The Order of the Elements 01 - Breaking Point (5 page)

Torrents of flowers had forced their way through the rock and cascaded down the mountain, adorning the many levels of balconies. There seemed to be enough space to house hundreds of families.

Further down the river, a large, ornate bridge crossed over the river from the right side to the left. The river split the Haven into two halves, and no path connected both sides except that bridge, which was carved out of the same strange ivory-colored stone. On the right side, carved as well, was—there was no other word for it—a palace. It had to be the largest palace Phoebe had ever seen, even in books. It took up the entire right side of the mountain and had so many towers and balconies that she couldn’t even begin to count them.

Just like the opposite side, arrays of flowers had managed to push themselves through the rock and hung beautifully on the walls. There were trees and a large grassy area surrounding the lake, but the rest of the ground was cobbled, with stones laid down in no particular pattern. The sun blazed through the open top of the mountain. It was the most incredible place Phoebe had ever seen.

Turning her attention from the architecture, she finally realized that they were parting quite a large crowd who were all staring at them in awe. Phoebe immediately felt uncomfortable.

Upon closer examination of this crowd, she saw that not everyone there was human, at least not like any human she had ever seen. Several were only as tall as her knee or even shorter. Many were half her height. Several had pointed ears, wings, or differently-colored hair or eyes. Many were abnormally large or small animals. Regardless of who or what all these eyes belonged to, it was disconcerting to have them all looking in her direction. Heat crept up in her cheeks, and she tried to focus on following Dorian. Just then a small boy, five or six years old by the look of him, darted out of the crowd and brought Phoebe up short.

4. Introductions

The little boy that had suddenly dashed out of the crowd gazed up at Phoebe curiously as she knelt down to his level. Dorian turned upon realizing Phoebe had stopped, and he stepped quickly back to her to scold the boy. She held a hand up to stop him; after all, this boy had done nothing to warrant such a reaction.

“Hi, have you lost your mom?” Phoebe asked the boy quietly.

He shook his head and continued to gaze at her. He reached out and gently grasped the charm on her necklace. She felt a surge of the need to protect resonating from Dorian, and she saw him shift forward out of the corner of her eye. Again, she held her hand up, indicating for him to wait. The boy had still done nothing wrong.

The boy removed his hand from her charm, and she looked down. The stone had turned gold. Phoebe had never seen it turn that color before. She looked back up and peered into the boy’s rich, hazelnut-colored eyes.

“Your name is Phoebe,” he said. It wasn’t a question.

She had no idea how he knew her name. “Yes, what’s your name?”

He didn’t answer, just continued to gaze at her for a minute before turning and disappearing back into the crowd. As she stood up, she realized that most of those around her were united in feeling curiosity. It seemed they were as confused by the boy as Phoebe was. She felt Dorian’s molten silver eyes on her, waiting for her to be ready to move again. She straightened up and turned to face him. Once again the flow of voices and emotions became unintelligible. Phoebe couldn’t tell what Dorian was thinking or feeling, but his eyes looked troubled, concerned.

“Are you okay?” he asked, reaching out slightly. His voice was softer, and he sounded genuinely concerned. The soft flow of his voice triggered something in Phoebe’s memory, but the precise recollection remained elusive.

“I’m fine,” Phoebe replied, lying only slightly. Physically, she was fine, except for the throbbing headache that was beginning to form. But mentally and emotionally, she was pretty much a wreck.

Dorian briefly studied her face. She felt unusually flushed as he did this, but she kept her features as smooth as she could manage. Either she succeeded in looking casual or he decided not to push the issue in front of everyone, because after a moment longer he turned and continued into the beautiful, marble palace. As Phoebe had expected, the inside was just as breathtakingly beautiful as the outside. It was hard to imagine this place as a training academy.

They walked through the cavernous entrance hall, which had several hallways leading off of it, and took the corridor directly opposite the front doors. Then they continued through to an even larger room that stretched up nine floors high. The ceiling was domed and made of glass, and every floor around the perimeter had a balcony overlooking the hall.

