Lost Tides: Elemental Seekers Series

by H. M. Sandlin

  “Yes, I do. Thanks. You didn’t have to wait for me.”

  “I know, but I figured you could probably use a friend after saying bye to your parents.”

  I looked sideways at him, and he blushed. “What?” he asked defensively.

  “Nothing,” I laughed, and we both hurried to class so we wouldn’t get in trouble for being late.

  Classes went by quickly, and the day was over before I knew it. I slept in until almost noon and slowly got ready for the day. I had no idea what the students did here on weekends and was hoping to run into Abby. I looked into the empty library. The halls seemed to be deserted too. I started to walk around the school, hoping to find out where everyone was.

  I looked into all the open doors in the common areas but couldn’t find more than a couple of kids, so I started walking through the hallways where classes were held. When I checked all the rooms and still couldn’t find anyone, I decided to go see Mrs. Sullivan. Maybe something was going on that everyone forgot to tell me about.

  “Your extra lessons are going to be on Saturday and Sunday mornings,” Mrs. Sullivan told me when I went to her office.

  “What time?” I asked, dreading the answer. I guess I wouldn’t be sleeping in anymore.

  “Eight-thirty,” she told me. Yep, I wouldn’t be sleeping in, I thought sadly. “You need to make sure that no one finds out what you are doing. Most of the kids are already on their way into town by that time, so it won’t be as hard to be secretive, but there are still a few around and some teachers that you need to avoid.”

  “But what about my friends? They will wonder where I am if I keep disappearing.”

  “Richard and Tider will know. They each take an early morning class too. I am sending you to the same teacher at the same time as them. That way people will think you are all hanging out.”

  “But what about Abby?”

  “Abby usually goes to town, but you can tell her what you are doing, so she doesn’t worry about you. Tomorrow you can go to class with Tider. Your teacher will be Mr. Connor, and you will get to choose which element you want to work on. Either air or water. On Saturdays, you will work with Mr. Merrem and Richard on either fire or earth.”

  “Thanks, Mrs. Sullivan,”

  I headed down to the library and looked around. I found a book on the prophecy and pulled it out. It was very unassuming, considering this might be why my life was being torn apart. It looked like any other book, and when I opened it, I could tell that it was only a few years old. I grabbed a few more books and headed towards the small couch by the fireplace.

  Theses books might have some of the answers. If I could prove I wasn’t a part of the prophecy, then they would leave me alone. I had to figure out how to do that. I started to read the book, but something caught my eye. On the top shelf of the bookcase closest to me, I thought I saw a bright light, but it was gone in an instant. I walked over to the bookcase, trying to find what caused the flash of light, but I didn’t see anything.

  As I turned back towards the couch, I saw the flash of light again. This time I reached my hand up to the very top of the bookshelf and felt the corner of something. I wiggled my fingers around until I could grab it and pull it out. It was a book, but it was different. It was leather and covered in weird symbols and letters. It looked incredibly old and fragile.

  I opened the book and saw more symbols on the first page. I flipped through the book seeing page after page of symbols I couldn’t read. I went to put the book down, wondering why there would be a book in a weird language sitting on the top corner of a bookcase. I picked the book back up. Maybe other people could read this, and I just hadn’t been taught how to yet. I would have to ask my friends.

  I started flipping through the pages carefully, trying to spot anything I could read. Towards the end of the book, I finally saw writing in the book margins. There were symbols in the margins with words next to them. It looked like a key to reading it. I looked closer at the margins on all the pages and slowly found even more words.

  I got up and looked around the library for some paper and a pencil. I spotted some on a desk on the other side of the room. I hurried over and grabbed a few sheets before heading back to my spot. I wrote down the letters and their corresponding symbols, making sure I had the entire alphabet copied down.

  Then I opened the book to the first page. This was going to take me a lot longer than one day, I thought to myself. Slowly, I worked my way through the title. All it said was Dark Rising. When I read it, an image of my nightmare flashed through my mind. I moved on to the first paragraph and translated the first sentence. On this day, we the ageless prophets have prophesied the ending of our world.

  I put down my paper and pencil and stared at the words, feeling a shiver crawl down my spine. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know the prophecy anymore, but I had to learn it if I was ever going to prove it wasn’t about me. I decided to take the book with me so I could work on it in my room. I put the other books away and grabbed my stuff.

  I folded the paper and shoved it into my pocket. I had finished the rest of the paragraph and the next page. I went up to my room to wait for Abby to get back and sat on my bed, thinking about what I had learned. The part I had translated talked about the coming of the darkness like it was a living thing. Saying it would take over everything and everyone until there was no life left on the planet. So far, it didn’t say anything about how to stop it.

  While I waited for Abby, I continued to translate the book. The page I was working on looked different than the first page. It looked more like a poem than a paragraph, and I was hoping it would have more information. By the time I finished translating the poem, it was getting dark out. I sat back on my bed, looking at the poem in a panic. No wonder they were after me. They would go after anyone my age who was just getting their powers or showed any sign of their power getting a lot stronger. I read the prophecy to myself again.

