Elemental Hunger

by Elana Johnson

  When it finally ended, I stood alone. The wind had died. The pelting rain swallowed the moans and wails of those dying around me until they turned silent.

  I knelt in the middle of the smoking wilderness, my eyes fixated on the one person I needed most.

  His navy Council robes were covered in soot, completely soaked by the unrelenting rain.

  His eyes were closed. His mouth gaped open. He bled. He burned.

  Hanai was dead.

  The full moon shone behind a veil of clouds. I stood in the shadows of a pine forest, watching the world burn. Someone stepped next to me. I didn’t look away from the crimson glow on the horizon.

  “Gabriella, you must let go,” a man said, sounding like Chief Tavar. He couldn’t be here, hundreds of miles from the Outcast settlement.

  I didn’t answer, unable to entertain my hallucinations. I held a firm grip on emptiness, and I didn’t know how to let go. I had no teachers, no friends, no home. Yet the pangs of loneliness didn’t stir in my heart.

  Maybe I didn’t have a heart anymore.

  The sharp snap of water on crackling flames dulled my senses. I was burning but I didn’t care. It didn’t hurt.

  In fact, I felt nothing. And see, feeling nothing at all was worse than feeling too much.

  “Let go,” Chief Tavar said again, but I couldn’t even blink. I stared at Hanai, wishing he would move. Surely he would get up any minute, that playful glint in his eye telling me my soul was revealing too much.

  He didn’t.

  His death hurt so, so much. The emptiness expanded inside my chest. A stabbing pain started behind my neck, eating its way into my head and down my shoulders.

  The air became too thick to breathe. I gasped now, sucking huge lungfuls of air that couldn’t quench my need for oxygen. The emptiness, the useless emptiness, spread, infiltrating all my limbs. Black spots pressed into my vision. They crowded my view of Hanai, and I wiped a smoking hand across my eyes.

  Struggling for breath, saturated with rain and with the engulfing nothingness filling my entire body, I stood up.

  Alex lay crumpled on the burnt ground next to me. She didn’t move, except for the panting rise and fall of her chest. Her robes held only a slight singe, but blood crawled from her nose and mouth. Her survival didn’t seem fair.

  I raised my hand, ready to smother her in willing flames. I couldn’t. Feeling nothing at all had ruined everything. The void had swallowed my rage.

  Bodies littered the ground. Adam lay where he’d fallen earlier, his clothing layered with ash, but not a lick of fire had touched him.

  The vehicle sat on the ground, fans silent, fierce scorch marks along the windowed roof.

  A sudden, wild thought drove me forward. I stumbled toward Hanai, tripping over the man next to him. I’d heard him chant; I could heal him.

  His body still felt warm. I pulled him into the vehicle, out of the rain. With his head in my lap, I chanted. He’d held his hands in a specific place, but I didn’t know where to put mine. So I stroked his hair while I murmured the words of his native language.

  I didn’t know how long I held him. No one came. No one woke. No one, no one, no one.

  The chanting hadn’t worked, and now I just rocked him. Back and forth. Back and forth. The rain had cried itself out. I wished I could. My legs grew stiff and my back ached. The clouds parted and the sun peeked through. My eye caught a silver glint. A pin.

  On Adam’s Council robes.

  My fire had long since extinguished, and with that spark of silver, it ignited inside again. Leaning down, I kissed Hanai on the forehead and whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

  Adam lay on the ground, his breath coming in shallow wisps. His torn shirt revealed his chest where the snaking sentry tattoo marred his flesh. The sight of those lines—a mark that would never go away—broke the dam inside. I bent over him and sobbed.

  When I couldn’t shed another tear, I took a deep breath, cleared away the infernal tears and slid my arm under Adam’s back.

  Fact: He weighed a ton.

  Somehow, I managed to heave him to the vehicle. He coughed as I laid him across the seat. “Our…Council…prison.” He went limp again.

  The whole front panel of the vehicle contained only confusion. I ran my hands along the sides of the steering column, beyond grateful when my fingers brushed something.

