by Quinn Loftis
“You are to guard this mortal. No demon gets near her. If anything happens to her, or she leaves my realm, I will strip you of your titles, your power, and your wings, and I will feed you to the level-six souls.”
The demi-lords nodded and then took up sentry next to the burning mortal. They didn’t ask questions about her or even show surprise at his request … which was why they were demi-lords and why the other idiots who questioned him were not.
Now, Osiris just needed to wait to hear from the Beast and Crescious. His day was looking up. Perhaps he needed more burning mortals and young kings to visit him. He chuckled as he appeared back in his throne room and sat down with a satisfied sigh. Yes, things were definitely looking up.
4
Elias watched as Dhara stood as still as a stone and silent as the grave. Her eyes were closed. It was obvious she was concentrating hard on whatever memories she’d gained from Alaric.
Elias couldn’t believe that royal elementals were missing, and to top it off, the royal elementals had, for lack of a better term, forgotten the soul bonded and how important they were. How had the dark elementals had the power to remove something so vital from their history? And what had caused the divisions among the light elementals three centuries ago? So many questions, and yet Elias wondered if there would be enough time to find the answers they needed and fight back against the dark ones. One thing was for sure. If they didn’t learn from their past, they were destined to repeat it. Human history had proven that time and time again.
“Do you think Ra is okay?” Tara whispered.
Elias could feel her worry over her friend and her fear that Ra wouldn’t be able to rescue Shelly.
“I have faith in Ra,” he said. “If anyone can get Shelly out of the underworld, it’s him.”
Elias would have gone after Tara’s best friend himself if he could. He would do anything to take Tara’s pain away. The intensity of the bond between them grew every second they were together, and with every touch, he felt himself becoming more a part of her and she of him.
Tara’s hand tightened on his, and he noticed her eyes had moved back to where Dhara stood. When he looked at the elemental queen of earth, her eyes were opened and glowing a vibrant green. The ground beneath their feet began to shake, and thunder rumbled outside the mountain.
“The kings and queens of the light elementals have ruled for too long,” she said, though the voice was not her own. It was deep, dark, and full of malice.
“Don’t destroy all the archives.” She spoke again, only this time her voice was that of Master Alaric. “You’ve taken enough,” she said in Alaric's voice.
“I have not,” the dark voice replied, “and I will not have taken enough until they no longer rule over us as though they were gods. We are tired of being oppressed, hunted, and murdered. We are tired of living in the shadows. It is time the dark elementals had a say in the world of men.
“From this night forward, the royal elementals of light will no longer remember the soul bonded because from this night forward there shall be no more. The knowledge of the soul bonded will be bound to you alone, Alaric. You are oathbound to never speak of it. If you break this oath, you shall lose your soul.”
Dhara paused and then spoke in Alaric’s voice. “How can you do this? How do you possess power over the light?” Her eyes turned black as her head slowly rotated, and she looked at the man who had asked that question three centuries ago. “Didn’t you know? Though the light may pierce the darkness, darkness can snuff out the light. Darkness can be so absolute that not even a sliver of light may show. Gather enough darkness and the light will eventually fade.” The earth queen’s eyes suddenly returned to their usual green and she started to collapse, but the other royals were there to catch her. They carried her over to a long couch that was part of a sitting area to the right of where the group stood. Gently, they sat her down, and she leaned on the arm of the couch, her forehead resting in her hand as she shook.
Iterra unfolded the blanket that had rested on the back of the sofa and wrapped it around Dhara’s shoulder.
“Can you tell us anything more?” Nasima asked.
“I just need a second,” Dhara said. Her voice was weak with exhaustion, as if she’d just climbed a mountain. Her skin had an ashen color to it.
“Is she all right?” Tara asked.
“It is the cost of the magic,” Alaric answered. “It will weaken her. And the more she tells us, the weaker she will become. The fact that her mate is not here is only going to make it harder on her.”
“We need to know who performed the binding spell on Alaric and how they managed to affect all of us,” Aviur said as his lips thinned.
Elias glanced around the room at each of the royals and noted the subtle ticks of cheeks, the narrowing of eyes, and the clenched jaws. They were obviously shaken up over what they’d just heard. How had this happened? Elias had sort of thought the royals were untouchable. But they weren’t gods or a form of deity. They were granted their power by God and Mother Earth, whom He created. Obviously, with half of them missing, they weren’t as untouchable as Elias had believed.
Dhara finally looked up. She seemed to have collected herself, though she still appeared very weary. “The magic used was the combined forces of each dark elemental.”
“So, it’s true,” Kairi whispered. “They really are working together.”
The earth queen nodded. “It was the dark fire king who performed the spell. He was the one who helped the acolytes get in and out of the archives undetected, well, except here at Terra. I don’t think they were expecting Alaric to be there.”
“I worked late that night,” Alaric confirmed. “It wasn’t a usual night for me to stay late and the students in those days knew that.”
