Richard headed towards shore, and I nodded at Tider. We both took a deep breath and went under. I called my magic to me and forced it to create a small wave around my feet to push me forward. I also made sure it flowed easily away from me, so it wouldn’t blur my vision. I moved farther up the coast looking for any signs of a cave but found nothing. The water was starting to get more powerful the farther I went, but I didn’t want to stop.
I used a little bit of air magic to make a bubble of air for me to breath and continued forward. Soon the water was pulling at me from all directions, but I still didn’t find anything. After a few more minutes, I finally came to the surface. I swam farther than I intended. I could barely see Richard and Gary waving at me. I headed in, and Gary told us it was time to head back if we wanted to be at the haven in time for dinner. I was so focused on finding the cave I hadn’t realized how much time had passed.
When we got back, we each went to our rooms to change and met back at my parent’s room.
“We made a big dinner since we figured your friends would be with you,” Mom said. I looked around their room again. It was easily twice as big as mine, and theirs had a little kitchen and dining area. It was more like an apartment than a room.
We all sat at the table and waited for Mom to bring the food in. I tried to help her, but she wouldn’t let me, so I sat down and listened to Dad, Richard, and Tider talk. I was surprised to hear them talking about some sort of sport that was played in the magical community. I had no idea what it was, but they all seemed excited by it.
The more I listened, the more it sounded similar to the practicals we had to do at school. I wasn’t sure that would be much fun, but I didn’t interrupt them to say anything. I enjoyed watching my dad talk to them about magic. Even if he didn’t have any, he was still learning a lot about it.
After dinner, I pulled the jar of sand out of my backpack and put it next to the fireplace.
“I’m going to try to make your gift now,” I told my parents. “Make sure I don’t light the whole place on fire,” I told Tider and Richard. I was a little nervous about using magic in front of my parents, but I really wanted to see their reactions.
I sat down and started a fire in the fireplace, willing it to get hotter and hotter but not too big. Once it was hot enough, I emptied the sand out and used air to scoop it all up and hold it over the fire. It immediately started to melt, and I continued using air to form the shape of a glass ball with the melted sand. Once it was as good as I could get it, I let the fire die but kept the glass ball in the air so it would cool. I grabbed it and turned to my parents.
“Here, this is for you, for Christmas. Now you have something that I made for you with my new powers,” I smiled at them.
At first, they just stared at me. Then my mom rushed forward to give me a giant hug. My dad was right behind her.
“We are so proud of you, Sally. Instead of being upset about all the changes in your life, you are embracing them and trying to do your very best. This is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. We will put it right here on the mantle so we can see it every day,” my mom said.
“Thanks, Mom,” I said, “but you can’t tell anyone I made it. No one knows I have fire or air magic.”
“We won’t, Sally,” my dad assured me.
I was exhausted after making their gift, and Tider and Richard could tell. They told my parents we were all tired from the hike, and we quickly said our goodbyes. I made plans to meet Richard and Tider the next morning, and my parents said they would see us at dinner again. Dad said he would let Gary know to pick us up around nine.
In the morning, we got in Gary’s car and headed back towards the bay, looking for signs of anyone following us. We didn’t see anything, and soon Gary was parking. I was still tired from yesterday, but I grabbed my bag and started the hike right away. I wanted as much time as possible at the bay.
We all knew the way, so the hike went much faster and easier. I stopped at the lake again and couldn’t help but be stunned by its beauty. I could almost feel the magic of the bay here at the lake. I went to dip my hand in, but a noise pulled my attention away. Richard was staring out at the ocean, and I turned to see what was bothering him. At the shore, a group of friends were playing soccer and running up and down the beach. Two golden retrievers ran with them.
“Shoot,” I said. It would be hard to search for the entrance with them watching. I wouldn’t be able to use my magic, and I didn’t think I could get deep enough without it.
“What do we do?” whispered Tider, making sure Gary didn’t hear.
“I’m not sure. I guess we will have to try to search without magic and hope they leave soon.”
“Ok,” he didn’t look convinced.
Richard walked back to us, “We can try to get them to leave. I can use my magic to make it a little windy, maybe that will work.”
Richard raised his hands slightly, and a breeze slid past me. Slowly Richard’s power built up, and the breeze turned into light gusts of wind. I watched as one of the boys on the beach chased after his hat that the wind had stolen.
Quickly they packed up their things and headed up the hill towards us.
We watched until they were out of sight, and Richard let the wind die down.
“Why are you trying to get them to leave?” Gary questioned us.
“We want a little peace and quiet. I would rather not have a bunch of other people around either, in case the Pulhu do find me here. Those other kids shouldn’t be caught up in it. They could get hurt.”
“I hope the Pulhu don’t come after you here,” Gary said. He looked out at the bay and then started walking towards the ruins.
“We are going swimming again,” I told Gary.
He frowned, “I thought you might want to go look at the ruins this time since we didn’t have a chance yesterday.”
“I do, but I don’t get much of a chance to swim anymore, so I want to swim first.”
