Elemental (20 page)

Someone tapped on my door. I caressed
Cailen’s form—luxuriating in the warmth that pulsed through my
blood and heated my body—before leaving his side to answer the
knock. Ranen stood in the hall holding a tray of food.

I gestured for him to come in, and then
returned to my seat by the bed.

“How is he doing?” He handed me a sandwich
before setting the tray down on the bedside table.

I rotated the sandwich in my hand, playing
with it, studying it, trying to do anything but think about how
much the answer to Ranen’s question bothered me. “The same,” I
finally whispered.

“How are you doing?”

His question took me off guard. I took a
bite of my food to delay the answer and give me a second to wrap my
mind around it. “Worried, mostly.” I didn’t know how to explain the
magnitude of the emotions coursing through me.

“Hmmm…”

“So what happened down there?” I remembered
too clearly the moment in the foyer when Ranen said something had
come for me. I needed that clarified now.

“The war has started.”

I didn’t say anything. Nothing could really
surprise me anymore. I just nodded my head and took another bite of
the sandwich—it was some kind of cold meat and I would’ve enjoyed
it under different circumstances.

“In the first wars,” he said, “Manoo
enlisted the aid of Fire, and it chose to obey him. The results
were devastating. Even after ten thousand years, many civilizations
still suffer from the scars.” He paused and I felt his eyes on me.
I didn’t turn my gaze from Cailen to look. “And Fire now serves him
again.”

“You talk like it’s a person, something with
a mind.”

“It has a certain consciousness, just as the
other elements do. It’s limited, though, and unable to really think
much for itself.” He sighed. “Fire is chaotic. It is drawn to those
who share the same purpose for destruction. Manoo is, therefore,
its perfect master.”

“I don’t understand. If the elements can
choose who controls them, then how can the Auri do what they do?
I’ve used my power before. I’ve felt fire and air bend to my will;
they had no choice.”

“El put the Auri in charge of three of the
elements. Only
He
controls Earth. Therefore, they must obey
you. But Fire is rebellious. In order to control it when it doesn’t
want you to, you must be stronger. It’s a battle of the minds, and
no one knows fire better than Fire itself.”

“Great.” I sighed.

He chuckled. It was nice that he could find
the humor in the situation, though I failed to grasp it myself.

“It’s not as powerful as you think; it has
its limits.” He handed me another sandwich when he saw I’d finished
the first. “From what Malik has told me, you can form flames out of
the heat in the air. Fire can’t do that. It needs at least a
spark.”

I shook my head. “That doesn’t make any
sense.”

“Sure it does.” He plucked a strand of hair
from my head. I winced and glared at him. “This strand of hair
carries your blueprint. Though it’s there, and it’s
yours
,
you can’t do anything with it. Put it in the hands of a geneticist,
though, and an army of Ellas can be created.”

“I guess I see your point… kind of.” Fire
had limits that I didn’t. I needed to find a way to use those
limits to my advantage. I couldn’t see how, though. If I was right
about what Ranen implied, Fire would still be able to take control
the moment I put enough of the points of light together to make a
flame.

And then I would be dead.

Ranen exhaled in a gust of air. “And now
Manoo knows where you are.”

I whipped my head around. “How do you figure
that?”

“Fire wouldn’t have been able to find you
without his guidance.” He pursed his lips. “Someone must have told
him… someone who is working against us.”

There was only one person I could think of
who knew where I was going and who would be mad enough, hate me
enough, to go to Manoo: Pallaton. Malik had been clear on that
point.

Right then a siren pealed through the air
just as the ground shook and debris pinged against my bedroom
window. Engines roared in the sky above the estate.

Manoo had found me. The Mamood had found
me.

Chapter
Sixteen
:

The Mamood are Coming

My wide and terrified gaze flicked to Ranen
as another blast shook the palace. I dove for the floor and covered
my head. The remnants of my sandwich scattered across the
floor.

Meir burst into the room. “There are
thousands of fighters outside! The streets are on fire and they
destroyed the home next door!”

Engines vibrated the walls in another pass.
I held my breath, waiting for the palace to explode around me.

