by K W Quinn
“You want me to take you to what’s left of the river? Cass blasted it everywhere, but I can—”
“No, love.” Dez shook her head. Andy felt it against his chest and shivered. “I can’t feel the Water.” He heard it this time. Heard the reason for her shaking.
“I’ll get Charly. He can help,” Andy said, looking around. Dez’s lack of resistance was frightening. Her silence was more than he could take.
The halls were too quiet. Min wanted cheering and triumphant laughter, but these people didn’t know how to laugh anymore.
Some red-tape-busting commands from one of the Mountain’s daughters had the guards stepping sharply at Min’s voice now. He would have enjoyed it, if not for the empty eyes staring at him behind every door they unlocked.
There was no funny business from the guards, just the scrape of iron keys in thick locks.
“Poseidon’s blood, this is unforgivable,” Juji spat behind him, looking at the bare floors and stone walls.
Min rubbed his forehead. Gray areas of morality be damned. The Dome was full of people who didn’t deserve to be there.
Floor by floor, they unchained and uncollared people. Juji did some Water trick to help them trust her and keep moving up and out of the cells.
“All right, dirt face, let’s keep rolling,” Min said to the closest guard. “I’ve got damsels in distress in need of their hero.”
“You have clearance for floors two through eight. That’s it,” grunted the nearest guard.
“Then my damsels had better be on those floors, right? I don’t want to bother the Rowans. Just take me to where you’ve stashed them, and I’ll be on my way.”
“It’s down the stairs.” The guard smirked, eyeing Min’s chair.
“Lead on, then, and we’ll get this over with.” Min smirked right back. They moved through an arched doorway and to the head of the stairs. He took a moment to straighten his back and brush a bit of hair out of his eyes before he gripped the wheels of his chair and pushed off. He didn’t miss the gasp that the guards tried to stifle as he rolled smoothly down the stairs. Idiots. Did they really think he’d spend his long life in an ordinary wheelchair?
A clatter of boots on the stairs behind him meant they were finally following. Which was good, because it wouldn’t look cool to have to stop and ask for directions.
Out of the hallway, the walls were wet stone, dark and musty. Min wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of shivering, but Persephone’s left tit, it was cold.
At the end of the hallway were a set of iron doors and six guards.
“All this for a couple of harmless little ladies?” Min watched the guards flinch, biting back their resentment. Dogs on tight leashes. “Well, let’s get on with it. I’ve got more floors to roll through.” They might not gasp, but it would still be nice to see their faces when he rolled back up the stairs.
The guards pulled the doors open, and Min rolled through, not waiting until they were quite wide enough. The iron bit at his shoulder as he scraped past.
It wasn’t as bad as he’d feared, but it was still bad. No bed. No sign of any blanket. A single shallow bowl for water or waste. The mothers huddled in a corner, arms wrapped around their knees. What bruises and scrapes were their thin uniforms hiding?
Min swallowed another set of curses and rolled slowly forward. They didn’t speak, but both women kept their eyes fixed on him.
“Miyana. Helori. My name is Minos. Cass and Andy sent me to get you out of here.” He reached his hand forward, hoping they still had the strength to come to him. They stiffened when he mentioned the boys’ names, so maybe they still had some spark left. He searched their faces, reading the wisps of their souls through the thick haze of rage and despair.
“Why didn’t they come themselves?” Sparks of icy green crackled through her aura. Must be the kid’s mom.
“Helori?” She didn’t confirm it, but every soul reacted to its name. “Helori, they’re safe. Whole and unharmed. Free too. Cass took his team—witches, Dragon, the Mountain’s kid, the Helio, all of them. They went to negotiate.”
“There’s no negotiating with that monster,” she said, chin lifting.
“You’re right. Not with words. I’ll let him give you the details if you’ll come with me. Juji is upstairs, helping the other Bonded get to the other side of the fence. We’ve got some folks there who will start taking them home. Or to hospitals, whichever they need.” Min rolled toward them, extending his hand again.
“Juji’s here?” Miyana asked, unfolding herself. Min kept his face frozen. The welts up and down her arms were still fresh. If he let his thoughts show on his face, he’d scare the ladies away. Or maybe not. They’d certainly seen worse.
“You’re freeing everyone?” Helori asked.
Min opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again. They deserved the truth.
“No. Not everyone. We’re working with Marv and his sisters to sort out who—”
“Erick stays locked up,” Helori cut in. Her jaw was set, and Min could see where the kid got it from.
He bowed his head. “As you wish.” She snorted. He looked up and cracked a grin. “Yeah, all right. I wasn’t going to let him out anyway. Might move him down here, but to do that, we need to vacate.” His arm was getting tired from holding his hand out, but he wouldn’t leave until they accepted.
