Inferno : Elements Series Book One

Derek

What just happened? I went in there all mad and then she just turned the tables on me. One minute we’re arguing and then we’re fiercely making out on her bed. And even better, she was confident and ridiculously sexy and in control. I was pretty much helpless. If it wasn’t clear to me before, it definitely is now; that woman has some powerful magic. Now I’m seriously wired and I think we both need to go back and see where that leads us. God, I’m all hot and she’s all sexy. How am I meant to concentrate? She knows exactly what she did too. I was in her head, I watched as she discovered enough confidence to play her wicked game. She was really enjoying herself and I’m stoked that her fun was had with me and that it was while she was kissing me but, honestly, the woman is so confusing.

“Are you coming or what?” she calls from her living room. I’m still in a mild state of shock on her bed. I have to resist the urge to respond by saying ‘Nearly’ Instead; I get up, put my shirt on and form a plan of my own. I walk into the living room and as she begins opening the front door I shut it, grab her by the waist and kiss her. Maybe getting this out of my system will help me focus. Her hands fist in my hair and she kisses me right back. My plan failed. I want to stay in this apartment a lot more than before I got up from that bed. She knows it too.

“I’m still in your head too you know, I saw that plan from a mile away,” she smirks. “I still have the upper hand here.”

“I guess we’re tied then. You can have this round, I still have the first round under my belt.”

“Unfortunately for you, a lot of things have remained under your belt,” she responds without skipping a beat.

She laughs at my surprised expression and walks straight out the door. I follow her and run right into Oliver and Anya. Damn it. I was hoping to continue that conversation.

“Morning,” says Oliver cheerfully.

Anya gives me a knowing look before turning to Gwen.

“Morning guys,” replies Gwen. “How are you?”

“We were going to ask you the same thing,” says Anya. “I guess Derek beat us to it.”

I shoot Anya a sharp look and she just winks at me.

“Where are you guys off to?” asks Gwen. Seemingly oblivious to the exchange between Anya and I.

“We’re going with you! You didn’t think we’d miss the show did you?”

“What show?” Gwen asks, a little confused.

“Your show of course!” says Oliver. “You’re going to be doing some really fun stuff and I’m particularly fascinated because I’m an air user. It should be a fun day.”

“Probably not,” says Gwen. “Erin says she’s taking it easy on me after Sunday. She says everything will be low energy, so probably no flying for me today.”

“Flying! You can fly! Holy Cow! Why didn’t you guys tell me she could fly, that’s so cool!”

“Calm down Olly, we’re here anyway so you better pipe down for the lesson. If you don’t we both know Erin will throw you off a cliff.”

We walk through the large doors and get our first look at Gwen’s arena. They took the arena that houses Gwen’s impressive magical forest and transformed it so that she could train with all of her powers in the one room. It’s a lot bigger than it was the other day; Elijah must have put some serious power into expanding the rock. You can see all the instructor’s influences in here. Rhea has created a large waterfall next to Gwen’s forest, a river now winding its way through the trees from a small but undoubtedly deep lake just beneath the waterfall; Hank has set up a massive bonfire that’s sitting on a platform in the centre of a lava flow near the far end of the arena; Garret has added a little extra to Gwen’s forest area and we can see animals peeking out at us from the foliage; Elijah has set up what appears to be a large cavern behind Rhea’s waterfall that no doubt leads to some sort of incredible cave system for Gwen to train in; Erin has opened up a large portion of the left wall, just to the side of the entrance that is no doubt a large and windy cliff and Jasper has weapons and all of his other equipment lining the walls just up from Erin’s section. I imagine Jillian will just use whichever area of the arena she feels is most peaceful to teach Gwen about Mentalism and her training with Mags will take place in the infirmary. Everything is amazing in here and it is clear that a lot of effort has gone into making this the ultimate training ground. They’ve gone all out for Gwen. Erin walks up to us with a grin on her face the second we open the door.

“Good morning Gwen,” she says. “I hope you’re feeling better.”

“Yeah, thanks Erin, I am. Sunday was a bit of shit show,” What an understatement. “But I’m back,” says Gwen.

“Good to hear. Good that you guys are here to,” says Erin, looking to Oliver, Anya and myself in turn. “I want to see about Gwen’s control with wind today and you guys are going to help. Let’s get started.”

We follow her into the centre of the field and she indicates that we should stand in a line, facing Gwen.

“To start I want to see if you can lift one of us. I’ve felt your power while you were flying yourself around and I don’t think this exercise will use even a tenth of that energy. What I want you to do is focus on me and try to lift me off the ground.”

“Are you sure? I don’t have that great a control over any of my magic yet and I don’t want to hurt anyone,” says Gwen, worry colouring every syllable.

“Not to worry, Gwen. I’m a big girl and I can take it. Just do your best and we’ll go from there, okay?”

