Igniting Spirit (Gathering Water Book 3)

by Regan Claire

  *****

  “Well, are you just going to stand there with your mouth gaping open, or are you going to come in?”

  I turned around and looked at the woman, Aahana. The Elfennol, or Ethnos I suppose, don’t age the way humans do. They don’t wrinkle up and become frail. Rather, there is a stiffness to them, and a certain quality to their energy that I can’t exactly explain, other than you could just tell. The best I can do is compare them to an old redwood back in California that I would sit next to and think. There is a feeling to the ancient, a hallowed feeling of immeasurable time bearing down on you. That’s how it felt around some of the Elfennol back in Eurybis, and that was how it felt to be around Aahana. Laurel once told me among our people, the stronger you are, the longer you live. I knew that this woman was very strong indeed.

  “Who are you?” I asked, refusing to walk inside without knowing more about her. Ezra said to trust her, and I did… sort of.

  “My name is Aahana, and I was once from one of the lesser families within the Leoht House. Of course, that has no meaning where we are. What does have meaning is that without me stepping forward and sponsoring you, no one would have stopped Kaylus from doing to you what he did to poor Arthur.”

  My mouth dropped open a little when I heard she used to be an Elfennol, and from the same House as me. Not that it meant we were related or anything. Each of the three Elfennol houses had a multitude of families within them, owing their allegiance to the head of the House with which they were allied. My father just so happened to be the head of the Leoht line.

  “You were —” I started to ask, then readjusted my priorities. I usually didn’t have time to get all my questions answered at the same time, so I had to make sure and ask the important ones first. “What does it mean that you’re my sponsor?”

  “It’s basically a stay of execution. If you do anything to break our laws, I will share your punishment — which will be death, of course. Ezra, too, will face the same end. My son is convinced that the hope you represent is worth risking our lives.”

  “Your son? Is Ezra —” I started asking, confused since Ezra had told me his mother was dead.

  “No. I am Alexander’s mother. The Elfennol don’t acknowledge their relations who have fallen to the dark side, so to speak. My son, however, disagrees. Alexander has good intent for all of our people in his heart, and he says that you do as well. I wasn’t sure about Ezra until today.”

  I knew it! I knew that Alexander, my bodyguard of sorts, had some sort of ties in the Clade ranks. He’d hinted often enough about it, but it’s such a taboo subject that I couldn’t ask him in case I was wrong.

  “Have you heard from him? Is he okay?” During my fight with Kaylus’s Clades the previous day, they had mentioned eliminating him and his protection of me. He never showed up, even though I sent out an “SOS” via the gems in my armlets. I’d been so preoccupied with Cash that I didn’t think of the other people I cared about who might have been hurt because of me.

  “He’s fine, thanks to Ezra. Apparently that man of yours was on his way to warn the Elders about his father when he came upon my son fighting a losing battle with a few of Kaylus’ rotten apples. The fight ended with those still alive going into custody back at the Elfennol compound, and my son assured of Ezra’s intentions. Once Alexander was certain of your loyalties, he communicated them to me.”

  If she’d been in communication with Alexander this whole time, then that meant, at least by Elfennol standards, that Alexander was a traitor. Had he been slipping Elfennol secrets to the Clades? I could feel my face darken at the thought of his betraying my father.

  “You stop those thoughts right now, young miss! My son is a good person, and loyal. He has only ever had the well-being of our people on his mind, and has done nothing to betray the trust that has been placed upon him. Especially you and your father’s trust.”

  I narrowed my eyes at her. I wasn’t used to being read so easily. In fact, only Cash could do it so well, and he was part empath thanks to his mother’s side of the family.

  “I’m no mind reader, Della of the Leoht. But you learn how to see thoughts before they’re spoken when you’ve been around as long as I have.”

  “Sounds like the definition of mind reading to me,” I mumbled under my breath. Before she could respond, the ground — the air even — began to shake. I looked at Aahana. “Is this normal?”

