I tripped over a rock behind me and fell to my knees, still swiping away the dark flames. “Run, Fiara,” I yelled to her. I could hold him off for a few more minutes. She might be able to get away.
I saw a stream of water hit Zacharius from behind as wind rocketed around his body, keeping the water from evaporating. Zacharius lost control of his magic, and the dark flames disappeared. He struggled to get out of the magic my friends had him in, but he wasn’t able to. As long as the water surrounded him, he was powerless.
“Stop,’ I yelled to my friends. “You’re going to kill him.” Their faces turned stony, and neither would look at me. “Please,” I begged, but they refused to drop their magic. Fiara came to me and wrapped her arms around me, turning my head away. I heard the swirling wind end and a small thud. I tried to look, but Fiara held me. I could feel tears running down my face.
I felt Richard and Tider put their arms around me, and Fiara let go.
“We’re sorry, Sally. We had no choice. He was far too strong and too evil to let live. He allowed himself to get captured. The guards found him missing. He managed to sneak into the ingredient room and steal the most potent ingredients. He was going to try to create an army of controlled people. Adam would have been his first,” Richard said.
“He was using a form of black fire,” Tider said. “Only the evilest can use that fire. The only way to stop it is to smother them with water. If any part of him wasn’t covered in water, he could have used it to escape.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw it once before at my parent’s house. They killed the man and then explained to me that the black flames cannot be controlled for long. The person using them goes crazy and will try to kill or control everyone.”
I didn’t like that they killed Zacharius, but I trusted Tider. If his parents were concerned about someone using that magic, then it was way too dangerous for someone to have. They would use almost any dark magic, so for it to concern them meant it was worse than bad.
Richard reached down to pull me up, and I hissed. The dark flame had gone out when Zacharius died, but the damage to my arm was still there. My body would heal eventually by itself, but Abby could do it faster. Tider called Abby over, and she put her hands above my arm. Her healing magic flowed down into my skin, healing the burned flesh. I sighed in relief.
“Thanks, Abby.” She smiled and gave me a hug, asking if I was hurt anywhere else.
After I assured her I wasn’t hurt, we walked out of the forest and climbed back onto our waiting dragons. They dropped us in front of the castle. Fiara brought us to the main room.
“I think we are finally free of the evil Zacharius brought into our realm, thanks to you all. As the queen of the fire elementals, I want to give you something for all the help you have given us.”
She stepped in front of us and looked us each in the eye. I wanted to tell her she didn’t have to give us anything, but her look kept me silent.
“I can strengthen your magic. You will also have more energy,” Fiara said. “Sally, we will fight with you when you are ready. All you have to do is call for me.” She raised her arms and let her magic surround each of us. Her magic was a light orange glow. I felt my own magic reaching out for it. When they combined, I felt my energy level increase.
I heard Abby gasp and looked over. Her face was flushed, but she was smiling. She saw me watching her and laughed. “I feel so much stronger. I think I can even help in some of the fights now,” she said.
“Abby, it’s good you want to help your friends, but your healing power is your most important gift. Try to use offensive magic only when you have no choice. The more time you put into your healing, the stronger it will become,” Fiara said.
“I will, Fiara,” she said. She was still smiling, and I knew she was going to try to fight with us next time something happened. I would have to keep an eye on her to make sure she didn’t get hurt. Tider was watching her, too, and nodded. He was thinking the same thing. We all thanked Fiara and talked for a few more minutes before saying our goodbyes.
Garuld was waiting for us. He was the only dragon big enough to carry all of us through the portal. Before I climbed up on him, Sievroth flew up to me and nudged me with his head. I put my arms around his neck, giving him a big hug. He was growing so fast now that we were in the fire realm. I couldn’t imagine how he was going to stay with me.
“Sally,” I heard his voice in my head. “I’m not going back with you. I am staying with my family, but I will be there when you call. Your little water sprite can get in contact with me if you need me.” I felt my eyes well up as I gave him another big hug.
“I will miss you, but I’m glad you are with your family. Be safe.” He flew back over to the other dragons. I heard a little yip coming from behind me. Fiara walked over, holding the little queen. I held her and gave her a few hugs before handing her back to Fiara. I climbed up on Garuld. As he took off, the dragons below us roared, and the fire elementals watching cheered. I waved to them as we circled higher and higher.
Garuld flew toward the mountain, gaining height the entire away. The air was thinner, the higher we got, and no one talked. We had to concentrate on breathing.
“Hang on,” Garuld told us, and we grabbed his scales as hard as we could. He shot forward. At the top of the mountain, I saw a shimmer in the sky. We were headed directly for it. He flew through the shimmer, and I felt a tightness around my chest. It only lasted a second before it was gone, and we emerged over a different mountain. It was night time in the human realm, so Garuld flew further down the mountain, skimming the tops of the trees.
When he came to a clearing about halfway down the mountain, he landed, and we got off.
“Thank you, Garuld.”
“It was my pleasure. Thank you for saving us. Be careful. We need you to save the world from the darkness.” I grimaced. I still wasn’t one hundred percent sure I was the right person to fight the darkness. I thought of the south wing and the paper we had found. Be careful of the imposter. That could be me.