In the center of this hall was a pool of water. The pool was nothing more than a depression in the floor; it had no barriers to keep someone from falling in accidentally. In fact, if Phoebe hadn’t been walking right by it, she might not have noticed it at all from another spot in the room.

Silently, Ethan and Phoebe followed Dorian and his companion as he led them up an elaborate staircase. They climbed up eight floors, and Phoebe was appreciative of her mother’s desire to stay physically fit and her constant nagging of Phoebe to do the same, otherwise she never would have made it. Then Dorian diverted from the stairs and continued on through a maze of hallways. The marble floor was covered in a thick rug that muffled their footsteps.

Finally, Dorian opened a door and disappeared behind it as he held it open for the rest of them. Phoebe entered slowly and looked around. Gigantic bookshelves lined the walls; they contained books of every size, shape, and color. In the far right corner was a very large, red silk pillow with a huge snow tiger dozing on it. Phoebe’s footsteps faltered, and she didn’t walk any further into the room upon seeing the sleeping animal.

In the far left corner stood a wooden desk with several rolls of parchment and a number of open books stacked haphazardly. An opening across the back wall led out to a balcony with beautifully carved wooden doors hanging open on either side. Phoebe’s eyes, however, were drawn to the center of the room and the rather large dais there. It was padded in red silk. Everything here was large, elaborate, and exquisitely beautiful. That alone was intimidating.

A strange man sat cross legged in the middle of the dais with at least a hundred small pillows piled around him. His hands rested gently on his knees. His long, brown hair was streaked with dull gray, and he wore square spectacles. His eyes were closed and his face relaxed; he looked like he was mediating. Phoebe heard the door shut as Ethan and Dorian stepped up on either side of her.

“Ah, I see they have arrived on time and in one piece, which is more than anyone could have hoped for. It seems your worry was quite needless, Dorian.”

“You were right again, Cassius, as always. I apologize for my lack of faith.” Dorian’s voice had regained its coldness.

Cassius spoke in an amused tone. “No need for apologies, my young friend. I would be a fool and a liar to say that I did not have my share of doubts as well.”

For the first time, Dorian’s companion spoke. “May I take your bags, young Masters? I am sure your shoulders would welcome the rest.”

Phoebe eyed him warily, as did Ethan. The man was short and portly with greasy looking blond hair and a pointed face that made him look like he was sneering all the time. Not exactly a face one would trust under normal circumstances. He held his hands out expectantly, waiting for them to hand over their bags. Phoebe’s wasn’t that heavy, so it wasn’t taxing her to hold it.

Dorian noticed their hesitation. “I’m sorry, you have not been introduced. Ethan, Phoebe, this is Sebastian. He has served me loyally for many years.”

“You are too kind, Master,” Sebastian said as he bowed to him.

Phoebe reluctantly handed over her book bag but kept her shoulder bag. Ethan hesitated before handing his bag over. However, since it didn’t seem that Sebastian was going anywhere, it really wasn’t a big deal, at least not compared to the deafening noise and rainbow of emotions in Phoebe’s head. She could feel herself fidgeting, but she couldn’t stop it. Sebastian took their bags and stood near the back of the room by the doors leading to the hallway.

“You have questions?” Cassius asked after their attention was turned back to him.

“Umm, yes, sir,” Phoebe said, struggling against the noise.

“There is no need to be formal, and if there were, it is
I
who should be calling
you
‘miss,’” Cassius said, still not opening his eyes.

“Oh, right. Well, our parents didn’t get to tell us much before we left, so…” she continued on, barely able to hear his words.

“You want to know the whole story.”

Annoyed by him finishing her sentence and the deafening noise in her head, she stayed silent until Cassius decided he was good and ready to tell the story.

“As I know your parents told you, a king and queen are in power here, and they’re doing horrible things. This was not always so; there used to be a time of peace here in our world. Then there was a prophecy made about five extraordinary individuals to be born. Here in our world, time passes just as it does in yours, seven days a week, twelve months a year, etcetera. But instead of the four seasons being summer, fall, winter, and spring, our four seasons are Fire, Earth, Water, and Wind. Here, our four seasons each celebrate one element in particular, and each is ninety-one days long.

