To the Falls

by Heather Renee

  As soon as my hand made contact the water, I had shivers throughout my body. I felt strength and power like never before, the feeling was euphoric. Then I heard a few gasps from behind and turned to see what was happening.

  I thought maybe Abram had decided to show up, but everyone was staring at me.

  “Kali, you’re lit up like a glow worm,” Jordan said. “Step away from the water before you blind us all.”

  I peeked down at my body and sure enough, I looked like a light bulb surrounded by sparkes. Pulling my hand out of the water, I instantly felt the loss of power, but I knew deep down I could channel it from the water whenever I wanted.

  “It must be your water affinity that made your body do that,” Lucas said. “That doesn’t normally happen when people touch water from the Falls.”

  I remembered what Strix had said to me about treating the water as my friend. I stayed bent down and closed my eyes. I concentrated on the water around and sent my immense gratitude out. Without my affinity to manipulate the water and Strix’s help, none of us would be standing here.

  I felt a caress along my body, warm and friendly. The energy of the water around me accepted my thanks. The happiness I had within me was more than I ever thought possible.

  “We still have to stop Abram,” Oliver said. “As of now, we have the element of surprise. He won’t know we defeated Damien until all of the dark magic has left the forest. We probably have a few hours before that happens.”

  “I have been thinking about that,” Lucas said. “We need to figure out a way to strip his magic so he no longer has control over the other Elders. They won’t believe us if he can still influence them.” Lucas turned toward me as I walked away from the water. “Kali, anything you can pluck from that filing cabinet in your head that might help us?”

  I nodded and started to sort through the history I had access to, but was worried it might take a while. I had no idea where to start until Strix piped in mentally.

  “You don’t need to look for the information you seek, Kaliah,” He said in that regal tone I loved so much. “I can help you with Abram. I will make sure he’s not influencing the Elders any longer. I didn’t do it before because I didn’t want him to know I was suspicious of him, but I’ll have no problem with it now.”

  Strix’s voice deepened on that last sentence and I almost felt bad for Abram. Almost. I would not want to be on the bad side of Strix.

  “Strix said he can take care of Abram,” I said. “He’ll make sure Abram has no power over the Elders. Once Strix does that, what are we supposed to do?”

  Lucas, Jordan and Oliver would be the only ones to know if there was some sort of protocol we needed to follow. I was sure we couldn’t just waltz in there and point fingers at Abram saying he was in cahoots with Damien.

  “These are unchartered waters for all of us,” Lucas said. “I think the first thing we do once Abram can’t interfere is tell the Elders everything that’s happened since we entered the forest. Once they have the story about Damien then we can explain how he was able to escape with Abram’s help. I’m not entirely sure how Abram was able to influence them so the Elders may not remember everything and be pretty confused.”

  “All of the Elders are a liability now.” Oliver added. “If they were able to be influenced by one of our own, then what might happen if an outsider was able to come in and do the same? The people won’t stand for that. They will call for new Elders to be appointed.”

  “Wait a hot second,” Jordan said. “New Elders? You do realize what that means? There are eight Elders. The Fates sent the eight of us to defeat Damien. Kali is the Arelia, the most powerful Guardian alive at the moment. We’re going to have to be all proper now and step in as Elders, aren’t we?” Jordan rolled her eyes. “You know my mouth can’t be controlled, right?”

  I laughed so hard, I had tears coming out of my eyes and my sides ached. I loved that girl so much. She was like a spicy sunshine, she could lighten up any mood, but it always packed a punch.

  “Kane, are you sure you can handle a mouth that can’t be controlled?” Tiana teased.

  “That mouth is one of the best things about her,” Kane said. “Until she pisses off the wrong person and I have to step in and kick some shmuck’s ass for messing with my woman.”

  “Good answer babe, except I can take care of any ass-kicking that needs to be done,” Jordan said with a wink and Kane groaned.

  Poor Kane. I knew how he felt. I had lived with Jordan for long enough to know that even though I loved her, she was a pain in the ass sometimes.

  Strix came back and gave us the all clear. It was time to figure out what came next and face it head on like we did with Damien.

  “Alright, let’s move out then,” Lucas said. “It will be much quicker without the dark magic lurking around the forest. We could port home now that we don’t have to worry about any traps, but we have some time. I’m sure some of you would like to see what the forest normally looks like, and you will notice a huge difference. The forest is supposed to be as magical as the Falls and you’ll feel that walking back.”

  Lucas was right. I could already see and feel the differences all around us. The trees weren’t large in width but tall and full at the top so there wasn’t a lot of light that came through the branches. The branches created a canopy over the path we were taking and with all the different blue colors from the leaves, it was almost like being underwater and it was breathtaking. I can’t believe I missed this before.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” Lucas asked me.

  “It’s amazing. I feel like I am walking underwater right now,” I said. “How did I not notice this before?”

  “With all the dark magic that was saturating the forest, the colors you see now weren’t present,” Lucas said. “Everything was muted and more ominous. You’ll notice other things around Arvata that will seem livelier to you when we get back as well.”

  I wrapped my arm around his and gave him a squeeze.

