The Tantalising Taste Of Water (Elemental Awakening, Book 4)

by Nicola Claire

  When I’d first woken in that pit of dirt on Gladstone Road in Parnell, I’d had no idea what had happened to me. I’d always loved plants and wildlife. I’d had a green thumb since I could toddle into Gramps’ glasshouse at the age of three. Plants had always thrived around me.

  I wondered briefly, then, if Gramps had had a glasshouse for me. For this exact moment. But there was more to this decision than what Element I naturally identified with. And the fact that I acknowledged I identified with Gi astounded me.

  Davos had almost broken me. But then so had the Pyrkagia mad scientist. And so had the Nero and their Hataera. And so had my Aeras Awakening. None of the Elements were without fault. But then show me a human who is completely without fault. There aren’t any.

  Balance.

  I let out a breath and waved my hand through the air before me.

  Slowly sound returned. A gasp here. A groan there. Every single Athanatos and Alchemist reached for their Stoicheio simultaneously. Unsuccessfully.

  Panic swiftly followed.

  “To me!” the Alchemist who’d started all this shouted. His people surrounded him, and I could feel them trying to combine their powers. Their Elements.

  I swear my child was doing somersaults inside my belly.

  “What have you done, Aether?” the Alchemist shouted.

  Silence and then Theo started to laugh.

  “Levelled the playing field,” he said between chuckles. He looked so very proud of me.

  But it wasn't me doing this. I was pretty certain it was our child. I couldn't say that, though. God alone knows what the Alchemists would do if they realised. And in any case, things didn't always turn out the way they appeared to be.

  Sure, the baby was doing something, and he was definitely in touch with all four - no five - Elements. But were they his? Or were they Aetheros’? Somehow I thought the Elemental god had engineered this.

  A flutter in my belly had me thinking the kid agreed.

  “You’ll get your Stoicheio back in a moment,” I said, unsure if that was true, but just going with my gut.

  They had every right to call on the Elements. And if the Alchemists did, then the Ekmetalleftis sure did, too.

  “You know what this world needs?” I said, raising my voice. “A little balance. A little harmony.” Peace and survival.

  “We have always known this,” the Alchemist snapped.

  I ignored him completely, searching the Alchemists, one after the other. But I couldn’t see Gramps. I hadn’t seen him fall. Hadn't seen the moment their swords had touched his neck. But I knew. I knew.

  These arseholes had killed my grandfather.

  For a moment, I wavered. But then the baby kicked me.

  Get a move on, Mum.

  We’d all lost people on each side. We’d all done things that cost lives.

  Tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes and Theo moved closer, a look of concern washing his features briefly.

  I let out a breath of air and said, “Which Element was the most imbalanced?”

  The Alchemist frowned. A Gi stepped forward. The same Gi who had spoken before back in former Manaus.

  “We were, Aether,” she said, chin lifted, eyes blazing green.

  I nodded.

  “To have balance,” I said, looking around at all the people before me, “every single being on this planet has to be part of it. Humans. Athanatos. Alchemists.” I addressed the Alchemist leader, then. “I may not like you. In fact, I’m pretty sure I despise you. Your methods are underhand and unforgivable. Your goals a little too self-serving. But you have every right to touch the Elements. Just as we have every right, and humans, who can never see them, have every right to feel them wrapped around their bodies. The Elements are not yours or ours or theirs alone. They belong to everybody.”

  “You are naive,” the Alchemist snarled. And then Air surged, released from whatever had been holding it as if choreographed to do so at that very moment. And maybe it had been; I got the distinct feeling we were no longer alone. But that thought was snuffed out as a lightning bolt appeared in the Alchemist’s hand, and he thrust it out toward me.

  I was so startled that for a split second I didn’t react. And then the ground rumbled, and Gi surged up, and Noah appeared from a pit of dirt behind the Alchemist with a still intact sword in his hand, the blade glinting in the sunlight as he swung it toward the bastard’s neck.

  The lightning bolt was caught in Hip’s outstretched hand before it hit me. And the Alchemist’s head landed in a splat at Noah’s feet.