“How did the light elementalists get turned to dark acolytes?” Liam asked. “I thought once you made your choice to be one or the other, it was a done deal.”
Nasima shook her head. “There is only one type of elementalist that cannot be swayed to the dark.”
“Let me guess.” Liam smirked. “Does it rhyme with troll conded?”
Elias rolled his eyes. “Conded is not a word, wanker.”
“Says who?”
“Use it in a sentence,” Elias challenged.
“The only thing worse than being bonded to a chick is being conded by a chick.”
Tara snorted. “That was just bad. Like, cheesy bad, not even funny bad.”
The water elementalist didn’t seem offended in the least. He simply grinned and winked at her.
“You are correct, Liam,” Kiari said, interrupting Elias and Liam’s banter. “It is the soul bonded who are safe from ever going dark.”
“Am I the only one who feels like we are starring in a dystopian TV miniseries?” Tara muttered. “Going dark, soul bonded, dark forces trying to bring about the end of mankind as we know it.”
“Don’t forget being conded. That one is the real kicker,” Liam added in a completely serious tone.
Elias wondered, not for the first time, why on earth they hadn’t pushed Liam off a cliff by now.
“What else can you tell us?” Nasima asked, clearly not interested in anything the students had to say, which Elias completely understood because once Liam got started, it was hard to shut him down.
“I’m not exactly sure how the spell worked,” Dhara explained. “I just saw it as a memory from Alaric’s point of view. The only reason I know it took all of the dark elementals to concoct the magic is because I could feel each of their magic within the mass of smoke. The dark fire king had disguised himself so that Alaric could not tell who it was.”
“I still don’t see how their magic would have stripped us of knowledge … or whatever it is they did.” Aviur growled. “There has to be something we’re missing.”
Tara didn’t know if she should say anything or not, considering she’d been in this world less than a day. But she’d never been particularly good at holding her tongue when
she should. “Aren’t there other magical beings in the world besides the elementals?”
Every head in the room turned to look at her, and she wondered if she looked like a cartoon character as she silently blinked, staring back at them.
“I mean… It seems, you know, that there would be other things that had magic, too,” she said, stumbling along under the scrutiny of so many people who knew much more than she did.
It was Alaric who finally answered her. “There are,” he said as he wrung his hands nervously. After watching how jittery the guy was, Tara decided he needed something more than retirement because it had done nothing to make him stress-free. And wasn’t that what retirement was for?
“There is power beyond what the elementals hold,” he continued. “I guess some might call it magic, but it is really spiritual power from ancient demons that are summoned by those who think to control them and use their power as their own.”
“Are we talking Lord of the Rings demons as in ‘You shall not pass’?” Tara asked. She started to chew on her bottom lip. For some reason, ancient demons seemed much more ominous than dark elementals.
“Why do you get the cool chick as your soul bonded?” Liam whined. “She knows fantasy movies, dude. That’s not even your kind of thing.”
Tara’s eyes widened as she looked up at Elias, the whole ancient demon thing momentarily forgotten. “You don’t like Lord of the Rings?”
Elias glared at Liam over her shoulder. “Thanks, you git.” He looked back down at her. “I like it just fine. I’m just more of a Star Wars kind of nerd and not so much of a hobbit nerd. The point is, we are obviously both nerds in some way. Isn’t that what matters?”
“I think it was the ancient demons and unknown spells that matter,” Aston said without an ounce of sarcasm.
The dude was serious about staying on task, Tara thought as she turned back to Alaric. She and Elias would revisit his lack of hobbit love later. “My question stands,” she said to the retired Master.
“I have read the books, so I know of the demon you speak of. Yes, this is similar to that, only the demon here uses the one who summons it as a conduit.”
“So they become a puppet for the demon?” Tara asked.
“In a way. The demon can actually inhabit the body, or it can simply control the mind without invading the body,” Alaric explained.
“The dark elementals wouldn’t have been able to use demon power unless they used a human,” Aston said.
“Why?” Tara asked.
“Because elementals can’t summon demons,” he said. “Only humans can summon the evil ones from the underworld.”
“But elementals can travel to the underworld?” Tara asked.
Aston nodded. “Only fire elementals or elementalists. Though their fire is different than that of hell’s, they are much more resilient to hell’s heat and fire than the rest of us.”
Tara tilted her head slightly as she took in the air elementalist. His eyes showed sharp intelligence, and it was obvious he was very knowledgeable. “How do you know so much?” she asked.
“He’s the brains of the foursome,” Liam answered. “I’m the eye candy,” he said with a wink.
Tara smirked.
“If you wink at her one more time, I’m going to rip your eyes from your head,” Elias said through gritted teeth.
“Don’t take your insecurities out on me, mate,” Liam chided. “It’s not my fault you have bad taste in nerd culture.”
“Where would the dark elementals find a human to use to summon a demon?” Tara asked, interrupting whatever Elias had been about to shoot back at Liam. Tara had decided the water elementalist had a death wish.
