by Cate, Marnie
Chapter 6
As we carried our picnic basket of treats to the tree of my childhood, we walked hand in hand. The sky was a robin's egg blue with wisps of clouds floating slowly. Miles began to question me about the elementals as we laid a blue and white blanket out to sit on.
“Will they come to our picnic? Meg said that they like to play tricks and they taught her how to use her magic,” Miles asked.
“They might come. Sometimes they like to enter with a dramatic flair and come flying in as balls of light,” I said, as I recalled my childhood memories.
Miles was so inquisitive that I worried how he would react if Snowystra appeared. What would she show him that would convince him to go with her? There was no way he would be able to protect himself from her. She could swoop in and take him and there was nothing I could do to stop her. Taking him on a picnic was a mistake.
My worries were interrupted by the air that blew on us. It wasn't just a cold breeze. It was an icy wind. Standing up, I pulled Miles close. “Stay close to me.”
From behind the tree, the dark haired figure appeared bringing an even colder wind with her.
“What do you want, Snowystra?” I said addressing her.
“You finally figured out who I am?” she said with a laugh of delight. Clapping her hands together, she purred. “I love your confidence. You don't shrink back from me. I knew your connection to my sister was strong. She has given you such lovely magic. And, now I see you are smart.”
Circling around us, she continued, “I hope you are smart enough to not believe everything you have heard about me. Did my sister tell you about me?”
Stopping in front of us, she patted Miles on the head. Her touch left white powder on his hair. “She never tells the whole story. She likes to focus on how naughty I am. She never shares all of the great things I do,” she said pouting.
“I have not spoken to Danu and I'm not interested in finding out anything more about you,” I said, pulling Miles out of her reach. “I would like for you to go now.”
Darkening her eyes, she glared and me. “Would you? You are not in a position to order me to do anything, dear Marina. I will go when I feel like it and right now I want to talk with you.”
Grabbing Miles by the wrist, she pulled him in front of her and knelt down. “Don't you think she should speak nicer to me, Miles?” Stroking his face with her fingertips, she left light pink marks.
Pointing her sharp silver nails at me, she warned, “I would suggest you change your tone when you are in my presence. I would hate for anything bad to happen to this sweet little boy.”
“Do you know who I am, Miles?” she asked as she continued to stroke his hair.
With his green eyes wide and frightened, he softly murmured, “No.”
Whispering in his ear, loud enough for me to hear, she said, “I am the reason you are here. I brought your mommy and daddy together.”
“They were bad,” he said.
“No, child. They were not bad,” she said. “They were convinced to believe that life was boring and that they could never use their magic. I taught them they could have anything they wanted. Do you want magic like Meg and Mara?”
In response, he nodded.
“You can have your heart's desire with me, Miles. Just tell me what you want and it will all be yours.”
“Leave him alone,” I said trying to take him from her.
Knocking me back with her icy air, she continued, “They will tell you, you are bad if you want anything out of the boring life that you have been offered. If you stay here, Mara will never let you have anything. I, on the other hand, will teach you how to use magic. I know you have been trying ever so hard to learn on your own but you need someone to teach you. Would you like my help? Would you like to learn how to use the magic?”
“Stop it, Snowystra. He is not going to be manipulated by you. He is just a child and he is not going anywhere with you,” I said firmly as I regained my balance. Standing to face her, I felt a warmth. Each of my hands held a ball of fire.
Throwing her head back and laughing, she challenged, “What do you plan on doing with those little balls of magic? You have no idea who I really am.”
Standing up, she walked to me, “I could turn you to dust before you could even scream for help.”
“I am not going to bow down to you and I will never follow you,” I said. Something inside me told me to stay strong and not back down. This countered my urge to flee. “Your threats do not frighten me. So I suggest that you go away from here because it will be over my dead body before I let you hurt my family.”
Wrapping her long fingers around my wrist, she gripped it so tightly that my hand felt numb from the sensation of ice beginning to fill my body. “Let me? You have no power to stop me from what I want. I will freeze you for your disrespect. You are not strong enough to challenge me.”
“No!” Miles screamed. “Help! Someone help.”
Wanting to protect him and calm his fears, I panicked as I found myself unable to move. The fire in my hand was not strong enough to fight the ice from her grip.
“You are safe,” the voice of Danu whispered in my ear. Miles cries for help stopped. We were encircled by a strong gust of wind. The warm wind danced around us and we were surrounded by the four elementals.
“You may not think she is strong enough to face you, Snowystra but we certainly are. And, if I were you, I would not doubt the gift that our mother has blessed upon her,” the strong confident voice of Blaze said. “You have never faced anyone like her.”
Blaze stepped towards us. Her appearance was intimidating. Dressed in red leather pants and a tank top covered with orange shimmery scales, her large cat-like eyes burned with a glistening gold color. Her long hair was salmon orange with deep red streaks of fire. Removing my wrist from Snowystra's grasp, Blaze's warm hand sent waves of heat through my body. My arm changed from a light blue color, tingling as the feeling began to return.
