Elementals: The Prophecy of Shadows

by Michelle Madow

  “Do you think you can fly us across?” I asked Chris.

  “I used a lot of my energy up back at the cliff,” he said. “I wish I could say yes. But really … I don’t know.”

  I glanced across the cave again in defeat. The only way to the other side was to swim. Unfortunately, that would be impossible without burning ourselves to death. And my healing power wouldn’t do any good if we couldn’t make it across alive.

  “Why do you all look like the world’s about to end?” Danielle laughed and stepped to the ledge. “It’s just a boiling lake. I’ve got this.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and kneeled down, lowering her hand into the water. I expected her to scream in pain, but she just squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself as she focused on whatever she was trying to do.

  A cracking sound filled the cavern, and a thick line of water turned into ice, forming a path that led straight to the other side. The lake boiled around it, but the path didn’t melt.

  “See?” Danielle flung the water off her hands and smiled. “No problem. I don’t know why you all doubt my powers so much.”

  “Hopefully none of us slip while walking across,” Kate said, her lower lip trembling as she looked at the path.

  Chris moved next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Take your time,” he told her, his voice soft and reassuring. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Thanks.” Kate leaned into him and took a deep breath.

  Blake placed one foot gently against the ice and put some pressure on it. It seemed solid, and he put his other foot down, too, so he stood completely on top of it.

  “It holds,” he said, bouncing his knees to test it out further. “Just remember to take it slow. If you rush, you’ll risk slipping and falling in.”

  Kate looked over at Danielle, who was smiling as she admired her work. “I don’t know why you didn’t freeze the whole lake,” Kate muttered, loud enough to be heard over the boiling water.

  “Stop complaining,” Danielle said. “I’ve used up a lot of energy today. It would take about a hundred times more energy to freeze the whole lake, and I didn’t want to risk it. I can do more if it’s too hard for you, but the path is wide enough that I don’t see why it would be a problem.” She spun around and strutted towards the lake, digging her stilettos into the ground for emphasis.

  “It’s easy for her to say,” Kate spoke softly enough so only Chris and I could hear. “She won’t boil to death if she falls in.”

  “You’re not going to fall in,” I assured her, even though looking at the bubbling water surrounding the ice path made me uneasy, too. “Take it slow and you’ll be fine. On the off-chance that anyone does fall in, I can heal them.”

  As long as we pulled them out before they boiled to death.

  She nodded, and I headed toward the path, watching Blake and Danielle as they made their way across. They made it look so easy. I put one foot on the ice, and it wasn’t as slippery as I’d anticipated. Even so, I took each step slowly, not wanting to lose my footing. It wasn’t too hard—as long as I focused on my feet and didn’t look at the boiling water on both sides of me.

  Danielle and Blake stood halfway across the path, waiting for us to catch up. I reached them, and glanced over my shoulder to see how Kate and Chris were progressing.

  Kate was only about a quarter of the way down the path. She trembled before each step, holding her arms out at both sides to balance herself. Chris stood behind her, his hands poised to catch her if she fell.

  They eventually made it to us, and Blake turned to lead the way down the remaining part of the path. The first half hadn’t been too hard. We could do this.

  He and Danielle easily made it to the other end in the amount of time that it took me to travel ten feet. Reminding myself that I only had a little farther to go, I took another step forward, focusing on staying steady and not slipping.

  Then something cracked from behind.

  I glanced over my shoulder, and my heart leaped into my throat at what I saw. The ice at the beginning of the path had cracked. It crumbled into the boiling water, melting on impact. Another chunk fell in a second later. At this pace, it wouldn’t be long until it caught up with us.

  Terrified, I turned back around and ran. It was slippery, and despite almost losing my footing a few times, I kept my balance and made it to the other side. My body wouldn’t stop shaking, and I wrapped my arms around myself, breathing steady and focusing on collecting blue energy to calm down.

  Once relaxed, I looked back at Kate and Chris. Kate was ahead of Chris, and she was taking each step slowly, her eyes wide in fear. The ice melted behind them, catching up quickly—they wouldn’t make it in time. And if I ran back onto the path to help them, it would only take up space and create more chaos. I could crash into them, or fall in.

  They had to hurry and make it on their own.

  “Grab her and fly yourselves across!” I screamed to Chris.

  “I don’t have enough energy left.” He buried his fingers in his hair, sweat dripping down his face. “Not after sending everyone down the cliff. Come on, Kate. You have to run.”

  “You just have to make it to my hand.” Blake stepped to the edge, reaching his arm forward. “Then I’ll pull you in.”

  Danielle crouched next to the lake, her hand emerged in the boiling water, her eyes squeezed shut. The path was melting faster now. It was getting dangerously close to Chris, who looked like he was about to pick Kate up and carry her across himself. Kate glanced behind her, saw how quickly the ice was disappearing, and hurried towards us, her eyes wide in panic.

  She almost made it, but her foot slipped from under her and sent her toppling towards the ice. I held my breath, frozen in fear, unable to do anything to help.

  Then Chris reached forward and grabbed her from under her arms. He caught her right before she could roll over the edge. They collapsed into a heap on the path, steady for now.