  On this day we the ageless prophets have prophesied the ending of our world:

  One who is wise though their years are few

  Will awaken the elements to when they were true

  And the worlds in between will awaken soon

  After the power is bestowed on you

  If they choose dark, the world will be destroyed

  But if light is chosen the world won’t fall into void

  Many will fall to dark’s endless ways

  But a few will stay strong for the coming days

  Under the land on an isle green

  The water sprites help if they are seen

  Above the clouds where cold winds blow

  The sylphs are waiting to help those below

  Where fire touches a sky so blue

  The drakos are waiting to save a few

  But underground bad dryads wait

  Except for one who seals alls fate

  Friends will help though may be lost

  Look around, or you’ll pay the cost

  All powers together will fight the dark

  And seal him away in void’s pure mark

  I wasn’t sure what to make of the whole prophecy, but the first line was easy to understand. It meant a person who is young enough not to be an adult, but who is old enough not to be a kid. I was hoping the rest of the book explained the whole prophecy because there had to be a way to prove it wasn’t about me.

  I read through the prophecy again but still couldn’t find anything to say it wasn’t me. I would need to translate the rest of the book until I could understand everything about it. I was sure I would find something to help me. While I was trying to figure it out, I remembered the paper that had been on my pillow. Find the water sprites. The prophecy talked about finding them too. That couldn’t be a coincidence, could it?

  Someone else thought I was the person in the prophecy, or they wouldn’t have sent me that note. I hid the papers I had written on under my bed, and then headed down to the common rooms to see what everyone was up to.

  As I got closer, I
could hear a lot of talking and laughing. As I walked into the room, I was confronted with a group of kids led by Sean and a girl named Sasha, circling around two younger kids.

  They were pushing them around and laughing like it was super funny.

  “You don’t even know how to use what little power you have,” Sasha laughed at the girl. “How do you think you could ever help the magical community?”

  “They can’t,” Sean sneered. “They will never be useful. You should run back home to your mommies. You will never be accepted into our community. Go home and live like a non-magical person until you are old enough to serve us.”

  “Why would we serve you?” the boy whimpered as someone else pushed him.

  “You will serve us one day. That’s what non-magical people are for. Their place is to do as we say.” He stepped up to the kid and pushed him in the chest. The boy fell, and the girl rushed to his side.

  “Leave us alone,” she cried.

  I had seen enough and couldn’t stand the sight of these kids picking on the two smallest. There had to be at least eight kids in the crowd cheering on Sean and Sasha. I walked over to the table and stood on a chair.

  “I think we have all heard enough,” I yelled, getting everyone’s attention. “Leave them alone.”

  “What if we don’t want to?” asked Sasha. “Will you make us? You haven’t shown any true potential for magic yet, so I doubt you can stop us.”

  “I can stop you without magic, Sasha,” I told her angrily.

  She laughed and threw her hands out with a blast of fire magic. A small ball of fire sailed towards my head, and I ducked to the side to avoid it. I didn’t want to use my magic unless I had to. Otherwise, everyone might realize how powerful my magic could be. Sasha threw another fireball. I jumped behind a couch to dodge it and heard Sasha swear when she failed to hit me. I saw the two kids they were picking on slip away while no one was watching. Now it was just them and me.

  Sean stepped in, and a small tornado formed in front of him. He sent it hurtling my way as Sasha threw more fireballs at me. I scrambled over the couch, trying to reach the hall, when a wall of kids formed in front of me, blocking my escape. I ran directly towards the tornado, falling to my stomach and sliding under it before it hit me. I had to use a small amount of air to keep from being ripped off the floor as I was going under it, but I didn’t think anyone would notice.

  Most of these kids only knew how to use brute force with their magic. Sean didn’t strike me as the kind of person who would ever be subtle. Neither did Sasha. I kept running straight towards Sean now that I had passed the tornado. When I was close enough, I punched him directly in the gut. His tornado failed as the wind left his lungs. He leaned over, gasping for breath, and I turned to Sasha. She created a wall of fire in front of her that I wouldn’t be able to cross. I walked around her wall, searching for a weak spot.

  As I was about to use air to create one, I heard Sean trying to sneak up on me. When I sensed him directly behind me, I whirled and punched him in the gut again, but he was ready and had his arm out to defend himself. He backed me up until the flames were almost touching me and then brought his hands out in front of him to blast me with his power.

  I was going to have to use my powers on him and hope no one noticed what powers I used. I raised my hands to counter Sean when all of a sudden, the flames went out, and a whirlwind of air flew around us, holding everyone in place. I saw Richard on the far side of the room near the hall. He did something, and the air bands around me loosened and.

  I ran to Richard’s side and waited to see what he was going to do. After a minute, when he still hadn’t moved, I placed my hand on his arm and got the same shock as the day Tider had knocked me over into Richard. I kept my arm on him, and he turned to look at me. I could feel a tingling in my hand, and I closed my eyes to see if there was something going on that I couldn’t see.

