Inferno : Elements Series Book One

Gwen

Everything is dark but I think someone is carrying me. It’s the strangest feeling. I can’t see or move my body, but I can still feel and hear. I suppose I’m still kind of there. You’d think passing out would be peaceful but this is all just more stressful. I can’t move no matter how hard I try. I can’t open my eyes. If I strain hard enough I can just make out voices but I don’t know who they belong to. I can’t make out any words. It’s just gibberish. I assume the voices belong to Oliver, Anya and Derek. As to who is carrying me, it might be Derek. It could be Oliver or Jasper, but I doubt it. Where are we going?

My head is too fuzzy. My migraine has returned with a vengeance and I don’t even have the ability to complain about it. The darkness closes in on me again and this time I welcome it.

I surface again, but this time is different. My headache has receded somewhat and I’m not so fuzzy anymore. I try to move, but my hopes are dashed immediately. Is this my life now? Did I smash the back of my head as I fell? Am I paralysed now? God, that’s terrifying. I can hear the voices again, I still can’t make out what they’re saying but I do know that it’s definitely Derek. I’m trying to concentrate on the words when it appears. It’s a little blue light, a little spark in the distance. I assume I’m coming out of it so I move towards it. I’m wrong. I get close enough to touch the light and am transported somewhere I’ve never been before. I’m on the edge of a huge cliff overlooking a forest that expands all the way to the horizon. There is nothing but green. It’s beautiful, but I can’t help but feel threatened here. The hair on the back of my neck is standing up and I have the horrible feeling that I’d be safer if I jumped straight off the cliff and gambled on there being a very deep lake at the bottom.

“You’re here.”

I turn and see that there is a young girl standing behind me. She has platinum blonde hair, rosy cheeks and looks to be no older than sixteen. She seems almost angelic and I don’t trust her for a second.

“Hello. You seem a little shocked to be here. If I may ask, how did you get here?”

“I touched some sort of blue light.”

Surprise colours her expression for a moment and then she composes herself. I’m immediately suspicious. That was a controlled expression. It was practiced. No one as young as her would be able to school their expressions so efficiently. I don’t let my suspicion show. I’ll play along, but I refuse to be fooled; especially not by a child.

“You were transported here? Wow, you must be very powerful, and lucky, for them to bring you here.”

“Who is ‘them’ exactly?” She smiles at me, a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes. I was right. She isn’t what she seems.

“The Elders of course, most people think that the last Elders died many years ago but it isn’t true. The Elders are the first of our kind. They are the first Elementals to walk the Earth. They helped mould it, build the mountains and the forests, they set the rivers flowing. They saw the rise and fall of the greatest of civilisations and they know the whole truth of this place.”

It’s a good speech, but I suspect it is to distract me.

“Why am I here?” I ask. Trap or no trap, I need to get as much information as I can from these people. I’d like to know what I’m walking into before I actually walk into it.

“You’re incredibly powerful, even I can feel it and I am merely their messenger. They need your help. The Elementals you are with have lost their way. They need you to help them find it again. You need to lead them.”

I can’t help it. I laugh, big, cathartic belly laughs that leave me with tears streaming down my face.

“This is not a laughing matter, young Elemental. You have been called.”

“Who are you?”

“I have told you, I am the messenger of the Elders. I-“

“No, you’re not.”

I don’t know why I have such confidence in this. I just know that I am being deceived. This whole world feels manufactured. Also, I know I’m still in my own head. Either I’m having an incredibly vivid dream, or someone is playing some serious mind games while I’m unconscious and I refuse to let them play with me. Either way, I’m pissed about it.

“You’re not who you say you are. Be honest here. I know this world is not real. You’re manipulating my mind,” her carefully controlled façade begins to slip. “Tell me who you are!”

She smiles, a grim twist of her lips that finally reaches her eyes. The cliff and forests begin to fade, revealing nothing but darkness at first. It takes me a moment to realise that I am in a tunnel. I head to the end where I can see an ominous glow. I know I should try and get out of this, but someone has gone to an awful lot of trouble in order to set this up and I want to know why. The tunnel opens onto a lake of lava. The sulphur is horrible and the heat burns my lungs, making it hard for me to breath. I’m gasping for breath when a figure dressed in white emerges from the centre of the lava pool. He is incredibly tall, about as tall as Hank and, more shockingly, I’d wager more built than Hank.

“Your will is strong. I am surprised by that. Even in your weakened state you saw through my illusions. It is impressive.”

I’ll admit it, I’m intimidated. A monster of a man just emerged from lava like he was swimming in the pacific and here I am, gagging on sulphur and feeling my lungs burn to ash within my chest.

“We will talk again.”

And just like that, the darkness is back. I let it take me.

I can feel my face. A weird thought, I know, but I haven’t been able to feel any part of my body for what feels like a century. I can’t open my eyelids yet but I can hear perfectly well. I can hear breathing to my left. I can feel my body coming back to life. Kind of like pins and needles slowly leaving my body. Hopefully I will be able to move soon. I’m so tired though. I guess sleeping for a bit won’t hurt. I relax everything again and just let myself drift.

I feel something touch my face and, not even thinking I shoot up and move as far away from it as I can. Of course, being the clumsy thing that I am, I can’t do that effectively. My ankle gets tied up in something and I fall flat on my arse. Wonderful. I try to get up again but a familiar voice drags me out of my panic.

“Hey, Gwen, Gwen! It’s okay,” strong hands take hold of my upper arms and I look up to see Derek. “Calm down, it’s just me. You’re okay.”

I’m okay? Where am I? I take a moment to look around. I’m in Derek’s bedroom. Jesus, I’m in Derek’s bed. How the hell did I get here?