Ever keen, Hadrian said, “It has to do with what you encountered in that building, doesn’t it?”
“I need information as much as he does. It was a cherufe.”
He twisted around in his seat to face her. “A cherufe!? You’ve got to be joking. Really, Karena? You shouldn’t have taken that on by yourself. First the wyvern, and then this?” he said with a raised voice.
“Don’t act like this.”
“Someone has to tell you to stop. And on top of it, you’re dating a Chaos Fire elemental. You have a death wish.”
“I don’t. You’re acting like my parents.”
Hadrian fumed and crossed his arms. Pissed off, something that was rare for him to experience, especially towards her, he turned away from her and put his forehead against his window. The muscles in his neck bulged. His jaw tensed as he gritted his teeth. She put her hand on his shoulder.
Fearful for their friendship, she said, “You know me better than this. The wyvern and the cherufe were out of my control. I didn’t know what I was up against in those situations until the moment of engagement, and I went for it because I felt like I could handle it. And with Asher, I can’t help it. I really like him.”
Hadrian shook his head. He was too angry to talk, and continued to look out the window. If Hadrian hadn’t been her best friend, someone she cared about with all her heart and soul, she would’ve left and gone back inside of the hospital to spend the night and wait until family could take her home. His attitude towards her made her feel as though she was a child again, a child who had done something grievous, when she should’ve known better. She bristled from it, but endured through her own feelings of rage and indignation for the sake of their friendship.
Karena continued, “I simply reacted on both incidents. That cherufe would’ve followed me out of the building. Everyone would’ve had no choice, but to run. Waiting for backup would’ve been pointless because everyone was battling the fires or summoning rain. If it had gone underground by liquefying its body, like they sometimes do in order to find a volcanic vent, then we wouldn’t have been able to dig it up again to destroy it. It would’ve stayed down there, and could’ve caused all sorts of problems for the ground above it. And trying to enlist a Fire to help would’ve been impossible and time consuming, and that’s not to mention the difficulties of even transporting a cherufe back into the Fire district, or wherever it had come from.”
Hadrian couldn’t come up with a retort. She was right, and he knew it.
“I was the best person at the time to handle the situation. Waiting wasn’t an option,” she added.
He glanced at her and put his eyes on the steering wheel. The truck continued to idle. He said, “And what makes you think you’re safe with Asher? How do you know he loves you? He could turn on you.”
“There will always be that possibility that he could turn on me. But what’s worse: to take the risk, or to not take it?”
After a while, he admitted, “I guess it depends on what’s at stake.”
Karena said, “You see me as Karena, but you also need to see that I am a Chaos elemental. My life path is going to be different than yours. There’s going to be more danger in it, but it’s because I can handle it due to my powers. If I denied myself what’s true to my nature, then I might as well just dig my own grave right now. It’s the same way for sorcerers and sorceresses. They embrace their own destiny. They don’t shy away from it because others tell them to. They don’t question it.
‘There will always be danger in this world, some more extreme than others. The burden can’t be placed on your shoulders or on nonmagical folks or on someone like Rose, whose elemental abilities are limited. The burden goes to those like me. You can be upset at me all you like for taking on things that you think are too big for me to handle. And yes, I was in over my head, and I am even now with dating someone like Asher. But the truth is, I’m still here.”
As Hadrian thought about this, his arms loosened from their crossed pattern against his chest. She was aware of how much he cared about her, and how he didn’t want to see her in danger. It was difficult for him to accept that she was a Chaos elemental, and therefore, destined to take on creatures he couldn’t.
He said, “You don’t know what those Fires are thinking. Look at what they did to the Earth district. An entire family is dead.”
Shock rung through her. “An entire family?” she asked.
“Yes. The coroner’s office hasn’t released who exactly the family is, only that it was a family.”
“That’s terrible,” she whispered. It made her feel guilty for having ties to Asher, but it didn’t mean Asher was to blame in any way.
“And you claim you’re safe around Asher.”
“What would you do if you were in my situation, where you had intense feelings for someone?”
“I’ve never had feelings for a man,” he said, and he gave a cheeky smile.
“This isn’t the time for joking.”
“I’ve been serious for too long. This is a record for me.”
“I realize that, but hold on for a bit longer until we find Captain Valmar.”
He took a deep breath and thought about it. “If I had found someone who truly made me feel different, like if I was to find a woman who was…. you know, the right one, the perfect blend of inner and outer beauty that caught my attention, then it would change everything for me. I would want to live the rest of my life with her. Love is worth waiting for, but at the same time, you have to know when to leap.”
“And what if that woman was an Air or a Fire?” she asked. It was taboo to even think about such a possibility.
“I would still try to give the relationship a chance, though cautiously, of course.”
They listened to the rumble of his truck as they thought about what had been said. The death of that family was on her mind, and what a tragedy it was.
“I’m sorry that I became condescending towards you,” Hadrian said.
“I forgive you. I understand why you were upset.”
“Did I get anywhere close to your parents’ level?” he asked, straightening up in his seat, excited.
