The Order of the Elements 01 - Breaking Point

by Jess Bowen

  Ethan, you do your best. I fully expect you to beat me because I know that you can. Don’t hold back on me, Lucy warned.

  He nodded but didn’t answer. He felt sick to his stomach. His tiny, beautiful piece of perfection was encouraging him to fight her. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t fight with her.

  Ethan! she scolded. You will fight me. You will do your best. Or I will not speak to you for a very long time.

  That’s it? She just wouldn’t talk to him? He could handle that. As long as she remained unharmed, he could handle anything.

  Dorian spars with Phoebe all the time! Please, Ethan, you can’t let your feelings interfere in this. You have five seconds before Piper blows the whistle. You better be ready by then.

  He sighed. She would be very angry if he let her win. He would do his best, but he wouldn’t do anything that would cause her harm. She would not be going to the infirmary because of him. The whistle blew, and a fiercely cold wind hit him right in the face. His shield went up, and his instincts took over. A vine flew out of his hand and wrapped around both of her wrists. She used her Telekinesis to unwrap the vines, and another wind forced him back a few steps. She was beside him in half a second. He barely had time to block her arm, which would have brought him to the floor. He grabbed for her arm, and she was gone.

  She kicked his feet out from under him—she was so fast he hadn’t even seen her move. He caught himself on his hand, and with his other, he grabbed her leg. He twisted it and tried to force her down, but she held herself up by her talent. Another vine flew from his hand, and for some reason Lucy got distracted and fell to the ground. He pinned her before she had time to think. She mentally cursed.

  Stupid, self-absorbed, selfish, little brat!

  What? What happened? Ethan asked, alarmed. He didn’t think he had hurt her.

  Not you. Kali. I saw a flash of fire out of the corner of my eye. She was conjuring fireballs to distract one of us.

  Ethan turned to glare at Kali, but thankfully Jade was already berating her for interfering.

  I’m going to the infirmary to check on Jared. Lucy’s thoughts still had an extremely angry edge.

  Lucy, I’m so sorry. Maybe we can get a rematch. I didn’t know you were distracted!

  I’m not mad at you. You did very well; thank you for that. But I need to get away from her, and I’m sure Jared could use some company, she replied, defeated.

  She left the arena. Ethan was now determined that Kali would get what she deserved. If it didn’t happen in this tournament, well, there would still be plenty of time after it was over.

  Phoebe and Cynthia were next, although it was clear that they would much rather have battled against Kali. They fought well with one another using their Elemental powers for a few minutes, but with Phoebe’s talents, Cynthia was no match for her and was overtaken when they fought hand-to-hand. Ethan could tell that Cynthia had purposely refrained from using Kali’s favorite Elemental attacks. Neither she nor Phoebe wanted to give Kali any advantage if one of them were to fight with her. Cynthia, although worried about Jared, stuck around, hoping to see someone beat Kali and wipe the smirk off her face.

  The next elimination round started with the last two pairs: Evan and Kali, and Phoebe and Ethan. Phoebe gave Evan some encouragement before he stepped into the middle to face Kali, who was smirking a good deal now. Evan smirked right back. He fought well with her, countering her every attack and nearly taking her down during combat. Unfortunately, just as he was about to pin her, she engulfed herself in flames, which severely burned his arms and chest. Phoebe screamed in fury and begged Cynthia to go up to the infirmary with Evan while she promised either she or Ethan would take care of Kali.

  The crowd was almost silent now. During the last battles of the Second and Third Orders, there hadn’t been any injuries and no one had looked quite as angry as Phoebe did right now. Ethan was sure that if her Element were Fire instead of Water, she would have been breathing flames right then. He was scared to step in the middle with her. Not only was he sure that she was better, but she was angry, and that was bound to raise the intensity with which she fought, even if it wasn’t him she was angry with. He felt Lucy watching through their mental connection, but she was silent.

  As he stepped in the middle with Phoebe, he very much considered just letting her win. She looked very intimidating, her eyes flashing and intense breathing, but then he realized he had to be ready to face things much worse outside these walls, and he resolved to give it all he had. Plus, Phoebe would probably be angry with him next if he just let her win, because she would know if he did.