The ladies stared at each other, and Min held his breath. He hated when people did the telepathic thing in front of him. It was just rude. But they’d earned some leniency from the normal way of things.
Helori reached for his hand, and he sighed, pulling her to her feet. She pulled Miyana up, and they held hands tightly.
“After you, sir,” she said. Grit and glory, this was a woman with a storm in her blood.
“I’d offer you a lift, ladies, but this chair was only Spelled for one.”
“What a gentleman,” Helori said.
“Damn right I am.”
Balance
“And just like that”—Marv threw his hands up, grimacing a little and scowling at the bandage—“they swooped in and took credit for all our work.”
Cass bit his lip to keep from smiling, though he seemed to be the only person in the room who was humoring Marv’s tantrum. Everyone else was strenuously ignoring him. “I think they swooped in to save your life,” Cass said with as much seriousness as he could manage.
“Andy freed me from the mud.” Marv waved his uninjured hand and kept pacing. If you could call two halting steps in each direction pacing. “And my magnificent speech? I didn’t get to say any of it.”
“It all worked out in the end,” Cass said soothingly. “We’re exceptionally lucky that there were so few injuries.”
“Tell that to my head,” Amel said from the couch. Charly shushed him and pressed an ice pack to his injury. Dez was silent in her chair, but Cass saw the way she leaned just a little closer to Andy.
The relic had burned her out. She couldn’t feel or wield Water anymore. “Don’t look at me like that, breezy.” Dez offered a thin smile. “The talent will return, or it won’t, but as long as I can dance, I’ll be fine.”
Cass swallowed his guilt and nodded. He’d respect her strength. He owed her that much at least.
“You’re sure we can trust them? I mean, they’ve got so much to lose doing things our way,” Reyah said. She’d repeated the same question with varying degrees of forcefulness since they’d left the park.
“They’re acting in good faith for now. I mean, they’re the Boulders, you know?” Marv’s hands made strange shapes in the air, perhaps hindered by the bandage.
“No one but you knows what that means,” Juji said.
“I was so ready for a fight.” Marv stared at the place where his pinky finger had been. “A big one. And then—”
“And then it happened,” Reyah cut in. “How much more damage were you looking for, Marv?” Cass watched to see if she would pull on her braid. If she did, she was serious. She didn’t. Marv w
ould survive this confrontation.
“No, you’re right. I know you’re right. But they just conceded? Now? I’ve been begging them for years, and they finally give in now? Why not before? Why did we have to do all of this at all if they were trying to work toward the same goal?” Marv finally stopped and sat in a chair. Cass thought the whole room sighed with him.
“You didn’t see their faces,” Cass said, and everyone stared at him. “Look at how quickly they disabled their father. Do you think they were using their full magic against us?” Reyah nodded subtly, and Cass felt encouraged to continue. “I think they were just playing along.”
“Tell that to my head,” Amel repeated.
“And my hand,” Marv agreed.
“No, but really. Everyone lived. Does that make sense?” Cass looked to Andy, hoping he would understand. Andy stared at his fingertips, then nodded.
“Even among the Sharks, there were broken bones, stitches, and a few concussions, but everyone is going to be fine,” Charly added. “And the witches? The other Elementals? Everyone survived. That’s not statistically possible unless someone was working behind the scenes.”
“I think they wanted to believe there was still a way to change their father. That he was more than just the Mountain,” Cass said.
“He tried to kill me,” Marv said. His voice wasn’t loud, but it filled the room.
“And I think that’s what broke them. They were willing to play along with your father’s games, but he went too far. They stopped to save you,” Cass said. “I saw it.”
“Didn’t feel like it from inside the mud,” Marv complained, but everyone nodded their understanding.
“They’ll be honest,” Min said from his spot in the corner. It was his first contribution to the conversation in hours. He had his face buried in his phone, but Cass knew that nothing ever got by the muse.
“I don’t trust them any farther than I can throw them,” Reyah said with crossed arms.
“You’re very strong. You could throw them pretty far,” Min deadpanned.
“Is there any chance we can eat and go to bed full of satisfaction and lasagna?” Cass asked.
“I haven’t finished with you,” Charly said, pointing a crooked finger at Cass. “And you,” he said, thrusting his chin toward Andy, “are next.”
“I’m fine. I didn’t get hit by anything,” Andy protested.
“His fingertips are black, and his peripheral vision is shot,” Dez said. She brought Charly a new washcloth.
“Tattletale,” Andy said, sticking his tongue out at Dez.
“I saved your skin out there, but I’m not above bruising it a little now that we’re safe.” The threat was sweet in Dez’s husky voice. Cass saw Andy rub her shoulder gently.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I think the tea is wearing off,” Cass said and slumped into the spot next to Charly on the couch. Amel grunted and pulled his head away from Charly’s hands.
