by Sofia Vargas
“Can you smell them?” I said.
He opened his eyes and smiled at me. “The moment we teleported to the camp’s gates, it filled my senses. It’s much stronger outside of the camp.”
I nodded, recalling the smell of them lofting from the treetops during my flight.
“So what do they smell like to you?”
It still seemed like such a personal question. I watched him take in one more lungful before answering.
“They smell like home.”
* * *
Clouds rolled into the sky and there was a drastic drop in temperature. I shivered when we left the trees and started across the fields. As the day went on, the air seemed only to get colder even though we still had quite a distance between us and the mountains. The tall grass crunched under the horses’ hooves and the cold wind continually whipped us in our faces. We made it to the base of the mountains and set up camp before the sun set.
“Tomorrow all we have to do is enter the valley through that pass,” Father said, pointing to the gap between two of the mountains. “Only the six of us attending the meeting will be going on. The rest of you are to wait here until the meeting has ended or until someone is sent for you and your assistance is needed.”
The Molders grumbled at that. Our reinforcements had hoped that Father’s mind would be changed by the time we had reached here and that they would be allowed to enter the valley with us. My father was dead set on complying in every way to make sure the meeting went smoothly.
“If you are needed one of us will fly back to inform you and lead you in. We’re hoping nothing like that will be necessary, but in the case that it is, it would be best to be prepared.”
“What if we stayed our distance and followed you in without their knowing?” one of the soldiers said. “They don’t have to know we’re there and they won’t unless a situation arises.”
“They’ll know you’re there,” I said before anyone else could support the idea. “They have Seers watching the valley and the ways to get in and out of it. They probably already know we’re here. They will definitely know if you tried to sneak in after us.”
A few questioned amongst themselves how I could possibly know that. Dresden was the only one that knew why I had that information and it seemed like he felt now wasn’t a great time to explain.
“So there you have it,” my father said. “I hope that is reason enough for everyone.”
He stifled the chance that I might be questioned more for which I was very thankful.
“The six of us will go the rest of the way into the valley while the rest of you stay here until you’re needed.”
We settled in for the night and woke up early the next morning. The sky looked even cloudier, but it seemed to be holding in the snow that could come bursting out of it at any moment.
“Emmeline,” Father said, coming up to me when breakfast was finished.
Dresden finished taking his splint off his leg, gathered our dishes, and walked away. Father patted him on the shoulder as he passed him by.
“Are you sure about this?” Father said. “I have a bad feeling about something and my feelings normally don’t lead me wrong. Something doesn’t feel right.”
“I have to admit,” I said, “I can’t speak for all of them. But I do know that at least a few of them can be trusted. I know that there are quite a few of them who want this to go as smoothly as we do.”
“But you’re not sure about the others?”
“I haven’t met all of them. I have met three. And of those three I know one may already try to cause problems.”
For the first time I wished that I hadn’t escaped from the tower so early. If I had stayed I would have been brought in front of the Council and I’d have a better idea of whom we were dealing with.
“Okay,” my father said, standing up. “As long as you’re certain there are at least a few people we can trust without a doubt.”
I nodded. “I’m sure of that.”
Everyone continuing into the valley packed only their personal things onto the horses and we prepared to go on. We mounted our horses and rode to the path we were to take into the valley. As we approached it we saw that our way was blocked. There were about a dozen people on horses standing on the path into the mountains.
I look at Arie. She had said hardly a word the whole trip. I figured she was nervous. She looked at me and I gave her a small smile. I was happy that she was able to smile back at me.
“Sire,” said one of the men in front of the group. He bowed his head when we approached them. “Are the six of you the only ones that will be attending the meeting?”
“Yes,” my father said.
“Your men have agreed to stay out of the valley and mountain pass unless a time arises in which they are needed?”
He looked over his shoulder to the group staying behind. They were alert to what was happening and were positioned to act if needed.
“That is their order,” my father said.
“Good,” said the man, “then we will hold you up no longer.”
With another nod he led his group out of the pass and unblocked our way. I looked back at our men and noticed that they were grossly outnumbered. They didn’t look happy about it, either. We turned back to the pass and continued into the mountains once more.
* * *
We curved our way between the mountains until there was a break and we could see the valley ahead of us.
“All right,” my father said, turning to us. “We want this to go as smoothly as possible, meaning no excessive arguing or accusing.”
The group members nod their heads but not without reluctance.
“Just keep calm and we’ll see if we can’t get this done as quickly and painlessly as possible.”
We continued into the valley and were blasted with the cold air the mountains had been shielding from us. There was a figure standing in the distance. We dismounted our horses and walked the rest of the way on foot.
“Glad you could make it.”