  “So how about that two-week vacation you promised me when this was all done?” I asked. “Can we go anywhere we want?”

  “What if it was a honeymoon instead of a vacation?” He whispered in my ear so the others wouldn’t hear.

  My jaw dropped, my palms instantly became sweaty, and my heart was pounding out of my chest. I tried to speak, but my mouth was just flapping with no sound coming out. I had no doubt that my face was flaming red as well.

  “What?” I finally squeaked out.

  “You heard me right the first time based on the several emotions that just crossed your face.” He laughed.

  He actually laughed at me right after his odd version of a proposal.

  I stopped walking and turned to face him. I knew I loved this man and I knew the Fates gave him to me because we would make the perfect team, but I was also twenty years old and had only known the man a week. Lucas had lived for two hundred years and I understood why he had no desire to wait, but was I okay with jumping in head-first without looking?

  I didn’t doubt what I felt for him or how he felt about me, that was certain, but our first compromise was needed. My parents always told me that the way to a long and happy marriage was compromise, so why not start now?

  “I have a compromise for you,” I started, but his face fell and I instantly felt horrible. “Don’t look at me like I just kicked your puppy. You’ll find I love to compromise, so be grateful I’m not stubborn like other people we know.”

  He had a smile on his face now and that made me feel better about continuing.

  “I would love to marry you, but not tomorrow, next week or even next month. I will postpone my plans for a long vacation if you will be okay with an engagement.” I held my hand up to stop him before he spoke. “Don’t ask how long, because I don’t know yet, but it won’t be years. Can you be happy with that for now?”

  Lucas seemed to contemplate that for a minute and I was worried I had really hurt him. I didn’t want to hurt him, but I also had to do w
hat was right for me.

  “I can handle that for now. Don’t make me wait for long or I’ll send Jordan after you to torture you until you cave,” He said with an evil smirk that rivaled Jordan’s.

  “See that wasn’t so bad, right?” I asked with a laugh. “Compromise will be something you’d best remember in the future if you want to make life easier for yourself.”

  Though I was glad to wait on making anything official, I was also looking forward to a long and happy life with Lucas.

  “What are you two doing back there?” Jordan called back to us. “You’re slowing us all down, hurry up.”

  The group had stopped and waited for us to catch up and I hoped they didn’t hear mine and Lucas’s conversation. This news could wait until things were sorted with the Elders.

  “Sorry we slowed you guys down. I asked Kali to marry me,” Lucas said with a shrug. “Figured that would be okay to do in private.”

  I was going to kill him. I looked at Jordan and my best friend was speechless for the first time in her life. I didn’t blame her, I had been, too. Lucas needed a little punishment for that, so I gave him a nice elbow to the gut.

  “Ow,” Lucas hunched over a little. “What was that for?”

  “You know damn well what it was for,” I said. “Leave my bestie alone.”

  I walked over to Jordan and took her arm to drag her away from Kane. We needed girl time and Lucas needed the silent treatment for a bit.

  “Tiana, Lela, you girls coming?” I waved them over to Jordan and me. “Let the boys fend for themselves.”

  The girls caught up to us and the guys were completely silent. I peeked back at them and Oliver, Kane and Ryan didn’t look too happy with Lucas for his little stunt. I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “You better start talking, woman,” Jordan said.

  “He might have asked about a honeymoon,” I laughed. “But I didn’t say yes exactly. We need more time. I need more time.”

  “You’re crazy,” Tiana said. “The moment Oliver mentions a ceremony, I’ll be okay with it. Those men love fiercely. I know the bond helped to speed things up, but I couldn’t imagine my life without him.”

  Tiana was right and I felt the same way, but I still wanted more time.

  “I agree with Tiana,” Lela said. “When I thought we were going to die after Damien took us, it made me realize how short this life could be.”

  Lela was right as well. Even if we aged slower, we now faced more dangers than we ever thought possible before. Life was definitely going to be more interesting from now on.

  Chapter Eighteen

  We made it back to town and I continued to see more differences as we went along now that the dark magic was almost gone. The trip back to town was much quicker like Lucas had said, but it felt like so much had happened.

  Between Lucas sort of asking me to marry him and getting in some girl time, I was more relaxed and happy than I thought I would be after what we just faced.

  Strix stuck with me the whole time, but had been really quiet. I’d gotten so used to him being on my shoulder that I forgot about him sometimes, but I was depending on him to help guide us, once again.

  “Strix, do you need to do anything before we go see the Elders or are we okay to go now?” I asked him out loud.

  “I will take care of Abram when you are all present. Wait until I tell you to start laying out your story,” Strix said. “The Elders will be confused at first, but I will try to restore some of their most recent memories and they should catch on quickly.”

  I relayed that information to the others and we headed for the town hall. The Elders had said before that we had a couple days to complete our task, so I doubted they’d expect us back the next day, but they were about to be surprised about a lot of things.

  “Lucas should take the lead,” Oliver said before we walked in. “The Elders have looked to you for many years and respect what you have to say.”

  “I can do that, but Kali will have to tell her story as well.” Lucas turned to me. “I can’t do that for you and they will trust you as the Arelia. All but Abram will respect your power.”