  “Most definitely not.” She didn’t even finish the words before an enormous boom filled the air. Not waiting to see if she would follow, I ran off in the same direction Ezra had gone just moments before. Something bad was happening, and I knew Kaylus was at the root of it.

  When I reached the part of the town square where I last saw Kaylus, the crowd seemed even larger than before. I couldn’t see Kaylus or Ezra, but Ezra had a ring with some of my power in it, and I honed in on it like a tracking device. When he had carried me through the people before, I saw a few skirmishes between Kaylus’ men and the other Clades. All the fights had finished, and even though the crowd was larger, everyone was looking around the giant cave in confusion, making it much easier to squeeze my way past them in my search for Ezra. The tremor was getting more violent, quaking so roughly that I had difficulty keeping my feet under me. People around me were having the same difficulty, and soon I was dodging falling bodies.

  I could see Ezra at the entrance to the cave surrounded by the only people who seemed to have more pressing matters than the sky literally falling — because it was. Rocks, varying in size from pebble to boulder, were raining over our heads. I created a Shield for myself before thinking about it, then created a second to form a sort of umbrella to protect most of the people around me.

  I’m a good samaritan like that.

  It only took a half dozen steps to get to Ezra. “What’s happening?” I asked, stepping beside him to look at the wall he was currently trying to beat down with a combination of his hands and abilities. Others were also using their control over Spirit energy to chip away at the wall.

  “He got away! Damn it, Della, we had him and he escaped. If that wasn’t bad enough, he did something to our door on the way out so we can’t even follow him.” He banged an already bloodied fist against the stone wall — er, door — with a desperation that shook me.

  “Ezra, is he causing this whole earthquake thing happening right now?” I used the calmest voice at my disposal, which meant I shrieked like a harpy.

  He looked around as if he was noticing what was happening for the first time. It was obvious he’d been so intent on chasing down Kaylus before he did something else awful, he hadn’t even notice that he already had done something awful.

  I heard screams at the same time I felt something melt its way through my Shield. Not break it, melt it.

  Ezra jerked his head in the direction of the screams to find out what was happening, but I already knew.

  The islands of Bermuda are really a cluster of gad-dang volcanoes, and Kaylus had just figured out a way to make the suckers erupt. I’d been feeling a surge of elements, but hadn’t paid attention.

  I really wished I’d been paying attention.

  Maybe it was because of a close call with a drop of lava that had slid through my Shield’s overhead and landed by his foot, but Ezra seemed to realize the deep doo that we were in just a few seconds after I did.

  “Della, can you get the door open? The Loa aren’t strong enough and we need to get everyone out, now. It will take too long if we keep doing it this way.”

  I looked around at the now-panicking people, then at the door with the half dozen Clades hammering power at it to chip it away far too slowly, and nodded my head. The door was thick, about a dozen feet of solid rock, and I could feel the Runes that had been placed on the other side to strengthen and prevent anyone from leaving. First, I tried to simply Gather the stone — Earth — and make it disappear into my Well, but nothing happened. Of course the Clades would know a way to protect themselves against my family's abi
lities. It was clear I would need to destroy the Runes before creating a doorway. Just as I got started, Aahana brushed by my shoulder.

  “Ezra, we need to get everyone else ready to evacuate! About half of our people stayed home today, minding their own business.” She was pulling him, but he realized, like I did, that there wasn’t enough time. Evacuation would mean more than sacrificing their homes, it would mean sacrificing their lives.

  Another idea came to mind. Not necessarily a better one, but hey.

  “Ezra, I can keep everyone safe while your people work on carving their way out. Go for the Runes first. There are some on the other side as well. If you can get your Loa to focus on those while everyone in here works from this side, it will be much quicker.” Another loud boom echoed through the cave system. “I can hold off the worst of it.” I was remembering my Testing with the Elfennol and the lava that had nearly defeated me. I’d been able to hold it off for awhile, and even Gathered a bit of it. If I could do the same long enough for the Clades to open a path, Aahana would be able to get everyone the help they needed to evacuate.

