they didn’t want to do. If they didn’t want to help me in an emergency, I would have to find another way. I wouldn’t want anyone forcing me to do something.

  The tree responded slowly. I felt his answer before I heard it. A massive crack sounded, and the tree rose, giant roots breaking the surface of the ground. My tree took a single step, and I ran to catch up with him. He sank his roots back into the ground and stopped moving. I thanked him and turned back to Mr. Merrem.

  “Good job, Sally. Now that you know how to do that, we should head back to the school. Don’t practice this unless you are positive no one else is around. Not only do we want to keep that power hidden from the Pulhu, but normal people would be terrified if trees started moving around by themselves.”

  Back at the school, Abby was waiting and said Mrs. Sullivan wanted to see us. We headed right to her office. The only reason Mrs. Sullivan would be calling us down was if something was wrong. I had a feeling I knew what it was, but I hoped I was wrong. We knocked on her door and went in. Everyone else was already there.

  “What is it?” I asked. “I know something’s wrong.”

  “Mr. Mitchel is awake,” Mrs. Sullivan told me. “He woke up a few hours ago. So far, he hasn’t been able to tell the healers anything. He doesn’t remember much, but they are expecting him to make a full recovery in the next couple of days. Once he remembers, he will be looking for you, Sally.”

  “What about the council? Will they protect Sally?”

  “We don’t know. As of right now, we know many of the council will side with Mr. Mitchel.”

  “Even after what he did? Mr. Burwel can tell them exactly what happened.”

  “He will,” Mrs. Sullivan replied. “But the other two council members will also be testifying, and I doubt they will tell the truth. After all, they gave permission to Mr. Mitchel to use that on you, and they will get in trouble if the counci
l finds out. I’m sure they have crafted a good lie explaining away what really happened. We will remain hopeful that the council won’t believe them, but I think it’s best if we are ready.”

  “We are ready, Mrs. Sullivan. Tell us what we need to do.”

  “When Mr. Mitchel regains his memories, we will be sending you away. There is another town not far from here that Natasha will take you to. We’ve already rented a hotel room for you to stay in. It has three bedrooms so you can all stay together. I will let Jordan know where you are so he can transport you to Mount Etna. Until he gets there, you will need to stay hidden. I will be sending a few people I trust to keep an eye on you, so you should be fine, but once you get to the mountain, we don’t know what you will encounter.”

  “When should we be ready to go?” I asked.

  “Get everything you need ready tonight, but I think you have another day or two. I want all your bags packed and in my office this evening, and keep a small bag with you in case something happens.”

  We left Mrs. Sullivan’s office, each of us heading to our rooms to pack what we needed. Most of my stuff was already ready to go.

  Abby knocked on the door a little while later. “What do we do now?” she asked.

  “Nothing. We have to go about our day as if nothing changed. We don’t want Sean or Sasha reporting to the Pulhu that we are preparing for something.”

  “It’s going to be awfully hard,” Abby said.

  “I know.”

  We ate dinner and tried to act like nothing was wrong, but I kept a close eye on everything around us. By evening I was exhausted. It was hard worrying about everything all the time. Classes the next morning went by like always. Nothing unusual happened. I kept waiting to hear from Mrs. Sullivan, but she never called me.

  I checked in on Richard and the others periodically throughout the day, but they hadn’t heard anything either. I was heading to the dome for one more lesson when Richard spoke into my mind telling me to be careful. He had gone to look for Mrs. Sullivan but couldn’t find her. Frowning, I continued toward the dome, hoping Mr. Merrem or Mr. Connor would be able to tell me where Mrs. Sullivan was. I reached out with my mind for her, but I couldn’t find the connection. Something was wrong.

  The door to the dome was standing open when I arrived. I moved back to the path and put up my invisibility shield. I crept forward, keeping my steps as silent as I could. I searched for Tider’s mind and opened our connection.

  “Tider, where are you? The door to the dome is open.”

  “I’m on my way,” he said. “I got waylaid by Sean. Don’t go in the door. I think it’s a trap. I saw a group of council members arriving at the school a few minutes ago while Sean was harassing me. I think someone gave Mrs. Sullivan incorrect information about Mr. Mitchel. I think he has his memory and is already coming for you. Get back to the school, I will meet you on the path.”

  I reached out to the others and told them where to meet us and to be careful.

  I couldn’t stop myself from moving closer to the open door. I wanted to see what was going on inside. I felt my connection with Richard open up.

  “Where are you, Sally? You better not be doing what I think you are.”

  “What do you think I’m doing?” I asked as I moved even closer to the door. Only a few more steps and I could peek in.

  “Trying to see what is going on in the dome. Tider told you to get back to the school. Something isn’t right.”

  “I know. That’s why I want to see what’s going on in the building. Mr. Merrem or Mr. Connor could be hurt.”

  I could feel Richard’s frustration and worry. I felt him sigh. He knew I was right. If one of our teachers was hurt, I had to help them. I took the last few steps to the door. I peeked in but didn’t see anyone. Mr. Merrem and Mr. Connor weren’t here, but neither were the Pulhu. I started to step into the dome, but Richard’s warning stopped me. I didn’t see any traps, but I didn’t want to take chances.

