Panchon bowed and walked back toward Gobi and the elf clan. As he disappeared around the bend, Kamo felt a hand on her shoulder.
“That was incredible,” Rolin mused. “I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve never seen anything like you.”
Kamo turned to him and put her hand on his. “Thank you for staying with me. It’s probably a little frightening to be here while I learn how to deal with all of this, particularly the fire I need to learn to control.”
“You seemed to have it pretty well under control after we meditated,” he observed. “It only took a small movement, and you didn’t seem to show the rage on your face like you did the last time I saw your hand like that.”
“That’s comforting,” Kamo sniped. She let go of his hand and knelt toward the stream again with her hand outstretched. “Pacha warned me that the fire in me would be more difficult to master. She said, if it becomes too much, I need to remember the other side of me, the side I’ve always known.”
Kamo inhaled the smell of earth and water, and closed her eyes. She recalled again the happy memories of her past, and opened her eyes. Carefully and deliberately, she raised her palm away from the stream. She concentrated just on the area beneath her hand and gasped as the water’s surface broke, and a small fountain of water began following her hand into the air as if she was pulling it by a string on her finger. Kamo put her other hand in the air and formed a sphere of air with her palms. The fountain of water left the stream entirely and took on the same shape and size as her sphere. Kamo stood, balancing her weight evenly from leg to leg. As she rose, the ball of water rose. She pushed her hands closer together and dragged them apart. The globe of water shrank and expanded as if it were between her fingers, though it floated a foot in front of her arm. She turned to face Rolin again, and he dodged out of the way as the ball of water rotated to match her arms.
“Careful now,” he laughed, “you almost hit me!”
Kamo’s eyes glinted mischievously, and she made the ball expand until it was as long and wide as Rolin’s torso.
“Hey now,” he stepped backward, putting his arms in front of him and smiling, “Don’t you get any ideas.”
Kamo threw both arms forward in a smooth motion as if hurling the ball, and water splashed into Rolin’s chest, soaking him as it scattered into a thousand droplets on his tunic.
He shouted and shivered as the cold broke over him. As the shock wore off, he grinned at Kamo, and his teeth chattered as he spoke. “You’re trouble, love,” he walked toward her, “and I love trouble.”
Before she could run, he twirled her into the air, his arms around her waist, pulling her tight to his wet, cold chest. Kamo shivered and laughed and squealed as she too became soaked with the icy water she had wielded.
“All right, all right, I surrender!” she cried, “now put me down, I’m freezing!”
Rolin twirled one more time, then gently set her on her feet. His arms still rested on her waist, and she kept her arms fastened around his neck.
She looked up at his face, slightly dizzy from the spinning.
He was staring at her mouth, that same intense longing in his eyes as the night before. With a rush of emotion, Kamo pulled his face to her and gently kissed his lips. They were soft and smooth, and warm, despite the cold weather. He kept his hands clasped at her waist and pulled her closer. She let go of his neck and rested both hands on his chest.
“Oh!” she cried, pulling away, “you’re freezing!” His chest shimmered with little crystal icicles, and snow was starting to fall in his hair and on his cheeks.
“It’s all your fault, you know,” he teased quietly. “I was doing just fine until your little water attack.”
“I’m sorry,” she giggled. “Let’s walk back to camp and get you a dry set of clothes. I’ll warm these up over a fire.”
Chapter Fifteen
Meditating in camp the following days, she heard different sounds than she and Rolin had heard in the isolation of the trees. Most mornings, she heard Rolin and some of the elves snoring. She heard Gobi toss and turn from side to side occasionally, and when more elves were up and awake, she listened to the clatter of tin dishes and logs being stacked into a fire. More than once, she heard one particularly grouchy elf mutter as he struck flint against a hard stone, and as his fire crackled to life, he would mutter a flustered “finally.”
She always breathed deeply and allowed her emotions to flow through her body. Today, she lingered in one particular memory of a handsome man twirling her around and pulling her close.