  A key. I twisted hard, and the fans roared to life. The vehicle lifted, a cushion of air separating us from the ground. I had no idea how to drive. While I fumbled with various knobs and felt some pedals at my feet, a beep blared from Adam’s pocket.

  A garbled voice.

  I snatched the black box from his pocket.

  “…Come in, Alex…. Adam?” Felix’s voice contaminated my ears, even through the device.

  A long silence followed. I looked out the front windshield and found Alex staring at me. She’d managed to raise herself to a sitting position. The rain continued to fall, creating a misty curtain between us, but the hatred in her eyes penetrated the space, the rain, the glass. A slow crawl of blood moved over her cheek as she raised her hand to her mouth.

  Another beep filled the vehicle. “Alex here. I’m down.” Her voice echoed with effort. “Send medics after you kill the Watermaiden and Earthmover.”

  “I’ll send them now,” Felix responded. “Position?”

  “No!” Alex barked, and I almost dropped the device from the dose of anger in her voice. “Kill them…first.” She coughed, a wet hacking sound from deep in her chest. “About five miles north of the city.”

  “Copy location,” Felix said. “I’m on my way to the Enforcement Office.”

  A deadly beep signaled the end of the conversation.

  At least I knew where to find my friends—and Felix.

  I gripped the steering wheel with both hands. The fans idled. We sat there, silent and unmoving.

  “Adam?”

  He didn’t answer. At least his breath continued to whistle in and out of his mouth. So did Alex’s. She hadn’t moved, which meant she was still staring at me.

  My shoulders sagged. My feet relaxed against the floor. The fans roared.

  I jerked my head up, looking out the windshield. Alex’s eyes had closed, as if she’d fallen asleep. I lowered my right foot to the floor. Fans: Screaming.

  I lifted my foot and tried the other pedal. The fans settled into their usual rhythm. I pressed the right pedal again. The blazing vehicle remained stationary, despite the fans blowing full force.

  Alex opened her eyes the next time I tried the pedal. Our eyes met. An unusually long moment of silence passed.

  She raised her hand. In it, something black glinted.

  I shoved up the door and leaped from the vehicle.

  “Felix—”

  I snatched the device before she could finish her sentence. She moaned, blood flowing freely from her nose now. Her chest heaved with the effort it took for her to breathe.

  After I returned to the vehicle, my frustration returned. I banged both hands to the wheel. A lever jumped.

  I yanked on it and jammed my foot on the right pedal. The vehicle shot forward, throwing both Adam and Hanai around. Adam groaned.

  Hanai did not.

  Alex’s body lay limp in the charred grasses. I couldn’t tell if she was breathing or not. Hot tears stung my eyes. I seized on the warmth and used it to fuel my resolve. I hit something that felt very much like a soft body as I twisted the vehicle toward Tarpulin. I managed to keep the vehicle on a straight path toward the gaping northern gates. The five miles passed in mere minutes.

  No one looked at me as I bounced through the gates and into the city.

  Tarpulin was at least three times the size of Crylon. Luckily, the narrow streets were straight as spokes, all directed toward the tall buildings in the center of the city.

  A few minutes later, I emerged into a large open square lined with shops and high-rises. One of them, made entirely of white stones, stretched into the clouds. Th
e Supremist’s fortress.

  I saw very few people in the streets. I probably should’ve seen Elementals in their brightly colored silks, or shoppers ducking down side streets, carrying bags and baskets. With so little activity, a sense of fear permeated the air.

  I eased into the square, wondering if I could drive anywhere on the cement surface. I did, and the first people I’d encountered pulled their hoods closer to their faces and walked faster. I quickly lowered the window. “Excuse me,” I said, but it came out more like a bark.

  They took two steps back, eyeing the two bodies next to me.

  “Enforcement Office?” I asked.

  One woman raised her hand to her mouth, probably because of the rancid scent of my breath. It smelled like brimstone, even to me. The other pointed a shaky finger to her right. “One block down. Left another block. You’ll need an entrance permit.”

  I nodded my thanks so I wouldn’t have to breathe fire on them again. I didn’t have a permit, but I wasn’t playing by the rules.

  As I rounded the corner, I saw Felix limping up the steps of a two-story building at the end of the block. I pressed the pedal to the floor, and the vehicle shot forward.

