The Arrival

by Nicole MacDonald

  Tears welled in my eyes and flowed down my cheeks. I stuffed the sheet in my mouth to stop any sounds. Why? What had I done?

  He’d seemed so sweet and thoughtful and I thought the chemistry was there. The weird pain in my chest wouldn’t go away and it hurt to breathe. I curled into a ball and pulled the covers over my head. Yanking the sheet out of my mouth, I wept into my pillow. I couldn’t decide what was worse; the sensation of loss or the feeling of self-deception at allowing a mere male to affect me like this.

  A STRANGE NOISE whispered into her dream. Kassie thrashed about, wondering at the whimpering sound and woke disorientated, staring about the room. What is that sound?

  It happened again and she realized. Cat. She leaped out of bed and pulled Cat’s covers back then felt her heart wrench. Cat lay curled in a ball, sobbing her heart out into her pillow.

  'Honey, little kitty cat,' Kassie crooned as she scrambled into the bed and wrapped an arm around her friend. Sian and Loi had woken and joined her, kneeling beside the bed.

  'I’m sorry,' Cat snuffled. 'I hate myself for being so stupid. I’m sorry, I’ll be okay in a minute, I’m sorry.'

  'Stop apologizing, Cat, it’s not your fault.' Sian stroked Cat’s head.

  It took a while to calm her down. Eventually they got her out of bed and into the bathroom. While she showered they laid out her clothes for the first day of training.

  'Do you think she’ll be okay?' Loi looked at the other two.

  'Cat’s a trooper.' Sian had her stoic face on. 'She’ll deal with this. She has to.'

  Kassie gave a sad sigh. 'But what happened? It looked so right.'

  The door to the washroom opened and they fell silent.

  IT FELT SOMEWHAT comforting to put on my arrival outfit again. The others appeared to feel the same and our room was silent while we got ready. Nnelg hadn’t slept over and Audrey waited impatiently for us to get on our way. Breakfast flew by and before I knew it we all sat in the library while Elena requested two of the men join us today. Only Rumal, Daron and Sabyn came to the library, and Daron and Sabyn agreed to accompany us. The air felt somewhat tense as Loi, Sian and Kassie kept firm looks on their faces when they spoke to their guys. I wished they wouldn’t. It wasn’t their fault.

  'Where is Gredel?' Loi asked, while the unspoken question of a certain other rang loud.

  'With his wife,' Elena said briskly. 'Spending some much needed time together.'

  We stood to leave. 'Catherine, a word?' Elena arched an eyebrow then nodded to the others to go on. The door closed behind them and I turned back to Elena with a sense of apprehension. The Sorceress had an impassive look on her face. 'I’m sorry that things appear to have not worked out well with you and Alek, but I expect you to uphold your end of the bargain. I’m not interested in any silly hysterics, so I trust you got them out of the way this morning.'

  My face flushed hot and anger swirled in my gut. Staring at her coolly I snapped, 'I’ll uphold my end. I’ll need all the skills I can get for when I leave at the month’s end.' Her expression didn’t change. Damn it! I’d thought that might get a rise from her. I stalked off.

  When I arrived at the Griffons quarters everyone buzzed with excitement.

  'Cat,' Kassie squealed. 'We can hear them.'

  Loi and Sian beamed at me.

  ‘They’re rather elated to have caught up with you,’ observed Loushka. OH. It clicked—they could hear the griffons now. I smiled at their delight, it felt good to be back on even par with them all.

  ‘Are you joining us today?’ I would enjoy Loushka’s company, maybe she would have insight on what Alek’s problem was. I wondered if she knew about it. It felt like everyone I passed in the castle gave me looks of pity. Especially that overdone Countess—bitch.

  ‘No, Nesha and Tomiar will be with you. Kerak and I are going to visit Phroma and Ageip at Gredel’s estate.’

  ‘Sounds like fun,’ I gave her as genuine a smile as I could manage.

  She seemed to register my mood. ‘You’ll be fine, Cat, not to worry. Alek will be waiting when you get back.’

  I flushed red at his name and bit the inside of my cheek hard to hold back tears. It appeared she didn't know. Not wanting to feel like a tattle tale, I gave her a nod and turned to help the others.

