The Order of the Elements 01 - Breaking Point (50 page)

His interest sparked when he saw the woman with the long, shimmering, white-blond hair sitting, facing the opposite direction on the bench by the fountain. Ethan sat down on what he knew was his side of the bench.

Her voice came almost immediately. “You are late.”

Ethan raised an eyebrow in surprise. “I didn’t realize we had an appointment. Why are you here?”

“I am here because you brought me here.”

Once again, answers that made no sense and a voice he couldn’t quite place. “Who are you?”

“I am what you want me to be and nothing more.”

“What does that mean?” he asked.

What was the point of coming here if all this woman and Ethan were going to do was talk in circles? He was tired enough; he didn’t feel like trying to figure out the significance of this garden and why this woman was here in it.

“It doesn’t mean anything. It is simply what I am,” she replied.

Ethan tried to make sense of that for a minute. If she was what he wanted her to be, then why didn’t she make any sense? He wondered if he was just talking to his subconscious, and he thought how ironic it would be for his own mind to make him want to beat his head against a wall. After that, he wondered how many other people ever had that dilemma. He never really understood why people had a conscious and a subconscious mind. Why not cram it all into one mind if that would help them figure things out? He definitely needed that kind of meshing at the moment. A chance to have both halves of his mind together so he could put together the pieces would really help.
Maybe that’s what this is.
By the time his thoughts had come full circle, he realized they had been sitting there in silence for several minutes.

“All right then, if I brought you here, why did I do it?” he asked. It was such a strange question, but he didn’t know what else to ask her.

“You do not know?” she asked.

What was wrong with this woman? Ethan was so confused. If he created this person in a place somewhere between his waking and asleep state, wouldn’t he have made her smarter and a little easier to talk to? “Um, no.”

“You have brought me here because there is a quest to be completed, and it must be completed soon or you will forever lose the information you need.”

“Okay, so why did I need you to tell me that if I already know?” He was trying desperately to keep up with this train of thought, but it was exhausting and terribly confusing.

“Only you know that.”

Ethan rubbed his head very hard; he was starting to get a headache. Obviously I don’t know anything and would appreciate it if she would quit assuming that I do. I mean, if I quit assuming that I already know what I don’t know. Why can’t Lucy hear my thoughts right now and try to make sense of this? She loves to figure things out.

“So what is this quest, then?” he asked himself, feeling like a complete idiot and wondering why he would personify himself as a woman.

“The time has come to go and obtain the prophecy before it falls into the wrong hands.”

Now they were getting somewhere. Hopefully. That was if this was in anyway real, which he was not sure at all about, but the other half of his mind seemed sure. “The prophecy? You know where it is?”

“Irena still retains it, but she is dying. You must find her before the prophecy is lost forever. It is your only hope in your quest to bring down Petrozan and Esmeralda,” she explained—or he explained.

This whole idea that he either
was
her or he’d
created
her was confusing. Ethan decided that if he stuck with the thought that they were two separate people, it would be easier to follow the conversation.

“But won’t they die eventually if we fail?” he asked. He wasn’t really enjoying the thought that the fate of this world rested in a prophecy they might never see.

“Slow decay of time will eventually bring them down. But their evil will last and be passed on until there is nothing left of what once was.” She bowed her head, and her voice echoed with extreme sadness.

Ethan felt a weight drop into his stomach. He had been told many times that he, Phoebe, and Dorian were necessary in the fight against Petrozan and Esmeralda, but never before had the importance of this task felt so heavy. If they failed, there would be no hope for anyone’s future. He suddenly knew that this was real. This wasn’t some dream he was forcing upon himself. Something deep inside him knew this was happening, and this was the only way he was able to tell himself about it.

“What are we supposed to do?” he asked, knowing that this was not something he had a choice in. He had a purpose. He had a mission to accomplish.

“You must go, and soon, to the Vanishing Mountains. It will be dangerous; you will be tested in more ways than you thought possible, and you will cross creatures worse than those in your nightmares. However, you must go, despite the dangers, and you are ready, as are the others.”