  He turned, surprise coloring his cheeks. When he saw me coming, he scrambled up the last of the steps and through the door, which banged shut behind him.

  The vehicle had barely stopped before I flew up the stairs after him.

  Door: Locked.

  Like that stopped me. I simply lit it on fire and kicked until the flaming wood gave way. I stepped through the burning wreckage.

  The Enforcement Office held row after row of metal desks, beyond which lay a barred wall that extended in both directions. Behind the bars, people wearing ragged colored robes stood as if one person. Incarcerated Elementals. I clenched my teeth to keep from shouting obscenities.

  The sentries closest to me stood. Their mouths hung open in identical expressions of shock.

  “Sit,” I barked.

  They sat, which allowed me a view of the only man I was looking for.

  Felix leaned against a desk in the rear of the room, gesturing madly with his hands. A sentry handed him a key.

  “No!” I ran down the aisle, spikes of fire dripping from my hands. “No!”

  He turned slowly, that key clutched in his filthy fist.

  “Release these Elementals,” I said, slowing now that I’d closed the distance between us. He took a step to his right and I mirrored him with a step to my left. “Someone better get over here with the keys to these cells,” I yelled. I snapped my fingers and sent a spiral of fire to the ceiling. “Now.”

  I didn’t take my eyes off Felix, but I could sense the way the other sentries looked to him for direction. He smiled, like he enjoyed seeing me in a rage.

  All stayed still—until the kiss of metal met the tender skin on my neck. “You’re not welcome here, Firemaker,” a deep voice said.

  Without hesitation, I threw my elbow up, knocking the knife away from my vital arteries. I tossed flames in the face of the sentry who’d come up behind me. “I don’t care if I’m welcome or not,” I hissed. “I need keys to this cell.” I scanned the room, where a dozen sentries gazed back at me with emotionless expressions. I couldn’t see their knives, but I knew they all had them.

  “I will burn this building to the ground,” I threatened. “With all of you inside—if I don’t get the keys in the next ten seconds.” I fisted my hands as they burst into flames. I felt just crazy enough to do exactly as I had said.

  Thunks echoed through the silence as keys hit the floor. “You.” I pointed to the sentry who had given Felix the key. “Get them all. Open the cells. Now.”

  The sentry did as I instructed, without waiting for Felix’s permission. As the Elementals came out of their cells, they moved to stand behind me. My heart pumped, pumped hard in my chest until I saw Isaiah’s bald head and blind eyes. He supported Cat, who limped beside him, her dress a ragged mess of ripped fabric.

  “Isaiah,” I said. “Cat.” I ran my fingers along her forehead, smoothing her hair out of her face. Her right eye bore the shadow of someone’s fist. Something in my mind snapped, and I struggled against unleashing everything I had right then and there.

  “Everyone needs to get out of here.” I spoke in a quiet, controlled voice that sounded as crazed as I felt. “Isaiah, take Cat outside.” I ignored the scraping noises behind me. Pounding feet signaled the flight of the sentries and Elementals. At least I wouldn’t have unwanted casualties this time.

  Because I could already feel the storm brewing inside. The fire responded, encouraging the frustration, the fury, the injustice, to ignite into something more.

  A reason.

  I worked up the saliva—and the courage—to say his name. “Felix.” The word scraped across my tongue.

  He smiled as if in slow motion, plastering his angular face with mock joviality. I thought of Adam, unconscious in the vehicle. I thought of Jarvis, and a river of flames rose behind my eyes. I thought of Hanai, and smoke curled from my fists.

  “Gabriella.” He spoke a challenge in that one word.

  I strode toward him, something he clearly wasn’t expecting. He shuffled back, meeting the bars behind him.

  I punched him right in his foul mouth. He recoiled and caught my fist on the next swing.

  “Don’t touch me,” I growled, my hatred escalating into a terrible cloud of smoke. “You’re a filthy, disgusting—”

  “I wouldn’t finish that if I were you.” Felix twisted my wrist, sending a hot pain to my shoulder.

  “You set that fire! You ruined Adam. You killed Jarvis.”

