From Flame and Ash

by Carrie Ann Ryan

  But, here I was.

  “I’m so sorry, Lyric.” Wyn let out a breath. “I don’t know much, only that he had his soulmate and lost her. That’s why, well…I don’t know if that’s all of it, but that’s one reason he acts the way he does. Because you only get the one. Do you understand what I’m saying? You can’t have another one.”

  I swallowed hard and put a smile on my face. I knew it didn’t reach my eyes, and I knew Wyn wasn’t falling for it. But that was fine. Because this was not my end.

  My life was not going to revolve around this one idea.

  I wouldn’t let it.

  I had grown more and fought so much harder than I had just a year ago when I was trying to figure out how my life could work in the human realm.

  I wasn’t that girl anymore.

  I wouldn’t break down.

  “Thank you for telling me. That he’s not mine. Of course, I think I would have known if he was my soulmate. Right? You know these things.”

  Wyn didn’t say anything, and I didn’t need her to.

  Because I had been wrong before. And it seemed I was wrong again.

  Maybe this overwhelming connection I felt, this powerful feeling I had within myself was just a crush. Just an intense emotion that anyone could have.

  After all, I had thought I loved Emory. I had been wrong about her. But when it was all over and done, and I looked back on what we had, I wasn’t sure I had actually loved her. So maybe it was just attraction. Perhaps it was just me wanting to feel something solid when nothing else was easy.

  And that was fine. I would be fine.

  I gave Wyn another smile and then backed away, not wanting to be touched, not wanting to be held.

  I knew Wyn was just trying to help. I knew she wasn’t giving me pitying looks because she felt bad for me. Because that wasn’t the case. But I needed to do something.

  I had to stop feeling like I needed to be someone else.

  I cleared my throat and lifted my chin ever so slightly. “I should focus on training. I think that’s important. Because you saw what it was like before.” I paused, shaking my head. “I don’t want that to happen again.”

  And I didn’t want to rely on Easton to settle me, to help me control what I had within me. Because that wasn’t going to happen. After all, he wasn’t mine. I needed to do it on my own. It was my power. My responsibility. No one else’s.

  Wyn searched my face for a moment and then gave me a tight nod. “Okay. We can do that. Let’s go to that training area that the boys saw before. Do you want to be alone? Or do you want more people with you?”

  I thought about being alone, and how maybe that would be better for me, to hide inside myself and just forget everything that was happening around me. But I needed to be stronger than that. And I needed others to help me with my Wielding.

  That was what I needed the others for. Nothing more. Nothing less.

  “Anyone who wants to join is fine. I could use other’s Wieldings to see what I need to do. After all, I don’t know anyone else with three elements.”

  Wyn shook her head. “I don’t think they exist. At least not on the surface or out in the open. We’re not supposed to have the elements of more than just one kingdom, after all.”

  At that statement, Wyn walked away. I followed her, wanting to do something.

  Because if I did something, I wouldn’t focus on what I was feeling. Or the fact that I wasn’t feeling much. There was an ache inside me, a hollowness.

  Maybe if I could focus on fighting and training, it wouldn’t feel like I was breaking inside. Because I didn’t like that. I didn’t like who I became when I dwelled on the thoughts of who didn’t want me, who wasn’t my soulmate.

  I had spent the first eighteen years of my life not realizing that there were even such things.

  Now, I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about them.

  The area where the guys had found a training ring was surrounded by tall trees and waterfall fixtures. It wasn’t the same type of greenery that I had seen in the Earth territory. Instead, it was just foliage and greenery that happened when there was a lot of water present.

  Plus, every single rock formation or manmade statue had some sort of water feature.

  On the ground surrounding the ring were glass rocks that shined in the light with a thousand different blues and greens. Topazes, aquamarines, every single gem that shined azure under the sun. I swore a couple of them were priceless sapphires.

  It was all just so striking. So dazzling.