“You would’ve needed to have gone off for a bit longer. I’m not looking forward to hearing what they have to say. I’ll tell them that fiery debris hit my arm or something. If I tell them I battled a cherufe, they’ll try to ban me from cryptid hunting completely.”
“Or ground you, and make your lunches for you again, and take you to and from work.”
“That’s not funny in the least, because I’m sure they would try.”
He snickered, and said, “I’m just waiting for when your sister, Isabel, breaks free from their smothering. I wonder what would happen when that day comes. I suspect she has water powers, so imagine your parents’ disappointment if she moves to the sea to join a colony of merpeople. Ha!”
She laughed from thinking about it. “I’m not sure what kind of water powers she has. She has said before that scales appear when she bathes, but little else,” she said.
“Has she tried singing?”
“Nah. She should though, to see if she has the voice of a siren.”
“Alright, let’s go find Captain Vally,” Hadrian said. He put his truck into gear, and drove out of the parking spot.
“He’s going to kill you if he hears that name.”
“That’ll be awesome.”
Karena suppressed a laugh.
As Hadrian cruised through the sleepy city, she watched the shadowy buildings and parks go by. The streets were empty at that early morning hour. Lamp posts radiated auras of light in rebellion of the oppressive night. She spotted another Nightguard on a corner. It eyed them before it leapt away to crawl up a warehouse. Hadrian didn’t joke about it or say anything. They were creatures of the night, feared, but also respected because they kept the night safe.
At the cryptid hunting headquarters, they walked up to the front doors. One of the double doors was unlocked, and they pushed i
t open, and entered. The night receptionist looked over at them. Similar to an owl’s, her eyes were more round than diamond shaped, as so many peoples’ eyes were. Her irises were yellow, and there was hardly any white space around them in the corners. Her talon-like fingernails, painted pink, clutched a book. Karena was getting the impression that there probably wasn’t much to do as a night receptionist except to read.
“Is Captain Valmar here?” Karena asked. It was difficult to look at those unblinking eyes of hers.
In a bored voice, the receptionist said, “They’re both here.” She cracked open her book and held it up to read again.
“Who’s the other person?”
She raised an eyebrow, and looked up from the sentence she was reading to say, “Captain Dreadmore. He’s head of the Nightguard. They’ve been looking for something.”
“I think I know what that might be, which is why I need to speak with Captain Valmar.”
“Go ahead and see him. I’ll telephone him to give him notice, but he probably already knows you’re here. His senses are almost as good as Captain Dreadmore’s.”
“I’ve never met Captain Dreadmore.”
“He’s a therianthrope, like what most Nightguards are. Just don’t take it personally when he glares at you or doesn’t say anything. He’s not a people person like Captain Valmar.”
Next to her, Hadrian doubled over laughing. “A…. people…… person,” he gasped.
The receptionist looked at Karena in concern over Hadrian’s fit of laugher.
“Don’t mind him,” Karena said. She bit down on her lip because Hadrian’s mirth was infectious.
“He must be a day person. I’ve never understood such people,” she said, lifting up her nose at him. She looked down at him from where she sat perched on her chair behind the desk.
Karena smiled at her, thanked her, and headed for the employee door with Hadrian behind her.
When the employee door closed behind them, Hadrian said, “This new insight into Captain Valmar’s personality is a big surprise to me. Maybe he should consider a more customer service oriented position. What about a florist?”
Karena snorted. They walked past the empty, glass laboratories. They were dark inside. It was odd to not see the scientists in there.
In the Warren room, in front of the map of Archelm City, they found Captain Valmar and what could only be Captain Dreadmore. They had heard them coming and were turned towards them. Captain Dreadmore was just as tall and massive as Captain Valmar, but unlike Captain Valmar, he was wild in appearance. He was beastly and with hair that probably hadn’t seen a comb, brush, or haircut since infancy. His clothes were of the northern make, rough, dark, and made for bad weather.
Captain Valmar said, “It’s late. Karena, you are supposed to be in the hospital, and Hadrian, this is too soon for work or for bothering me.” His chest heaved as though he was preparing for his patience to be tested by Hadrian.
Karena now realized what the receptionist had meant about Captain Dreadmore. His stare turned her numb. His eyes were human, but the savageness in them wasn’t.
“I want to know how a cherufe got into the Earth district,” Karena said.
“You found it? Where?” Captain Dreadmore snapped, his voice harsh and gruff.
“I killed the cherufe by stabbing it and chilling it from within its chest. That’s how I burned my arm.”
Captain Dreadmore rolled his eyes, and turned his back to her to look at the map again. Despite this, he still said, “It has a core temperature well over a thousand degrees. An ice elemental, even one such as yourself, wouldn’t have survived a prolonged encounter with one.”
“Don’t put it past her. She killed a juvenile wyvern a couple weeks ago,” Captain Valmar said to him, and then to her, he said, “We knew it was a cherufe, not only because it went missing from a furnace in the Fire district, but also because of the chunks of basalt rock we found in some of the houses and the cracked asphalt on the roads.”
Captain Dreadmore faced her direction once more and assessed her.