I shook the thought away and focused on Garuld. I said goodbye to him, and he leaped into the sky, flying back up the mountain and to the portal to take him home.
Chapter Twenty-Two
After Garuld left, I fished my cell phone out of my pocket and pulled up my GPS. We were in the middle of nowhere. I sent a text to Mrs. Sullivan and Jordan. They both said not delivered. I looked at my phone again. I didn’t have any service.
We started to hike down the mountain. Garuld hadn’t been able to take us all the way down the mountain because people would have seen him. It’s hard to hide a dragon, even in the dark. Their wings still create a giant breeze that moves the trees and bushes.
It wasn’t worth the risk. We would find our way down, and Jordan would come to get us. We made a small camp and tried to get some rest until morning. I sat against a tree, watching the forest for any signs that the Pulhu found us. The tightness I felt when we came through the portal reminded me of when they tracked me through a portal before.
I stayed up the rest of the night while my friends slept. Every time I heard a noise, I jumped. By morning I was exhausted. I checked my phone, but the messages still wouldn’t send. We hiked further down the mountain, careful not to make too much noise. If anyone was looking for us, we wanted to hear them coming.
After a few hours, we stopped at a stream to rest. We were sitting down, eating whatever we could find in our packs when Abby shushed us. She could hear someone talking further downstream. We left the stream and ducked behind the trees. We moved silently between the tree trunks making our way toward the voices. When we were close enough to hear them clearly, I smiled. It was a couple of kids skipping school to play in the river. They were talking about the drive back into town.
I took my phone out. If they were coming here to skip school, we had to be getting close to a town, and if there was a town nearby, there should be cell service. I had two bars. I pressed the send button. Th
is time it sent. Almost immediately, the delivered tag changed to read. Mrs. Sullivan was texting back, and I showed my friends quietly.
We waited impatiently for her response. When it came, Tider jumped up, startling the kids at the river. I could hear them grabbing their stuff and asking each other if maybe a bear was in the trees. They took off downstream pretty quickly, and I laughed.
“Jordan is going to come and get us. I need to send her our GPS.”
“Wait,” Richard said. “What if that isn’t Mrs. Sullivan. What if the Pulhu have her phone?”
I stopped writing the text. “What should we do? How am I supposed to know if it’s her or not?”
“We need to ask her something that only she would know.”
We all thought for a minute. “I know. I will ask her what my brother’s name is.”
“You don’t have a brother.”
“Exactly,” I said, smiling.
“The Pulhu will know you don’t have a brother too, Sally,” Richard said, looking confused.
“Mrs. Sullivan will know I mean Tider. She knows he is like a brother to me. No one else but my parents would know what I was talking about.”
“That’s a great idea, Sally,” Tider said. “Send it. Let’s see if we can get off this mountain. I need a shower and some food.” I grinned and sent the message. It only took a few seconds to get the response.
“She said Tider. It’s definitely her.” I sent her our location as my friends cheered quietly. Within minutes Jordan appeared.
“Hi, guys. Did you do what you needed to do?”
“We did.”
“I figured. You must have stirred a hornet’s nest. The Pulhu went crazy on the mountain for a few days. They were everywhere. They kept bringing more in, but the other day it stopped. All the Pulhu disappeared from the mountain except for a handful. I only saw about half of them leave, so I’m not sure where they went.” He arched a brow, silently asking me what happened.
“We don’t have to worry about those Pulhu. They are being taken care of.” I was sure all the Pulhu who had made it through the portal would be sent to the dungeons.
He laughed. “I’m glad to hear it. Things have gotten a little crazy over here lately. The Pulhu have almost completely taken over the council. Mr. Merrem and Mr. Connor were taken in for questioning. The council thought they were hiding you, but they were let go as soon someone said they saw you on Mount Etna.”
“What about Mrs. Sullivan? Why wasn’t she at the school?”
“She was. Someone put a sleeping spell on her, and then hid her in one of the unused rooms. Mrs. Chanley found her and broke the spell. Mrs. Sullivan has been in hiding with the others. That’s where we are going. Adam’s grandfather has a safe place for all of us. The Pulhu are hunting everyone who has helped you, Sally. They are saying you attacked Mr. Mitchel for no reason.”
“That’s not true.”
“We know that, but Mr. Mitchel is very persuasive. Not all the council believe him, and many of the schools are shutting their doors to the council. Too many of the schools have dealt with Mr. Mitchel. A lot of the teachers won’t believe a word of what he says. They are trying to protect their students, but Mr. Mitchel is already trying to get the council to give him full authority over the elementals. He made them believe the elemental community is in turmoil because of our school not following the rules, and now the other schools don’t want to follow the rules either.”
“How can he do this? How can any of them believe him?”
“We think he has some sort of charm that helps force multiple people to believe his lies. It is powerful to be able to work on so many people at once. Usually, charms like that are only good for one or two people at the most. Mr. Mitchel has gotten his hands on some very powerful magic recently.”
We nodded in agreement. Whatever magic Mr. Mitchel was using wasn’t regular elemental magic. He was using something he shouldn’t be messing with. I was sure it was some form of dark magic, but where he was learning it was still a mystery.
