Elemental Awakening Book Bundle

by Nicola Claire

  My whole life I'd been trained for this moment and never knew it was coming.

  My hand found my mouth, covering the sad horror of realisation as it slipped through my lips in a groaned sigh. My grandfather knew about the Athanatos. Knew about Ekmetalleftis. Knew what I would become.

  I felt my knees buckle and the ground rush up to meet me. Gramps took several quick steps towards me, hand outstretched, but when he saw whatever was on my face, stopped in his tracks. He looked in pain, regret tracing the only lines I'd probably ever see on his handsome face.

  "You're an Alchemist," I accused, and watched as his head slowly nodded. Oh, sweet hell. This was just not fair.

  No one should have to confront the reality of their loved one betraying them to such a degree. I wasn't sure how to swallow this bitter pill. It was choking me, killing me slowly. Destroying what little solace I had left in memories.

  "Go away," I blurted, unthinking, uncaring right now. The pain of deception stabbing me right through the chest. "Just leave," I ordered, my voice rising. "How could you do this?!" I shouted, my hands digging into dirt at my sides, the ground in the dreamscape rolling and rumbling to life.

  My grandfather looked shocked, his eyes scanning the surroundings and then flicking back to me with mounting surprise.

  "Casey, sweetheart," he begged. "You need guidance. Until we reach you, I cannot visit again. It takes an Awakening to allow this to happen. Your next Awakening may not be for months."

  "Reach me?" I cried, staring daggers at the man I had once loved so deeply, trusted so much. "You've already reached me. Noah the Doctor got me out of that hell hole, no thanks to your little group of power hungry mortals allowing me to be there in the first place. Because," I added sarcastically, "it was for the greater good!"

  "Oh, sweetheart," he murmured. "There is much at stake."

  "No!" I shouted, and with a wave of my hand made the wood in the bonfire explode.

  Sending searing hot, flaming charcoal down all around my grandfather. His image wavered as he made a sound of shock mixed with pain, and then the dreamscape followed suit... and exploded.

  I woke up sweating, panting for breath, and trying to get my bearings. I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach.

  And the hits just kept coming, didn't they?

  Chapter Eight

  So Much Said In One Simple Word

  I had loaded the fire with more wood before I fell asleep for a second time. Making sure Fire was present in the clearing the Earth had led me to, combining its strength to help keep me hidden. I should have been able to sleep soundly, knowing I was safe. The Gi might be able to commandeer my Earth, but they couldn't touch my Pyrkagia. I was a stronger enemy now, but I had one enormous failing.

  I was an emotional wreck.

  Three months imprisoned had nothing on the turmoil of spinning feelings vying for attention inside my head and heart. Theo was alive. I couldn't even begin to assimilate that knowledge without tears streaming down my cheeks. I kept going back to the Hederin hallucinations Davos had subjected me to. How real they felt. How I thought I was seeing what had transpired after my sentience was stolen on the Gi Rigas' command.

  For three months it had been a truth, and I was finding it surprisingly difficult to accept what had happened last night as real.

  Even my grandfather's old words of belief being a tangible thing didn't help. All they did was make me relive my bonfire dream.

  Fuck. There was no other word for what I was having to deal with right now. Nothing else could come close. My world had been blown apart before yesterday, but somehow it felt like it had detonated all over again last night. Explosive, shattering, shocking, violent in its consequences. My mind couldn't take much more, and even the numbness of sleep didn't help.

  I tossed and turned, and before the sun rose I was up and staring blindly into the flames of the fire. Drawn to it, probably because of my Stoicheio, but all I could think, as my eyes kept swinging back to the licking yellow-red glow, was once-thought-dead Theo had talked to me through this fire, and my once-thought-dead Alchemist grandfather had stood next to one similar in my dream.

  I let out a wounded sigh, weighted by my confusion. Was Gramps alive and really visiting me in the dreams? I had to assume he was. His body had never been found after the fishing accident. He'd faked his own death. God, another hit.