  “I can handle that,” I said. “Just tell me when.”

  With that, we all walked in and went straight to the Elders’ chambers hoping they would all be present. We stopped in front of the door and I rubbed Strix’s back out of comfort to myself. It helped calm me and I appreciated him so much for having been here for us.

  I grabbed onto Lucas’s hand with my other one and he nodded to me, making sure I was ready. The door flew open before we could reach the handle, and Abram was standing there not looking too happy to see us.

  “You’re not supposed to be alive,” He growled out at us.

  My eyes widened in shock that he would say that, but he was probably realizing pretty quickly his plan had failed.

  “Were you expecting your friend Damien to show up instead of us?” Oliver asked from behind us.

  Abram glowered at Oliver but didn’t respond. I heard chairs moving from behind Abram, but I couldn’t see behind him since he still stood in the doorway.

  “What’s going on?” Mathias asked.

  Abram turned around and before I could even blink he shot a dark orb at Mathias. I let out a gasp of surprise, and Lucas and I finally pushed past Abram. Luckily, Mathias had been quick and dodged the orb.

  “What the hell is wrong with you Abram?” Mathias roared.

  “Me? What’s wrong with me?” He screamed. “I’ve been the good little soldier for centuries and I finally got tired of it. I wasn’t cut out for being good anymore. You were all supposed to die! What are you doing here?”

  Abram had turned to us while he screamed that last part at us. Nobody answered him and he was furious. He gathered another orb and was about to throw it, but Strix left my shoulder and landed on Abram’s. He flung his arm back to try and get Strix off, but didn’t succeed.

  “Get the hell--” Abram stopped midsentence and then fell to the ground, unconscious.

  “Will someone please start talking and tell us what just happened?” Mathias said. “Why did Abram attack us?”

  “Have a seat,” Lucas said. “I’ll start from the beginning and hopefully it will all make sense, but Abram has been working with Damien and using dark magic.”

  The Elders eyes went wide in shock, but everyone sat down as requested. Lucas retold our story but left the parts about me out. The Elders were confused at first like Strix said they would be, but then slowly anger and disbelief crossed each and every one of their faces.

  “There was something else that happened out there,” Lucas said as he finished his part. “Kaliah will explain it to you.”

  I looked across the table at the seven Elders waiting for me to speak. I tried to swallow the huge lump in my throat, but it wasn’t going down. I realized I didn’t know these people and what I went through seemed private to me. I didn’t want to share with these strangers, but I knew if they were to accept our story, they would have to know the whole thing.

  “Strix did not just show up when we arrived to help with the evil in the forest. He came because I am the next Arelia.” I paused to let that sink for a minute.

  There were a few gasps and words of surprise mumbled, but they quieted quickly so I could continue. I told them of the memories I received from past Arelias first, then the power I was able to channel to defeat the beast in the forest, and lastly of my water affinity. That was my favorite part.

  I decided to put the final nail in the coffin by showing them my powers over water. There was a pitcher of water on the table and I decided to have some fun with it.

  First, I froze the water until the glass cracked, and then I melted the water back down. It leaked from the cracked glass onto the table and I made the water spell out Kali, even with a heart above the ‘i’ as the dot.

  “Show off,” Jordan mumbled in my ear from next to me.

  “I am sorry we have failed you as Elders,” Mathias started. “Ab
ram should not have been able to do what he did and he will be punished. I imagine new Elders will be appointed by the Fates and I would prepare yourselves for that to be the eight of you.”

  Jordan let out a grunt and mumbled something under her breath. I didn’t catch what she said, but I’m sure my guess wouldn’t be far off.

  “You will be among the youngest Elders that Arvata has ever seen, but I already know you will be the most powerful,” another Elder said. “There have never been four sets of Merakis as the Elders and I look forward to seeing what you all will do for Arvata with some training.”

  With that, two Elders picked Abram up by his arms, dragged him out of the room, and they left us standing there. I wasn’t sure what to do, so I turned to the others.

  “I think that went well,” I said. “What do we do now?”

  “Now we all go home and get some good rest,” Lucas said. “We’ll figure out what comes next tomorrow.”

  I glanced at Jordan first and she was wrapped in Kane’s arms, looking content with a smile on her face.

  “I’m assuming you’re not coming back with us?” I asked.

  “Good assumption dear friend. While I have enjoyed living with you for the better part of the last decade, you can’t offer the services Kane can.” Jordan smirked. “We will be moving in to my old house effective immediately.”

  Jordan looked up at Kane and smiled softly. Their love for each other was already evident on their faces.

  “Sorry Ryan, I’m kicking you out if Kane isn’t coming back,” Oliver said. “You and Lela can have the house she and Tiana stayed in, and Tiana can come stay with me.”

  I looked over at Tiana and Lela and couldn’t help the smile that formed on my lips. Tiana’s hand was on her hip and her eyebrow was raised.

  “Excuse me, lover boy,” Tiana said. “Who said I wanted to stay at your house? Maybe Lela and I would like to remain roommates for the time being?”