“Tomorrow, if you want to go swimming, there is a beach much closer, or you can use the pool. It’s heated. The water in the bay at this time of year is freezing.”
“I know, but it’s invigorating. You should try it sometime.”
“I think I’ll pass. I think the three of you are a little crazy.”
We laughed and jumped into the water. I swam quickly towards the area I had been searching yesterday and dived down, using my magic to look for the entrance. Tider searched the other side, but after an hour we still hadn’t found anything. Richard searched the center but gave up and headed towards shore. Tider and I followed shortly after. Richard grabbed a towel for me to dry off and started a fire again, but I was so disappointed I barely even noticed the cold. We had searched everywhere and still hadn’t found it. I looked at my friends and shook my head
“I think it’s time to head back.”
“I thought you wanted to see the ruins?” Gary said.
“Oh yeah, as soon as we dry off,” I told him. I didn’t want him getting suspicious, and I really did want to see the ruins.
Gary pointed towards the ruins, “These settlements have been here a long time. They are from regular nonmagical people, but long before them, this area was filled with elementals. We don’t know why they left, but you can feel their magic. Many people have searched the area for any sign of them, but there is nothing left standing. There isn’t a single building left that they made. Not even any ruins. It’s one of the greatest mysteries of this place.”
As we got closer, I could feel the magic. It was a small tingling across my skin. After we looked through the ruins, we walked back to the car and drove towards the haven. When we got back, we each went to our separate rooms to relax before dinner. I hadn’t made it more than a step into my room before I heard my name being called from across the hall. I turned and couldn’t stop my grin, “Abby, what are you doing here? I thought you were spending the holiday with your dad.”
Abby looked down, “Change of plans,” she said.
> She didn’t raise her head right away, which worried me. I grabbed her hand and dragged her towards the chair in my room.
“What’s wrong?” I asked her. “What happened?”
“The Pulhu,” she said. “They wanted information about you,” she whispered, “I’m sorry I had to tell them, or they would have hurt me.” She started to cry.
“It’s ok, Abby. As long as you didn’t get hurt. We can deal with whatever they know.”
“I didn’t tell them everything. Just where you are, which they already knew, but they wanted confirmation. And that your control over air is very good.”
“They didn’t ask about anything else, so I didn’t say anything,” she sniffled.
“Don’t worry, Abby. We’ll get the jerks that did this to you. Do you know who they were?”
“Yeah, Mr. Damon was the one who had me taken. I don’t know much about him except he’s at the top Pulhu, and he’s terrifying.”
“How did they get you? I thought you were with your dad.”
“I was. Sean and his mother helped. You know how Dad is around her. This time I think they went too far. Dad seems to know something is wrong. That’s why we are here. He doesn’t really remember them taking me, but he said he has some blurry images. He’s worried, so he brought me here, and he came too. He’s not seeing her anymore until he figures out what is wrong. The council is going to try to help him. They said it’s a spell, but they don’t know how to fix it.”
“It’s going to be all right, Abby. We will find a way for them to fix your dad. As long as he is here, you will be safe.”
“That’s just it, Sally. We won’t be safe. I told them you are here, so they will come for you, and me and Dad too,” she started sobbing. I felt my heart clench and knew that I needed to help her. All of this was because the Pulhu wanted me, and I didn’t know how to fix it.
“I’m sorry, Abby. This is my fault,” I started to say.
Abby cut in, “This isn’t your fault. This is because of the Pulhu and their power-hungry leaders. You did nothing wrong, and you certainly don’t deserve everything you’ve been through. You can’t take the blame for this, Sally.”
I knew she was right, but I still shook my head. I didn’t like that they were willing to hurt my friends.
“We need Tider and Richard here. They need to know what’s going on.”
“They’re here?” she asked.
“Yep. They came to keep an eye on me and to help out.”
Her eyes suddenly got brighter, “Did you find it? Can we go there? Does anyone still live there?”
“Slow down, Abbs. We haven’t found it yet. I’m positive it’s at the beach where we have been looking, but we can’t find the entrance. We have searched everywhere,” my shoulders slumped.
“We’ll figure it out. We still have a week until we need to head back to school.”
“You’re right,” I said. “Let’s go find the guys and head to my parents. We are meeting them for dinner if you want to join us.”
“Of course I do. I’m not sure I want to spend much time around my dad right now,” she said, a shadow crossing her eyes. I wished I could take that look away. Maybe a day out tomorrow would be good. I would have to talk to Gary.
Tider and Richard were surprised to see Abby at dinner and asked a ton of questions about why she was here, but she was reluctant to tell them. Eventually, they stopped asking, but they knew something was wrong. Tider pulled me aside at one point to ask what happened, but I told him she would tell him when she was ready. After that, we enjoyed the rest of the evening and decided to call it a night after dinner. We agreed to meet up first thing in the morning to go out again.
Chapter Sixteen
“Can we go to town today?” I asked Gary the next morning, “There’s someone I want to see.” I told them about the man I had met on the plane and how he knew a lot about archaeological sights. “It’s something I’m really interested in if you guys don’t mind going.”