  I moved back up the path, keeping my invisibility shield up. When I saw Tider, I stopped and pulled him inside as he walked past.

  “Sally, don’t do that. I could’ve hurt you,” he said, lowering his hands. He had raised them, thinking I was attacking him when I pulled him into my shield.

  “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” I apologized. We slowly made our way to the school. It wasn’t too hard to keep the shield up around only two of us. Richard was waiting, and I dropped the shield as we got closer to him.

  “Alright, guys. I think we need to go,” Richard said. “Mrs. Sullivan is missing. So are Mr. Merrem and Mr. Connor. It looks like someone is taking out the teachers that have been helping Sally. I’m sure they will be after us next.”

  “Where are Abby and Adam?” I asked.

  “They are trying to sneak into the office down the hall from Mrs. Sullivan’s. It’s where she put all of the stuff that we brought to her for safekeeping. She gave Abby the code in case of an emergency. They are meeting us around the side of the school closest to the woods.”

  I reached out to check on Abby. When we connected, I could feel her frustration. She was trying to get into the room to grab our stuff. As soon as I knew she was safe, I left her alone. She needed to concentrate on what she was doing. The council was close, and she didn’t want to get caught.

  “How will we get out of here?” I asked.

  “We are going to sneak through the woods and bypass the town. We will need to keep walking until we get to the next town, which is where Jordan was planning on meeting us to transport us to Mount Etna. Hopefully, Mrs. Sullivan told him yesterday, and he will meet us there in a couple of days. Until then, we will lay low at the hotel. Mrs. Sullivan already booked it, so we should be able to give the name of the reservation and stay there.”

  “Do you know the name on the reservation?” I asked.

  “No, but I’m hoping Abby does. Mrs. Sullivan entrusted her with a lot of information in case something happened.”

  We stopped talking as a group of kids walked by. They glanced at us a few times but didn’t stop to say anything.

  I grabbed Richard and Tider’s hands and pulled them around the school. We walked quickly to the spot where we would be meeting Adam and Abby. We waited quietly, Tider occasionally whispering to Richard.

  Abby and Adam rounded the front corner at a run, arms full of bags. “We grabbed as much as we could carry. I think I got everything, but I may have missed a few things,” she said.

  We grabbed the bags as she passed them out.

  “We need to go,” Adam said, looking over his shoulder. “One of the council members was trying to follow us. We gave him the slip, but if we stay here, they will find us.”

  We ran to the woods and into the trees. The branches blocked out most of the sunlight, and we slowed down, walking carefully over the uneven ground. I could feel the trees around us as I reached out with my magic.

  I sent my magic flowing from tree to tree. I didn’t ask them to move. I wouldn’t have been able to control them all anyway, but I did send a silent plea to hide us from the Pulhu or let us know if they were coming. I didn’t know if it would work, but I had to try.

  We were almost through the woods when a shiver went through the trees. I could hear the rustling of the leaves far behind us moving closer until the trees nearest to us shivered, and their leaves twirled from the movement.

  I reached out to the trees and heard them speaking in one voice. “They come,” the voice said in my head. “Run.” I sent a wave of thanks out to the trees and turned to my friends, telling them to run, the Pulhu or the council were coming.

  We ran out of the woods and into the street. I looked both ways. “Which way?”

  “This way,” Richard said, pointing to the left. “We need to follow the road until we get closer to town and then go around it. It is going to take a few hours, at least.”

  “Good thing we have the time. We are a few days early,” Adam said.

  “We need to find somewhere
to hide so the council and the Pulhu don’t find us. They will be coming out of the woods in a few minutes,” I told everyone.

  I looked around, spotting a ditch on the far side of the road. Abby spotted it at the same time and said we should stay in there and use an invisibility spell.

  “No,” I said. “They will look for us there, and we have to assume they know I can use invisibility. They may fire magic or throw those sleeping potions down, hoping to hit us. I think we should go that way.” I pointed to the right. “There isn’t anything that way, right?”

  “Not for a long time. It’s only fields and farmland that way.”

  “Then they won’t think we went that way. If we walk up that way half a mile or so, we could hide and wait for them to come out of the trees. They will assume we headed to town and turn that way.”

  Everyone agreed, and we quickly ran up the road. When I thought we were far enough away, we stopped and sat down near the trees. I put the invisibility shield up, and we stayed there for a few minutes without seeing anything. Finally, the first person came out of the woods. He looked disheveled. There were leaves and small twigs stuck in his hair, and his clothes looked ripped in multiple places. The trees must have decided to help me on their own and slowed the men down.

  I smiled. I always loved trees. I would have to remember to come back here and send them a big thank you. It didn’t take long for more people to start coming out of the woods. They stood around, talking for a few minutes until a man came striding out of the woods, shouting something. The men moved to the sides of the road, shooting magic down each ditch.

  The man turned toward us, and I grimaced. It was Mr. Mitchel, and he looked livid. He continued shouting at the men. He pulled a phone from his pocket and made a call before going back to yelling. They continued walking away from us. None of them even looked back this way. A car showed up and picked Mr. Mitchel and two of the guys up. They headed toward the town while the rest of the men walked along the sides of the road. We were going to be stuck here for a while while they walked down the road.