Warrior from the Shadowland (2 page)

He
had a Phase-Match.

Cross
always thought that he’d been forgotten or judged unworthy of a Match.  But,
she was really out there.  For the first time in his life, he felt hope.  Felt
blessed.  Surrounded by death and wracked with pain, Cross smiled. 
She
was the reason he’d survived when so many better Phases fell.  She was out
there and she needed him.  Or, at least, he needed her.  Desperately.

Cross
didn’t delude himself with the idea that she’d be thrilled to have him as a
Match, but he didn’t care.  His stepfather had been right about one thing: 
Cross was a selfish bastard.  His Match was a gift that he didn’t deserve, but
that he was going to take anyway.  No one alive could stop him and, if they
tried, they wouldn’t be alive for long.

Cross
forced himself to his feet.

He’d
just put the universe back together for that woman and now he planned to rip
the whole fucking thing apart again, piece by piece, until he found her.

She walks the waters
like a thing of life,

And seems to dare the
elements to strife

Lord
Byron- “The Corsair”

Two
years after the Fall, Nia, Princess of the Water House, led a rebellion against
the Council of All Houses.  As far as rebellions went, Nia didn’t have a
particularly impressive force of freedom fighters.  It was just the four of
them, in fact.  But, it was enough to completely by-pass Elemental laws,
disobey direct orders from Job, and basically qualify her for Banishment if she
was caught.

Of
course, sending someone into exile to die alone, when the entire species
hovered on the cusp of extinction, seemed pretty damn redundant.  The irony of
that would probably be lost on the rest of the Council, though.  They tended to
be fairly humorless about treason these days.  Still, the knowledge that she
faced death no matter what path she followed certainly helped Nia feel better
about ignoring the other Phases.  She’d just carry out her plan without their support,
because there was nothing else to lose.

There
simple weren’t enough Elementals to hang on much longer.  They had long life
spans, but Phases still died.  Smaller Houses were already beginning to
tumble.  Two days before, the last three members of the Cloud House died in a
freak dune buggy accident and their House ended.  The Weather Phases quickly
assumed what jobs they could, ensuring that the rain would still come and
nature would stay in balance.

Luckily,
the world didn’t end, again.  Which was, admittedly, always a good thing.

They’d
still lost too much, though.  The Cloud House had created the pictures in the
sky.  Clouds shaped like horses or motorcycles or Abraham Lincoln had always
been on display for anyone with an imagination to see.  The forms had shifted
in a beautiful, endless Rorschach Test.  Now, the clouds had gone static.  No
one could see the images, anymore.  The sky was just white on blue and it broke
Nia heart.

They
couldn’t afford to lose any more Houses.  Something needed to be done and if
the Council didn’t understand that, they could just have her Banished.

But,
they’d have to catch her first.

“Ty,
how we doin’, honey?”  Nia asked into her small walkie-talkie.  “Did you find
it?  Because I’m not having much luck.  I think I’m lost somewhere in
oncology.”  The handheld gizmo made a beeping noise and Nia frowned down at
it.  She didn’t have her cousin’s talent for electronic stuff or her twin’s
knowledge of human technology, so she wasn’t quite sure she was using it
right.  It kept chirping at her, which defeated the entire purpose of covertly
using walkie-talkies to sneak into a building.  “Thar?” She raised the devise
to her mouth again and called her twin.  “It’s still doing that thing.”

“You’re
pushing the
blue
button, Nia.”  Tharsis’s voice came over the line
filled with brotherly annoyance.  “I told you, use the red one.  Job’s right. 
You never listen.”

Nia
made a face at his tone.  “Jackass.”  She muttered.  “I never should have let
him come along today.”

“I
can still hear you.”  Tharsis reported, helpfully.

“I
know.”  She assured him and pushed the red button.  “Ty?  Are you there?”

“Um,
Uriel and I are on the second floor, now.  We found the lab.  It’s room 290.” 
Tritone sounded nervous, which wasn’t unusual.  Since the Fall, Ty’s formally
shy and mischievous personality had turned into crippling insecurity.  Ty liked
computers, being quiet, and solving math problems.  Ty did
not
like
meeting other people, talking to other people, or generally being out in public
in any way.

Though
she was the actual Queen of the Water House, Ty relied on Nia to make most of
the decisions.  Nia was the one who represented the Water House on the Council
and spoke for them.  Nia was the one everyone looked to for leadership.