It didn’t sound enticing, but then again, it wasn’t supposed to. Otherwise they would have gotten on with it already. Ethan took a few deep breaths. He tried not to think about the worst that could happen, but instead focused on obtaining all of the information he needed.

“The mountains are vast and stretch across such a wide expanse. How will we find her in time?” he asked.

He had a basic knowledge of the lay of the land. The Vanishing Mountains were due north from where they were, and they stretched across the entire continent. They were named the Vanishing Mountains because for six months of the year they were consumed by the Void, which was north of them. No one knew what was in the Void, because no one who had ever been in there had ever come back out. Even the evil creatures who had been banished there for thousands of years had to move to the southernmost point of the mountain range when the Void moved. Otherwise, they were never seen again.

“You must trust in yourself and the others. Together you are more powerful than you can ever imagine.”

Ethan wasn’t powerful. He wasn’t special. “Phoebe and Dorian are the powerful ones. I can trust in them. I know what they can do.”

Something amazing happened. The blond woman turned her head to look at him. Ethan’s jaw fell open. She was absolutely the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her blond hair rippled as she turned, and her piercing blue eyes were framed by thick, dark lashes. Her skin was a delicate wheat color, and it seemed to be giving off its own light. Every feature of her face was perfect, and the neckline on her silver dress dropped entirely too low. Ethan couldn’t move. He couldn’t breathe.

When her lips moved, he knew he had to listen to what she was saying because any word this woman said was important, and he would believe it no matter what. “Do you trust me, Ethan?” He nodded numbly. If she told him to go jump off a cliff, he would do it. “Then remember that you are special. Have faith in yourself. Even in the darkest night, there is always hope and there is always light. Know that and you can never fail.”

His heart beat in an uneven rhythm, but it wasn’t because of this woman’s extraordinary beauty. It was because he could feel electricity surging through his veins at the thought of fulfilling his purpose. Now was not the time for doubts. He could do this, and it was okay to need the others for help. They were here to help each other. He wasn’t here to be a stand-alone hero. Phoebe and Dorian and everyone else needed him as much as he needed them. Together they
could
do anything.

“When do we leave?”

The woman smiled, and Ethan was nearly blown away. He could sit there and stare at her forever.

“Now.”

His eyes snapped open as he awoke with a start. It was a half past one o’clock in the morning. Ethan lay still for a few minutes as he tried to calm his racing heartbeat and figure out what to do first. Obviously he would have to wake the others. That presented the unique problem of trying to explain about his dream that wasn’t really a dream and why exactly he knew that they had to go after the prophecy. He could already see their blank expressions. He wasn’t even sure Lucy would believe it, even though she could hear all his thoughts. He wasn’t sure if she would be able to see past the fact that the whole scene had happened inside his head and therefore was completely unreliable.

Phoebe would be able to get to the truth, and she would believe him. That was her area of expertise. Could he even ask her? Would she come with them? Did he stand a chance if she didn’t? When he’d left her at Hector’s earlier in the evening, she had been in no state to do much of anything.

Finally, he decided that waking the others would be his best course of action. He sat up and threw off his blankets, much to the annoyance of Shade, whom he had released before falling into his non-dream.

“You have to wake up anyway; we have to go,” Ethan whispered to him.

Shade glared at him for a moment more before realizing that he was serious. The eagle fluttered to the floor and immediately grew to the size of a large dog. His golden feathers glistened as he walked around to stand beside his Master. Ethan wasn’t sure which of the twins would be easier to wake up since he’d never had to do it before. They both had internal alarm clocks that went off at exactly seven-thirty in the morning—one of the few things they had in common.

Evan’s bed was next to his, so Ethan woke him first. He was sprawled out across his bed with his mouth hanging open; the only thing missing was drool.

Ethan shook his shoulder roughly. “Evan, wake up!”

Evan’s fist came out of nowhere and connected with the side of Ethan’s head. Lights popped in front of his eyes, and he rubbed his temple furiously as pain shot through it. “Damn, Evan!”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Evan said groggily as he sat up in bed with his fists raised and his eyes closed.