  And yet, it surrounded a place where we would be fighting—and possibly breaking the ground with our Earth Wielding.

  Since I wasn’t sure there had ever been an Earth Wielder to practice here, I was a little afraid what we might do to the terrain.

  The others didn’t seem to have that concern, though. Arwin and Teagan were already training, with Arwin using his Earth Wielding gently, not wanting to break anything around us. Teagan used his Fire Wielding on top of it. What interested me most, though, was that Luken was there, using his sword and Air Wielding like before.

  It had been so long since I last saw him use his Wielding, but it was still amazing to watch.

  He had his golden hair tied back in a leather strap, and he grinned and laughed as Teagan shot his Fire Wielding towards him.

  Luken rolled across the ground, using his shoulder to take the brunt of the impact before coming back and using his sword to direct his Air Wielding towards Teagan.

  The two of them trained as if they had worked together before, but I didn’t think they had. They were both just really good at what they were—first lieutenants to their powerful kings and leaders.

  When I stepped closer to Luken, however, I noticed that there wasn’t as much light in his eyes as there used to be.

  There was a sadness there instead, and I knew who it had to be about.

  “She’s okay then?” he asked in lieu of a greeting.

  “She’s herself…but with some differences.”

  He gave me a tight nod. “I’ve never heard of that happening, but Rosamond says that’s the way it’s supposed to be. I just hate when prophecies and shit is like that. You know what I mean?”

  “I know exactly what you mean.” I gave him a look, and he laughed, this time with a little more mirth.

  “I wish you could’ve come, but then again, it might have been a little weird.”

  “I’ve been watching her for a year, it is a little weird. But it’s like she’s still with me. I just hate it sometimes, too. Not that she’s actually by my side at the moment since she’s safe where she is right now, but she’s also not the same.”

  Luken opened his arms, and I stepped into him for a hug, inhaling his light scent. I couldn’t remember if I had ever hugged him before or if we had even touched for anything but sparring. But it just reminded me of what had happened last year. It made me recall the fact that he was my friend, even if we didn’t know each other all that well.

  Others had started to come into the training area, but I didn’t care.

  Everything was falling apart around me, and I was struggling to keep up, but I had to remember that I wasn’t alone in this. I wasn’t alone in trying to get everything in order.

  Luken had lost Brae as well, and I had a feeling they had been soulmates. I wouldn’t ask, that’d likely be too hard for both of us.

  But Luken had lost her, and he hadn’t seen her since she turned to ash.

  So now, we would hold each other, if only just for the moment.

  I knew the guys had walked into the circle as soon as they took their first step into it.

  I knew it was Rhodes behind me, standing with Easton.

  It seemed I would always know.

  And maybe that should bother me, but it seemed to be my lot in life.

  I would get over it. I’d gotten over a lot of things already.

  I had to finish saving the world or whatever was needed of me. After, maybe I could save myself.


  I pulled away from Luken, gave him a small nod, and then rolled my shoulders back.

  “I suppose I need to start training again.”

  “We’ve got this, Lyric,” Wyn said, brushing past Rhodes.

  For some reason, she kept glaring at him, and I had no idea why.

  Maybe it was because he had hurt me before, or perhaps it was for a whole different reason. Everybody was just on edge, and nobody was really getting along outside of their small little cliques.

  It felt so weird to have Rhodes and Luken and Rosamond on one side of the training ring, and Easton, Arwin, Teagan, and Wyn on the other.

  It was as if both of my worlds had come together, and I had no idea what to do with it. I stood in the middle of them, a product of both kingdoms, even though I hadn’t known that until recently.

  Maybe this was the first step. Perhaps this was what I needed to do to unite the realm.

  If I could bring together two factions of it, two sets of my friends, maybe that would be the first step.

  Or maybe we would all just yell at each other, and I would end up breaking apart from not being able to control my Wielding.

  Either way, I would have to figure it out.