  Do your best, for me. Pretend she’s Kali if you have to, Lucy sighed. She was still upset about the fact that she had been distracted.

  You did amazingly well, love. Don’t be depressed. I will do my best, for you.

  Lucy didn’t reply. In fact, she seemed shocked about something. Ethan didn’t have time to think about it as the whistle sounded. He decided it was best to hit Phoebe with the best he had first. Once again he raised his arms, causing an earthquake. This time it was much more violent and people started screaming and holding on to one another in the stands. A crack appeared in the middle of the floor and went right in between Phoebe’s legs and started to spread apart. Phoebe thought quickly and filled the ever-increasing gap and the floor around it with ice, which caused him to slip. Phoebe slid over to him—her balance impeccable on the ice—and engaged him in combat.

  Ethan tried to fight with her as best he could while slipping on the ice. He then covered the floor of the arena in dirt to give his shoes a better grip. A glint of silver flashed as Phoebe pulled out her sword; Ethan dodged her first stroke and pulled out his own. They fought for a few more fast and furious minutes before Phoebe started throwing water at the dirt in between swings, making it muddy, and he slipped. As he landed on his back in the mud, the tip of Phoebe’s sword met with his neck, and he knew he was defeated. He couldn’t think of anyone he would have rather lost to.

  Phoebe held out her hand and helped Ethan to his feet as the karabs rushed in to clean up and repair the damage to the room. All around the arena, people were talking excitedly and pointing. They were both out of breath from their battle, and Dorian brought over some Replenishing Elixir to give them their strength back. Ethan was dripping in mud, and Phoebe, although not covered in mud, was not looking too good either. Her eyes were dark; her mind was so focused on her match with Kali that she didn’t even notice as Dorian sat beside her and tried to get her attention. After a few minutes, Dorian gave up and settled for holding her hand.

  “Did you want to go clean up?” Dorian asked Ethan.

  “No, I’m going to watch the last match,” he said resolutely. He was going to stay and give Phoebe all the support she needed.

  She looked at him gratefully, but didn’t say anything as she continued to catch her breath and ready herself for her last battle. She did, however, douse him in water to wash off the mud, and Dorian dried his clothes. Within about twenty minutes, the arena was cleaned and repaired once again, and Phoebe and Kali stepped in the middle of the mat. They spoke to one another, but Ethan couldn’t hear what was being said. Dorian was rigid beside him; he hadn’t wanted the two of them to fight. Not because he was afraid that Phoebe would get hurt, but because he was afraid she would hurt Kali, badly.

  An evil smile flashed across Phoebe’s face, and her eyes turned black with hate just before the whistle was blown. Kali launched a fireball at her. Phoebe’s shield blocked it easily as she threw an ice ball back at Kali. Kali ducked just in time to avoid it as she shot flames back across at Phoebe.

  A wall of water appeared in front of Phoebe, pushing back the flames and dousing Kali. Phoebe then put a cylinder of ice around Kali, trapping her inside. She laughed as Kali had to melt her way out before engulfing herself in flames. She launched at Phoebe. Phoebe dodged, and Kali fell as she lost her balance. Ethan watched Phoebe’s face and realized the she could easily beat Kali r
ight now, but was enjoying humiliating her instead.

  Kali lit the entire mat on fire quickly, which burned Phoebe’s legs but not too badly because she extinguished the flames fairly quickly with a wave of water. Then, all of a sudden, Phoebe’s head dropped as a copy of her appeared right beside Kali and tapped her on the shoulder.

  Kali turned and growled in anger as Phoebe’s copy smiled and then disappeared. Kali was caught off guard by a sphere of water encasing her. Phoebe pulled out her sword and brought it to Kali’s throat. Suspended in a ball of water with a sword to her throat, Kali was beaten, and the whistle sounded to end the match.

  Even though the match had ended, Phoebe did not release Kali from her trap. Kali continued to hang there as fear crossed over her face. Dorian seemed frozen in place. Ethan rose up from his seat and ran over to Phoebe, who was staring angrily at Kali.