“If you’re sure,” she says.

“I certainly am. Now, just start by lifting me slowly and I’ll tell you what to do once I’m in the air.”

Gwen nods and a look of concentration settles on her face. This is going to be good. I feel the magic begin to flow through her, the tension and worry leaves her body and expression, and without any hesitation she nods at Erin to say that she’s ready.

She begins and it seems so simple for her to do it. We all feel a slight breeze and then Erin starts to float gracefully about a foot off the ground.

“Wow! Great work Gwen!” shouts Oliver. He’s like a puppy, he gets excited about everything.

“Agreed,” says Erin. “Now concentrate on Oliver. See if you can lift him at the same time that you’re lifting me.”

It’s effortless. One quick glance at Oliver and he’s floating a foot off the ground right next to Erin. We follow a pattern. Anya is next to go and then it’s my turn. Within the first five minutes of her first training session she has four people floating about in the air, and it’s effortless.

“Okay Gwen, let’s see what we can do here. I want you try lifting me as high as you can, just me. See if you can leave the others where they are and multitask.”

Without another word Erin begins lifting higher into the air. She’s touching the ceiling, no small task as it is like an aeroplane hangar in here, when Gwen is forced to stop. We hear Erin laugh from all the way up on the roof and a smile breaks out on Gwen’s face.

“Okay Gwen,” she shouts down to us. “First Oliver and then Anya and then Derek, okay? Just like before.”

Oliver goes up, laughing like a little kid, quickly followed by Anya and myself. It’s just Gwen left on the ground now.

“Wow, she’s incredible,” says Anya.

“Stating the obvious there An,” grins Oliver.

“Let’s see what else she can do,” Erin says to us. “Okay Gwen, why don’t you come up here too?”

“Are you sure?” Gwen’s voice is laced with uncertainty. “You guys don’t want to come down? You’re really high up and I don’t want to hurt you guys.”

“You need to have some confidence in yourself, Gwen,” shouts Erin. “You’re barely using any of your real energy, we can feel that, and we’re confident that you’ll catch us if we fall. Trust yourself and you’ll be just fine!”

We see Gwen nod from ground level, like she’d just made an important decision and then watch, fascinated, as she flies straight up to us. She has a smile from ear to ear and I can tell she’s having fun.

“So, what now?” she asks. A little nervous but clearly having a good time.

“Well, if you’re up to it, what do you say we take a trip out over the cliff?” I suggest, looking to Erin for approval. Her expression drops slightly but she recovers before Gwen can notice.

“If that’s okay with Gwen, then I have no problem. This is all about Gwen becoming more confident in her abilities and learning to control them,” she turns to Gwen. “So, are you up to the challenge?”

“Umm, maybe? It’s a big thing to want to do. The only other time I’ve done that was just Derek and I. Are you sure you feel confident in me doing that?” she looks to all of us and to my relief she sees nothing but encouragement.

“Okay, but you have to promise me this first. If you feel anything slipping, maybe you don’t feel as supported or you’re just uncomfortable, you tell me and we all get grounded. Got it?”

She looks sternly, at me in particular, and we all give her our word. She still looks anxious but she’s also determined as she musters her strength and we all start flying to the other end of the field where it opens out onto a cliff and a steep hundred metre drop to jagged rocks. She stops us just before we go over the edge.

“Last chance, tell me now if you don’t want to do this,” she says, her concern for us written all over her face.

“We’re okay Gwen,” assures Anya.

Oliver gives her the thumbs up and a Whoop! of excitement. Erin smiles encouragingly and I wink at her. She has our confidence in spades and just like that, she makes a small hand movement and we drift into the canyon. It’s exhilarating, just like the first time.

“Alright, now that we’re out here, why don’t we see what you can do?” challenges Erin.

Gwen smiles at her, challenge accepted, and she starts to move us all over the place. She has us doing flips and barrel rolls, flying like birds and moving us into steep dives before pulling us back up again. It’s the most fun I think I’ve ever had. It’s all going so well until that ridiculous group that accosted her on her first day trudges in.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing Erin?!” yells one of the girls. I can’t quite make out her face but her voice carried clearly enough. She startles Gwen, breaking her concentration and all five of us hurtle straight towards the jagged rocks below us. I hear screaming as we fall and I think all of us are expecting the worst when we suddenly stop in mid-air. We are, at most, ten feet above the rocks and as I come out of my shock I hear Gwen apologising profusely. She lowers us to the canyon floor and I think she’s apologised at least fifty times since she stopped our descent.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. She just distracted me for a second, I didn’t know she was there and then she yelled and I got startled, just for a moment. Are you all okay, I didn’t mean t-“

“Gwen!” I have to yell at her because she isn’t hearing a word I’m saying. “Gwen, we’re all okay. You caught us in time.”

“Indeed you did,” supplies Erin. “Those are some wicked reflexes.”