  I pushed thoughts of Gramps aside. I just couldn't cope with the questions and anger that were festering inside. Instead, as I waited for light to brighten the horizon, I let myself dwell on Theo. Another day and I'd have irrefutable proof that Davos had been an evil, lying, piece-of-shit Gi, with his use of Hederin to make me believe Theo was dead.

  I presumed Theo had already boarded a plane by now, but just in case, I crawled closer to the flames, as close as my face could get without singing eyebrows, and whispered, "Theo?"

  The flames crackled and hissed, flared a little brighter, I was guessing because I'd used some Pyrkagia Stoicheio, and then changed in pitch.

  "Miss Eden," Aktor replied through the fire. "Is everything all right?"

  A wash of conflicting sensations swept through me. Happiness at hearing Aktor's sweet, familiar voice. Disappointment that it wasn't Theo who answered my call. Regret that I hadn't stayed up last night and insisted we continue to talk. Guilt that I'd allowed my fear of the truth and cowardice rule my decision to let him go.

  "Aktor," I said on a rush of air. "How are you?"

  He laughed, a small humorous sound. "I am fine, Miss Eden. Are you?"

  "Exhausted," I admitted truthfully. Emotional turmoil can do that to you. Not to mention running and fighting for your life.

  "No doubt," the old butler agreed. "But you will keep going, won't you, my dear?"

  "Because there's no other choice?" I offered, knowing exactly how Aktor thought.

  "Because he'll be waiting for you in Manaus, Cassandra."

  A small smile crept onto my face, making my lips twitch unfamiliarly. He was right. Nothing would stop me from reaching Theo.

  "How has he been?" I asked, at length.

  There was a long pause, then Aktor, voice quiet and subdued, replied, "It has been a very difficult time for all involved."

  "Was he hurt badly?"

  "Nothing he couldn't heal physically from."

  There was that distinction again. Fire had told me I would be safe from 'physical' harm. Both my new Stoicheio and Aktor's choice of words were telling.

  "How did the Gi get away?" I asked, settling in to have at least some of my questions answered. "I would have thought the Pyrkagia wouldn't have liked them attacking their Prince."

  "No," Aktor murmured. "We were not amused. But surprisingly the battle that ensued was short lived. As soon as the Gi Rigas had you under control, they attempted to restart the volcanic activity beneath the city. Only to realise they were outnumbered when our Rigas turned up with Alchemists at his side."

  Alchemists siding with Pyrkagia? Just whose side were the Alchemists really on?

  "They abandoned their attacks on Auckland and on Theodoros, for a quick and painless retreat. Unfortunately, our Rigas was not concerned with your safety, Cassandra. I am sorry," he added. "There were many Pyrkagia shocked that Anaisthetikos had been used on you; their long lost Princess."

  A small unamused sound slipped out on that.

  "Yeah, not so much their Princess, I'm afraid. And they knew it."

  "So it seems. But we were not aware of this until last night."

  I frowned. It was obvious Aktor and Theo had been talking about getting information out of Manaus in the first fire I'd heard their voices in. But it hadn't occurred to me that they didn't know the Gi were aware I was not their Princess. I'm not sure why, I just assumed the Gi would have made a fuss about that publicly. Obviously not, as far as the Pyrkagia are concerned, anyway.

  "I thought you guys had spies in amongst the Gi?" I asked.

  "They had been recalled when the battle began. As far as we
knew, the Gi were helping you acclimatise to your new environment. We had no reason to believe you were being mistreated. Even after the Anaisthetikos command. It was decided by the council that the entire episode was particular to the Gi and, as such, expected behaviour."

  "Then why were you and Theo talking about news from Manaus?"

  "Because Theo and myself are, by no means, of the same opinion as the council. He needed to know you were safe, Miss Eden. He was using every contact he had to find out. But our efforts had been blocked at every turn."

  "The Gi," I offered.

  "We suspect so. They like to keep things in house. It has been notoriously difficult to garner intelligence from their village. And now we have no agents in the area at all, we must rely on human allies, which is never foolproof."

