Forgotten Elements

My thighs were burning by the time I made it to flat ground, and the slowly healing wound in my thigh wasn’t helping matters. I was now on the other side of the canyon and hopefully, I wouldn’t find any more bodies.

I felt naked without the crystals, especially the one that allowed me to contact others. Despite the damn thing failing me multiple times, I felt exposed and vulnerable without it.

Up ahead of me, nearly half a mile away, was a forest with short trees—well, short for a forest. Despite the absence of dark energy, it reminded me of a horror movie with its thin trees, long branches, and the fact it was nighttime. A thought I shouldn’t be having when being chased after finding two desiccated bodies.

I no longer sprinted since I didn’t see, hear, or feel anyone approaching, and I figured it was best to conserve my energy. The soothing magic coming from the forest was at odds with how wired and jittery I felt as I hurried through it. I’d been in here for maybe an hour when I heard leaves crunching from over thirty feet behind me and felt someone connecting to the elements.

My pace picked up from a light jog to a flat-out sprint. As I ran, I connected to the elements and planned out my attack. The elements immediately responded to my commands, and a ripple ran through the earth, aiming straight for my pursuer. Even though I heard his shout of pain, I didn’t stop, slow down, or even spare him a glance. He was way too close, and I needed to put some much-needed distance between us.

Through my connection to the elements, I felt him infusing his magic into a nearby tree, and before I could react, a root shot from the ground, wrapping around my ankle and tripping me. It remained around my ankle and began tightening as I rolled over into a sitting position. Even though the other elemental was currently controlling the root, I infused my energy into it as I wrapped my hands around where it dug into my ankle, strengthening my connection.

When two elementals fought for control over the same element, it was a battle of strength and wills, and at this moment, I had a lot more to lose. After a back and forth that I was afraid I might not win, I finally gained control, and the root unwound from around my ankle.

The back and forth had slowed me down, but not my attacker who was now only ten feet away. A spark of fire ignited—they must’ve had a lighter with them since we couldn’t materialize any of the elements, only tap into them. I didn’t have the time to attempt to take control and instead dove out of the way.

They were still far too close, and when I glanced back at them, finding them only a few feet away, my already short breaths left my chest in a sharp whoosh. I recognized him. Heath and I had a few lessons together while growing up. While he and I were never friends and never had a single conversation, I would’ve never expected this from him. I never had him pegged as the violent type. He was more of the cocky asshole who thought he was better than everyone else. But being an asshole didn’t always equate to being a murderer.

I didn’t have time to question why he was doing this or figure out how he was involved—I assumed he wasn’t the one sucking the magic from the others. He lit the lighter, and as soon as a spark appeared, he manipulated it into a fireball. A spark was all we needed, once we had it, we could create a fire of almost any reasonable size.

Where did he get that lighter? It was counted as a weapon and had been confiscated from several members of our group before we entered the realm. It shouldn’t have come as a surprise since he’d used an iron dagger on me earlier. I was assuming he was the one who attacked me. I hadn’t been able to get a close enough look at him earlier to confirm this. With him having contraband, it made sense how he overpowered the others—if he was the one that killed them.

I managed to avoid the first three fireballs but not the last one. It caught me in my upper thigh, bringing forth a sharp burst of pain that had me seeing black spots as I whimpered. Before he could send another fireball my way, I connected to the air and sent a strong gust of wind toward him, knocking him off his feet. While he recovered, I pulled my thermos out of my bag. My hands shook as I unscrewed the lid, the burning pain in my thigh making it hard to concentrate.

He recovered faster than I was expecting and lobbed another fireball at me. Before it could hit me, I connected to the water in my thermos and formed a barrier of water. The flames sizzled as they made contact and fizzled out.

I directed the water toward him, aiming for his head, but he ducked out of the way before I could attempt to drown him. The burn in my leg ached and had me whimpering once again when I attempted to stand.

There was no way I could outrun him now.

Taking a page out of the dark forest’s handbook, I connected to a nearby tree and had its lowest branch swipe at Heath.

I was already noticing a difference in my magic after only a couple of weeks in this realm. My connection to the elements was stronger, and it was easier for me to access them. Before the retreat, that stunt would’ve taken me several more seconds, or I’d need to be in direct contact with it, but not anymore.

The branch smacked him in the rib cage, knocking him off his feet, and I knew from personal experience how much that hurt.

Good. He deserved far more than that.

Pressing my hands against the lush grass, I connected to the earth, sending a quake toward him, willing it to split beneath his feet. He dove to the side, but I was ready for the move, and the ground crumbled beneath his feet again. This time, he dropped several feet into the hole before he caught himself on the wall.

