Rootbound (The Elemental Series, Book 5)

by Shannon Mayer

  Whirling the spear through the air, I shadow-fought with opponents only I could see until the sweat rolled over my entire body, slicking me from head to foot. I lost track of time as I fell into the rhythm I’d perfected in all my years in the desert.

  “Mind if I join you, Larkspur?” A deep voice startled me out of my thoughts. I spun around, spear at the ready. A man leaned against the edge of the doorway and I took him in with a single sweep of my eyes. I’d seen him only days before; there was no way I’d mistake him, though there were changes in his appearance.

  The man from the graveyard.

  Closer up, I could see details I’d not noted before.

  He was taller than me, and his build was well muscled and looked as though he was used to fighting, if the scars on his forearms and the puckered scar that ran across his collarbone were any indication. Dark blue eyes surrounded by a rim of gold stared at me as if weighing my worth. He ran a hand over his head, scrubbing at his short dark brown hair. The color of chocolate was my first thought. He’d cut the long ponytail off, but it didn’t fool me.

  With those eyes, he could be a shape shifter.

  I shook my head.

  “The floor is yours, if you tell me why you are following me.”

  He smiled and white teeth flashed. “Ah, it is so seldom I have the chance to spar with someone who favors my own weapon.” He tugged a spear from his side, snapping the two pieces together before swirling it in front of him. The make was identical to my own, down to the leather-wrapped handle.

  I frowned. I’d never seen a spear that broke down like mine before.

  I glanced at Peta who nodded, her green eyes soft as though she’d only just woken up. “You can always use the practice.”

  “He’s the one from the graveyard. You think it’s safe?” I spoke loud enough that I knew he would hear me.

  She didn’t answer me, just trotted away without a backward glance. My adrenaline spiked and I tightened my grip on my weapon. What the hell?

  “Peta?”

  “She’s off to check on something. So you and I can talk, Lark.” He swung the spear so that it resembled my own, in a lazy wide circle.

  I stepped back and beckoned him forward with a hand. He stepped toward me, a smile on his lips, and something in the air shifted.

  I brought my own weapon up and settled into a crouch. I’d seen him do nothing, pull on no lines of power, and yet I felt it along my skin. He was using his ability with Spirit. I gritted my teeth. I would not be manipulated again.

  “I am at a disadvantage. You know my name, but I do not know yours.”

  He chuckled and settled into a fighting stance across from me. “No? Can you not guess? I have been watching you for a long time, Lark. I knew your mother. Trained her actually.” He stepped forward, his spear shooting at me in a fast thrust. I blocked him, spinning sideways in a full circle so I brought my blade back to waver between us.

  “It appears you like your weapon far better than she did; that will save you one day, I think.” He smiled, and there wasn’t a mean thing about it. And yet I couldn’t help but be disturbed.

  “My mother wasn’t trained to fight.” I swept the blade down toward his left knee. He jumped straight up, bringing his spear crashing to the ground, pinning the haft of mine.

  I stumbled back, pulling a knife from my side. Ender rule 101. Never leave home with less than two weapons.

  “She was trained to fight, even if she chose not to. She didn’t understand Spirit. Nor how it truly worked. It was her downfall.” He frowned. “I am hoping you will not make the same mistake as her.”

  Spirit. What would he know of Spirit, unless . . . my jaw dropped as I stared at him. “Talan?”

  He bowed at the waist, making a huge sweep with his arms and spear. “The one and only.”

  Mother goddess have mercy, he couldn’t be. But then . . . it made a wicked sort of sense, except for one thing.

  “What . . . why did you send Peta away, then?”

  “Because she would not understand why I am here. And I am not ready to fully face the fact she loves you more than she ever loved me.” His eyes shuttered to half-mast and he gave me a small smile.

  “Because you let her believe you died.” I spat the words at him, anger on her behalf snapping through me.

  “Easy, Lark. There is much you don’t understand. I show myself to you so you know you are not alone.” He twisted his spear, breaking it down, and hung it from his waist. Tucking a foot under my spear, he flipped it toward me. I caught it, but did not break it down.