  “She is ours to protect,” he growled, throwing the sword down on the Alchemist’s slumped body.

  “Shit,” Nico said under his breath. “Didn’t see that coming.”

  And then all hell broke lose. Again.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  I’m Ready

  Screaming and yelling and words thrown at each other in Greek. Stoicheio surged, but somehow it never managed to accumulate sufficiently. A fist was thrown. Noah knocked an Alchemist who got too close to me out. Mark karate chopped another over the back of the neck. Isadora took an upthrusted fist to the jaw and returned with a roundhouse kick to her assailant’s teeth.

  Limbs swung, and grunts sounded out, and fists met flesh, but nowhere did Stoicheio strike or surge or do anything.

  “You know,” I said conversationally, “a little discipline while they grew up wouldn't have gone astray.”

  Stars burst all around me.

  Aether, Aetheros said. They are but children.

  “And children need guidance,” I said.

  “Who are you talking to?” Theo asked, as he ducked a fist and struck out with his own in return not even looking at where the punch landed.

  “Aetheros.”

  “He’s here?”

  Oh, yes. Aetheros had been here a while now. My belly fluttered. A soft kick. A sensation of warmth and love and light and laughter engulfed me.

  I wasn't sure how Theo was going to take the knowledge that our son had been quintuply blessed by an Elemental god who’d needed a little sidekick to help smooth things out.

  Did that make him Aether too?

  Aetheros laughed inside my mind. It was so full of joy and love and power that I stumbled, losing my balance, reaching out to Theo to ground me. His Pyrkagia flared. Mine did as well; wrapping around my Thisavros’ with care.

  The Elements were all around us, but no one was using them to gain advantage over another.

  Balance, Aetheros said.

  I looked out at the crowd of Alchemists and Athanatos before us and realised he was right. Not all the Alchemists were fighting us. Some of them were on our side, fighting those still railing under the old leader’s banner. But the melee that swarmed all around us was now much more balanced.

  Stoicheio flared and was definitely being used. But it felt more subdued. More controlled. Not so wild and unstable. Balanced.

  “But I haven’t made my sacrifice yet?” I said, stunned at this outcome.

  Theo stilled beside me. Mark had heard my words too. He moved closer. Nico and Isadora did too as if their presence alone could protect me. Pisces stopped roaring and glanced my way. Hip’s eyes blazed white briefly when they met mine. Aktor reached out and squeezed my wrist gently, sending a soft wave of heat throughout my body filled with love.

  You have already made your choice, Aetheros said, not unkindly.

  “So, I still have to go through with it?”

  He didn’t reply, but the Nero Rigas suddenly appeared before us, dishevelled and dirt smeared, but full of life. He smelled like the ocean, his creatures writhing around him; clacking and screeching. The sea brought to life on a cliff in what used to be Auckland City.

  “It is time,” the Water King said.

  “What is time?” Theo demanded, first glaring at the Rigas and then looking down at me.

  “Where is your father?” I asked him. Delaying the inevitable really, but saving Pyrkagia was part of this deal and
when Theo found out what I was sacrificing, he’d need something else to focus on.

  “Here,” an Alchemist said.

  We all bristled. We didn't trust them. They certainly did not trust us. But a truce of sorts had been called in the face of such balance.

  For balance could only be achieved if we all believed.

  Belief is a tangible thing.

  I let out a sob for Gramps. Theo’s father, the Pyrkagia Rigas, sneered and then spat at my feet.

  Even now, even faced with irrefutable proof, the man did not think I was worthy.

  “Pateras,” Theo said, bowing to his father as his upbringing had taught him. The Rigas looked down his nose at his son and snarled, “You are no child of mine.”

  I thought Theo stumbled slightly then; my heart broke apart at the pain etched on his features.

  And then Isadora stepped forward and said, “You are no King to us, Gallus Petropoulos.”

  A round of agreeing murmurs sounded out from those Pyrkagia who had clearly been freed.

  Theo looked at me. But this was his battle. His decision. I stood beside him. I’d stand behind his choice no matter what. As I hoped he would stand behind me.

  I nodded my head, smiled encouragingly, reached out and gripped his hand briefly.