  As we got ready, Elena noticed Audrey and frowned. 'Nnelg!'

  The little blue dragon appeared amongst us. 'Yes madam?'

  'I need you to look after Audrey and Lucky today as they can’t come with us, will you accept this task?'

  Nnelg swelled with pride at being asked by the Sorceress herself to do such an important task. 'Of course, I shall be certain to take good care of them both.'

  We all hid smiles at Nnelg’s delight and I fussed over Audi for a moment before telling her to go with him. She dashed off without a backward glance.

  We piled onto the griffons and flew off. It took about an hour to reach the desired location and once we’d all climbed down Elena spoke quietly with Sabyn and Daron, who headed off on an errand for her.

  I stood near Kassie, looking about. 'Where are we?'

  The landscape here was very barren.

  'We’re at the beginning of the Merrej desert.' Elena indicated with a nod. 'This way.'

  KASSIE STUDIED THE land around them. There were a few trees with a small stream trickling behind them. Before them began the desert, with ebony sand that glittered in the sunlight. In the distance she could see black glittering dunes and wondered what creatures might live there.

  WE STOOD AND waited for Elena’s instructions. The awful night’s sleep, tossing and turning while my mind ran over all interactions with Alek—trying to figure out what had gone wrong, felt like it caught up with me and I stifled a yawn while watching Elena. The Sorceress walked around an area of sand murmuring to herself. Her long dark hair hung in a thick plait down her back. It was the first time I’d seen her wear trousers. All of a sudden the air felt strangely thick and we looked about in surprise. Elena had her arms at her sides pointing toward the earth and we could see the sand shift around her.

  LOI FELT HER jaw drop at this example of Elena’s power. The sand smoothed out into a large circle that had a seat at each quarter. Just a low simple seat with no back, all made of sand.

  'Come,' said Elena. 'Let us begin.'

  THEY HESITATED A moment then entered the circle. Each seat had a symbol inscribed in the sand. They represent each of the elements, Sian realized. She walked to her ‘water’ seat. 'Kassie, you’re across from me, Loi, you’re on my left and Cat, you’re on my right.'

  Elena smiled and nodded in approval. 'Learn to recognize your symbols, girls. It will be useful for you in the future.'

  I STARED AT mine before having a seat, a triangle—easy.

  'Now get yourselves comfortable. I am going to seal the circle so that we won’t be disturbed by anything and then I will talk you through the first exercise.'

  Elena walked the circle three times, like Sian had done during that now infamous spell, chanting something in a foreign language. Again the air swelled and before our astonished eyes a bubble appeared around us. Clear and shimmering with hints of color breaking across it.

  SIAN GAPED AT this very visible, physical manifestation of the circle. Unable to resist she reached out a finger and touched it. The bubble resonated with a chime, tiny ripples echoing from her touch. The others looked at her shocked, but Elena smiled.

  'It won’t harm you if you want to touch it. It’s only in place so we have peace.' The Sorceress walked to the center of the circle and lowered herself gracefully to the ground. 'To begin with I want you to close your eyes and slow your breathing. Take good, deep breaths and expel them completely. Allow any thoughts to drift through your mind, but do not focus on them. Let them drift away. When you have relaxed sufficiently I will talk you through raising your energies.'

  KASSIE NODDED; SOUNDS simple enough. She began to slow her breathing, feeling her heart rate drop and body relax. Images and th
oughts popped into her mind but she did like Elena had instructed and shooed them away as though they were as light and insubstantial as clouds.

  ELENA WATCHED THE girls relax further and further into their seats and continued. 'I want you to become aware of your hands. With your mind's eye feel your way around and through them, until you are intimate with them.'

  LOI FELT THE tiny hairs on the back of her hands prickle when she traced over the skin in her mind, the creases and cracks, even the roughened edges of her nails. She focused her mind on them until she could see how the nails were woven together. Then moving inside, followed the veins and pricked at the nerve endings. Her fingers jerked and her muscles twitched as she tugged and probed at them. It’s fascinating, she thought, I can truly see how my hands work. She pushed deeper until she came to the bones, seeing the cartilage between the joints and the tendons which fastened them together.