  “Can’t you do the door first, then the Shielding?” Ezra asked. I heard him, but only barely. I was already reinforcing the Shields above us to protect us from the falling rock, while using the coolness from the water energy I’d been able to collect to try and slow the bulk of the magma before it reached the main part of the cavern. It was difficult since it seemed to be coming from everywhere.

  “One or the other, Ezra. My Well is half empty, and this is taking a lot of concentration,” I huffed out. I wasn’t trying to be rude, but this really was difficult.

  Another Clade who was nearby snapped to attention. “Ezra, do what she says. I’m not willing to sacrifice half our people to your father’s madness. We can take the door.” He spoke with a soft authority, but I barely acknowledged his words. I was too busy expanding my shields towards the closest rivulet of lava that was slowly leaching its way deeper into the Clade compound. Rocks were still pummeling my shields from above, and the weight was becoming a bigger and bigger strain as they expanded to defend against an ever-growing pool of lava.

  I stumbled, then stumbled again. The pool in front of me slowed down, the outer crust going dark with a loud hiss of steam when the Water energy I was pouring on it hit. But seconds later, fiery red liquid burst through, I needed more energy and it would take too long to Gather from the ocean outside of the cavern.

  “Ezra, I need more energy. More Water. Can the Loa — “ Before I even finished the sentence, I could sense more Water in the area. Apparently the Loa could bring more of their element to me. But it wasn’t enough. I was having trouble with this one little river of lava, and I knew it wasn’t the only one. My Shield had expanded across the top of the entire cave, but I didn’t have the stamina left to cover the ground as well. I barely had the stamina to maintain the Shield with all the weight on it.

  But I could Gather lava. I’d done it before, without knowing how. My abilities knew what to do when I didn’t think about doing them, or at least they always knew how to kick into mega gear when I was in need. Lava was three elements rolled in one. Fire, Earth, and Spirit. That’s why the Ethnos — the Elfennol and Clades — couldn’t control it. If it were just Spirit, they’d all be fine right now. But the physical elements were a human thing. Only a half-breed like me could absorb all three.

  So I did. I Gathered, and slowly the rivulet shrank until it disappeared beneath the crack from which it had oozed up. I found another pool of lava, and Gathered it. And another. And another. I started feeling dizzy from all the energy I was storing. Ezra had his Loa do the same thing I had been doing before, cooling the lava enough to slow it down a bit, but still the shaking ground cracked open more and more, giving opportunity for lava to emerge.

  I was Gathering even quicker now, but it wasn’t making a difference. The rivulets of lava I had already taken care of were back and getting larger than before. I focused on clearing the main walkway that people were using to reach the entrance, but it was like swimming upstream. Soon, the only place that wasn’t covered by the oozing river of death was a shrinking path and a half circle by the entrance filled to the brim with a growing number of people who were being evacuated. I could only assume that Ezra was somehow keeping the worst of the heat from everyone, because no one exploded into balls of fire, and I was too preoccupied to Shield them from the heat. A red haze clouded my vision before I realized that a fine mist of lava was swirling around me, singeing my clothes, but leaving my skin unaffected. My Well was nearly full, and all that energy had to go somewhere.

  “Della, Aahana said they think they’ve gathered everyone. You can focus on the front entrance now!” Ezra’s voice jerked me out of an adrenaline-fueled zone-out, and I nearly cried with relief as I slowly decreased the Shielded area.

  “How much longer until those doors are open?” I asked Ezra, after forcing enough moisture back into my mouth to speak. He was holding his hand over his face, shielding himself from the heat that I was emitting.

  “Just a few more minutes. The Runes are down. Della, if this is a full scale eruption, I don’t think we’ll be able to leave the area in time. And everyone on the island… I don’t understand how my father could have done this! This is an extinct volcano! This shouldn’t be possible.”