  The sun had risen while we'd been talking, and the temperature in the small clearing had begun to climb. Not helped by my proximity to the fire. I was sweating slightly and needed a drink, but I didn't want to stop talking to Aktor, nor did I want to extinguish the flames and be vulnerable to the Gi Guards' detection again.

  Pyrkagia was new to me. I had no idea how I would wield the Stoicheio when not staring into the welcoming glow of flames. I knew Theo did it, he used other forms of heat. Such as passion and anger, and differing human emotions that still, after everything I had been through, made me blush.

  "You should get going, Miss Eden," Aktor said, breaking into my musings. "I should think daylight has arrived by now."

  "What time is it in Auckland?" I asked, starting to prepare myself for the trek ahead; stretching, breathing deeply to settle my nerves.

  "Nearly midnight," Aktor answered, surprising me for a couple of reasons. It was about seven in the morning here and I hadn't got my head around time zone differences.

  "Why have you still got a fire going, Aktor?" I asked.

  "Miss Eden," he chided gently. "I have kept a fire going since we first heard your voice. You are alone in the Amazon rainforest, connected to Pyrkagia somehow, so I will sit by this fire until the master reaches you, in case you need my guidance at any hour."

  Tears welled in my eyes again, however this time the emotion was not laden with heartache, but overflowing with sweet love for this old man, who had simply accepted me in Theo's life from day one.

  "Thank you," I whispered into the flames. They flared briefly. Either from Aktor or from me, I couldn’t tell.

  "Don't thank me, Cassandra. Get to Manaus safely and find Theodoros. He plans to stay on the outskirts of the city, as close to the rainforest as he can get, in a hotel called The Tropical Manaus. If we don't get to talk again before you reach there, a room has been booked under your mother's maiden name from tomorrow onwards, with instructions to allow a bedraggled young woman, meeting your description, access should you arrive before Theodoros does."

  They'd thought of everything. Except how the hell I was going to find the place and walk there barefoot from out of the forest wearing threadbare and filthy cut-of pants and a ripped sheet for a halter-top.

  No one said this was going to be easy, and first I had to evade capture. But, suddenly the idea of having a hot shower and slipping between crisp laundered sheets on a proper bed had me eager to get this show on the road.

  "OK, got it," I said, standing up and stretching for real this time. "I'll try to get back in touch with you this evening when I set up camp. Thanks for everything."

  "You are most welcome, Miss Eden. I wish you the best of luck."

  The fire flared, then settled with its change of pitch, and I sucked in a breath of air in preparation for what I had to do next.

  Delaying for just a moment longer, I asked the Fire, Are there any Gi nearby?

  None, it confirmed, thankfully. They seek you elsewhere.

  Well that was reassuring. And that also meant there was no reason to hang around here. I thanked the Fire and kicked dirt over the flames to make it go out, feeling the distance its absence created between me and my new Stoicheio. It was an unusual feeling. With the Earth, the only time I had felt any distance, which ended up being a complete severance of contact, was when I was in my concrete bunker prison. Otherwise, even when walking on footpaths, or inside a house, I could still feel it somewhere a short distance away. Pot plants helped when indoors, but even with a few feet separation, I could feel the Earth calling.

  Now with the embers of my camp fire extinguished I felt no call to Fire. Strange didn't even cover it. I wondered if it was like this for all Pyrkagia. For Theo. Did he feel cut off at times like this too?

  It was a question that would have to wait. I still had at least a day of trekking ahead of me. For now, with the Fire having helped strengthen my Gi Stoicheio, I could trust any answer the Earth gave regarding direction. As the day progressed though, its guidance would have to be taken with caution, in case Gi Guards or the Basilissa managed to get within commanding distance.

  I thought it best to get a few things out in the open before we set off.

  How quickly can we get to Manaus? I asked, dusting myself off and sucking on a few left over fruits, following that up with a nibble of nuts. I could have done with something more substantial, but my appetite was not one hundred percent, so the trail-mix of sorts would have to do.

  By tomorrow morning, after a rest tonight, the Earth whispered in my mind. We can show you the shortest route.

  Is it safe? I asked.

  For now, it ambiguously replied.

  OK, time to get moving.