  But the ice was still melting, and it wouldn’t be long until it caught up with them. What was taking Danielle so long to stop it? She remained still as she concentrated, her head bowed towards the water, her hand submerged within it.

  Finally the ice stopped crumbling, inches before it reached Kate and Chris.

  Kate pushed herself up to sitting position and pulled her legs towards her chest. All of the color had drained from her face. Chris reached down and scooped her into his arms, somehow keeping his balance while carrying her to the end of the lake.

  “That was close,” he said, placing Kate on the ground. His cheeks were bright red, and he rested his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

  Kate scrambled away and braced herself against the wall. “Remind me to never do that again.” She shook her head and looked out at the lake, which had returned to its natural boiling state.

  I wished I could promise her that, but I couldn’t. Because we would likely have to come back the way we came. And we’d used up so much of our energy making it this far … how were we supposed to make it back?

  But we were already here, so I couldn’t worry about that now. We had to focus on what was coming next. Because looming ahead was another tunnel, identical to the one we’d faced at the bottom of the cliff.

  We had no other option but to continue forward.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  This tunnel was shorter than the first—so short that we could see the light at the other end. Even from far away I could make out the shapes of candles lining the sides of the walls. At least Blake wouldn’t have to use his power to keep it lit anymore.

  I stepped inside the next chamber, and froze at what I saw.

  My sister was on a wooden chair in the center of the room, her wrists and feet bound together, her arms tied behind her. A cloth was wrapped around her mouth so she couldn’t speak. She squirmed in place, her curly hair huge and messy, as if she’d gotten in a fight.

  “Becca!” I ran towards her and ungagged her, checking her for injuries. Other than the raw red area
s where the rope had rubbed against her skin, there didn’t appear to be anything seriously wrong with her, which was a huge relief. But her involvement in this made no sense. “What on Earth is going on?”

  Her mouth opened like she was about to say something, but nothing came out. For the first time in her life, Becca was speechless.

  I kneeled down to undo the knots around her wrists, tugging at the rope as hard as possible. But it refused to budge. Then Kate screamed my name, and I turned to see what she wanted.

  A shadow passed over the floor, and an oversized bird landed next to me with a resonating boom, its huge feathery wing pushing me over. My elbow collided with the ground and broke the fall, cracking on impact. I immediately grabbed it and healed it.

  Once the pain resided, I could focus on what had pushed me in the first place.

  I saw the claws first—huge crooked orange things with three toes each. They looked like bird feet, but mutated to five times the size. The orange ribbed skin climbed up to the middle of the creature’s thighs, where it changed into human-looking flesh. Its arms were similar—its hands talons, morphing into regular-looking skin around the elbow. Red wings jutted out of its back, spanning about six feet each. Wrinkles covered the skin on its face, like an old woman who had spent too much time in the sun, and a huge hooked beak sat where its mouth should have been.

  Its features looked female, but all I knew was that it wasn’t human.

  It stared down at me with its huge yellow eyes and sauntered towards me, letting out a cackle and throwing its head back. I scooted back and looked around, but there was nothing I could use to defend myself. I was trapped.

  Then a ball of fire whizzed through the air, hitting it straight in the wing. Blake stood a few feet behind it, holding his lighter in his hand and preparing to launch another fireball.

  The creature turned around and hissed at him. “I don’t want to fight with you,” it said through its pointed beak, shocking me with the fact that it could talk. Its voice was hoarse, like it hadn’t spoken in years, and it patted down its wing to put out the fire. Tendrils of smoke rose up toward the ceiling, and the tips of its feathers had been singed to a dark charcoal. “I simply want to discuss a deal,” it continued. “Once we make the exchange, you’re all free to leave.”

  “My sister, too?” I asked, resting a hand on the back of her chair.

  “She’s part of the deal,” the creature hissed. It tucked its wings closer to its sides, the smell of burnt feathers lingering in the air. “Now, are you ready to listen?”

  I looked over at the others. They had spread out in a semi-circle at the entrance of the chamber. Blake gripped his lighter, ready to fight. Chris and Danielle held their hands out as well.

  “We’ll listen,” Kate said, her voice surprisingly calm. “But that doesn’t mean we’ll agree.”

  Blake lowered his lighter, and Chris and Danielle relaxed their stances. Now that I wasn’t trying to free my sister or run away from the creature, I was able to take in more of the chamber. The front wall shimmered, similar to the boulder in the woods that had led us into the cavern. On the back wall, a murky, muddy substance swirled in the shape of a door. Looking at it made my stomach drop, like it had when I first glimpsed Bosley Woods.

  When it was clear that no one was going to attack, the creature said, “Behind me, you’ll find the Book of Shadows.” It moved to the side, and I saw an elegant, wooden stand balancing an ancient-looking book. A few feet behind it was another cliff.

  “The Book of Shadows,” Kate repeated, her lips parted in awe. “That’s what the prophecy meant by ‘the Shadows.’ We were being led to the Book this entire time.”

  “The Book is what I assumed you came here for,” the creature said. “Which means you are the five from the prophecy who are gifted with powers over the elements.”