“Come here, Chosen One,” Charly said, fussing over Cass.
The fight had lasted forever. It had been over in minutes. Jedrek was being held by Waters and Fires in rotation, making sure he stayed put until they could figure out how to bring him to justice. The Boulders were making calls to the people Marv had earmarked for whatever business things had to happen.
The afternoon had been a blur of triage and first aid. He’d only seen his mom and Mama Yana briefly before they were taken to be healed. Cass remembered that he had eaten only because people had put snacks in his hands. Andy had shoved a cracker right into his mouth.
“He’s right, though,” Amel added. Always the voice of reason, Amel. Cass smiled. He liked that guy. “We should all eat and sleep. Today was rough, and we’ll need our strength to keep the promises made today.”
The fire spat sparks into the sky. Cass watched people dancing along the shore, in and out of the waves, celebrating with abandon. He’d managed to get a spot with the dunes at his back so he could watch it all.
The stream of well-wishers and admirers had faded to a trickle. He couldn’t blame people for wanting to get their moment with the Mistwalker, but he never felt more like an imposter than when he was accepting thanks and congratulations.
No one believed him when he shifted the credit to the lifelong labor of Marv and his sisters. Or Min. Or Charly and Amel or Dez or Tarone. Or anyone more capable and competent than he was. They barely accepted his shy thanks and repeated assertions that it was a team effort and he was a small part of the process.
“They need a hero, kid,” Min said, somehow rolling across the sand on his Spelled wheels. “Those that need the truth will accept it, and the rest will sleep easier knowing that it didn’t have to be them.”
Cass nodded. “But it didn’t have to be me, either.”
Min scrunched his shoulders to his ears. “It had to be someone. Might as well be you. You’re pretty well adjusted, all things considered.”
“Growing up fearing my best friend and second mom were gonna be beaten to death by an alcoholic who then sold his child to pay his gambling debts, rescuing him, winding up on the run from an assassin who was my soulmate, and then becoming the hero of the civilized world because I gave up my soul and gained some superpowers? Those things considered?”
“Something like that, yeah.” Min smirked. “You’re just fine, kid. You’re just fine.” He rolled off down the beach, probably looking for something to drink. Or the witches. Or both.
Resting in the sand, Cass tried to appreciate the freedom and joy that was all around. There was still so much work to do to make things truly right, but they’d come so far. Tonight, he would just let it be. Let it be enough.
“Stop brooding and come dance, love,” Dez called as she walked up, tugging Andy along behind her.
“And steal all the attention?” Cass asked with a grin. “No. You and Andy are doing much better than I could anyway.” Cass leaned back on his blanket, resting his hands behind his head.
“You should be celebrating,” Andy said and flopped down next to Cass.
“I’m celebrating plenty right here.”
Reyah appeared from out of the firelight, with Marv and Juji in tow. “I told you he’d still be here,” she called over her shoulder.
“Of course I am. This is my spot. I’m holding court, don’t you know?” Cass spread his hands wide.
Reyah slid next to him, pausing to ruffle Andy’s hair as she did. Marv and Juji grabbed spots on the blanket, and Dez sighed but joined them anyway. They watched the people on the beach and the bonfires.
“This is balance,” Cass said, letting the rumble of his voice surround them all. “The Elements all together.” He gestured to each of them in turn.
Juji grabbed Dez’s hand and said, “We’ve got you outnumbered.”
“This close to the ocean, it’s allowed.” Cass grinned. “But we’re all here.”
Reyah rested her head on his shoulder. “I guess I should go hang out with the witches, then.”
“Nah, you can be Air by proxy since you’ve got my soul in there,” he said, resting his cheek on her hair.
“Did you see how many of the bonfires I started tonight?” Andy asked.
“You and that relic are a powerful match. You’re lucky Min let you keep it.” Marv chuckled.
“Helio and Pyro. Just what your ego needed,” Dez agreed.
“I’m grateful for the gift,” Andy said simply. He put his arms around Dez’s shoulders. “You gave everything you had to your relic,” Andy said. Dez only grunted and watched the waves roll in.
“Earth, Air, Fire, Water,” Marv said slowly.
“Water, Earth, Air, Fire,” Juji and Dez echoed.
“Fire, Water, Earth, Air,” Andy answered.
“Air, Fire, Earth, Water,” Cass finished.
Acknowledgments
This work would not have been possible without the support of my incredible family, both first and found.
About the Author
K. W. Q
uinn has a bachelor’s of journalism, which she used to get exactly one job in that field before throwing it all away for improvisational acting and a capella singing. This is her first novel, and her mother is very proud. She’s a Libra, ENFP, Enneagram 2, and can do the splits sometimes. She has never defeated an evil empire or had assassins on her trail. That she knows of.