Meir’s big hands wrapped around my shoulders
and lifted me up. I leaned into his chest and hid my face against
his arm. I would’ve felt safe there with my savior if the weight of
my own doomed destiny wasn’t crushing in around me. As it was,
despite the aura of warmth and strength still emanating from Cailen
to me, I had trouble breathing.

More death, more destruction… because of…
me.

“We need to get to the bunker.” Ranen’s
clear voice rang through the air even above the mind-numbing roar
of the fighters outside. A part of me noted with shock that he
wasn’t screeching and running around like I’d expected of him. He
was perfectly calm and in control of himself as he grabbed one end
of Cailen’s wing cocoon. “Help me with him.”

Meir rubbed my back once more and squeezed
me tight before letting go. “Can you handle the weight?” he yelled
above the noise.

Ranen patted his left hip and shrugged.
“I’ll manage. Be gentle with him, though.” He nodded toward Cailen.
“His wings look fragile enough to tear in half.”

I grabbed Cailen’s cloak and bag and went on
ahead of them to hold the door open. Another blast shook the house,
knocking me into the wooden frame. They brushed past me with the
cocooned form in their arms as I pressed my body against the door,
both to give them room and to stay on my feet. Ranen’s limp was
worse as he struggled under Cailen’s weight, but he kept up with
Meir.

I stayed by their sides, pressing my hands
against the smooth marble walls, as we moved through the back part
of the house to the servants’ quarters. At least, I assumed from
the narrow, plain halls that they were intended for servants.

Ranen led us down steep, narrow stairs that
opened into the pantry off the kitchen.

“Ella, get the door.” I could barely hear
Ranen’s strained voice above the roar that seemed to get louder
with each passing second, but I understood what he wanted when he
nodded toward a wooden door at the end of the stuffed room.

I squeezed past them, knocking down jars and
sacks of food along the way. The overcrowded room reminded me of
something.

I spun around to face Ranen and Meir. “Wait!
Where’s Malik?”

Meir readjusted his load. “He went out for a
run.”

My breathing stopped. “He’s outside?” I
screeched.

“Don’t worry.” Meir grunted. “He knows how
to take care of himself. He’ll find his way back to us.”

I stood there, dumbfounded and unable to
pull my jaw up. What was Meir thinking? We needed to go and find
him. How was Malik supposed to find this bunker Ranen was talking
about? He would be stuck out there, unprotected.

“Ella, please!” Ranen sagged with his hands
nearly to the floor. “The door.”

I bit my lip and turned around. It felt
wrong to leave Malik to fend for himself, but I knew there was very
little I could do about it at the moment. Ranen strained under his
load and, I was sure, was quite eager to get to safety before the
walls of his home fell on top of us.

I grasped the knob—it was warm—and pulled
the door open an inch. I peeked out to see what was going on before
we made a run for wherever Ranen was going to take us. The black
sky was lit up with thousands of fighters zooming past us like
meteors. Warning sirens blared in my ears and heat scorched my
skin. Ranen’s lawn was on fire.

Fire.

My eyes popped wide and I slammed the door
closed.

“What’s wrong?” Meir grew anxious as he
assessed my trembling body.

I turned my gaze on Ranen as I answered
Meir. “There’s fire everywhere.”

Ranen gritted his teeth and dropped Cailen’s
legs. “Can you carry him yourself, my friend? I’m going to need my
hands.”

Meir set Cailen down and moved around to
straddle his waist. With one quick heave and a grunt, he threw him
over his shoulder.

“Follow me!” Ranen was ahead of us this time
as I trailed behind Meir. “We need to get to the library!”

We picked up our pace and burst through the
kitchen door. Pots and pans swung from hooks in the ceiling and
clanged against each other with each sway of the palace from the
explosions outside. Dust and debris fell in clouds around us. I
clamped my hand over my nose and mouth to filter the air.

Sweat trickled down my neck to my spine as
the room heated up. Following some kind of instinct, I turned my
head around to look back at the door we’d just come through. It
flew off its hinges and slammed into the wall just inches from me.
I froze.