  “We go by the Elementals,” Chris chimed in, forcing a half-smile. Danielle nudged him with her elbow in a silent plea to be quiet.

  If the creature had irises in the center of its yellow eyes, I swear it would have rolled them. “Right.” It focused on me, and I shuddered under its gaze. “Here’s the deal I’m willing to propose. You give me the Book in exchange for your sister. Then all of you can go.”

  “Why don’t you grab the Book yourself?” I squared my shoulders, hoping I looked more confident than I felt.

  “Because the one with the power of spirit is the only one who can lift it from the podium.” The creature snarled, raising its wings into an arc above its head. “I sent the stupid hound Orthrus to fetch you, but apparently that wasn’t enough. Now, hand me the Book, and I’ll let your sister go instead of throwing her into Kerberos.” It glanced at the muddy door, and I realized—that portal led to Kerberos. That was the prison world Darius had mentioned in class, where all of the evil creatures who’d rebelled against the Olympians had been contained.

  Wasn’t the portal to Kerberos supposed to be sealed forever?

  “How did you get Becca here in the first place?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. Stalling the creature would buy us time. It was all I could think to do right now.

  “The portal has been weakened, and a few of us have been able to escape,” it said, pulling its wings back to its sides. “After my unsuccessful attempt to send the hound Orthrus to fetch you, I decided to do it myself. But this time I went after easier prey—your sister. I brought her here a few hours ago. After you left on your scavenger hunt with your friends, it was easy to get through the second floor window of your house to capture her. Your mom’s music was playing so loudly that she didn’t even hear her scream.” The creature glared at me, and I gripped my sister’s chair tighter. “But the choice is yours,” it continued. “If you refuse to hand over the Book, the energy of six witches will make my friends in there very happy.” It pointed a talon at the muddy door—the portal to Kerberos—and cackled again.

  It doesn’t know that Becca’s not a witch, I realized.

  Danielle stepped forward and stuck her chin in the air. “What’s to stop you from throwing us in there even if Nicole gives you the Book?” she asked.

  “Just my word.” It smiled to the best of its ability given that it had a beak instead of a mouth.

  “Because that’s so reliable.” Becca sneered.

  The creature raised a talon and hissed at her. Then it turned its hungry eyes back at me. “My word is all you have to go on,” it said. “And you’re not exactly in the position to bargain. So … what’s it going to be?”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  I stared into the creature’s yellow eyes, trying not to fidget—even though it could rip me apart in a minute without breaking a sweat. It let out a low hiss, and I knew I had to do something. It wasn’t going to wait all day.

  I marched towards the Book and held my hands above it like I was preparing to lift it from the stand. Then I looked at Blake and nodded.

  He flicked on his lighter and threw a fireball at the creature, hitting the side of its face. It opened its beak and let out a head-splitting squawk.

  “That’s right,” Blake said, his eyes charged with anger. “Your word means nothing.” He threw another fireball at its chest, but the creature opened its wings and flew through the air, landing near Kate. The flames hit the rock wall and fizzled out on impact.

  Kate froze and backed towards the wall. The creature towered over her, tilting back its head and cackling.

  “Over here!” Chris yelled, raising his hands frantically above his head. A gust of air collided with the creature, slamming it against the wall. It snarled, shook itself off, and charged towards him. Its claws struck the ground with enough force to shake the cavern.

  Blake threw another fireball at its wings, at the same time that Chris pushed his arms forward, sending another rush of air into the creature’s chest. The creature crashed into the wall, inches away from the muddy portal to Kerberos. Its wings blazed from the fire, and it rolled onto the ground to put it out, thick smoke swirling a
round it.

  Blake and Chris inched closer towards it, continuing to attack it with their powers. I kneeled down next to Becca, who was struggling to free herself from the ropes.

  “What is that thing?” she asked, her voice coming out in tiny gasps. “And how are you all doing this superpower stuff?”

  “I’ll explain later,” I told her, pulling at the ropes around her wrists. “Stop struggling so I can get you out of this.”

  She did as I said, but the knots were so tight that no matter how hard I pulled, they wouldn’t come undone. Her wrists had been rubbed so raw that they were bleeding. Her blood was smeared all over my hands. I closed my eyes and called on white energy, healing her before continuing with my attempts to get her untied. But as hard as I tried, I couldn’t loosen the ropes. I needed Blake’s firepower to burn them away, but he was busy defending us against the creature.

  Then I saw someone move in the corner of my eye—Danielle. She stood in front of the tunnel, her arms raised in the air. Before I could figure out what she doing, water streamed inside from the opening, hitting the creature in the chest and sizzling on impact. It must have been the boiling water from the nearby chamber.

  The creature arched its head back and let out a screech so loud that it felt like my eardrums were about to burst. Blake threw a ball of fire at its exposed neck, and it squawked again, stumbling backward and collapsing in a heap against the wall. Its lifeless wings flopped to its sides.

  Silence filled the chamber for the first time since we’d entered.

  “Did you kill it?” Kate asked, backing up to the wall.

  “Maybe.” Chris took a few steps forward. “Who wants to check?”

  Blake created two more fireballs and threw them at its chest. “Just to be safe,” he explained.