  ELENA SMILED WHILE she watched their hands twitch and the frowns they wore while they studied them. 'I can see you are aware of your hands, so I want you to focus on your heart. Your heart is an immensely strong muscle. Feel the blood rush into it then out, into your lungs and the sudden glow when the blood fills with oxygen. Then feel the heart pump the refreshed blood back into your body. Once you are aware of this process, trace the blood down the major artery in both your arms to your hands. Watch the flow of blood as it comes rushing down your arms and around your hands, then back, as your heart draws it through again.'

  SIAN COULD FEEL the underside of her wrists fluttering with her pulse while she followed her blood down, around, and back up. It felt refreshing to observe, as though she could feel each cell within her arms and hands sighing in pleasure when the freshly oxygenated discs moved past them.

  ELENA SPOKE AGAIN taking care to keep her voice gentle, so not to startle the girls in their meditative state.

  'Now I want you to focus on your heart again but this time look past it a little. With your mind’s eye, see the color of your element swirling behind your heart. Loi, you should see a beautiful fresh green, Kassie, a vibrant yellow, Cat, yours will be a rich red and Sian, a lovely sky blue.'

  I RELAXED MY mind further, relieved to have a deliberate reason to focus on something else. The sense of calm and peace within the circle felt so soothing. Following Elena’s instructions I allowed myself to slip past my heart and discovered a swirling mass of ruby red light. Wow, that was easy. I hadn’t even had to think of it. I studied the energy as it spun, admiring the glints of lighter and darker reds mixed amongst it.

  ELENA WATCHED THE girls as they slipped deeper into their relaxed states. Each of them glowed with the color of their element. A rush of delight, relief and fear flooded through her. They were the ones she’d hoped they were. Which meant so many more things to consider; one, a lot of work in very little time, and two, the chances of them being in danger sooner rather than later.

  She was determined that these Elementals would survive. Jenviet had to be eliminated for her powers only grew stronger and stronger. Where and who she lifted these gifts from, Elena hadn’t a clue, but it made her a formidable enemy. Bringing her attention back to the girls before her, she led them through the remaining part of the exercise. 'Focus on drawing the energy down one arm to your hand. Then bring it across to your other hand drawing it back up that arm, so you’re creating a running loop of energy. Try to keep the energy running for as long as you can.'

  THAT SOUNDED MORE difficult. I focused on the energy mass and attempted to coax it in the right direction. It took a bit of urging and I quickly realized I needed to stop trying to force it all down my arm. Some needed to stay put. After a little bit of work I managed to move a portion of it down my left arm. My arm grew warmer, like I held it under a heat lamp, the sensation unnerving. I gritted my teeth when it reached my fingertips. Getting it to link to my other hand was more difficult. I could feel it sparking at my finger tips, but the gap between my hands seemed impossible.

  ELENA COULD SEE Cat frown when she tried to pass the energy to her other hand. She had done well so far. Her arm glowed red and tiny swirls of energy where spinning out and back, into her fingertips. 'Cat, relax, allow your body to let go of the energy. You can’t lose it; it’s a part of you. So relax, let it swirl out and turn your focus to your right hand. Your energy will follow your thoughts.'

  I ROLLED MY shoulders keeping my eyes closed and visualized what I wanted the energy to do. The link between my hands forged and the energy surged up my right arm, back to its place in the center of my chest. I felt a rush of delight when it completed its first full circuit. After I’d completed a couple more, I opened my eyes.

  WHOA! I’m glowing red!

  I literally saw the energy as it traveled down my arm, between my hands and back up my other arm. It was fantastic to watch. Curious to see what the others looked like, I looked up, taking care to keep my energy continuing the loop.

  They glowed. I watched their energy flow across the gap between their hands in amazement. Then an idea occurred to me. I wonder if I can push it out and keep some of it separate instead of flowing through me. Though it wasn’t what Elena had intended when she’d explained, I focused on her instructions again. With closed eyes I visualized a ball of energy floating between my hands. I gasped in delight when I opened my eyes. The roiling crimson sphere of energy pulsed and shifted between my open hands, a few inches from my palms. I managed to hold it in place for a few moments before I released with a gasp. The energy pinged back into place behind my heart.