  “Not alone? I have Peta.” And Bella. And Ash when I found him.

  “She cannot teach you all you need to know when it comes to Spirit.” He shrugged. “She’ll keep you alive, though, and that is all you need right now. To survive a little longer.”

  My jaw twitched. “So you thought you’d come by, introduce yourself, and then leave? Some help.”

  His lips twitched. “Your time with me is not yet here, Lark—”

  “Are you insane?” If I could have frowned harder, I’m sure my face would have split in half. “My time with you? You show up to taunt me, then to offer me help only to take it away—”

  “I am the only one who can train you. Even now Spirit has begun to wreak havoc on your control. So I will tell you this, to prove I mean you no harm. Your power is out of balance because you are out of balance. Find your center, and Spirit will ease off. We can go from there when your training begins.” There was softness in his eyes, almost like he cared. Like for some reason my mental state truly mattered to him.

  I took a step back, wanting to believe it would be that easy. “Why?”

  Why for so many reasons.

  Talan held a hand out to me. “The world is a far bigger place than any of the families realize, and you and I are nearly the last of ours. I have to try and teach you.”

  “I see your training kept my mother alive.” Anger and fear making my words hard.

  He didn’t flinch. “She made her choice, Lark. As you will make yours. Right now, you are rootbound, and your past holds you so tightly, you cannot grow into the power you are meant to be. You will be forced to make a decision soon, though. One that will change your life forever. Either you will remain as you are, tangled in the past, or you will reach for the future with both hands.” He drew in a long breath. “I will find you when the time draws close. And if you want to come with me before then . . .” He flipped something at me. I let the object drop to my feet, never taking my eyes from him.

  Talan stood there, watching me watch him. “Your time to take the stones from the elemental leaders is coming to a close, that much is true.”

  A chill swept through me. “How did you know?”

  He didn’t directly answer me. “They are far more addictive in their power than even you understand. Your sister rarely wore hers, and you saw how she fought you. You, someone she loves dearly, she would have killed you. You did them all a disservice giving them the stones in the first place.”

  My jaw dropped. “It’s not like they came with an instruction manual. And the battle against Orion and his demons would never have been won without that extra strength.”

  I felt as though I was in a battle of my own, one where I was rapidly losing ground. He was wrong. We’d needed that strength.

  He shook his head, his eyes incredibly sad. “More people would have died, yes, that is true. But the battle itself did not weigh on your shoulders, Larkspur. It weighed on the Tracker and her heart. Your pride made you believe you were integral to a battle that had nothing to do with you. Your battle is yet to come.”

  His words cut through me, like a spear thrown by a giant, piercing me through my chest. “What are you saying?”

  “The battle would have been won without you, Lark. You think too highly of yourself, and it will be your downfall. Pride . . . you have seen how it destroys leaders. And whether you like it or not, Destroyer, you are a leader of a sort.”

&nbs
p; He took a step back, then another, while I fought with my emotions.

  Humiliation, heartsick, physically sick. I went to my knees and gagged, unable to stop my body’s reaction to his words. What if he was right? What if I should not have been at that battle?

  My whole body shook as his words circled me like vultures waiting for me to lie back and let them pick me apart. I gripped the haft of my spear, as if that would ground me.

  I closed my eyes and replayed the battle in my head, seeing it piece by piece, the steps we’d taken to survive, so that more would survive than would die.

  So not all hope was lost.

  “No, he’s wrong. The help was needed.” But was I? Or was I fooling myself so I didn’t see he was right? That I was too full of pride to realize the damage I’d done?

  I couldn’t shake the possibility he could be right.

  With my eyes squeezed shut tight, I stayed where I was, fighting the emotions that would turn me into an indecisive mess. I jerked, my spine snapping straight. I would not be turned into a weak, fearful girl again.

  Never again.

  My father’s final words soothed me. Do not hesitate.