  “Come on now, let her go. It’s over.” He pulled on Phoebe’s arm that held the sword at Kali’s throat. Phoebe raised her other hand, and a shield erupted between them.

  The crowd that had been cheering at the end of the match was now silently watching the group below. Phoebe didn’t seem to be herself. She looked maniacal as she dragged the tip of the sword back and forth across Kali’s neck. Kali was now terrified.

  “I’m sorry. I won’t do anything again. Just let me down.”

  Dorian had finally made it over to them, but just as he got within range of Phoebe, her shield expanded to block him out, too. Cassius strode to the outside of the shield and looked at it intently for a moment before turning to Ethan.

  “Lucy and the others—get them down here now,” he instructed.

  He nodded. Lucy?

  What’s going on? What’s wrong with Phoebe? Her thoughts were slightly panicked.

  I don’t know. Can you and Cynthia get down here? Bring Evan and Jared if you can.

  Water started to rise up Kali’s neck slowly, and it would soon be covering her face, which would drown her within minutes. Ethan could see her trying to use her Fire power, but it was put out immediately by the water surrounding her. He tried to get through the shield but couldn’t move it at all. Phoebe was now humming and smiling maliciously as she circled around Kali.

  Something was wrong; something had gone terribly, horribly wrong. Dorian was doing everything he could think of to get to Phoebe. The water reached Kali’s face, and still Phoebe walked around inside her shield, quite at ease with what was happening. The crowd was transfixed; they didn’t even seem to be breathing. Lucy burst into the arena, followed closely by Evan, Jared, and Cynthia, along with several elves. Evan and Jared’s burns, although not entirely gone, now looked as though they were mostly healed over. Evan saw what was happening and ran across the floor to Ethan.

  “What’s going on?” he asked, watching Phoebe as the water around Kali slowly rose and covered her mouth.

  “I don’t know. She just snapped or something,” Ethan said, terrified of what was going to happen.

  He wrapped his arms around Lucy, completely at a loss for what to do. He didn’t like Kali, but he didn’t want Phoebe to kill her, either. Kali’s friends had now joined the group of people around the shimmering blue shield encasing the two girls and were screaming at Phoebe. Still she walked around quite serenely as she examined the blade on her sword.

  Evan stood as close as he could get to the shield. “Phoebe, let her go. There’s no reason for all of this. Jared and I are fine! You beat her, now let her go.”

  At the sound of Evan yelling, Phoebe stopped walking and humming and turned to look at him. Her eyes were black—cold, soulless, demonic black. Ethan involuntarily shivered.

  “Talk to her,” Cassius ordered Dorian.

  Dorian was stunned for a minute. Cynthia crushed his foot, and his mouth started moving. “Phoebe, please, don’t do this to me. Anything you want, anything, just come back to me.”

  “Let it go, all of it. Let her feel it all.” Lucy’s voice startled Ethan.

  Whatever she said must have made sense to Dorian. He shot her a searching glance and turned back to Phoebe. Ethan didn’t know what Dorian did, but a minute later Phoebe’s eyes flickered and turned back to blue as the shield around her collapsed and the sphere of water encasing Kali disappeared. Kali fell to the floor as water poured out of her mouth. Two elves gathered her up and carried her out of the room, closely followed by her friends, who threw dirty looks back at Phoebe all the way out.

  Nobody moved toward Phoebe, afraid of what she might do. She looked confused, like she didn’t even know what had just happened. She stumbled for a moment before passing out and starting to fall. Dorian ran ahead a few steps and caught her before she hit the floor.

  23. Coma

  Ethan couldn’t process what was going on. He was almost positive that he had just witnessed an attempted murder. He was more concerned about the person who tried to commit the murder, however, than he was for the victim. He couldn’t stop the endless flood of questions in his mind.

  What happened? Why would Phoebe have done that? What did Kali say to her before their match started? Why had Phoebe’s eyes been black? What was going to happen next? Did they even have some sort of justice system here? What would happen to Phoebe if they did? How had Dorian pulled her out of it? What had Lucy been talking about?