  Theo sucked in a breath of air, his shoulders straightening, his chin lifting, his body taking up way more space than his father’s had been.

  “I challenge you to right of rule,” my Thisavros said.

  The air thickened. Thunder boomed. I thought perhaps Rangitoto volcano let off a little steam in agreement, and then stars twinkled all around us as if the Elemental god agreed.

  I had no fear that Theo would win that challenge. His people had been subjected to the ever more cruel hand of a mentally unstable king. The time was right for succession. Pyrkagia needed to heal. As Nero did and Aeras did and also the Gi.

  It was a time of healing. But they were no longer alone. I watched a Gi place a hand on the shoulder of an overwrought Pyrkagia woman. Watched as the Aeras Rigas spoke softly to a Nero child who wouldn't stop stroking the king’s fine clothing. Saw how the Alchemists were now standing in amongst the Athanatos, shoulder to shoulder; warily but still in amongst them. Balanced.

  The humans were nearby too, and I desperately wanted to make sure Sonya was all right. But now was not the time; I trusted Aetheros to keep the humans safe. And I’d be able to check on Sonya once this was all done. I wouldn't be able to use lightning to reach her. Nor would I be able to get Aktor or Nico to convey my words through the flickering flames of Fire. But maybe I could convince the Nero to loan me one of their satellite phones and allow Sonya to have one, too.

  I looked at Theo. He was watching me. His eyes darted down to my belly where my hand had been absently rubbing.

  The Nero Rigas stepped forward. Always the Water King. He’d wanted me to pick them. At the time, I hadn't understood what it had meant. I did now.

  I stepped away from Theo with one last look of reassurance. It was hard to muster, but his need was greater than mine, so I managed. I reached out and took the Nero Rigas’ hands in mine.

  “Aether,” he said. “Please.”

  Theirs had perhaps been the saddest story of all. Such a depth of loss that they had been unable to handle. I glanced over his shoulder and saw Gemini and Aquarius. Both of them partially in their altered forms. It was creepy. But so much of what had happened to the Ekmetallefitis without their god to guide them had been a little creepy if I was honest.

  The batshit crazy Gi Basilissa. The mad scientist who cut me up and then taunted me with my excised body parts in Pyrkagia’s Pyrgos. Davos the Gi torturer who revelled in his brutality. The Areas shaman. And OK, maybe that last one was clever, but still, the old wizened wizard was definitely still creepy.

  So much they had all suffered, but the Nero for some reason had suffered the most.

  Had I made the wrong discussion? Should I have chosen them instead of the Gi?

  I looked back over my shoulder at Theo. If I were honest, if the world were exactly the way it needed to be, I would have chosen Pyrkagia.

  My Fire and Theo’s Fire, tangling. For eternity.

  I looked back at the Nero Rigas, watched as the tears rolled down his cheeks.

  “You are stronger than you realise,” I said softly. He shook his head desperately. “I’m not sure I could survive my Thisavros’ death. But you did.”

  “This is not living,” he rasped.

  I reached out with my Water and caressed him with delicate seaweed.

  “You are stronger than you realise,” I repeated.

  “The sacrifice,” he said urgently. “It has to be correct. If you choose poorly, there can be no hope for peace.”

  I agreed with him. Balance was one thing, maintaining peace was a whole other story. If I chose an Element that had more power than another Element, then the scales would tip drastically.

  The scales tip. Balance is lost. Our world needs Aether at all costs.

  Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt to prove it.

  Not again.

  This decision had to be right.

  A true sacrifice must cost something.

  “There are more Nero than Gi,” I said softly.

  He closed his eyes, sadness so deep washing his features. When he opened them again, they blazed ice-blue back at me.

  “What?” Theo whispered off to the side. “What are you talking about, Oraia? More Nero than Gi? What does that mean?”

  I held the Nero King’s gaze for a few moments longer, felt him squeeze my fingers, and then he retreated. His children, in their various monstrous forms, surrounded him, as did the Aeras who called to the Nero so deeply.

