Forgotten Elements

Fun fact: there was such a thing as an air creature.

We were walking through fields of waist-high grass—for Parker, it was waist-high, but for me, it was up to my chest—that was a brownish yellow and was wilting. Our focus was on the grass, fearing something was hiding in it when, in reality, we should’ve been watching the sky.

I hadn’t even considered the threat would come from there. The sun wasn’t visible here, with the blanket of clouds covering most of the teal-colored sky. In my defense, they looked like normal clouds.

They weren’t.

We’d made it over a mile or so without incident, but all that changed when the wind randomly picked up. My first instinct was to assume this was due to the imbalance, but as I connected to the element, I felt the presence of a Guardian.

Parker and I took off, knowing without talking we’d rather try outrunning it than fighting it. If our past three encounters were any indication, we didn’t stand a chance. And with how we still had to face a traitorous, powerful elemental, we needed to conserve our strength as much as possible. With that logic in mind, Parker didn’t create a portal. So far, they had worked in our favor, but I’d rather not push our luck.

As we sprinted, I kept glancing up at the sky, and my jaw dropped when the clouds began moving, forming into the shape of a massive bird. I had no clue if it could hurt us, and I wasn’t planning on sticking around to find out.

Running through chest-high grass and dying flowers wasn’t easy or ideal. Any other time, I’d connect to the earth and move the blades of grass to the side, but the closer we got to the epicenter of the drain, the more unyielding the temperamental elements became.

Parker was all but carrying the team, using his magic to put up a barrier to block the giant bird from reaching us. Too bad it didn’t help since the bird easily flew through the barrier. It hadn’t burst through it; more like the bird had gone incorporeal for a moment, losing its shape and reforming into the bird once it was through.

The winds that made communicating with Parker impossible had only gotten stronger and more out of control. I was holding Parker’s hand in a death grip since there was no way I was risking getting separated.

Even though it was dangerous and inadvisable to do so, I attempted connecting to the air to try and slow it down—any amount would help us. The creature’s connection to the element far surpassed mine, and I had to let it go or risk losing excessive amounts of energy.

This was almost worse than being in the creature’s realm—where it was inadvisable for Mythics to use magic—because at least there, I always knew I could use my magic in case of an emergency.

All hope wasn’t lost though. A forest sat a hundred or so feet away, and the tops of the trees formed a dense canopy. There was always the chance the bird could shift to another size or shape, but we’d deal with that later if that was the case.

Parker tried throwing energy balls and blasts at the creature, but they all went through it. That damn thing better not be able to change density at will. It would be a bitch to fight it if this thing could hurt us, but we couldn’t even touch it.

The bird eventually grew bored of slowing down our progress with winds that were near tornado level—we probably would’ve been lifted off our feet if it weren’t for Parker’s magic—and dove toward us. Parker yanked me to the side, pulling me in his arms as we rolled across the grass. The ground shook as the bird’s talons raked through the ground, sending grass and dirt everywhere, but I couldn’t think about that, not when one of its three talons scratched my calf. It wasn’t deep like what it did to the ground, but that didn’t stop it from hurting or me from cussing.

I guess that confirmed my suspicions about it being able to change density. Fucking great.

It flew back into the sky, circling us as it prepared for its next attack. Parker hadn’t released me and instead carried me as he ran. I didn’t waste time complaining when he wouldn’t be able to hear me, and instead, I closed my eyes, ignoring the throbbing pain, and focused on the ground. The magic rebelled against me, requiring all my focus. I knew this probably wouldn’t do much, but at the moment, even a couple of seconds could be the difference between being impaled and living. Call me crazy, but I wasn’t in the mood to get killed by a giant cloud bird.

When it was only a dozen feet away with its talons extended, I tugged on the grass with my magic, and it grew around us, wrapping around the bird. As expected it didn’t hold for long since it turned into mist and flew back up, but it gave us more time.

The creature wasn’t stupid; it learned from its mistakes. This time when it attacked again, it turned incorporeal, and the grass sailed through it, but it also meant its talons harmlessly flew through us. A shudder ran through my body at the feeling of its fresh, but chilly energy.