Nia
wasn’t sure she was doing her cousin any favors by shielding Ty from so much of
life.  But, she still couldn’t help but treat Ty like she was made of dried
flowers, spun glass, and sadness.  Ty was only ninety-five, making her one of
the youngest Elementals alive.  She’d endured too much in too short a time. 
Nia was afraid that nothing could restore her spirit now.

Plus,
the multiple, high paying bounties on Ty’s head didn’t exactly promote feelings
of security.

Damn
Reprisal bastards.

“290. 
Great!  Good job, guys.  Thar, you get that?”  They’d split up into three teams
to search the hospital.

“Got
it.  On my way.”

“Alright. 
Hang on, Ty.  We’re coming to you.”  Nia checked the “You Are Here” map
attached to the wall and headed for the hospital elevator.  There were two
humans in there already.  Nia adopted what she hoped passed for an
“I’m-Just-an-Average-Member-of-Your-Species” expression and hit the button for
the second floor.  She surreptitiously slipped the walkie-talkie into the
pocket of her lab coat.

It
chirped again.

Nia
cringed as the humans looked at her.  “Beeper.”  She explained with a nod.  Did
humans still use beepers or was there some new gizmo, now?  It was hard to keep
up.

In
any case, they seemed to believe her.  Humans tended to believe a lot of what they
were told.  Nia wasn’t sure if she envied or pitied them for their innocent
faith that the world was a stable and safe place.  Maybe they just didn’t know
any better.  The humans’ obliviousness to… well… pretty much
everything
was one of the reasons that the Council was so against this plan.  Anti-human
prejudice ran high in most Houses.

The
Elementals happily borrowed technology, interesting obscene language, and snack
foods from the humans, but that was all out of necessity.  Humans just had the
most interesting swear words.  No one could dispute that.  And TVs, Cheetos,
and computers weren’t really
elemental
in nature.  There wasn’t a
Plastic and Circuit Board House to create video games for the other Phases. 
They had to get them from the humans.  Luckily, Uriel’s Wood House was
excellent at whipping out stacks of the humans’ paper money, so they could pay
for their toys.

No
matter how much the Elementals loved watching
The Simpsons
, eating
popcorn and cursing at each other, though, Phases did not interact with
humans.  At least, not in anything but the most superficial ways.  It was their
oldest law.  Hence, the need for a rebellion if Nia’s plan was going to work.

Nia
got off the elevator at the second floor and finally located a deserted hallway
that led to the serology lab.  Blood work, all neatly documented, filled the
computers in there and promised a new life for the Elementals.  Nia found
herself smiling in anticipation as she spotted her cousin by the wooden door. 
“Any problems?”

Ty
shook her head.  “I’ve got the equipment we’ll need.  Let’s just hurry up and
do this.”  She hesitated and glance at Uriel.  “When he’s ready, I mean.”  She
added in a respectful whisper.

Beside
Ty, Uriel sat cross-legged on the terrazzo floor, with his eyed closed.

Nia
spared him a quick glance and nearly groaned.  Uriel, like most Wood Phases,
had a deep spiritual belief in Gaia, the Mother of the World.  Nia did too, but
she didn’t see the need to center herself every friggin’ time she used her
powers like Uriel insisted on doing.  Reminding herself to be fair, Nia
resigned herself to waiting out his mediation.

Uriel
was young, only one hundred and fifty-four.  That made Nia exactly a century
older than him.  Phases got more powerful as they aged and Uriel was going to
expend a lot of energy.  If he thought his quiet time routine actually helped,
Nia wouldn’t complain.

Too
much.

Minutes
ticked by.  Nia’s foot began to tap.  She looked down at her Minnie Mouse
Timex, impatiently.

They
didn’t have time for this relentless rule following.  Stubborn law abiding-ness
was another Wood Phase trait.  Really, Nia was still sort of astonished that
Uriel had come along today.  The Council had assigned him to protect the Water
House, but only as a precaution in the Elemental realm.  Joining Nia’s
rebellion wasn’t going to help him get promoted up the warrior ranks.