  I found a nearby river and had a drink to soothe my throat. It was still so raw from sobbing yesterday, the reminder of why it ached only made it constrict again. I pushed through my topsy-turvy emotions, and washed my hands and face and as much of my body as I could manage, with the dire need to get going blaring inside my head.

  I didn't stop for lunch. I drank when a stream presented itself. I rested for a minute or two when my legs shook so much my cut-offs threatened to fall down my hips. But otherwise I pushed on, and on, and on. Over fallen logs and bypassing ant hills. Under hanging vines which looked like tinsel decorating a Christmas tree. Through natural clearings where animals scurried as I approached. Across water ways, feeling soothed and refreshed and invigorated. Only to be sweaty and dirty again within metres of stepping out on to dry land.

  I listened to the Macaws and tried to find meaning in their different noises. I watched vibrant blue butterflies flit lazily around my head and talked aloud to them, telling myself they understood every word. I stared back at the bulging eyes of a large Amazon Horn Frog, as it camouflaged itself in amongst dead leaves. I picked the odd berry or stone fruit as the Earth presented them to me, more conscious of my energy levels than I was, I think.

  For the last two hours before sunset I was silent and every step was made with an ear out for approaching threats. At some point the Earth had ceased aiding me, other than to urge me in the same direction we seemed to be going all day. Then a tree appeared, which seemed familiar. The same spider's web, that I was sure I'd passed half an hour ago. And finally, a stream I had crossed where small tadpoles had been swimming, and I'd slipped on a moss covered rock, scraping my knee.

  I slipped again in the exact same place, my heart thundering awake and my mind jolting with awareness. I don't how long the Earth had been sending me in circles, but I knew then I'd not been as careful as I had hoped.

  I slowed down on the other side of the stream, coming to a complete halt next to a outcrop of Banyan Trees. My hand rested against one of the multi-layered trunks and I listened. Really listened. To the forest of animals, to the wind in the trees, to the leaves beneath approaching feet.

  I knew I was in danger, but the animals still scurried so for a moment I couldn't trust my instincts. But then it dawned on me, as the Earth let out a saddened sigh, that Gi could control the animals too. And had been. Making me believe the forest around me was bare of threats, as animals are usually the first to scatter upon approaching danger.

  I swore un
der my breath, reached down to the ground and lifted a twig with dried leaves up from its hiding place beneath some bushes, and called on Pyrkagia. Flames burst to life at the top of my makeshift torch, Fire flaring powerfully throughout my body. It still felt like an erotic flush, I was hoping I'd get used to it. Because I moaned before I could stop myself, giving my location away.

  They are here, the Fire said urgently. Head to the right. Run.

  I didn't wait to question my Stoicheio. I took off without a backwards glance and thrashed through the underbush. Adrenaline set its own flames of terror alight inside my veins. My heart pumped unmercifully, making an ache take up residence inside my chest.

  Heavy footfalls sounded out over my harsh breathing, loud enough to let me know the Gi Guards were close. Close enough I could feel the reverberations through the soil beneath my bare feet. They'd been playing with me. Like a cat does a mouse. How long had they watched me go around in circles? How much amusement had they gained at my incompetent attempts to reach Manaus?

  I'd known the Earth could become compromised, yet I had failed to register when my Stoicheio had stopped aiding, but instead started to hinder my escape.

  I knew I was close to the outskirts of Manaus. I'd pushed myself harder than the Earth had anticipated. Its calculations on how long it would take me to reach the city had been inaccurate, even with half an hour or so of making me walk in circles. I was guessing that was the reason why. I'd walked too close to victory, and the Earth had been commanded to never let me reach Manaus.

  A sob tore from my lips as the Fire, still burning at the tip of the branch I held, hissed in agreement. I got the feeling it was annoyed at being duped alongside me.

  How powerful was the Basilissa to have achieved such a command?

  I didn't want to hang around and find out.

  I'm sorry, I said with feeling in my mind, sending my thoughts out to the forest that surrounded me. I really am, I whispered to the Earth, already feeling its own defeated acknowledgement of what I had to do next.