Forgotten Elements

After looking through my memories about the Land of plenty, Damon created a rift to the realm. Before I went through the rift, Damon made a cryptic remark. “I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you soon.”

Parker hadn’t heard the comment since he’d gone through the rift first, and I didn’t bring it up since I wasn’t sure if the comment was a threat or not. Damon and his family had been nothing but helpful, but even still, it would be naive to blindly trust them. Even though they’d been helpful, part of me hoped we’d never see them again—simply because their kind seemed to only bring more questions than answers.

The rift dropped us off in the field of vibrant grass that I hadn’t been in since entering the realm. A surge of magic rushed into my body as my magic naturally connected to the elements. I didn’t wander as Parker activated his wristband, half afraid I’d come across Fletcher’s body since I assumed he was dead. I didn’t know who Parker called, but whatever they told him had him paling. “That doesn’t make any sense. Why would they take her? Which key?”

My stomach pitched at the mention of someone being taken. It may have made me a bad person, but I hoped he was talking about an elemental from one of the villages and not one of my friends. Based on his expression, I had a sinking suspicion it was the latter.

The mention of a key wasn’t reassuring. With the emphasis he put on the word, I knew it was one of the keys to the prison realm. It was both jarring and frustrating to hear about one of them now. With how we were nearing the end of the estimated time frame Emmy gave us until the patch disappeared, hearing about a key felt like a bad omen. Not only that but how did it fit into everything?

Was this thing planning on draining the magic from it? Was that even possible?

Parker’s posture had already been stiff from whatever bad news he was being told, but somehow, he became even more rigid as a burst of anger appeared in my chest. It was faint and brief, but I knew it came from him courtesy of our new bond.

He hung up without saying goodbye and began making a portal. “Ari’s been taken, along with the summoner key, and now they’re attacking one of the villages,” Parker said in a rush, his voice gruff and his movements agitated.

I struggled to process his words as my breath stalled in my lungs. My brain couldn’t comprehend Ari being abducted, nor could I understand why they would take a summoner that hadn’t reached her aging peak yet. I couldn’t even consider the possibility she was dead, otherwise, I’d lose it here and now, and we didn’t have time for that.

The portal whirled to life, and I went to take a step through, but Parker grabbed my arm before I could move. “I want you to stay near me the entire time. Do you understand?” He dipped his head so our faces were less than a foot apart. There weren’t any traces of the smug sorcerer I was used to seeing. Whatever he’d been told had him worried.

“I’ll try.” It was the most I could offer with how I had no clue what to expect once we entered the village.

“Do more than just try,” Parker said, nearly growling as he released my arm and let me go through the portal.

The portal brought us to an island with a mountainous terrain, with the houses built into the sides of the snowy mountains. These buildings were further spaced apart than the ones in the other village. My focus didn’t remain on the buildings for long, not with the bodies strewn on the ground, their blood staining the snow. The sight of the gore and how their bodies were dismembered had my stomach turning. These weren’t desiccated like the others—they were straight-up murdered. They weren’t killed by the thing or the traitors but by the harpies flying over us.

How did the harpies fit into this? They were supposed to only be controlled by the necromancers. Did this mean that one was here? This shit would be less confusing if Parker had the time to explain everything he’d been told. It couldn’t be a coincidence the creatures and the key were in this realm at the same time.

At the moment, it didn’t matter why they were here or how they entered the realm. All that mattered was they were swooping down from the sky and massacring the villagers before they could use the elements to protect themselves. I imagined they didn’t have the need for training or fighting anymore with their change of lifestyle, and it was clear how rusty they were in fighting.

I could make out around half a dozen harpies, but based on the level of destruction, I had a feeling there were more.

We already caught the attention of a harpy, and she dove toward us. Before I could attempt to tap into one of the elements, Parker launched an energy ball at her, stunning her enough that she spiraled to the ground from the sky in a tangled heap. Just for good measure, Parker sent a spell her way that removed her head.

As he dealt with her, I tapped into the air and sent a strong gust of wind at a diving harpy, screwing up her trajectory and forcing her to slam face-first into the side of the mountain. She managed to stop herself from crashing into the ground, her wings flapping furiously to stop her fall several feet above the ground.

Tapping into the looser rocks, I pulled a chunk from the rock wall and used it to crush her. It would’ve been easier to deal with the harpies with a nearby tree. I could’ve used their branches and roots.

On the snow near a dead elemental, I found a lighter—it was sort of like the lighters in the human realm, only this one ran on magic. I picked it up and lit it, manipulating the small flame into a fireball that I launched at a harpy while it slashed at a woman’s back.

Her shriek had me wanting to clamp my hands over my ears. Luckily, I was saved from hearing her shrieks for too much longer when the woman she slashed spun around and used her short sword to cut off her head.

“We need to find the others,” I yelled to be heard over the chaos despite being only a few feet from Parker.

As we ran along the path between the two mountains, we took turns using our magic to prevent the harpies from diving toward us or the other elementals that were severely wounded but still alive. I had to jump over several bodies as we ran, and all the while, I shoved aside my fears that one of them might be someone I knew. I couldn’t help but scan the bodies as we passed, which resulted in a painful scratch on my forearm from a harpy that took advantage of my distraction.