  I knew he was worried about Penny, a Vodun woman who lived in Bermuda and had become the closest thing he had to a mother. We’d met at her restaurant, and the affection between them was endearing. Penny had sort of taken me under her wing as well, though she didn’t know I was also half Dunamis and half Ethnos like Ezra.

  I was worried too, he was right. This wasn’t just some parlor trick Kaylus did to provide a good distraction while he escaped. He set off a volcano. How it was possible wasn’t at all important at the moment, not when there were tens of thousands of lives at stake. There was no way the top side of the island wasn’t feeling what was happening, and it was equally impossible that they would all be able to evacuate quickly enough to escape the inferno.

  “Just worry about getting these people out and far away. I can take care of the rest,” I lied. It was a big fat lie, but it was possible to save Ezra and these people. If I could hold it off for just a little longer, they could get to safety. He could get to safety, and even though I knew it made me a bad person, that was all I cared about. Well, I didn’t want everyone else to be boiled alive in a pool of lava either, but I was a little emotional and my heart leapt into my overly-dry throat at the idea of him getting hurt. He had to get out and survive. I told myself it was because he was the only Clade I knew would help me save Cash, and I allowed myself the delusion.

  You can lie to yourself in near death situations. I know people always say it’s a time for honesty and reckoning, but those people can suck it.

  My blood was buzzing from the energy I was still Gathering. Shouts of joy were heard near the entrance and I knew they broke through. I looked up at Ezra, urging him with my eyes to get the heck out.

  “I’ll make sure everyone gets out the door and through the tunnels, but I’m coming back for you.” He turned and helped the stragglers follow the crowd out while I reinforced the Shield around that area. I watched him lead them to safety, helping those who stumbled from the shaking ground. I walked backwards, unwilling to let him leave my sight until I was far enough away that he started blending in with the people around him. Before he disappeared from sight a wide crack burst forth, starting near my foot and spreading to the crowd of people that Ezra was trying to help.

  Everything seemed to slow down around me. The crack, a small thing at first, was widening. I watched in horror as one person fell in, then another and another. I could do nothing but listen to their screams amid the rumbling of the earth. Ezra was frantically pulling people away from the growing chasm. Ash was floating down around us, landing on the faces of those who still hadn’t made it through the door to safety. Over half the people were still inside the cavern, a
nd I knew I needed to do more if there was any hope for them to survive.

  I fell to my knees, desperate, and lifted my head up to try and open myself as wide as possible, urging the energy from this catastrophe to enter me. My inner defenses were gone, and I could feel each life around me, and every single element. I could feel the pulse of the earth, and the fathomless ocean bending to none but the will of gods. I felt clouds dance upon my skin, and the sun's rays warm my soul. My pulse was steady, my breathing an even pattern of in and out. When I finally opened my eyes, I could barely see through the swirling mass of red-hot liquid rock that was funneling around me. As if on cue, a spot opened up in my vision and I saw him — Ezra — no longer helping his people but running toward me.

  That wouldn’t do. I wasn’t even sure I would survive what I was doing; I wouldn’t risk him. I stood up and brought a Shield around myself, manipulating it so that it would only keep people out. He skidded to a stop before slamming into it. His mouth was moving and fists were banging against the Shield, but I could hear nothing outside the swarm of heat around me. My view was obstructed again, and all the destructive energy was now bent to my will. It was too strong, or it was too late, to cease the activity — the dominos were already set in motion on that one — but I could redirect it.

  To me.

  Acting like a magnet for death, I felt all the lava redirect itself to me, and finally I released the last of my Shields that were keeping it from harming the Clade. They were safe now.

  I reinforced my only remaining Shield, the one keeping everyone out. I pushed it out and made it stronger and stronger, pouring as much of the overabundant energy into it as I could. Earth for strength, Fire for power, Air and Water to stop the heat. I kept pouring in energy until I was certain that my Shield probably echoed that maelstrom around me. I could feel the sphere of it swirling around, far larger and stronger than any I’d made.