  I opened my eyes, and of course, Talan was gone. I scooped up the object he’d tossed to me, as Peta padded back in. “I didn’t see anyone out there. Did you hear something? Is that why you sent me outside?”

  My heart clenched. He’d played with her mind, and I knew if I questioned her now it would only make me look crazy. Damn him.

  “I thought I did.” I hurried to the door, visually sweeping the area. There was no sign of Talan, no sign he’d ever been there. Damn. “I guess I was hearing things.”

  Her eyes filled with concern and I glanced at the object in my hand. A thick bracelet made of a clear, foggy material. I rubbed my fingers over it, knowing the sensation the second I did it. I flung the plastic bracelet across the room, bouncing it off the far wall. Fear and horror sliced through my gut. The bracelet was made of the same material as the oubliettes that had held me for so many years.

  Talan had given me a piece of my prison to wear.

  “I’ll be damned before I ever put that on.” I didn’t care that Peta looked at me like I was losing my mind.

  “What is it?”

  I closed my eyes and took in deep, long breaths as I fought to calm my heart. I had to be smart about this, I needed to be realistic no matter how difficult it was. No matter how much I might hate Talan for his words, for the doubt he set to spout in me and the fear the bracelet raised.

  Though it took everything I had to make my feet move in the direction of the bracelet, I walked across the room. With a swift movement, I bent and scooped it up a second time, sliding it into the leather bag at my side. “It’s a tool, and one I hate,” I said, “but I am not the child who throws a tantrum and cuts her nose off to spite her face. There is a chance I might need it at some point.”

  Peta’s eyebrows rose, as did the fear in her. I held a hand out to her. “I know it doesn’t make sense.”

  “It’s a piece of plastic,” Peta said. “How can it possibly help you?”

  I tightened the loop on my leather bag so the bracelet was no longer visible. Even so, I couldn’t help the shudder that rippled through me. “I will explain . . . later.”

  Her shoulders drooped and true sorrow passed through the bond between us. I went to my knees and held my arms out wide. She rushed into me, knocking me off balance.

  “Please trust me, Peta. Please.” Talan obviously didn’t want her to know he’d contacted me, and while I didn’t completely trust him, for now I had to agree with him on that. I didn’t want Peta to know he was around either.

  Mostly because a part of me feared he was wrong and that she loved him best and always would.

  That she would leave me to be his familiar again.

  “It is not you I don’t trust, but the things that have been done to you. The things you’ve faced without me at your side to buffer them,” she said.

  I closed my eyes, burying my face in her fur. “I know, Peta. I know.”

  CHAPTER 11

  stood and disentangled Peta from me. The past was of no consequence to me now, I had to believe that, or I would drive myself mad with wondering if I could have done things differently. Or wondering if I should never have interfered at all.

  She looked up at me, her green eyes thoughtful. “So now what? We wait on Bella to work her magic?”

  I doubted it would be as easy as all that. “You were here, during my banishment?”

  “Yes, I searched the libraries of all the families as you asked. Learned everything I could and then some. The Deep holds the oldest records of all the families and I learned much here.” Her eyes went thoughtful. “Why?”

  “What my father said, about the old elemental and the connection to the mother goddess. Do you think that was his madness, or did you ever come across something like that in your studies?”

  Her eyes narrowed. “What are you thinking? I can almost feel your mind working.”

  I shrugged. “What he said has stayed with me, which makes me think there is truth in it somewhere. What if the story was not about the mother goddess, but an elemental that had been powerful like her? And what if that elemental was still alive, and causing grief, controlling the rulers? Shazer said an elemental made him and the stones. Could there be some connection between them? A story that has been twisted from its original meaning, but the center of it still truth?”

  Peta tipped her head back and twitched the tip of one rounded ear. “Maybe. But how would you find out?”

  “You said the Deep had the oldest records. If there was info about that elemental, this is where it would be, wouldn’t it?”

  Excitement zipped from Peta through the bond to me. “Yes, the Undines have an excellent section of old bits and pieces, old papers that have no true connection to anything but that they keep because of their age.”