As I struggled to figure out what to do to keep my brother safe, Daisy stepped in front of me. Her deep emerald cat eyes glared at Snowystra. Her blonde hair glowed and the ground under us shook. As Daisy held out her hand, thick vines began to grown in front of us. “It is time for you to leave, Snowystra. We are not going to let you take this family. Go now before something unfortunate happens.”
The green barrier covered with frost. With one touch, Snowystra crushed it into a fine powder. “You think a few plants are going to keep me away from what is mine?” she snarled.
“No, that won't stop you but I didn't just call vines,” Daisy said, smiling as the ground under us began shaking. A rumbling sound filled the air.
The sound came from the trees of the forest. Uprooted they were walking towards us. Tall trees with long branches and leaves of red marched in our direction. Taking Miles by the hand, I drew him close to me.
“What is happening?” I whispered to Bay.
“We are bringing in reinforcements,” the water elemental said with a giggle. Her silver eyes sparkled as she twirled, whipping her cobalt blue hair around. Only Bay could be calm during a crisis like this.
Snowystra wore a look of anger at the approaching trees, as if she was reconsidering her next move.
“Fine. I will leave you today. Mara, I do hope you come to me when you realize how silly my sister and her little minions are being,” she said sounding sincere. “I was not going to hurt you. I was just going to show you all that could be yours if you just followed me.”
With those words, she disappeared in a silver ball of dust. I worried as the dust began to clear that Snowystra had left a little too easily.
“What are we dealing with?” I questioned. “I'm not strong enough to face her. When she grabbed my arm, she could have turned me into a popsicle.”
Blaze's face flared with anger before she spoke. “She could not have frozen you if you were focused. You are stronger than you believe. You have always been stronger than you think. Start believing in yourself
again. Remember who you were when you were eight. Find that child again. When you were young, you were confident in your magic…one might say overconfident. But, you never questioned the fact that you were able to create balls of magic and you never backed down when you felt afraid.”
“You took it away from me,” I protested. “I am not that person anymore. How can I go back to being her? It's too late for that now. I am not the little girl that understood the magic inside her. It's been too long to become her again. I don't know anything about what I have to defend my family.”
My hands were flaming with fireballs. I held them out. “You want me to face her with these?”
Taking my fiery hands into hers as the others surrounded me, she said, “Danu did not bring you to our world to come back to your home and doubt yourself. Did you learn nothing from your time with us?”
With softer words, Daisy said, “Remember you create your world. You are in control of the world around you. She has blessed you with a strong connection to the magic.”
“Snowystra is a goddess. I am human,” I countered.
Breeze stepped closer to me. Her white hair was long and flowing with loose curls that cascaded down her back. The vibrant streaks of color were pulled back showing her deep blue eyes. The long blue dress she wore had a cloud pattern on it and as she moved, the clouds slowly drifted. “She is strong and dangerous but she can't make you go with her or follow her. That is your choice,” she said.
“How will I protect everyone? She is going to use the love of my family to hurt me,” I said with frustration. “How will I protect Miles? He is defenseless against her.”
“Mile is strong. He just needs to know how to use what he has been given,” Blaze said, as she looked at him with pride. “Ask him what he is keeping from you.”
“What are you talking about? He is a little boy. He has no—” Kneeling down to my brother, I said, “Miles, what does Blaze mean? You can tell me anything, love. Whatever you are hiding, you can tell me. No matter what it is, I will not be mad. You never need to keep any secrets from me. You can tell me anything, okay?”
Smoothing his hair away from his face, he hesitated.
“What do they mean by you have magic?” I asked, unable to be patient and wait for him to tell me.
“Cole makes water magic. Elliot and Meg both can make things grow and the ground shake.” Taking in a deep breath, he continued. “You talk to all of the magic…” Stopping, he looked around with fear as if he shouldn't tell anymore.
“What is your magic, Miles?” I said, wiping the tears that had begun to fall down his face. “Show me what you have been hiding.”
Moving back from me, he hid his hands behind his back.
“Don't worry, Miles. Take your time and show me when you are ready,” I said, trying to calm him.
Hesitantly, he held out his clenched fist. As he turned his hands palm up and slowly opened them, I could not only see the green glow of his magic but I could feel it. The same magic my mother had thrown at me. The same magic that had pulsed through me as I watched my grandmother sacrifice herself. Miles held the dark magic that had stolen Gram from me.
Chapter 7
Fighting back my fear of the power he was holding, I shivered as I watched his hands spark with silver flashes. The green magic dripped onto the blanket like molten lava. It sizzled and popped as it burned the grass. Miles wore a look of fear on his face. Not sure how to respond, I forced myself to wear a mask of calm and understanding. This little boy was yielding dark magic but he was not at fault. This was just a casualty of his being born to my mother.
“Ok, sweetie. You can put your magic away,” I said. Picking him up and hugging him, I could feel the residue of his magic pricking my skin.
“My magic is bad, Mara,” he sobbed, burying his face in my neck.
“No, Miles. Don't talk like that. We just don't understand your magic,” I comforted. Holding my little brother tightly, I could feel all of the worry he had been holding inside. “I bet the girls can tell us more.”