The man made his way across the frozen grass to meet us.
He reached his hand toward my father. “I’m Councilman Yuri.”
The commanding officers sneered at the title “councilman” but my father nodded, taking his hand without a second thought. The group seemed to tense when their hands joined but relaxed again when they were released.
“It’s just the six of you?” he said, looking around the group.
“That will be attending the meeting, yes,” my father said.
“Very well then, we’re adjourned inside if you’ll follow me,” he said. He turned and walked back toward the cabin.
We followed him across the lawn in silence. While approaching the cabin I couldn’t help but think that this was where everything had gone dreadfully wrong. I saw a sizable crater in the ground and looked at Dresden. He squeezed my hand while we passed it. I was able to drag my eyes away from it and look forward again. We tied our horses to a post outside the cabin.
Yuri walked up the stairs and opened the door for us.
“Straight forward,” he said.
We filed through the door. He watched me walk past him. He stared at me in the same way he had while putting my body through pain it hadn’t been ready for. I walked through the door and down the length of the common area knowing it would lead into the huge room in the center of the cabin. He followed Dresden in and closed the door behind us.
The cabin was warm. In the main room there was a table that wasn’t the same as the one that had been there before. It was long and bulky and made of thick, dark wood. One side of it was already occupied. My father stood behind the chair in the middle of the unoccupied side. His officers took the two chairs to his right, and the rest of us sat. A woman across from me stared at me in amazement. She seemed to be tracing something invisible in the air, then continued to stare at me when the pattern she was tracing ended somewhere near the height of my shoulder.
Yuri walked around the other si
de of the table and pulled out a vacant chair in the middle. I saw Oak in the chair next to it. I smiled at him and he nodded. Once Yuri took his place everyone else on his side of the table stood up with him.
“We are pleased that you are here,” Oak said to our side of the table, “and that we are giving this a try.”
“We’re pleased to be here,” my father said.
Everyone sat down again.
The anticipation filling the room could not be mistaken. This had never been done and no one knew what to expect or how to start. Now that everyone had settled in I was able to take a proper look around. At the end of the table was a stern looking woman that seemed to have nothing but loathing in her eyes. Next was the woman who was still staring at me. Dresden had noticed the way she kept staring and kept an eye on her as well. Yuri was next to her, then Oak, and lastly Kaia at the end of the table.
Arie shifted in her seat nervously. I took her hand under the table in an attempt to calm her. I wanted her to start creating the image she would uphold when the time came for her to take the throne. Her tension lessened and I patted her hand. This would probably be one of the most important meetings she would attend as the future Queen of Aetheria. I wanted her to be remembered as attending it with grace and dignity.
“So,” my father said, “it’s about time that the future of Aetheria was discussed. It had not been thought that Aetheria would experience the division that it has.”
I looked along the table: light skinned Aetherians on one side, dark skinned Aetherians on the other. I remembered my history classes back home and our lessons on prejudice and segregation. I had been so happy knowing that I would never have to live through that time in history, yet here I was living through it now. It wasn’t that Northern Aetheria didn’t respect Southern Aetheria, nor that they saw them as less of a people. It was tradition holding everyone back from progress. I thought about the children they were hiding here and wondered if the secret of their existence would have to be told.
“Times are changing,” Yuri said.
My mind snapped back to the conversation at hand.
“It’s my daughter that you have been trying to take away from us.”
“We are not trying to take her away,” my father said. “The South has never had an Elementist born among them. We simply feared that you wouldn’t know what to do with one—”
“You don’t think I’m qualified to raise my own daughter?” Yuri said.
“Not raise her, train her,” said Father. “This was strictly about harnessing an ability, not your parenting skills. A young Elementist needs to start training early in life or she runs the risk of being engulfed by her ability.”
“I don’t believe my daughter is risking anything by staying with her family—”
“That’s where your naiveté gets you,” said General Xaden on my father’s right. “Elemental abilities do not earn the title high priority simply because of what the wielder is capable of doing. It earns such a label because of what the ability can do the wielder.”
“And what would that be?” Yuri said.
There was less threat in his voice and more concern.
“If not properly trained in the art of controlling the ability, a high priority wielder runs the risk of losing all control of what they can do.”
Yuri still looks confused. “Meaning…?”
“Meaning,” General Xaden said, “your daughter is in a position to hurt not only herself but all of those around her.”
“The elements are forces to be treated with great respect,” General Rade said from the end of the table, “especially an element like fire. A small amount physically hurts when not handled properly. Right now your daughter is probably excited about the fascinating ability, forming the element in her hand, maybe learning to shoot it out from herself.”
Dresden twisted in his seat at those words. I frowned. I knew he was reliving the jet of water being hurled at him while he was in flight.