  And Ray would be in the library. Perhaps she would be able to help me yet again in my search for truth.

  Peta bounded ahead of me, through the door and across the rope bridge, with the nimbleness only a cat had, before I’d even stepped foot on the swaying structure. “Slow down.”

  “Hurry up,” she called over her shoulder. “You need to find a way to improve speed and reflexes. Cat-like, that’s what you need!”

  I shook my head, but let the smile drift across my lips.

  The tip of her tail twitched as she waited for me. Again, I hurried over the bridge, not looking down, only ahead. The smell of the Deep swirled around me: salt water, seaweed, a faint hint of tropical fruits, and sun-heated sand. I stepped off the far side of the bridge. “You see my eyes? Not violet. No shape shifting in my future.”

  “True.” She bobbed her head. “Then again, it’s not like you’ve followed the rules so far. Why not try?”

  Laughing, I shook my head but said nothing to dispute her. We both knew it wasn’t possible.

  We crossed the white sand, and before long, stepped onto the cobblestone streets. We approached the stables and I slowed. Set up like an open barn with no real stalls, the stable was heavily bedded with dried seaweed for the livestock. Shazer dozed under the shelter off to one side. His head jerked up as I approached, his nostrils flaring.

  “We leaving?”

  “Tomorrow morning.” I paused in front of him. “Your creator, did he have a name?”

  He ruffled his wings and stretched out his front legs. “I don’t even remember my own name, and you expect me to remember the name of the elemental who made me?”

  “Couldn’t hurt to ask. Seeing as how we may have to deal with him at some point.”

  Both Shazer and Peta stared at me with open mouths.

  “What?” Peta blurted.

  Shazer spluttered. “I hope you’re kidding. Tell me you are joking, Lark.”

  The words had slipped out, but as soon as they’d escaped me I wished I’d caught them. Not because they weren’t my true feel
ings, but because I couldn’t yet explain how I knew what I knew.

  “Never mind.”

  “Oh no, you aren’t getting out of this that easily.” Shazer blocked my path. “Get talking.”

  I cleared my throat. “It’s like—”

  Bella rounded the corner, flushed and out of breath, saving me from explaining myself. “There you are. I’ve been looking all over for you.”

  “Take it things didn’t go well with Finley?”

  She shook her head. “She is . . . stubborn doesn’t even begin to describe it. It is like she is blind to anything around her. Nothing I said got through, not a single word about my concerns.”

  “The ring?” I lifted an eyebrow.

  Bella shook her head. “I’m sorry, I did try. I offered her my hand as we met, and she refused to take it. A clear offense if I didn’t know why she refused.”

  Undines paused as they walked by, slowing to hear us. I put a hand on Bella’s elbow. “Come, walk with me.”

  Shazer snorted. “This conversation is not done.”

  “Later,” I said over my shoulder.

  Bella talked as we strode through the street. “I think the same thing is happening to Finley that happened to me. It was almost like she knows we are here for the sapphire.”

  “Not possible; only the mother goddess knows.” I turned sideways to let an Undine carrying a full basket of apples go by.

  Bella glanced at me. “I knew what you wanted, the second you stepped into the dining hall.”

  I froze mid-stride. “Are you kidding me?”

  “No. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that if I did not kill you, the ring would no longer be mine.”

  I was so screwed. Jaw ticking, I started forward again. “I need to figure out how we’re going to get the stone then.”

  Bella pursed her lips and put two fingers to them, but said nothing.

  “You still want to go to the library?” Peta asked.

  “It’s as good a place as any to plan,” I said.

  We followed her, but my mind was elsewhere.

  Between the issue with getting the stone off Finley, Talan offering to train me, Ash missing, and the mystery of the old elemental . . . there was enough to keep me quiet. But that was not what made my mind roll in a loop over the events. No, it was the thought that the mother goddess was once again manipulating me. Asking me to retrieve the five stones, and then warning those who held them that I was coming.