  “I’m going to start with Air since that was the first element I unlocked,” I said. “And then Earth. And then Water.”

  “I’ll help,” Rhodes said, taking a step forward. Wyn stepped in front of him, shaking her head. “Let’s see what she can do on her own while we work in pairs, shall we?” she snapped and then turned her back to Rhodes.

  “Don’t fight. I’m not in the mood.”

  I hadn’t even realized I’d said the words until Easton took a step forward, his hand outstretched.

  I looked up at him and frowned. What was going on in that mind of his?

  What was going on in mine?

  “Ready?” he asked. I nodded, turning away from him and just focusing on me.

  We all started training. I started first with Luken and Rhodes as I tried to direct my Air Wielding.

  “You’re much better than you were a year ago,” Luken murmured.

  “I’ve been training.”

  “With the Obscurité?” Rhodes asked. There wasn’t venom in his voice, but Easton still glared.

  “Some. But also in the human realm. I haven’t just been sitting on my thumbs for the past year.”

  “I never thought you were.” He said the words softly and then slid out his hands, the air around us twirling in soft caresses against our skin.

  I smiled at that, remembering the first time he’d learned that move. And then I joined him, allowing my Air Wielding to breathe.

  It was like coming home, the power within me settling.

  I could feel the other two elements fighting to come out, and they would, but I had to learn to control it.

  I had to.

  Arwin and Wyn came up then, both of them holding their hands out to their sides. They slid their palms to the front and grinned, and the earth below us began to shake. Just small tremors, not enough to break anything, but enough. It was amazing.

  I put my hands out in front of me, as well, both of them outstretched and parallel to the ground, and then I turned my palms up to face the sky.

  Both of them smiled widely at me as a sheer mist of soil slowly rose from the ground. I let my Air Wielding slide under it, letting it shake just enough to make waves in the air.

  Earth Wielding could be brutal, powerful, and heavy. But it could also be delicate.

  Easton took a couple of steps forward, looked at me, and then snapped his fingers. With one snap, the funnel that I had begun to make broke apart into a hundred smaller funnels. I let out a shocking breath.

  I shook my head and then slammed my hands together in front of me, bringing the power back. The hundreds of vortexes moved back into one before settling on the ground again.

  The others watched, every single person in the group a friend of mine on some level. I had never practiced that move before with Easton, but I had been learning. And he had wanted to show the others what I could do.

  And then Rhodes was at his side, one hand out, cupped in the air.

  “Are you ready?” he asked. I wasn’t sure I could answer.

  Slowly, the water from the fountains around us started to come closer, a small wave like a tiny little air dragon filled with water coming towards us. I held out my hand, cupped it towards the sky, and hoped it would be enough.

  “We don’t know what type of Water Wielding you have, but these are the basics. Just feel it like you do with Air. It’s fluid, part of you. Don’t fight it.”

  I nodded, but then the Water Wielding within me slammed against my skin, and I could feel it slowly drowning me. My lungs filled, and I coughed up a whatever could spill out of my throat. Rhodes’ eyes widened, and he took a step forward.

  But it was too late. The water that I had been helping him hold hit the ground suddenly, and the Earth Wielding that was beneath that fractured, creating a huge crevice down the center of the training circle. Arwin and Wyn both fell to their knees, having been caught in the mayhem. I let out a shocked breath, slamming my palms down to my sides. It sucked all of the Wielding that I had let out right back into me. I choked again.

  “Stop it,” Easton snapped, putting his hands on either side of my face. “Don’t do this to yourself. Let it out, just…slowly. Don’t pull it back in. You aren’t hurting anyone but yourself.”

  “What’s happening?” Rhodes asked. “What’s going on with her?”

  “I can’t,” I whispered, water coming out of my ears and my nose and even out of my eyes. I knew they weren’t tears, but it felt like them.

  “You can do this. Just imagine it settling peacefully within you. You’re scared, and it’s coming out in your Wielding.”