“Forming the element is only the first stage of control,” General Rade continued. “Later when she masters it, she’ll start looking to control the element and very much later become one with it. It’s in these stages that she needs the training to prevent the element from overpowering her.”
“How can something she is able to control overpower her?” Yuri said.
“Because the elements are the oldest, strongest, most relentless forces in this world or any other,” Xaden said. “A lot of the time they are thought to have minds of their own. Do you really think a force such as that wants to be controlled?”
No one answered.
“I hope you assume that it does not,” he said. “Many trained Elementists have lost their lives when they became too confident or lost their respect for the ability and the element.”
There was silence while this information was absorbed.
“The elements will always be the most powerful forces in the worlds,” General Rade said. “They were there at the beginning and you can rest assured that they will be there at the end, long after us. You can bet your life that it is through their mercy that an Elementist is able to do anything with them. It’s when mercy runs out that we train our Elementists to be ready.”
I look at Councilman Yuri. I half expected to see the sneer I had come to associate him with, but I was surprised to see fear in his eyes. My heart sank and I realized that I’d forgotten that he was first and foremost a concerned father.
My own father recognized the look, too.
“That is why we’re trying to help,” he said to him. “We can offer your daughter the training and education she will need later in life.”
“Fine,” said Yuri. “I’ll agree that she needs the training, but why can’t she be trained in the South? Why is she being forced north for it?”
“Because it’s here in the North that we have the means to carry out the training,” Xaden said. “Do you expect us to pack up and move everything just for your daughter? What about all the Northerners that need to be trained?”
“We’re not asking that you move the training facility,” Oak said. “We want to know if there’s any possible way to create another one in the South.”
“You want a whole new training facility to be built in the South? For one little girl?” Rade said, not able to believe his ears.
My back straightened and I realized that Adeline, in fact, wasn’t the only child.
“What if she isn’t the only child with an ability that needs extensive training?” Oak said.
I held my breath.
“You have more children with high priority abilities?” Xaden said.
“If we said we did,” Yuri said, “could the development of a training facility in the South be considered?”
“The number of children that need to be trained would have to be large enough to justify the expense,” Rade said.
“How many children would it take to ‘justify the expense’?” said Yuri.
No one answered. My father and his generals looked at each other.
“Exactly how many Southern children have been born with high priority abilities?” said Father.
Everyone on the opposite side of the table looked at each other. There were shrugs and consensual nods.
Finally, Councilman Yuri looked back at my father.
“There are a total of ten children—”
“You’re lying,” Rade said, jumping out of his chair. “It’s an anomaly for one of your children to be born with a high priority ability. You expect us to believe it when you say that ten have been?”
“Do you think we asked for this?” Kaia said, jumping out of her chair, too. “We were perfectly happy without your high priority abilities.”
Oak put his hand on her clenched fist and she lowered herself back into her chair.
“We are not lying,” Oak said, once they were calm again. “Ten of our children have abilities that require training.”
There was silence.
“Is that enough?
” Yuri said.
“I don’t understand how this is possible,” Xaden said. “Never before has a Southerner been born with these abilities. Why is it happening now?”
“As Councilman Yuri said earlier,” I said. “Times are changing.”
He looked at me. “Yes, but—”
I was tired of his complaining so I cut him off and continued. “Having the abilities with the power to protect the people around you means only one thing.”
No one seemed to be following.
“I believe it means that the South is evolving into its own country.”
Shocked faces were all I saw around the table.
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but up to this point hasn’t the ability to protect and rule only been granted to Northerners?”
No one argued.
“It has taken a very long time, but I think that the splitting of North and South Aetheria triggered the evolution of Southern abilities to fit the current circumstances. Until now, one group of people had been given one ruler. Now two groups of people are being given two rulers. Southerners are now being given the abilities they’ve been denied for all these years as a sign that they can now become completely independent. Although they haven’t stepped forth I’m sure you will find that somewhere in the South someone has Butterfly wings. The first thing an independent country needs is someone to lead them.”
The lady with the staring problem twitched involuntarily.
“But that’s exactly what we don’t want,” Kaia said. “We created a viable army without the abilities you require for your army. We created the Council to step away from the whole monarch thing. If a Southerner has Butterfly wings they haven’t stepped forward for a reason and probably feel they’re not fit to take the position being forced on them.”
“I’m sure there are not many kings and queens that haven’t felt at least a little the way you’re describing,” said Father. “But that doesn’t mean they should turn their backs on their people and keep hiding.”
“I didn’t say you can’t be your own country without a monarchy,” I said, “or have an army without specific abilities. I meant to say that thousands of years of tradition are hard to break.”