Captain Valmar said to her, “Congratulations are in order. I thank you for your bravery and contribution to Archelm. You faced an enemy few could’ve. We can now end our search for it. Had it buried underground, it would’ve been devastating to the sewer and water systems of the city, and ground integrity.”
Karena felt giddy from the praise. “How did it escape?” she asked.
“We aren’t sure. Something like that can’t travel far from its source of heat, or for long without incubating itself. It didn’t leave a trail, so someone transported it. It came from a foundry, where it was living in one of the liquid metal baths. No one noticed that the cherufe was missing until there was a considerable drop in temperature in that metal bath. Its handler tried calling it to the surface, but to no avail.”
Captain Dreadmore said, “The only thing that could transport it is a volcanic stone carrier of some kind, which that factory has, and it went missing too. We found it in the Air district. It looks like a semi-truck with a trailer, but with six wheels.”
“We have questioned those in the Fire district and the Air district, particularly the Volcanis family because the cherufe came from one of their foundries,” Captain Valmar said with a seemingly sad tug to his mouth.
It came as a blow to Karena. Feeling faint, she sat down at one of the desks. The last thing she wanted to hear was that Asher and his family had been involved in some way.
“I see,” she managed to say.
Captain Valmar said, “None of them are taking responsibility, and they’re outraged that they’re being blamed for the fire and the family’s death.”
“What family was it?”
“The Sandalwood family.”
The truth came as another shock. She knew that family. “What about their baby and their daughter?” she asked in a quiet voice.
“Both dead, including the father and mother. The mother, Ravena, was a Chaos Earth elemental. The father, Albert, was a nonmagical folk.”
Karena nodded.
“But we didn’t see any Air or Fire elementals in that blaze,” Karena said, desperately clinging onto the hope that Asher hadn’t been spotted in the Earth district at that time.
Captain Dreadmore growled, “There are numerous accounts of them being spotted in that district at that time, but all of them vary, and aren’t consistent enough to be held as evidence.”
“Try to rest. I don’t want to see you at work until your arm heals,” Captain Valmar said to Karena.
Beside her, Hadrian was in a worse state than she. He had known the Sandalwood family better than she did. With slumped shoulders and teary eyes, he looked defeated.
“Sean must be a wreck. Ravena was his sister,” Hadrian softly said.
“Yeah,” Karena agreed. She wished both captains a good night, and left with a heavy heart.
Now she wanted to eat her words about Asher, and how he was a good person. In the wake of the deaths, her decision to date him had seemed selfish at best, and traitorous at the worst. They got back into the truck. A sad depression hung low over them.
“I can’t believe they’re gone,” Hadrian said. “How can no one claim responsibility? Someone set that cherufe loose in the Earth district, and it started those fires.”
“I don’t know. Why didn’t people fight those elementals they had claimed to see, and bring them into the police station? The Fires and Airs have never admitted to any of their crimes before, so they would have to be physically brought to the police as proof or caught in the act by police. Everyone knows that.”
“There’s going to be retaliation after this.”
“There might be. The feud has never claimed the lives of an entire family before, or children for that matter. They wouldn’t have stood a chance, especially if that cherufe was dropped off right in front of their home. The entire area would’ve combusted within seconds.”
Hadrian asked, “What about Asher? Do you think he was inv
olved?”
“I wish I knew. I feel bad now.”
“No one will know about you and him.”
She sighed, and said, “I’m grateful for that. Let’s go home. We both need to get some more sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a mess.” Now she questioned her feelings for Asher, and dating him. She had to call it off with him.
“It always ends like this, where no one admits to having committed the murder.”
“Nothing makes sense. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but every time there is a disagreement or brawl between opposing elementals, it never ends in a death and everyone knows who did what. But then, these murders come from out of the blue without a trail of escalation to pinpoint who is the likely suspect and why. And no one fesses up to them.”
“Somebody has to have the answers.”
“That somebody sure as hell isn’t talking.”
They headed home, tearful as they mourned the loss of the Sandalwood family.
Chapter 22
Reminiscent of winter, a cold wind blew. It skipped over the tombstones, statues, and obelisks in the Oaksvale Cemetery. The clouds above weighed in, as though in mourning too. Everyone huddled around the four caskets. A psychic medium, Selene, sat in a chair next to them with her eyes closed, as she held her trance and maintained her connection to the afterlife.
After having channeled messages from Albert, who was the husband, and the children, she now channeled Ravena.
“I wish to not dwell on what happened,” Selene spoke, being a vocal conduit for Ravena. “It was our time to go. It was an early departure, but I lived a happy and fulfilled life. This is only the second part to life, here in the afterlife. There is no pain, no worries here, only happiness and joy and freedom. I am with family, and with people I didn’t know in this life, but met in previous lives.
‘It’s a second rebirth, a time of celebration and reflection before I reincarnate again. You see it as death, and justifiably so. It won’t be long before we see each other again. Do not harbor anger in your hearts. Seek to make amends with those who did you wrong. Value peace over conflict. We all have a path in life, a spiritual one, and through experiences we learn, and through choices we grow. I see things so much clearer than before. And what I see, is that love should be embraced by all.
Veins of Ice Page 23