Jordan had us grab our stuff and hold hands. He transported us into a dark room. I couldn’t see anything in front of me and started to panic. A light flashed on as I began to hyperventilate, and I realized we were in a rectangular room. The door opened, and my parents ran in to hug me. I threw my arms around them, thankful they were ok. Abby’s dad and even Richard’s family came running over too.
Of course, Tider’s family wasn’t here. They were part of the Pulhu and didn’t care about Tider at all unless he was helping them. My parents grabbed Tider and gave him a big hug. I watched the smile cross his face as he hugged them back.
Adam walked over to Chet and gave him a hug. Everyone was talking at once, and Chet raised his hand for silence. He told us we would be staying there from now on. The place was magically blocked, so no one could track it. The only way to transport in was to have a special charm that could move people through the magic. Jordan reached into his shirt and pulled out the necklace he was wearing to show us.
We walked through the door and into a large room filled with tables and chairs. Mr. Connor and Mr. Merrem were there, and I saw many other faces I knew. There were a lot of people I didn’t know too, and I asked Mrs. Sullivan who they were.
“These are all the people the Pulhu are after.” I looked around again. There were a lot of people hiding from the Pulhu, not only me.
“You will have to stay down here now unless you have a very good reason to go out.” She winked at me, knowing I would need to leave the safety of this place if I wanted to defeat the darkness. I didn’t know how I would find the dryads. The prophecy said they were bad, but I could figure out how to deal with that tomorrow. Today I wanted to spend time with my family and friends over a nice meal.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
H.M. Sandlin is a stay at home mom of two daughters. She loves to read, garden, and run. She lives in South Carolina and enjoys the heat of the long summers. She spends most of her time writing but likes going to the park with her kids when they get home from school. She also enjoys taking coffee breaks with her friends.
Every day is an adventure for her. She has many stories waiting to be told and is trying to get them all out on paper to share. Her kids are always giving her ideas for new stories, and she has multiple small books that she writes for them to read. To stay up to date, visit her website, and join her newsletter at hmsandlin.com or follow her on twitter @SandlinHm.
Other Books by H.M. Sandlin
Elemental Seekers Series
Lost Tides
Guarded Skies
Sneak peek of book four in Elemental Seekers
Chapter One
Everyone turned to stare as we walked farther into the room. Mr. Connor and Mr. Merrem, teachers from my school, stood up and started clapping. The rest of the large room stood up and did the same. I glanced behind me to see why they were clapping, but no one else was there. My parents started clapping too, and I looked at my friends to see what was going on. They were as confused as I was.
I felt the connection in my mind to Richard form. “Sally, I think they all know who you really are. Why else would they be clapping?” I was able to talk to all of my friends without speaking. It was an awesome power we had figured out how to use. It came in handy in situations like these where we didn’t know what was going on.
I could also track them if the Pulhu took one of them, or any crazy elementals, I thought, thinking about how Adam was kidnapped by a man who was poisoning the true fire elementals. He had been keeping them in a stupor, and when we woke them, he tried to turn Adam into a mindless follower. I felt a wave of sadness as I thought about Richard and Tider killing him. He was an evil man, but I hated seeing anyone die. Hopefully, no one else would be killed.
“Sally, pay attention,” Abby hissed in my ear.
I tuned back in and heard Chet talking.
“These kids managed to stop the Pulhu from getting their hands on whatever they were after,” he was saying. Th
e people in the room cheered. “The Pulhu are going to be sending as many as they can after this group right here. We must protect them at all costs. If they get ahold of them, it could turn the tide of the battle in their favor.”
“Is one of these kids the chosen?” someone yelled.
“We don’t know who the chosen is, but these kids have managed to put a stop to many of the Pulhu’s plans. They are also the ones who hurt Mr. Mitchel at the school.”
The crowd gasped, and another person yelled, “How? I’ve heard no one defeats him.”
“He can be defeated, and he underestimated this group. He won’t make that mistake again. We all know what’s at stake. The Pulhu are getting more and more people on their side every day.”
Chet continued talking while I let the breath I had been holding out. They didn’t know I was the chosen. Or the imposter. I still wasn’t sure which one I was. Everyone thought I was the chosen, but until we met the other chosen or imposter, I wouldn’t know for sure. Right now, I was trying to do as the prophecy said and get all the true elementals on our side. We were going to need them to defeat the darkness.
We learned it had a name. It was called Helerium, but we still didn’t know what that meant. I wanted to ask Chet. He was an archaeologist and spent all of his life researching the true elementals and their origins. Maybe he would be able to tell me what Helerium was. We sat at one of the large tables after Chet finished talking.
My parents wanted to know if I was ok after the fight with Mr. Mitchel. After I reassured them I was fine, they calmed down. I didn’t tell them about the multiple times I was in danger this past week when I was in the fire elemental realm. They wouldn’t let me out of their sight, and I needed to finish finding the true elementals. I found the water, air, and fire elementals so far. Next was the earth elementals, but I didn’t have any idea how to find them.
Buried Embers (Elemental Seekers Book 3) Page 22