She allowed herself to breathe in the goodness and light he made her feel. A voice outside her tent startled her out of her thoughts.
“Are you awake again?” Gobi asked, genuinely flabbergasted as he pulled the flap of her tent up.
“Yes,” she answered, “Why don’t you come in? I have some things I need to share with you.”
Gobi came into the tent and crouched down to avoid hitting the canvas ceiling. He sat next to Kamo and looked at the boots on her feet.
“Are they really that comfortable?” he asked.
“I just put them on,” she answered, “I was in here meditating, and I wanted to stay warm.”
Kamo heard a voice outside her tent.
“Is there room for one more in there?” Rolin yawned sleepily.
Gobi and Kamo shifted in the tent, and Rolin came and sat on the other side of Kamo.
“Good morning,” he grinned, “did you sleep well?”
Kamo’s cheeks turned scarlet.
“Mm-hm,” she mumbled, “I was just about to tell Gobi about our little adventure a few days ago.”
“I wondered where you two got to,” Gobi chided.
“Well,” Kamo said quickly, “I asked Panchon to help me control my magic, and he did.”
“That’s fantastic,” said Gobi. “Show me what you’ve got.”
Kamo snapped her fingers, and the flame burst from her thumb. Gobi flinched back but remained seated.
“Glad to see that’s under control now,” he stammered.
“That’s not all,” Kamo said excitedly. She extinguished the fire in her fingers and picked up her waterskin. She filled it the night before, and she could hear the water sloshing around the bottom as she shook it lightly.
She removed the cork and placed her palm inches above the spout. She took a breath and said, “Watch this.”
She raised her palm slowly into the air, and a trail of water rose from the skin, suspended again by an invisible string attached to the palm of her hand. The water formed a stream from her palm to the opening of the waterskin, and she kept her hand steadily rising until the stream of the water’s tail rose out of the skin and floated in her hand like a whip.
“Excellent!” Gobi said enthusiastically. “I didn’t know you could do both!”
Kamo carefully directed the water back into its container and fastened the cork once again.
“Neither did I,” Kamo said, “I only remembered Pacha saying something about it when Panchon began to teach me.”
“So that’s where you two snuck off to,” Gobi said with a cheeky smile, “I thought perhaps you disappeared for a different reason.”
He grinned from Kamo to Rolin, waiting expectantly for an answer.
“Speak for yourself,” Rolin answered easily, “I saw you eyeing that Earth elf with the short hair. Don’t tell me that you weren’t trying hard to impress her with your stories.”
Gobi chuckled and threw his hands in the air.
“My motives were pure,” he said, “I just love a good story. And if it should so happen that that story gets me the attention of a grey-eyed goddess, so be it.”
◆◆◆
Kamo spent the rest of the morning with Rolin and Gobi teasing each other about their honorable intentions as they moved quietly and quickly through the rest of the rock giant territory. While Kamo traveled mostly with the two men, occasionally, she would see an Earth elf near her. In fact, the young elf wo
man with short hair strolled into view many times and always waved nervously before dashing into the trees again. The last time this happened, Kamo waved and summoned her to walk alongside her.
“I’m sorry,” Kamo said, “I don’t think I ever caught your name.”
“Hertha,” she replied shyly, with a small curtsy, “my name is Hertha.”
“How old are you, Hertha?”
“I just turned seventeen,” she answered.
Kamo looked at her in surprise. “You look so young!” she exclaimed.
“I only just turned seventeen, right before Pacha asked for volunteers for this journey,” she said nervously.
“I see,” said Kamo. “Why were you so eager to volunteer?”
“I wanted the adventure,” Hertha replied, “and I wanted to meet you. Earth elves, humans, they’re all pretty common to me, but a Sea elf, well. I figured you would be different from anyone else I’d met.”
“I’m afraid I’m rather ordinary,” Kamo replied, “but I’m flattered that you volunteered at so young an age.”
“Oh,” she gasped, “I don’t think you’re ordinary at all. You stood your ground in front of Panchon. You escaped a rock giant without magic, and Gobi says you’re the most wonderful singer in the world.”