“Wow, G, nice work!” Shouts Oliver, his voice echoing off the canyon walls.

“Yeah, I’m with them, way to go Gwen!” says Anya.

She looks completely unconvinced.

“Are you sure you guys are okay?”

“We’re fine,” Erin assures Gwen. “Let’s just get back up there. It better be something life or death or I swear I’m going to lose my mind.”

“How far to the nearest entrance? I hope it’s not a long walk.”

Everyone looks to Gwen, highly amused.

“It’s about a hundred metres above us,” says Anya.

Gwen catches on and laughs at herself.

“Oh, that was stupid wasn’t it? Do you want me to fly you back in? Are you sure about that?” She asks, a little weary of carrying us again.

“Don’t worry Gwen,” I say, speaking directly to her so the others can’t hear. “You’re just being modest right? We all know that today was a cake walk for you, you could have done all of this in your sleep. You didn’t even break a sweat.”

She looks a little surprised but she doesn’t hesitate. In an instant all five of us are back in the air and headed for a smooth landing back in Erin’s Air Field. We’re all smiling, today has been pretty great, but it doesn’t last long. Carrie is standing in the middle of the room, hands on hips and looking furious.

“What the hell was that?” she glares at Gwen. I can feel the tension rolling off Gwen in waves, but she stays quiet. I’m beginning to think silence is a lot more dangerous with her.

“Hello Carrie,” says Erin with mock politeness. “To what do we owe this rude interruption?”

“Well,” say Carrie, completely unfazed by Erin’s tone. “We were meant to be in here today, my people and me, and I demand to know why we were told that WE had to cancel our plans for HER.”

She points to Gwen.

“Well, this is Gwen’s room now. Does that answer your question?”

“Look Erin, we get it. She waltz’s in here and you all pander to her and what-not but showing favouritism is just not good enough. This space was booked for us and you shouldn’t be forcing us to disrupt our schedule just so the lot of you could fly around with Little Miss Favourite.”

“I’m not forcing you to do anything, but I’m sure Hank would be happy to discuss these issues with you should you wish to go and find him,” says Erin, deploying her trump card.

It wasn’t Erin who made these arrangements at all. This was all decided by Hank and Jasper when they planned out Gwen’s training schedule. Carrie’s resolve disappears on site.

“Hank decided this?” she says, trying to regain the upper hand. “I might just take these issues up with him and you’ll all be sorry that I did!” And she turns and stomps her way back out the door where the rest of her group is waiting for her.

“She really hates me doesn’t she?” asks Gwen with a proud little smirk on her face. “Nice to know I’m having an impact here.”

“That’s an understatement. Just be glad you don’t have to hear them whining during training. Honestly, Carrie is just ridiculous,” says Erin. Then she realises what she said. “I guess I shouldn’t say that. I’m supposed to be the impartial teacher.”

“You’re doing a great job there Erin,” I laugh and get rewarded by a playful smack to the back of the head from Anya.

“Well I guess we’re done here. You were amazing Gwen, I can’t wait until next week! We are going to have so much fun figuring out all the things you can do!” beams Erin. “I’ll see you guys around!”

With that, she heads out the door and Gwen, Oliver, Anya and I set off in the other direction.

“Is that it?” asks Gwen. “I thought we’d be there all day.”

I check my watch. It’s three in the afternoon.

“We have been here all day, it’s just after three,” I tell her.

“Oh how time flies,” smirks Oliver, we all give him a look. “Come on, how could I possibly have resisted that?!”

“So where to now?” asks Anya.

I have no idea. I’d assumed we’d make plans during our break from training but we never really got one. We were having too much fun.

“I don’t know about you guys but I’m exhausted,” says Gwen and I can’t help feeling disappointed as she continues. “I think I’ll just go back to my apartment and relax. Tomorrow I’m working with Elijah and Earth is my least used Element so I’m expecting it to be a rough day.”

“Sure Gwen, we’ll see you tomorrow. We have no intention of missing out on your training,” smiles Anya.

“Yeah, we got your back G,” says Oliver.

“Thanks guys,” Gwen laughs and turns to me. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be there in the morning to take you to Elijah.”

“See you then.”

I watch her walk out the door and hear snickering from behind me.

“You were right An, he’s got it bad,” says Oliver. Luckily for him, Gwen is out of hearing range.

I glare at Anya.

“Hey,” she puts her hands up. “Don’t look at me. I told you it was obvious, he figured it out all on his own.”

We walk out and head to the food court. I’m surprised by how well Oliver fits in. I didn’t really know him before Sunday but he’s just kind of fit in like a puzzle piece. We laugh through lunch, but in the back of my mind I’m just wondering if Gwen is okay. I should check on her before I go to my own apartment, but she did say she hadn’t slept in two days. I decide to give her some space. It’s not like I’m not going to see her tomorrow.