I was also hoping that he might have an old book or document that could help us out. Archaeologists always had old stuff, and he might have a lot of old stuff from this area. There had to be something. I was sure it was at that beach.
“I’m ok with it,” said Richard.
“Me too. I wouldn’t mind going into town for a little bit,” said Tider.
“Same here,” said Abby.
“Ok,” said Gary, “but you have to do what I tell you. If anything bad happens, we can’t use a lot of magic. There are regular people in town, and we don’t want them knowing about us.”
“Ok,” we all agreed.
As we were driving, I noticed Gary looking at his mirror a lot and questioned him. “What’s going on? You seem a little jumpy.”
“I want to be extra careful. I thought I saw someone following us, but they turned off, and I haven’t seen anything else for a while now.”
Gary pulled into town and parked right outside of a shop called Ancient Beginnings. We all walked inside the shop. It was crammed with boxes and shelves pushed up against every wall. There wasn’t an inch of unused space in the place. In the center were scrolls, pots, cloth, and even little fragments of bone. I gave a quick shudder.
“I’ll be right up to help you,” called a voice from the back of the shop.
I looked around at everything while we waited for him to come up front. I was looking for maps or books when he finally came out to greet us.
“Hi,” he said. “Sally, you came, and you brought friends.” He smiled at me. “I hope they are as interested as you are in ancient things.”
“Maybe not as much,” I smiled back, “It’s great to see you again.”
“You too. Why don’t I make a pot of tea for everyone, and you can tell me what you are looking for?”
“I’m going to wait out front and keep an eye on things,” Gary said, moving towards the door after checking around the shop to make sure we were alone.
“Ok,” I told him.
Chet ushered us into the back room where a couch and a few comfy chairs sat around a coffee table. He put out cups for everyone to use and poured steaming water in them. Once everyone was seated with a cup of tea in their hands, he looked at me. “What are you looking for? I can tell that you aren’t here to talk about what I’m researching.”
I squirmed in my chair. I didn’t know how to ask for information on the entrance to the water elementals palace without sounding like an idiot. “I’m not really sure, I’m looking for information on a myth.”
“Sounds like an interesting story goes with this request.”
“Not really,” I tried to sound like this was a normal everyday thing for me.
He laughed and then raised his hand, fire encircling his whole arm. He met my eyes before letting the fire die. “I know what you are, and I’m here to help you if you let me. I have a feeling I know who you are and what you want already, but I need to be sure first.”
I jumped up and started looking around panicked. Why had this man invited me here, was he part of the Pulhu? Were they coming to get me right now? My friends jumped up too, and each had their hands out, ready to do battle with whatever came at us.
“Calm down, children. I can see that you have had some troubles along the way and are scared of me. It’s ok. I’m not planning on hurting you though I do have a favor to ask if you are the ones I’m thinking of.”
When nothing else happened after a minute, I started to relax and lower my hands, “How do you know who I am?”
“I know only your first name from the plane, Sally. I think I know what you are because a few months ago I went to a seer and she told me that this day would come. She said a young lady would come to my door in Ireland with a group of friends asking for help in finding a lost palace. If I could help her, I would find my grandson again. I have spent every extra minute of my time learning about every lost city, especially in this area, waiting for this moment.”
We all looked on in stunned silence.
>
“I really am sorry I scared you. I just want to find my grandson, and I was so excited that you were here.”
I took a deep breath and then released it. Everything this man said seemed genuine. I looked at Tider, and he nodded his head. Chet wasn’t lying. We needed his help, and he thought we could help him too. I didn’t know how, but we would do our best.
“I am looking for a lost palace,” I told him. “I’m pretty sure I know where it is, but I can’t get in.”
“Are you talking about the water elementals?”
“Yes,” I responded, excited that he knew what I needed.
“It’s at Annagh bay,” he told me. My heart dropped. I already knew that.
“Yes, but where? I can’t find the entrance anywhere, and we have looked. There is no cave or door, or even a ledge to swim onto to check.”
“Have you looked in the lake?”
“The lake?” I repeated.
“Yes, in the lake,” he got up and pulled a book down from a shelf. “Here,” he said, rifling through the pages. “This is an ancient book that someone wrote about the city. The information was passed down from father to son after the shadow king forbid the elementals from communicating with humans. The humans hoped that they would one day go back to the palace, and they didn’t want to forget where it was, so they made up stories about it.”
“Why isn’t this in any of the books I read?” I asked.
“They didn’t write anything down for many generations for fear that the shadow king would find out and destroy them like he did to their cities. Almost all magic users were destroyed by the shadow king, and no more magic was allowed to be given to humanity. It says you had to go through the lake next to the bay to access the door. A special key was worn by any who wanted to enter.”
“A key? Where would I get a key? I don’t even know what it looks like?”
“I think I can help you there,” Chet grinned at me. “Try this. I found two of them when I was up there last time.” He handed me a bracelet with a small Celtic knot on it. “My grandson took the other one. Hopefully, you can save him.”
Lost Tides: Elemental Seekers Series Page 18