“Gobi said that?” Kamo asked, surprised and flattered.
“Yes,” she answered, “he’s told me so many wonderful things about you.”
Kamo looked ahead to where Gobi and Rolin were laughing, walking along the trail just a stone’s throw in front of them.
“Gobi tends to exaggerate,” Kamo said, “but I’ll have to thank him for the compliment.”
Hertha smiled a toothy smile, and Kamo noticed how her eyes wandered up the trail to the back of Gobi’s head.
“Gobi’s sweet, isn’t he?” Kamo asked quietly.
“Yes, he is,” Hertha said quickly, “he’s the sweetest man I’ve ever met.”
Her eyes glittered with young love, and Kamo felt a pang of regret.
“Would you do me a favor?” Kamo asked.
“Anything, ma’am.”
“Would you please find Panchon and bring him to me? I’d like to have a word with him.”
“Of course,” Hertha said, “just give me some time to find him in the trees. He tends to be untraceable when he wants to be.”
She disappeared into the forest, and Kamo ran ahead to join Rolin and Gobi.
“Gobi, have you told Hertha anything about you?” she interrupted their conversation.
“You mean, besides the fact that I’m the handsomest man who ever lived?” Gobi teased.
“That,” Kamo said, “or anything real and true about you. Like you’re afraid of fire or that you probably won’t ever venture to the Earth elves’ city again.”
“And miss the chance to make her smile?” Gobi asked incredulously. “No way.”
Silently, Panchon emerged from a tree to their left and slapped Gobi on the shoulder.
“It seems that you, sir, have captured the attention of a certain young lady in my clan,” he said, “Hertha is young, but she has always been stubborn and feisty. She knows what she wants.”
Gobi forced a laugh. “Have I sir?” his voice croaked, “I hadn’t really noticed.”
He was a poor liar. A red blush crept into his cheeks, and his eyes flicked to the forest around them, searching for a young, dewy pair of gray eyes.
“Hertha must return to Blosso after we see you safely to the gate,” Panchon said, “she has a life ahead of her there. I’m afraid we can’t spare her. She’s a warrior and a fine earth wielder. She’s training directly under Pacha.”
Gobi’s face fell.
“I see,” he said, defeat in his sad green eyes.
“But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy getting to know her,” Panchon told him. “You never know. Your paths may cross again after our time here.”
This seemed to cheer Gobi some, and he sheepishly excused himself and ran into the trees, searching for the pretty Earth elf.
Near dusk, Panchon halted the party, and they all began setting up camp for the night once again.
“Kamo,” he called to her after he got a fire going, “time for more training.”
He and Kamo, accompanied by Rolin and Gobi, headed away from camp toward the stream that always flowed just right of their trail.
“Have you meditated yet today, Kamo?” Panchon asked.
“I did this morning,” Kamo said.
“And do you feel as though your emotions are in check?”
Kamo made a face and shrugged. “I think so.”
He turned both palms to the sky and closed his eyes.
The ground beneath his feet quaked, then broke away from the earth, rising like a stone column slowly into the air with him on top.
“Your emotions determine the strength and quality of your magic. You don’t have power over the earth, but you do have the power to change where you stand. Imagine what you’d like to do, and direct your hands to do it, keeping in mind that if your emotions are clouded, your magic will be as well.”
“How would fire change where I stand?” she asked in confusion. Then, she looked at the stream.
Carefully guiding her palms and channeling each positive emotion she could feel, she lifted both palms to face the stream. She commanded it to rise from its bed and gather into a globe, much like a bigger version of the one she had pelted Rolin with a few nights earlier. Slowly, she summoned it toward her. The water flexed and flowed as if solely and happily obedient to her will. She stared at the globe of water, wondering how on earth it could help her move anywhere else. The more frustrated she got, the more she felt the water fight against her until finally it crashed to the ground and splashed her and the onlookers.