“Run!” Ranen screamed.

Fire rolled into the room in waves. The air
shimmered and the pots melted and warped as the temperature spiked.
The flames halted in their pursuit and turned this way and that,
like a sentient being… looking for me. It froze and I was certain,
somehow, that it was looking right at me. I forced my trembling
foot to take a step back. The flames reared up and the roar that
pierced the air—a sound filled with rage and hate—made me double
over in pain.

And then it came for me. Like a rabid animal
foaming at the mouth, it burned through the space between us.

A voice in my head screamed at me to run, to
stand up, to do anything but sit there. I couldn’t comply; my
muscles refused to obey the logical side of my brain, the side that
made sense. Instead, the side that was shut down in terror reigned
supreme.

Don’t move, it said. Maybe it will be
quick.

My logical side had an argument for that,
too. It wouldn’t be quick. Manoo didn’t want me dead… yet.

A broad hand clamped onto my arm and pulled
me up. I obeyed without thinking, running to keep up with whoever
had his grasp on me, running to put distance between me and the
flames.

We ran through the foyer. I followed blindly
behind, trusting the one who guided me. The already dark palace had
filled with a thick haze of black smoke, blocking out all vision. I
coughed and gasped, trying to force the burning smoke out of my
lungs.

My right foot hooked around my left ankle
and I stumbled to the floor. The flames roared right behind me. I
felt the heat burn through my dress, scorching my skin.

The hand pulled me up again, but this time
it pressed with urgency against my back as we continued running. We
were losing ground. Sweat steamed off my skin and the precious
oxygen that I tried desperately to fill my lungs with was sucked
out of the air and replaced with smoke and fumes.

Flames licked my bare feet, burning my skin.
I ran faster. We passed the stairway. Just a few more steps…

The hand on my back nudged me and I turned
with it. We burst into the library. I kept running, but the hand
slid away. I turned to find the one with me; he was nothing but a
dark silhouette against the reddish glow of the flames. The door
slid closed, blocking out the light. I could see nothing.

“This way.” I couldn’t tell if the voice was
Ranen’s or Meir’s, though they sounded so different from each
other. With my mind barely holding it together in the midst of
panic, I wasn’t even able to think clearly enough to care.

The hand pushed me to what I guessed was the
back of the room before it forced me to pause and then slipped from
my body again. There was a dull thud, like when heavy cloth is
dropped on a hard surface, and then a shimmer of light.

“Get down there,” he said.

I blinked my eyes, forcing them to adjust.
Subdued light glowed below me, outlining a set of stairs. I
shuffled my foot forward, feeling with my toes for the edge of the
first step. The hand grabbed my arm to steady me.

The stairs were ice cold against my
skin—uncomfortable after the blazing heat. And it was
hot
in
the library. Although Fire seemed unable to get through, the room
acted like an oven. I pulled my heavy hair off my neck and slung it
over my shoulder. The difference in temperature was minimal, but
refreshing.

I went down on tiptoes to avoid as much
contact with the frigid metal steps as possible. Meir was at the
bottom with Cailen slung over his shoulder, waiting for me. Soft
lights glowed off the smooth walls in the narrow hallway. I looked
behind me, expecting to see Ranen descending the steps. The
olive-toned face and grey eyes that stared back at me made my
breath catch.

“Malik!”

“Hey, kiddo.” He smiled and brushed against
me.

Kiddo?
I crinkled my nose. When had
Malik actually started liking me enough to use a term of
endearment? And why was I practically giddy with excitement over
it?

“Shh!” Ranen pushed his way between us and
started up the stairs. “Not until the door is closed,” he breathed.
I whipped my head around. I hadn’t even seen him down there.

The door latched with a harsh metallic
clang. The tunnel felt eerily quiet after the sounds of the battle
outside and the roar of the fire that had chased me through the
house. My pulse pounded in my ears.

Ranen pushed past us again and waved us
forward. “Follow me.”

As we moved through the tunnel, lights along
the walls swelled in brightness. Though they didn’t do much to
penetrate the darkness, I was relieved to be able to see anything
at all.