  With my eyes closed, I could see the amount of magic Richard was using. The whole room was filled with his bright blue powers and blue coils wrapped around everyone keeping them from moving or speaking. I couldn’t imagine the amount of energy he was using to sustain the magic.

  Where my hand laid on his arm, silver tendrils of magic floated from me and twirled around his arm, slowly snaking their way around him. As my magic flowed around him, parts of it moved up to his hands, where it entwined with the magic he was sending out into the room.

  Silver streaks started to fly through the room and into the blue coils that held everyone in place. As soon as I could see silver colors in each person’s air bindings, I opened my eyes and looked back at Richard. He seemed more relaxed than a few moments ago.

  “What in the world is going on here,” came a yell from behind Richard.

  “Sorry, Mrs. Sullivan,” Richard said. “I came into this room to find Sean and Sasha trying to hurt Sally. They were using magic against her, even though she didn’t use any, and everyone knows she doesn’t know how to defend herself yet. Their friends were blocking her from escaping, so I figured I had better step in before someone got hurt. I’m glad you are here. I’m exhausted.”

  Richard didn’t look exhausted, but I guessed that he didn’t want the other kids to know he was able to use that much magic without being worn out.

  Mrs. Sullivan looked around the room and then back at me, “I’m not sure what happened here, but because you used magic for fighting, Sasha and Sean, you will get detention. I’m very disappointed in you two, and I hope this will be the last time that there are any issues.”

  “What about Richard? He used his powers?” Sasha said.

  “Richard was trying to stop all of you from doing something that would get you in more trouble. You should be thanking him for interfering. Now, I want everyone to go about their business, and if I hear of any more problems from you, there will be no trips to town over the holidays.” Mrs. Sullivan turned on her heel and marched back down the hallway.

  Richard walked over and put his arm around me. I leaned my head against his shoulder. “Why does it shock us when we touch while using magic?”

  “I’m not sure what’s going on,” Richard said. “I do know that I was getting tired when I was using the bands of magic to hold everyone in place. Then you came up and put your hand on my arm, and I could feel your magic mixing with mine. Suddenly it wasn’t hard to hold on to that amount of power. I think your magic stabilized mine, making it easier for me to use.”

  “I wonder if that only happens to us or if it would happen to anyone I touch.”

  “We will have to ask Abby to use her powers and see what happens when you touch her. That would be a power I’ve never heard of before and could come in handy during a fight. Before you use it too much, we need to test it out and see what exactly it does and what the limits of it are.”

  He asked about the rest of my day. I told him about the prophecy and that I was translating it.

  “Everyone knows there is a prophecy, but no one has seen the full thing. I don’t think anyone knew there was another book on it in the library.”

  Chapter Eleven

  “Richard, is there any way to make a safe place for us to talk?” I asked him at dinner that night.

  “Yes, I have been working on something specifically for that purpose but haven’t tried it out yet. We can try it tomorrow,” he suggested.

  “What’s going on tomorrow?” Abby asked.

  “Sally is going to watch me practice in the morning. It might help her get the hang of her magic faster,” he lied in case someone was spying on us.

  “I think we should call it a night,” Tider said. We all agreed and headed to bed. I continued working on the translation and finished a few more pages before getting into bed. I thought about what I had learned as I tried to fall asleep.

  The person in the prophecy would have to find the elementals. I wasn’t sure how they would do that since the elementals were not allowed to have contact with humans. I fell asleep thinking about how to find them and
had the strangest dream.

  The water sprite I had rescued during the test was hovering in front of me saying something. I tried listening to what she was saying, but I couldn’t understand. She pointed at my hands, and I looked down to see the prophecy book in them. She pointed at the book again, and I held it out to her.

  She flipped it open and pointed at a symbol and another one and another. I still had no idea what she was doing, but I recognized a few of the letters she pointed to and tried to put them together in my head. Eventually, I got a word. Study.

  “Study what?” I asked her.

  She tilted her head at me and then pointed to the book I had found in the library.

  “You want me to study the prophecy?” I asked.

  She shook her head and pointed at a bunch of the letters and symbols.

  “You want me to study this language?”

  She shook her head yes.

  “Why?” I asked her.

  She put her hands on her hips and started talking again and pointing at me.

  “Ok, ok. I’m sorry. I will study it. Then you can tell me what you need from me.”

  The water sprite nodded and flew around my head for a second before taking off into the sky. As she disappeared, I woke up. I quickly got up to check and make sure the prophecy book was still under my bed and felt better once I saw it. I looked at the clock. Only five in the morning.

  I wasn’t sure I would be able to go back to sleep, so I started translating more of the book. I’m not sure why I felt the need to listen to my dream, but it couldn’t hurt to know the language that the water sprite was speaking. Maybe one day, I would actually use it.

  I kept at it for a while and then left to find Richard so we could go to my extra class.

  “Did you bring the translation?”

  I pulled the sheets of paper I had written everything down on out of my pocket. “This is everything I have translated so far.” Richard stopped and read them.

  “You are making good progress. When are you finding the time to do it?”