Uriel’s
sense of responsibility towards his House was even greater than his desire to
follow Job’s edict, it seemed.  There were only five Wood Phases left.  Uriel
was determined to do something to fix that before all the trees, forests, and
oxygen in the universe snapped off like a light switch.  The Water House
Rebellion was lucky to have him on their side, Nia supposed.  Even though what
Uriel knew about human culture could be fully documented on a Tic-Tac breath
mint with room to spare.

“Oh,
prefect.”  Tharsis came loping up.  “He’s doin’ the yoga thing again.”  Like
all the Phases of the Water House, Thar had reddish hair and turquoise eyes. 
He was larger than his cousin and twin, though.  His tall, muscular frame
dwarfed their smaller, curvy bodies.  He looked over at Nia.  “Do we have time
for this?”

She
shrugged, helplessly.

Tharsis
blew out an aggravated breath.  “Uriel, come on, man.  Human’s lunch hours are
really, like, twenty-three minutes, so we hafta do this, now.”

Uriel
didn’t move.  Another ninety seconds passed in total silence.

Two
nurses walked by.

Ty
bit her lower lip and pulled down on her baseball cap so forcefully that it hit
the top of her glasses.  The oversized brim kept her face hidden, dwarfing her
small features.  Ty liked to try and disappear as much as possible whenever
anyone outside the family was around.  Unfortunately, she was also dressed in a
lab coat.  Since not many doctors at Mayport Beach General wore pink hats
machine embroidered with the “Hello Kitty” logo, her disguise really wasn’t
helping her vanish into the woodwork.

Nia
shined a “Trust Me” smile as the nurses eyed the four Phases curiously.  Even
humans were bound to wonder why someone was meditating in front of a closed
serology lab, for Gaia sake.  Still, the nurses kept walking, leaving the
hallway empty, again.

Nia
looked around for something to clonk Uriel over the head with, hoping that a
massive blow to the skull would knock some sense into him.

Tharsis
pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed like the most tortured man in the
world.

Finally,
Uriel opened his deep brown eyes and released a long cleansing breath.  “I’m
ready.”  He announced, rising to his feet.

“About
time.”  Tharsis and Nia chorused.

Uriel
frowned and dusted off his pants.  “You can’t rush on a mission like this.  It
makes you sloppy.”

“You
know what else makes you sloppy?”  Thar arched a brow.  “Sitting on the damn
floor for an hour and drawing attention to us, ya idiot.  I told you that if
you didn’t understand how to act around humans…”

“Thar.”
Nia held up a hand, cutting him off.  “It’s alright.  Let’s just go already.” 
She gestured for Uriel to begin.

He
laid a palm flat on the wooden door and gave a pushed with his powers.  “Ty,
you first.”

Ty
obediently walked right through the formally solid surface of the door.

It
was easy enough for Uriel to control the structure of the wooden barrier and
let them all pass through it.  Elementals could manipulate the natural elements
connected to their House.  Anything that had to be created through human
intervention was out of their control, though.  They could manipulate simple
inventions, like paper, but nothing complicated.  Plastics, for instance, were
completely beyond their powers.  The hospital ID cards Uriel had created for
them weren’t even laminated because of that problem.  Their energy was tied to
the elemental processes of the universe, not human made technology.

“Thar,
Uriel, move it.”  Nia ordered as she slipped inside the lab after Ty.

Tables
covered with computers, vials and other serology equipment filled the room. 
Nia had no idea what most of it even was and she didn’t care.  The only thing
they needed now was the name.  “Ty, you’re up.”  Nia gestured towards a
computer and gave her cousin an encouraging smile.

 The
Queen of the Water House was a science nerd, which came in handy when you
needed a little electronic thievery done fast.  Ty sat down at one of the keyboards
and began breaking into the hospitals database with surprisingly confident
motions.  In every other aspect of life, Ty might’ve been a candidate for a PSA
on Social Anxiety Disorder, but in digital worlds of numbers and techno-jargon
she had total self-assurance.

Nia
hovered over Ty’s shoulder for a beat, watching her cousin work.  Ty’s talents
were so apparent.  So special.  Her cousin had been one of the most brilliant
Phases alive, even before the Fall.  Only Tharsis had ever given Ty a run for her
money on IQ tests.  Of course, now he just used his extraordinary brain to
memorize TV schedules and commercial jingles.  He’d given up and Nia had no
idea how to get the real Tharsis back.  Ty kept going, though.  Kept trying to
solve problems through the power of her own ideas and research.  She thought
she could save the world.