  Felix twisted harder, and I bent my arm behind my back. He pulled me into his body. My skin blazed with discomfort, with fear.

  “I didn’t set that fire. Adam ruined himself. And Alex took that boy and used him all up. What else have you got?” His breath grazed my neck, much too close.

  “You told Jarvis to set the fire.”

  “Mmm, true.” His lips brushed my earlobe. “That Firemaker knew how to obey. How to beg.”

  I screamed and tried to twist away. I almost made it, but his fingers tightened along my arm. “Oh, come on, Gabby. Your boyfriend Jarvis pleaded with me to let you live.” He kissed my neck. His other hand came around and planted itself against my stomach, effectively trapping my other arm against my side. “He got what he wanted.”

  Every trapped, caged-in feeling I’d ever had surfaced. The crushing hands of despair pressed against my chest, through my ribs. They clutched my heart and squeezed, squeezed until I couldn’t breathe against the confining walls.

  I reached out, expecting to feel the barrier there, the one that held me captive.

  I felt nothing.

  With Felix’s disgusting mouth on my skin, the scent of him choking in my throat, I realized something. The walls had never been there.

  I’d been caging myself all this time.

  “Let me go.” My voice hardly sounded like my own.

  He answered by stroking his tongue along my ear.

  I freed one hand and balled it into a fist. With a grunt, I swung up and back, meeting Felix’s nose in a crack of bone. He released me, and I called on my fire.

  Blood flowed down his face. He lunged forward, gripping the collar of my robes. His blood dripped onto my cheek as he glared down at me.

  With his mouth a breath away, I said, “Don’t touch me again.”

  He paused, and I exhaled, pushing my breath out as hard as I could. Flames sang from my lips and formed a halo around Felix’s neck.

  He slapped at them, trying to get away but meeting the prison bars. I took two stumbling steps back as blisters formed and popped. The flesh melted, giving way to blood. To his credit, he didn’t scream until crimson stained his shoulders.

  Then he begged. I raised one hand in slow motion and pulled the fire back into my body. A fierce rushing sound painted over all other noise.

  Felix cradled his face, tears m
ixing with the gore. I didn’t look away. I’d hurt him badly, but I couldn’t feel anything.

  He glared, a definite glint of murder in his gaze. He lunged forward, his hands stretched toward me. “I’ll hunt you to the ends of the earth. I’ll—”

  I pressed both hands forward and two barbs of flame erupted. His clothes caught the fire, and they blazed merrily while Felix screamed.

  The flames danced along the wooden floor, excited to be together. The papers on the desk smoked and burst into bright orange fire. I stepped through it and left the Enforcement Office, unable to endure Felix’s anguish, but entirely unwilling to stop it.

  Davison met me at the vehicle, beyond late. His mouth worked, but no sound came out. At least three dozen freed Elementals formed a tight group behind me, and together we faced Davison.

  “I did what you wanted.” Smoke poured out of the office behind me. Concern didn’t register on my emotional scale.

  “What in the blazes happened?” His eyes flicked from mine to the door of the Enforcement Office, to the swarm of Elementals, to the two people in the vehicle.

  “I lured Alex out to the plains.” I still hadn’t looked fully into his eyes. I knew what I’d find there. Loathing. “Just like you asked.”

  “She’s dead. I left my sentries to search for anyone alive.” Davison sounded beyond furious. “You burned a lot of acreage.”

  “My Airmaster needs medical attention,” I said.

  “Why is that building burning?”

  I finally looked up, right into his fiery eyes. “Because I lit it on fire.”

  “Are there people inside?”

  The image of Felix’s cruel sneer rose in my mind. “Define ‘people.’”

  Davison turned, already gesturing. “Susanna, Donella, Olivia—if you would, please. Search for survivors.”

  None of the Watermaidens would look at me as they passed. I didn’t understand why Davison bothered. “He won’t survive.”

  “This is not what Councilmen do,” he said.

  “Oh, right,” I said. “I should’ve sent my Unmanifested or my sentries to kill all those people.” As soon as the words escaped, they floated in my ears, repeating and reorganizing into I kill people.