“Water and fire aren’t like earth. How am I supposed to have them move me somewhere else?” she yelled to Panchon.
“I said they have the power to change where you stand,” he corrected her, “I never said they would move you.”
Kamo frowned at the vague instruction and doubled her efforts.
“I’m standing on dirt, surrounded by trees,” Kamo whispered to herself, trying to come to some other conclusion. “But what if I was surrounded by water?”
Looking at the mess of mud and muck around her, she turned her palms to the earth and summoned the water out of the ground, imagining a shield of water surrounding her.
The water that crashed to the ground separated itself from the grime and mud and came flying into the air. Kamo weaved her hands back and forth, willing the water to create a shield between herself and those watching, and Panchon, who stood on his stone column directly in front of her.
In only moments, a wall of water stood between her and Panchon. It fell almost like a waterfall that doubled back on itself. Somehow, the water flowed from top to bottom and around again, constantly creating a translucent window in front of her.
Behind her shield, Kamo saw Panchon’s lips curl into a dangerous smile, distorted by the constant flow in front of her.
Panchon lifted his arms, and oddly shaped clods of dirt rose out of the ground, along with pebbles and some larger stones. He threw his arms toward her, and the earth and rocks pelted her shield. Surprised by the attack, Kamo gasped and covered her head. The water came crashing down around her as she dropped her concentration, and her hands flew to cover her head from the falling rocks.
“What did you do th-th-that for?” she shivered as the icy water drenched her body. Small welts formed on her arms where each stone had hit her, but they hadn’t broken her skin.
“Surprises will always come; there’s no question about that,” Panchon said wisely, “you must not allow them to interrupt your thoughts. You must learn to take them in tow and work them into your channeled emotions. The stones surprised you, and your fear crowded out your joy. It’s as simple as that.”
Kamo’s arms stung as bruises started to form. Her shoulders shook with cold, and she could feel th
e water seeping into her boots. Her wet hair plastered her neck, and she felt its icy prickles every time she moved.
Rolin approached her and took off his heavy coat as he had in Blosso. He threw it around her shoulders and asked quietly, “Are you all right?”
“I’m f-f-fine,” she stuttered, “just cold and a little bruised.”
Rolin turned to Panchon. “Was that really necessary?” he shouted.
“If her majesty intends to learn to use her magic to defend herself, she must be taught in real ways, which means real consequences,” he called back, unperturbed. “I think this particular lesson has done the job. Has it not, Miss Rana?”
Kamo nodded, folding her arms around her, trying to find a dry, pain-free place to tuck her hands.
“Good, then we’ll adjourn for the night.”
Panchon bowed and made his way past the other three. Gobi’s eyes were wide, and he backed away as Panchon got close. Rolin put an arm around Kamo’s shoulders and started guiding her gently to the camp.
“I’m fine, really,” Kamo tried to insist, but her fingers and arms ached, and her toes felt as if they were encased in ice cubes.
“Well, luckily, I know a girl who has a real knack for starting fires,” Rolin replied, “and once the fire is going, you’ll be able to warm right up.”
Kamo wasn’t sure she would ever feel warm again, but she walked with Rolin to the rest of the camp. Gobi busied himself setting up the tents, and Rolin quickly gathered some firewood and dug a pit. As soon as he gave the signal, Kamo reached her hands over the wood and snapped her fingers.
When nothing happened, she said, “I think I’m too cold to concentrate. You’ll have to pull out the flint.”
Rolin stood right next to her and cupped her hands in his. His hands were warm against her icy fingers, and slowly she felt that warmth transfer to her own hands. She reached her hand out again and took a deep breath. With a snap of her fingers, the fire sprang to life.
Kamo rolled a log as near to it as she dared and took a seat, inching her boots right up next to the stone ring.
“I hate to have to tell you this, but I think your coat and boots are going to have to dry next to the fire overnight,” Rolin said. “But if you’d like, you can borrow my jacket for the night. Gobi has a few extra blankets he’s been saving.”
The Last of the Sea Elves Page 14