“You about took my head off, idiot!”

Ethan suddenly understood why Kali had remained unconscious for such a long time after Evan had punched her. His head felt like it was splitting in two, and Evan had been asleep when he had punched him. Evan’s fist was like a solid rock or steel or some other impenetrable object. His roommate had never gotten that close to him in combat training, so he had no prior experience with how hard he hit.

Evan finally opened his eyes and peered at the clock. “Well, why are you waking me up at one-thirty in the morning?” he asked loudly.

Jared stirred and slowly sat up. He rubbed his eyes before he too looked at the clock and then glared at Ethan reproachfully. “What’s going on? Is Phoebe—”

“No,” Ethan said as he cut Jared off. “It’s not Phoebe, but we are going to have to go get her. We have to go.”

“What are you talking about?” Evan asked as if Ethan had completely lost his mind.

“Just trust me. Get up and get dressed. Get all your weapons. I’m going to go wake up the girls.” He only wanted to attempt to explain this once

The twins looked dumbstruck, so Shade took over for Ethan and snapped at them both until they started moving. Ethan made his way into the hallway and turned his attention to the room across the hallway. Lucy was unconscious and dreaming—about him. She was dreaming about the kiss they had shared earlier, but this wasn’t just kissing. Ethan couldn’t help but get sucked into her dream; it seemed so real…

They were in a secluded place, a dark forest with the wind rustling softly through the leaves. Her shoulders and back were bare and shimmered in the moonlight that filtered down from above. She had on the same dress from earlier, but there seemed to be less of it. Her red hair was golden where the light hit it. Her green eyes sparkled, and electricity shot through her veins as Ethan’s arms wrapped around her. Even in the pale moonlight, it was easy to see the contrast of his tanned skin against her soft cream color.

His fingers traveled down her spine, and her breath caught. Her eyes looked deep into his, and he felt her need. His hands roamed more freely over her small body, and her breathing started again, but it was much quicker, and within seconds her heartbeat sped up to match the labored action of her lungs. He leaned down and kissed her lips softly, but as her taste exploded in his mouth, he roughly grabbed the back of her neck and pushed his lips more firmly against hers. Her knees gave out under her, and she softly moaned against his mouth…

Ethan had to fight against her dream to get out of it. He had stopped in the middle of the hallway when he realized what she was dreaming about and had to double over to catch his breath. Disappointment washed though him as he remembered that it hadn’t really happened. The dream had been full of desire and passion and heat, and Ethan couldn’t remember exactly what had been so important just five minutes ago.

Her dream faded as she rolled over in her sleep. Ethan took the last few steps across the hallway as he replayed his own dream through his mind to refocus himself. He opened the girls’ door and surveyed the room. Both girls were curled into balls as they slept. He hadn’t expected Phoebe to be there, but he was still disappointed to have it confirmed with his own eyes. She was hurting somewhere, and she needed to be with her family,
all
of her family.

“Lucy, Cynthia, wake up!” Ethan said in a loud whisper.

His head still throbbed, and he stayed a safe distance away from Cynthia’s Fire power. Eyes glinted in the soft light of the room as Thor and Beau turned to look at Ethan. Thor snorted and nuzzled Lucy’s face, and Beau cried out. Lucy and Cynthia both sat up and stretched. Ethan tried not to notice that even with her hair a mess and wearing pajamas, Lucy still looked absolutely beautiful.

“What’s wrong, Ethan?” Cynthia asked as she rubbed her eyes.

“I can’t explain it yet. You two need to get up and get dressed. We have to go.”

Cynthia’s eyes snapped open a little more. “Go? Go where?”

“I’ll tell you when everyone is together. You’ll need your weapons.”

Ethan shot one quick, worried glance at Lucy before he exited the room. He didn’t want her to go. He wanted to keep her where she was safe. This mission had three possible outcomes: they could obtain the prophecy and make it back alive, they could die, or they could go all that way and be too late and possibly make it back, but they would die sooner or later as Petrozan’s evil continued to spread. Either way, two of the three outcomes ended in death. The odds were not in their favor.