The bird made several more attempts, but somehow we managed to evade it. I almost couldn’t believe it when we made it into the forest relatively unscathed. It felt way too easy—even though surviving its attacks was far from easy, and I was sweating from fighting against the elements. Parker must’ve agreed with me because he didn’t slow down and kept up his pace as if the forest were on fire. As Parker dodged the densely packed trees, I didn’t let my guard down, seeking out the Guardian’s energy signature, but so far, I didn’t feel it.

I had to let go of my connection to the earth since it dragged at my energy too much, and I was no longer using it.

It wasn’t until we’d gone almost two miles that I finally let myself relax, and Parker slowed to a walk. He was only slightly out of breath. His endurance impressed me, especially with how he was still carrying me without complaint or shifting me around.

“I can walk,” I said, feeling bad he was wasting his energy carrying me when the throb in my leg had dulled. As soon as he set me on my feet, I almost wished he hadn’t. It felt nice being in his arms like I belonged there.

“Do you think we’ll come across any more creatures?” He warily glanced around as if he was expecting a Guardian to appear.

I didn’t bother to look. “I doubt there will be any nearby. We have less than two miles left.”

As we neared the focal point, the elements and the magic became more erratic and unstable. It was getting more difficult to stay disconnected from the elements, and I’d worked up a bit of a sweat in doing so.

We came across a clearing and paused at the tree line. A woman was in the middle of the clearing, sitting cross-legged on the grass. A gaping hole that was almost five feet in diameter sat before her, but I couldn’t focus on that, or the symbols burned into the grass, filling the entire clearing. Multiple sets of ley lines came from all directions, meeting in the gaping hole. Magic surged through the lines, glowing bright, but even still, that wasn’t what had me gasping under my breath.

I vaguely recalled seeing her at Magnus’ tree house, but she no longer looked the same. Where I was confident she’d been stick thin, she was now swollen. She reminded me of a waterlogged body, only she wasn’t swollen with water but with power. I was surprised her clothes were still on her body, although her shirt looked like it was hanging on for dear life. Her skin appeared thinner in several places and had taken on a puke-green hue. If I remembered correctly, she once had glossy black hair, but now it was frizzy and floated around her head.

From what I could tell, she hadn’t even pulled a third of all the magic in the realm, and already she was near ready to burst at the seams. There was no way she’d be able to take all the magic this realm had to offer without dying in the process. The only chance she might have at surviving was if she began letting out some of the excess magic or if someone else came to take over for her.

Despite her looking like she couldn’t move without rupturing her thinning skin, I was still hesitant about confronting her. She was leaps and bounds more powerful than me on my best day, which wasn’t today. And even with Parker’s skill and magic, he would be no match against the sheer amount of power she controlled.

Big surprise, but I wasn’t sure how draining magic worked or if she had to be completely focused on the task. If we distracted her, would her connection be severed, or would it automatically funnel into her?

I turned my focus to the symbols scattered around the clearing, recognizing the interlocking symbols as belonging to the deity elementals. It made sense this would be a deity spell since Mythics didn’t know how to do this, nor did we have any need for this spell.

Did this mean the man—thing—hunting us was a deity, or at least once was one?

I wasn’t well-versed in the deity languages, but I’d been studying it as of late since it seemed to keep popping up, and I could make out a few of the symbols. From what I could cobble together, the spell invoked the four elements and something about their guardians. I guess that meant she’d purposefully chose a realm with Elemental Guardians if she was calling to them. If they were being invoked in a spell, it also made sense why they were so riled up. While I didn’t know how they were being invoked, I knew it couldn’t be good for them or the realm.

“We should go,” I mouthed to Parker once I had his attention, too afraid to make any sounds.

We found out who was stealing magic from the ley lines. It was now time to get the fuck out of here.

Parker nodded, his expression showing his apprehension. There was no way he could miss the energy flow now. It was so palpable that it buzzed in the air and skated over my skin, raising goosebumps along my arms.

Before either of us could move a muscle, the woman spoke, her power-laden voice vibrating through the clearing. “I know you’re there: I sensed you the moment you entered my realm. Why don’t you show yourselves?”