When I felt him connecting with the air, I expected him to use it to save himself—as anyone else would do in his position—but he didn’t. He used the air to blast me backward into a tree, the trunk cracking under the impact. My back stung at the contact, stealing all the air from my lungs, as black spots danced in my vision from hitting my head.

By the time I stumbled to my feet, Heath was out of the chasm and had another fireball hovering over his palm. As it flew toward me, I connected to the air to form a barrier in front of me, but it turned out I didn’t need to.

The fireball halted in midair, and based on Heath’s shocked expression, it hadn’t been him.

I’d been so focused on him that I hadn’t realized we had company, and neither did Heath. He got over his shock quickly and threw another fireball at Reed. Like before, Reed easily halted this one with a lazy flick of his hand, tsking as he shook his head. “Foolish arrogance, trying to use fire against a Fire Court elemental.” As if to prove his superiority, Reed began bending the fire. Within seconds, the fire was circling Heath, hovering a few feet above the grass.

In most cases, it was a foolish move to trap an elemental using an element to hold them, but Reed had been right; those from the Fire Court tended to have better control of fire. It wasn’t always the case, but with Reed, it was true. It was like the rumor that King Caspian’s control of water was unmatched.

It wasn’t until Heath was restrained that I realized Reed wasn’t alone. Jade stormed over toward Heath and kicked him in the nuts. Reed must’ve known what she was about to do because a brief gap appeared in the circle of fire, long enough for her to kick him. With Jade here, it was no surprise Koa came from between the trees, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her away from Heath. The fucker was still on the ground, grunting as he clutched his junk.

Whether it was a human man or a Mythic, kicking them in the nuts put them down.

“Told you I’d find you, Firecracker,” Parker said as he knelt beside me. I expected his usual smirk, but it was nowhere to be found. His expression was closed off as he stared at the burn on my thigh. I was unable to make out the words he murmured under his breath, but a couple of seconds later, Heath—who had finally climbed back to his feet—dropped to the grass, clutching his head as he screamed. His screams echoed throughout the forest as he writhed in the grass with his eyes squeezed shut, and it wasn’t hard to figure out this was Parker’s doing.

Reaching out, I placed my hand on his arm and pulled his attention back to me. As soon as he looked away from Heath, the spell dissipated, and Heath stopped screaming and rolling around.

My breath stalled in my lungs as Parker’s gaze held mine. I still couldn’t believe he was here with me.

“I was expecting the killer to be some sort of monster, not some weak little bitch,” Ari muttered, pulling my attention to where she stood beside Wyatt. Her arms were crossed as she approached Heath, her face impassive as she considered him.

“It’s not him,” Wyatt murmured as he rubbed his jaw. He kept his distance, watching Heath push himself onto shaky legs, swaying a little as he stood to his full height. His gaze bounced around between those who just arrived, paling when he looked at Parker.

“Where’s the others?” I asked when I saw no one else.

“Alora doesn’t have permission, and Starling, Ander, and Rowan remained in the realm with her,” Ari said, not looking away from Heath.

Parker placed his hands on my burned thigh, and even though he was careful, I still flinched and hissed at the sharp sting. A warm wash of healing magic flowed from his hands and seeped into the burn. The tingling energy spread through my body, removing some of the exhaustion that had been wearing on me.

When he removed his hands, I was met with smooth, unmarred skin.

“Can one of you use your magic to restrain him?” Jade asked, her gaze flicking between the sorcerers.

Wyatt waved his hand, and a purple rope of energy burst from his palm and wrapped around Heath’s body, starting at his feet and ending at his neck. The glowing energy brightened before fading from view, but even though I couldn’t see the bindings, I could still feel the magic holding him immobile.

“He’s part of your group?” Koa asked, his gaze briefly meeting mine.

I nodded as I pushed myself to my feet, not commenting on how Parker placed his hands on my hips to help steady me. “Were you the one to kill the others?” I asked, moving away from Parker and stopping several feet away from Heath, not daring to move closer.

He didn’t answer, his gaze still bouncing around between our group.

Ari was the only one who dared to get close and even went as far as placing her hand on his shoulder and getting up in his face. She had an easy time doing this since he was the same height as me, and I was only a couple of inches taller than Ari.

“Answer her question. Did you kill the other elementals?” Ari’s voice was barely above a whisper but no less menacing. This was a side of Ari I rarely saw. She kept it hidden with her silly antics and getting references wrong.

He gritted his teeth as he struggled against the bindings. He’d have an easier time moving a beach with a shovel with how far it got him. “He looks so fucking stupid,” Jade said, chuckling under her breath.

“I haven’t killed any of them,” he finally spat out, his chest heaving with exertion. “That thing is what’s killing them.”