“A witch or a warlock,” Dhara answered before Aston could.
“Okay then … so … witches and warlocks are real.” Tara said.
The earth queen shrugged as she leaned more heavily on the arm of the couch. “The practitioners believe they wield elemental magic because they call on the elements, but a witch or warlock’s magic only comes from one source, and it isn’t of the earthly realm.”
Aviur shifted restlessly. Tara noticed that Nasima and Kairi looked worried as they watched Dhara.
“The animosity that has brewed between us for the past three centuries makes more sense now. Just getting us all together to agree to hunt the dark elementals had taken months,” the earth queen said. “If the dark elementals used demon magic to affect us because it is evil by its very nature, it would pull on the darkest parts of us.”
Kairi nodded. “That does make sense. The demon power feeds on negativity. Any little thing from jealousy to bitterness feeds it.”
“Not only are our mates missing, but we also have dark elementals working together, and they are using witches or warlocks, or some combination, to consort with demons,” Nasima said.
“Things just keep getting better and better,” Jax said.
Tara noticed that the headmasters and headmistresses had been very quiet throughout the entire conversation. They occasionally nodded, but mostly they just listened.
“Terrick,” Dhara said, and the Terra academy headmaster stepped forward.
“Your majesty?”
“I think it is time that you and the other headmasters and headmistresses figure out a way to bring your students together. They should be training and learning together. I’m not saying they all have to reside under the same roof. But if we want to have a chance against the dark elementals, we have to join forces.”
“We agree,” Serena, the headmistress of Hydro Academy, said and her mate Marcus nodded.
“As do we,” Jeremiah, the Crimson Academy headmaster said.
“Tempest Academy will cooperate fully in any joint effort to train our students,” Callum added.
Dhara smiled, though she still looked very tired. “I had no doubt you all would step up to the challenge. As for us…” She looked over at the king and queens. “We need to find out more about what the dark royals are up to and locate the coven they are using.”
“That was three centuries ago,” Tara said. “Aren’t those humans long dead?”
“Yes,” replied the earth queen. “But covens are often carried on through bloodlines, which means the elementals could have some sort of contract with a witch or warlock family. As one dies out, the next one in the generation would take their place in the agreement.”
“Wow.” Tara sighed. “That sucks.”
“Pretty much sums up this entire meeting,” Liam agreed, and the others in the room nodded.
Aviur walked over to Dhara and helped her up. “Let us get you home to rest this night. Your mate is going to cause an earthquake when he finds out what you have done,” he said. “Tomorrow, we can begin our search for the covens, and maybe it will shed light on what has happened to all our mates.” In a sudden rush of flames, he and Dhara were gone.
Nasima and Kairi were next, each using their own element to open an exit portal.
Once they were gone, the room suddenly erupted into a clamor of voices and movement. Tara watched as the headmasters and mistresses began speaking with the professors, somehow all talking and listening at once. Liam and Aston came over and stood close to her and Elias.
“Looks like we’re finally going to get what we’ve wanted,” Liam said with a big grin.
“If they had listened to us two years ago, they might have learned this information sooner,” Aston pointed out.
“What do you mean?” Tara asked him.
Aston turned those hazel eyes on her. “Elias, myself, Liam, and Ra knew from the first time we all hung out that we were stronger together. We’ve been practicing wielding our power together for the past two years. When we tried to tell our professors, they wouldn’t listen.”
“The sad thing,” Elias added, “is that they couldn’t even really give us reasons for not working together. There was just such a strong sense of division between them.”
“The demon magic,” Aston said. “I wonder if the knowl
edge of it has somehow taken the power of it away.”
Tara leaned into Elias’s side. Her brain had absorbed a lot of information since they’d arrived in the room a couple of hours ago, and all of the excitement had finally caught up with her. Her stomach suddenly growled loudly, and all three guys looked at her.
She could feel the blush rising up her face. She shrugged. “A girl’s gotta eat.”
Elias chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “Let’s feed you then.”
“I could eat,” Liam said as he followed them.
“No one invited you,” Elias grumbled.
“What if I promise not to flirt with your female?”
“I find it very interesting how territorial you are of her,” Aston said.
“No flirting and no analyzing,” Elias barked as he tugged her along beside him.
“He’s grumpier than usual,” Liam said.
“I would have thought having a female would put him in a better mood.”
“I read a lot,” Aston began.
Elias and Liam groaned at the same time. Aston just continued as if he hadn’t heard them. “Though this is fiction, it might apply to Elias. There’s a book about these werewolves, right? And the ones who have soul mates, when they find their mate, seem to become more volatile initially before they’ve actually completed their bond.”
“This isn’t a book,” Elias growled. “Don’t compare me to a werewolf.”
“If the paw fits,” Tara mumbled.
“Please don’t encourage them, luv,” Elias said as he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.