  Lucy’s thoughts were a blur. Ethan couldn’t pick out anything in particular to answer any of his questions. The one thing he knew for sure was that whatever the case, Phoebe had not been herself when it had happened. Her temper had held for so many long weeks, even with Kali fantasizing daily about Dorian. Why would she choose to lash out now? What difference would it have made if she would have finished Kali off six weeks ago rather than wait for today?

  The answer to that was simple: It wouldn’t have made a difference, because Phoebe wouldn’t have done it either way. Sure, she and Kali hated one another, but Phoebe would never—Ethan could barely even think the word—kill her. All of this flashed through his mind in the moment it took for complete and utter chaos to erupt.

  Dorian had Phoebe cradled in his arms as yelling broke free of the silent crowd. Some were scared, others entertained. It took a minute for Ethan to realize that those who were entertained thought this had been part of tournament—a show, scripted and practiced. But it didn’t matter what any of them thought, considering every one of them was probably wrong. All that mattered right now was what was going to happen to Phoebe, or what had happened to Phoebe.

  Cassius was giving out instructions, but Ethan couldn’t hear. Dorian started walking and the rest of them automatically followed. Phoebe’s head lolled back and forth over Dorian’s arm as he walked, so he cradled her head more securely and started climbing the stairs. Ethan tried to listen into Lucy’s thoughts, but they still passed too quickly for him to catch anything at all.

  Others climbed the steps behind him, and he could also still hear a great deal of noise coming from the training arena. The higher they climbed, the more muted the sound became. As Dorian stepped off onto the eighth floor landing, Ethan immediately knew where they were going: Cassius’s office. He also understood that Cassius had stayed behind to try to calm the crowd and reassure anyone who was made uneasy by the events they had just witnessed. Lucy’s thinking slowed as she formed some conclusion in her mind. Whatever that conclusion was, she wasn’t sharing it with Ethan at the moment.

  What’s going on? What happened? he asked, finding a break in her thoughts.

  I don’t know, she replied.

  What were you talking about a minute ago? he asked, still feeling completely and utterly confused.

  I’ll explain later, I promise. I need to focus right now, please. Her thoughts were pleading.

  He left her to whatever she needed to think over as he tried to make sense of what had happened on his own. Had Kali done something to Phoebe? Did Kali have a talent that no one knew about? That didn’t make any sense. Why would Kali use a talent like that if it made Phoebe stronger? Or perh
aps it was a talent that was enhanced by Phoebe’s Truth Seeking, so Phoebe had used it to her advantage while Kali didn’t know that she could. Or maybe Phoebe had another talent.

  Ethan suffered a brief twinge of jealousy at that thought. That would bring Phoebe’s talents up to four while Ethan’s were still at zero. But even if Phoebe had another talent, it was clear that whatever it was, it was unstable and dangerous.

  Ethan realized they had reached Cassius’s office just before they walked through the door. Dorian still carried Phoebe, and Evan ran forward to push most of the pillows off the dais to make room for her. Jared positioned a pillow under Phoebe’s head as Dorian laid her down.

  The balcony doors were open, and Ethan saw that an enraged storm was releasing its fury on the Haven. Cynthia rushed forward to close the doors against the howling wind and torrents of water that cascaded from the sky. Softball-sized pieces of hail beat down on every surface. Just before the doors shut, Ethan caught a glimpse of the lake, where there were now at least four monstrous heads above the surface of the water. The sea serpents were obviously aware that something wasn’t right.

  Ethan was completely blank. He had no idea what was happening, and he was out of possible explanations. Dorian sat beside Phoebe and held her hands in his. Lucy let go of Ethan’s hand and went to sit with them. She was still very focused on something. Phoebe hadn’t moved; she didn’t even look like she was breathing. Her skin was pasty white, and even though Ethan was at least six feet away from her, he could tell her flesh would be ice cold to the touch.

  Then the worst thought yet occurred to him—the concern and stress evident on Dorian’s face, Lucy’s determined concentration, Phoebe’s pasty white, ice cold skin, and her still body. Could she be dying? His heart thudded against his ribs and blood rushed in his ears. At that thought he lurched forward, wanting to examine her for himself. Ethan knew basic first aid, enough to take a pulse, measure breathing, bandage minor wounds, and give CPR.