  I finally turned to face Theo full on. His father had been removed; no doubt still under imprisonment. I had no idea what a challenge for the right of rule would entail, but Athanatos were not benign people. It could be brutal. It might simply be swift. But I doubted it would be forgiving.

  Which was something else that needed addressing but enough was enough for one little Aether to face.

  “We always knew there’d be a sacrifice,” I said.

  Theo’s eyes darted down to my stomach.

  “No,” I said, smiling widely. “Not that. Never that. Our child is too strong willed to be silenced.”

  Theo arched his brow at me, but he didn't press the matter. I’d tell him one day. Maybe when the kid was five or six. Maybe when he blasted his father’s butt with a bolt of lightning and then set the couch on fire while he was watching the evening news.

  The smile left my face.

  “A true sacrifice must cost something,” I said. “Aether told me that. There’s a lot we didn't understand, but balancing the Elements was one thing we did get right. Bringing humans, Alchemists and Athanatos together. It won’t be easy; things like this never are. We all have to believe in each other. In a balanced world. In harmony.”

  Theo stepped closer, concern marring his handsome face, making his strong features sharper, his eyes darker, his lips more kissable.

  I loved this man with everything in me. I wanted so much for the choice to be him. To be us. I loved him so much it hurt. Completely. My heart ripping apart and bursting through the walls of my chest. I gasped. Theo launched himself at me. His Pyrkagia flared. I held on tightly to mine.

  One more time, part of me begged. One more time.

  “Please,” Theo murmured. “You’re scaring me, Oraia.”

  I sucked in air as if I were drowning and perhaps I was. Drowning in heartache.

  The Gi were smaller in number to the Nero and the Aeras. Balance would not be achieved if I chose either of those Elements. But Pyrkagia was now small in number, too. The temptation to choose Fire was crippling.

  I pushed out of Theo’s arms, swiping the tears with my sleeves, hiccoughing through the sobs. I was vaguely aware of Aktor and Isadora and Nico and Hip and Pisces standing nearby. Of my brother watching on, his heart pla
in for all to see on his own sleeve.

  “I have to sacrifice something,” I said, almost pleading with Theo to understand me. “It has to cost something.”

  “Why?” he demanded.

  I’d asked that same question so many times now; it was funny that the answer only now came to me.

  “Because if I don’t, I’ll choose incorrectly.” Even in this, Aetheros had been guiding me.

  “I don't understand,” Theo said. Now he sounded like he was begging me.

  “Don’t you see?” I rasped. “If I choose Pyrkagia, the sacrifice will only be my forgiveness of the Gi; something, I’m ashamed to say, I am more than happy to live with. But also, if I choose Pyrkagia, there is no balance. Pyrkagia has a King.”

  “You have to choose an Element?” Theo asked.

  I tried to stop the tears falling, but they seemed to have a mind of their own. I swiped at them again and again, sucking in great lungfuls of air. Somehow I managed to stammer, “‘A brief time is our Aether here. Eternal, though, the legacy she must bear.’ I’m not meant to remain Aether, Theo. There hasn’t been an Aether for millennia. But this has happened before. This imbalance. Ask the Alchemists. They know. The last Aether was apparently one of them.”

  “So they say,” he growled. Then shook his head. “Pyrkagia,” he said. “Choose Pyrkagia. I am your Thisavros. It makes sense.”

  My turn to shake my head.

  “You’ll always be my Thisavros, Theo. Always. What did you once say?’ Once a Thisavros, always a Thisavros.’ No one can take that away. But Pyrkagia was never the most imbalanced of the Elements. That was the Gi.”

  “I could use that argument to say it was Aeras, then, that was the most imbalanced,” Theo said. “Your Air Awakening caused Genesis, for Aetheros’ sake.”

  I laughed and then sniffed unattractively.

  “The Areas have not suffered a culling such as the Gi.”

  Theo let out a breath of air, his whole body deflating.

  “But the Gi, Casey! The Gi!” The Gi who had tortured me.

  I glanced over the crowd of people witnessing this horrendous moment and spotted the Gi woman who had taken it upon herself to be their spokesperson. She met my eyes and stepped forward from the crowd. Then bowed low to me.