  “Lyric—” Rhodes said and then cut himself off. He seemed to know what was happening and came to stand beside Easton, putting his hands on my back so the three of us were touching, close. Finally, I could breathe. And I hated the fact that I had to rely on them to figure this out. I needed to figure this out on my own.

  And as I fell to the ground, my knees aching from the impact, Rhodes and Easton let me go but went to their knees at my sides.

  The others were watching, and I was so scared.

  Because I was supposed to be the Spirit Priestess.

  I was supposed to be the one to unite the kingdoms into one realm that was no longer fractured. But I couldn’t even bring together the Wielding within myself.

  What was I supposed to do when I gained the other two elements?

  When I hurt everyone that I cared about because I couldn’t control it? Or would I just die myself?

  I didn’t have a chance to worry about that though, because as soon as I looked up, Rosamond was running towards us, her eyes wide.

  “It’s Mother, Rhodes. She passed out. Dad needs us.” Her skin was pale, her hair in disarray around her face.

  I swallowed hard and let Easton help me to my feet before pushing him away. I ran after Rhodes just as the others did. I couldn’t focus on anything else, because I could see the pain in my friends’ faces.

  Something was wrong with the lady, and I didn’t have time to focus on my own failings right now.

  “You need to go,” the Lord of Water barked at his son as soon as we entered the throne room. “Your mother…this is it. This is the time. We tried to help her. But this is it. You need to get her parents. We’ve sent word, but you need to be the one to get them.”

  I took a step back, and Wyn put her arm around my waist as we stood there, watching Rhodes go stiff as he looked at his father.

  “What’s wrong with my mother?”

  “You know she’s weak. She passed out. She’s not going to last much longer. She needs her mother and father. You need to go.”

  “Send someone else. Don’t make me leave her.”

  “Your sister will be here. And if you’re fast, you’ll make it, too. You know your ro
le. Make it happen.” Durin looked over Rhodes’ shoulder and narrowed his eyes at us. He looked so different than he had at dinner, but then again, I didn’t really know him. “Go with him, all of you. You can see the Air territory while you’re there. Our family needs time. And you should find your final elements, shouldn’t you, Priestess?”

  “We will make sure Rhodes gets to where he needs to go,” Easton said, and then I remembered that no one knew that he was the King of Obscurité and not just an Obscurité Wielder. He was a king who had just lost his mother and was now watching Rhodes about to lose his.

  I didn’t know how to help. I didn’t know how to do anything. But if Rhodes needed me at his side, I would be there.

  I didn’t know what else to do.

  “Good day,” Durin whispered and then ran off down the hallway where I assumed he was going to his wife’s side.

  Rosamond stood there, her face pale, her eyes wide. “I can’t See.”

  “What do you mean, Rosamond?” Rhodes asked.

  “I know it’s hard to See my own fate, and that of yours and our parents. But I didn’t See this. Something’s wrong. You need to get our grandparents. They’ll know what to do. You know Grandma has more power than I do. Get her. Maybe she can help.” Tears slid down Rose’s face, and Rhodes took the two steps between them to hug her close. “I’ll get them. Just make sure she stays strong. Okay?”

  I turned away, not wanting to intrude on the private sibling moment, but I was so afraid of what was going to happen next. Because all of this seemed off.

  We were going to leave the Water territory and head into the Air territory. All to get the Lord and Lady of Air, Rhodes’ grandparents.

  Even as I knew that this was important, I couldn’t help but wonder why we were being pushed away.

  And what would happen when we came back.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  It wasn’t long until we found ourselves once again on the ship traversing the Water territory. I didn’t know if any of those at the Water Estate had access to the kinds of magic and portals that Easton had in the Obscurité Court, but I hadn’t asked. I was more afraid that if we even dared to try it, we would break the crystal more than it already was. No one had mentioned the Lumière crystal, nor had they really talked about the court.