  Chapter Twenty Four

  A SUDDEN TWANG that felt like it reverberated through her teeth shook Loi from her focus, her energy snapping back to the spot behind her heart. She opened her eyes and glared at Cat who lay on the ground panting, her face pale. 'Cat! What gives? I was just getting the hang of it.'

  Sian and Kassie made noises of agreement.

  'I’m sorry.' Cat pushed herself up to sitting with a guilty look. 'I went the next step and it’s hard.'

  'What next step? Elena didn’t say anything else.' Loi shot an accusing look at Elena.

  'No, I didn’t, Cat chanced upon it. Now come and eat something. You will all be exhausted, it’s hard work.' Elena began to unwrap the parcel she’d brought with her.

  THE SIGHT OF the four women shocked Sabyn when he and Daron arrived for lunch. They all looked ages older and whiter than an ice sprite. He gave Elena a concerned look.

  'They need to eat and rest, that’s all,' Elena said reassuringly.

  Sabyn nodded and hurried over to help Kassie to the cloth, then Loi, both gave him a brief nod in thanks and fell to eating.

  DARON WATCHED, ASTONISHED by the amount of food the girls consumed. Elena must have expected it, he realized; she’d packed enough for at least twenty. The color came back to their faces and they started to look more alert. Cat seemed to take longer than the others to recover. Perhaps she’s weaker than them, Daron thought, surprised. Or maybe it’s the result of Alek’s behavior toward her. He watched her and glanced at Sabyn who watched her too. They exchanged a concerned look.

  IT TOOK A bewilderingly long time to feel normal again. Especially after the rush you got from first handling the energy. The food began to make me feel better, but I still had no strength when it came time to climb on Tomiar’s back. Sabyn ended up tossing me up onto the saddle. What is it with these men, I grumbled to myself, tossing me about like I weigh nothing? I clutched at the saddle handles when Tomiar pushed off.

  'I GUESS THE girls won’t be training the guard today,' Daron called to Elena who sat behind him.

  'No. I think I’ll arrange for them to start that next week. By then they should be able to handle their energy without it exhausting them.'

  YAKOV AND RUMAL waited at the Griffon quarters and smiled when they saw Nesha and Tomiar come into view. The two griffons dropped from the sky, landing in the courtyard and headed over to them. Rumal felt shocked at the sight of the women and heard Yakov’s sharp intake of air behind him.
They looked exhausted. Cat swayed in the saddle, and Kassie, in front of Sabyn, barely looked conscious.

  'Can you hang on a moment longer, Cat?' Yakov called up.

  She nodded blearily.

  Sabyn passed Kassie down to Rumal then slid down from Tomiar. Rumal scooped the woman up and spoke to Elena, 'I’ll take her to their room.'

  'I’ll get some food sent to them.' Elena headed off to the Generals office to inform them of the change of plans.

  'OKAY, CAT, C’MON down.' Yakov stood by Kerak’s side, his arms ready.

  Right, okay then; I twisted out of the saddle. This is a lot harder when you can’t think straight, I thought, frowning at the effort. Grasping tight to the saddle handles I meant to lower myself down. Unfortunately my strength failed and I started the beginning of a belly flop.

  YAKOV SCRAMBLED TO grab Cat when she slipped off the side. She landed half on the floor and half in his arms. He froze, concerned she’d hurt herself until she began to laugh. Everyone joined in while Yakov helped her to her feet. 'And that,' he announced grandly with a cheeky smile. 'Is how it’s done.'

  Cat obliged his performance with an attempt at a curtsy that had them laughing harder. With an arm around her waist, Yakov helped her to the suite, with Sabyn and Loi behind him. Few people saw the girls being carried or helped to their room, but Yakov knew it’d be all over the castle by the next morning. As he helped Cat through the door, he turned to push it open for Sabyn. A table had been set up in the room and Elena had arranged for more than enough food. Kassie and Rumal already had full plates and sat cross-legged on a bed. After a bit of coaxing, Cat agreed to eat rather than go straight to sleep. She climbed onto her bed and leaned against him as she ate.