We took a path up the mountain to the right. Up ahead of us was a blast of fire, followed by a shrieking harpy. Another blast of fire soon followed. As we neared, I let out a relieved sigh when I found Reed alive and for the most part, unharmed. Based on his expression as he briefly met my gaze, the relief was mutual.

I didn’t see any of the others, and I didn’t know if it was because they were somewhere else or if it was cause for concern. At the very least, Wyatt should be around. Just as I had that thought, I caught a glimpse of purple energy over fifty feet away. Even at this distance, I recognized his energy signature. I may not be all too close with the grouchy sorcerer, but I was relieved he was still alive.

I was right in my assumption about how there were more harpies. I’d lost count of how many I’d killed by this point.

“Where did all these fucking harpies come from?” I shouted to Reed as I used my air magic to take down another.

“Good question,” he shot back, wiping blood from his cheek.

“Koa and Jade?” Having a full conversation and fighting at the same time wasn’t smart, so I kept my words brief.

“Another village.”

With that knowledge, I was able to shove aside my worry—well, at least regarding them—and focus on the attacking creatures. What I wouldn’t give to have a weapon for close-range combat. There were several instances where a harpy was far too close and faster than I was, resulting in multiple scrapes and wounds.

The others fared the same as me, with wounds that weren’t serious enough for worry.

When we finally made our way to Wyatt, he was fighting two harpies at once and had three long scratches running down the side of his face and neck. The scratches on Reed’s back appeared the deepest out of all our wounds.

Even though I was tapped into the pure magic of this realm, using all this magic and everything I’d been through today was still taking a toll on me. I used a combination of air and earth magic, sprinkling in fire magic to dispatch the remaining harpies. The village was silent once the last of the harpies were killed: the only sounds came from elementals running around to tend to the wounded, and I nearly sagged in relief that the attack was over.

Most of my wounds had already healed or were now shallow scratches, leaving behind blood that Parker wiped away using a damp rag. I tried telling him I could do it myself, but he wouldn’t listen. His entire body was tense, and his jaw was locked from how hard he clenched it. Despite the agitation in his movements, his hold on me remained light. I’d seen him angry a couple of times before, but not like this. Even though I knew this was a result of his protective side, it still shocked me at the intensity, making me realize how oblivious I’d been to the depths of his feelings before now.

“Tell me everything that happened in Ari’s abduction,” I said, looking between Reed and Wyatt expectantly.

“Ari had somehow sensed the energy from the key—although she hadn’t known what she was sensing—and led us to a village where we found the guardian. Before we could do anything, the village was attacked by gorgons, and we were separated. When we returned, the guardian was dead, and Ari and the key were gone,” Reed said, letting loose a frustrated sigh.

“Was it a gorgon that took her or an elemental?” If a gorgon took her, there was a low chance she hadn’t been turned to stone and killed—you technically weren’t dead if you were turned to stone, but if you didn’t receive an antidote, you’d die. The thought had my stomach pitching with dread and fear.

“The magic coating the cabin was elemental. It was—” Wyatt’s answer was cut off by his wristband flashing. When we first met him in the human realm, he hadn’t been wearing one, having cut himself off from our realm. His lack of a wristband had been one of the first things I noticed all those months ago and had made me even more wary of him. But it seemed the threats the creature’s realm and the rift provided were enough for him to re-emerge back into our society.

He powered off his wristband and created a portal. A few seconds later, Jade and Koa stepped through. They were both soaked, looking unharmed. Based on how Jade was breathing heavily and the agitated way she wrung out her hair, she was pissed.

“Stupid fucking chicken bitches and their stupid fucking singing.”

Koa’s lips twitched at his mate’s ranting. “Sirens,” he explained at Reed’s raised eyebrows. Yep, now it made sense why they were soaked. However, it did bring more questions to the equation.

While Jade kept swearing under her breath, I tapped her shoulder and then Koa’s to evaporate the water. I could’ve done so without touching them, but it took less energy when I was in contact with the element. With how things were going so far, I’d need all the strength I could manage.

Jade paused her ranting about how she wanted to pluck their feathers and gave me a hug that made it hard to breathe. “Don’t you ever disappear on me like that again? You got it? New rule: no one is allowed to disappear into another realm or dimension without telling the rest of us.” Jade lifted her gaze to the others, letting them know she meant business.

“Sirens attacked one of the villages?” I asked once Jade released me to bring us back on topic.

Koa had been scanning the blood-stained snow and the elementals dragging the bodies away. “Yes, they had them drowning themselves, but it turns out they were just a diversion. While the sirens attacked, one of the village’s residents was abducted.”

A second abduction?

“Were they taken by another creature?” I asked, rubbing between my eyebrows.

“Nope, it was an elemental fucker,” Jade grumbled, still pissed about the whole situation.

“A traitor,” Parker guessed, leaning back against the rocky wall.

“It was a traitor alright, but they weren’t a part of this retreat,” Koa said as he wrapped an arm around Jade and pulled her against his side. “Everyone else might’ve been too distracted by the sirens to see him, but I wasn’t. It was Neven.”

No fucking way.

“As in, advisor to King Sky?” I asked in shock and disbelief, hoping I misheard him. I hadn’t.