Breeze held her arms out to me to take Miles. Softly, she comforted him. “Precious child, your magic is just a little bit confused right now. Why don't we go somewhere alone to figure out the best way for you to use the magic you have inside of you. You have a little bit that is dark but the magic from Gram is really friendly. What do you think of us trying to tap into that?”
Miles hugged her tightly and nodded. Setting him down, she took his little hand. He stared up at her, his deep green eyes shining with hope.
“Miles and I are going away for a bit,” Breeze said. “We are going to find his connection to Air. Aren't we, Miles?”
“I would like that very much,” he said, putting a small smile on his face.
Shifting her form into a large blue bird, she fluttered above him before extending her long black talons. She picked him up and began to fly above us. Breeze lifted him higher and higher as his dangling feet barely skimmed the treetops. When they finally disappeared from my view into the clouds, I focused my attention on Blaze.
“What kind of magic does he have?” I said, wringing my hands. “It is the same magic that Eliza kept throwing at me, right. Is it dark magic?”
“Yes, it is the corrupted magic that he inherited from your mother and Cedric's family. The Drygen's only had magic because of their connection to Snowystra. Your mother's magic was tainted long before your grandmother bound it. She made her choice but she didn't realize how high the price was going to be when she made the oath to follow Snowystra.”
“I do not understand,” I said. “Why does she want us to follow her? What makes her magic bad compared to the magic inside me? Do I have dark magic in me, too?”
“This is not the time to talk about why Danu and Snowystra are so different. It is irrelevant to the fact that you need to be careful and not trust her,” Blaze stated. “No matter what she offers you, there will be a price but you have to decide if the price is worth it.”
“There is no decision to be made. I have made my choice,” I said, not wavering. “I am committed to protecting the magic given to Genevieve Silver. My grandmother did not sacrifice herself for me to throw it all away.”
Taking her hand, I pleaded with her. “Blaze, tell me what I need to learn. Teach me everything I have forgotten and the things I haven't learned yet. I am ready to be the person Gram believed I could be.”
“Our girl is back ladies,” Blaze said. “I am glad you are finally realizing you are in control. If you are ready to stop feeling sorry for yourself, we can get to work. Your grandmother is at home now with the Goddess. She is very happy except for seeing you fall apart. Know that she is watching over you but soon watching over you cannot be her priority. She has to let this world go. You need to take everything to heart. She taught you to be the strong woman that she was. She wanted nothing but a wonderful life for you.”
Losing my confidence, I said, “Without her, I do not know how to be that person.”
“You are strong, Mara,” Daisy disagreed. “You can do it. You can do everything she thought you would be able to do and more. Trust us.”
Bay chimed in. “Mara, needs to stop being so serious all the time. It is so tiring.”
Dramatically, Bay threw herself on the blanket moaning as if in pain. “I am going to wither away if you don't stop being so dreary.”
Blaze rolled her eyes but even she could not keep the smile from forming on her lips.
“Ok, I will stop being boring today,” I said reaching out my hand to her. “I wouldn't want you to fade away due to my self-pity.”
“Now we get to work,” Blaze said, as the reflection of fire in her eyes grew. “Today you decided to be the butterfly and we will teach you how to fly.”
Chapter 8
Instead of focusing on teaching me how to use each of the elements inside me individually, the three elementals circled around me and began to throw their different forms of magic. As soon as I countered Bay's storms of wat
er with strong winds of Air, I found a wall of Fire crawling towards me. I doused the flames with large balls of water. The elementals threw more of their magic at me. They were unyielding with their attacks. By the time, Blaze called off the attack, I was out of breath, soaked and covered in mud and ash.
As I sat down to regain my energy, Bay twirled around me, cleaning off all evidence of the battle. She flitted about, I felt sprays of salty water emitting from her long tresses. When she had fussed and prodded me into an acceptable version of clean, she flopped down and began to dig through the picnic basket we had prepared.
Sniffing the sandwich she had selected, she said with a crinkled nose, “Miles was correct. This would taste better with pickles.”
“If we have had enough of a rest, let's continue,” Blaze said, as she towered over us. The red streaks of her hair began to burn with a fire that reflected in her golden eyes. Not wanting to ruin her pleasant mood, I quickly stood up ready to continue.
One by one, she made me demonstrate my connection to each element. Repeatedly, I called balls of fire, waves of water, streams of air and shook the earth. By the time we were done, I still felt confident that my strongest connection was with Fire. Blaze must have agreed. She began instructing me on how to use my fingers to create long tendrils of focused fire.
“Throwing fire is useful but there are so many other ways to command respect and protect yourself,” Blaze said. Waving her fingers around, she showered the sky with small embers.
Continuing her display of power, she created a flaming sword of fire. The blade was a translucent silver that sparked and sizzled. With her hands wrapped tightly around the red-jeweled hilt, she lifted it high to show me how to fight.
Stopping her, I apologized, “Throwing fire is one thing but hand to hand combat seems a little too aggressive for me.”
I waited for her reprimand. She lowered the sword and stared at me. I held her gaze not wanting to show weakness.
“Maybe next time, I will be ready to learn this kind of defense, Blaze,” I suggested.