“But there is one day, between the Fire and Earth seasons, one day that stands on its own. It is the one day of the year when all the Elements are united and strong. This is a sacred day. It is, some say, the day of creation for our world. None except the five from the prophecy have had occasion to celebrate their birth on that day. You would know this day as July first. It was said that each person born on this day would have great power and the ability to master an Element, which has never been done in our history. We have those who are very skilled, but none who can call them to their full strength at any given moment.”

The room was deathly silent for a few seconds, although it felt like much longer.

“And that’s us? I mean, Phoebe and I are two of these people you’re talking about?” Ethan asked. Phoebe was glad someone was able to think, because she sure couldn’t.

“Yes, tomorrow is your birthday, is it not?” Cassius answered.

“Yes, but—”

“Tomorrow is also the Celebration of the Elements.”

“But, if there are only four Elements, where does this fifth person come in?” Ethan asked.

“The fifth Element was taken by greed and made to obey the will of its Master. We have many uses for Metal here, but it is not native to this world,” Cassius explained.

“Where do we fit into all this?” Phoebe asked, finally able to form a question over the roaring in her head. She wasn’t sure if this question had already been asked, but if it was she hadn’t heard the answer.

“You are the last two Masters of the Elements. Dorian is the Master of Wind. Esmeralda, now the queen, who gave herself over to the evil of Petrozan, the king, is Master of Fire. Petrozan was the one who stole the secrets to the Metal Element. He has made himself very powerful by doing this. Aside from that, they have very powerful talents and are fierce warriors who were trained by our finest elves. Together they pose a threat that we cannot overcome without you.” Cassius sat quite serenely as he explained this to them.

Phoebe couldn’t take it anymore. Her fidgeting had gone from barely noticeable to all out annoying, but she couldn’t stop. Her head felt like it was going to explode. She had a very sharp pain developing over her eyes, like someone was stabbing her brain over and over again. She rubbed her forehead furiously, hoping that it would relieve some of the pressure. It helped, but only slightly. When she looked up, she saw that Cassius had finally opened his sparkling blue eyes and was gazing curiously at her. Dorian had stepped toward her, his hand extended.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Phoebe said apologetically. “It’s just all this noise. I can’t think.”

“What noise?” Ethan asked.

“Leave us.”

Phoebe looked up at Cassius, who had now risen to his feet and was stepping off the dais. She turned to leave.

“Not you, Phoebe; you stay. Sebastian, take Ethan to his room. Dorian, wait outside for Phoebe.” They both bowed to him, Sebastian so absurdly low that his nose was within a foot and a half of the floor.

As Ethan walked out the door, Phoebe felt her heart beat faster. He was the only connection to anything “normal” that she had left at this point. Any sense of everything she had known her whole life was leaving with him.

All three men left the room, and Cassius walked toward her, staring at her all the while. Then he began to circle as he surveyed her through unblinking eyes.

“Close your eyes,” he said as he stopped behind her.

Close her eyes? What good would that do? Cassius seemed nice enough, but what did she really know about him? Was he going to attack her from behind the second she was off guard? There was also a huge, man-eating tiger in the room that could crush her skull with one swipe of its paw. If only she could read this man’s thoughts…

“You are quite safe here,” Cassius said as if he had read
her
mind.

Reluctantly, she closed her eyes, but put all of her other sharpened senses on alert.

“Now, I want you to clear your mind,” Cassius said.

“Why?” She had no idea how to do it, but it would be impossible anyway. She could barely even hear what he was saying.

“You’ll find your mind to be your greatest weapon, and it will help if it’s not clouded by the mundane,” Cassius explained.

“I don’t think I can.”

“One never knows what they are capable of until they try. Those too afraid will never be more than a speck of dust through the reaches of time.”

“I’m not afraid. I just…can’t!” Phoebe said, offended. Who was he to say she was afraid? He didn’t even know her.

“You must try. Find yourself amid the others,” Cassius persisted.