In Her Element
Chapter 33

The chanting that surrounded Almyra left an eerie feeling in the air, causing her to shiver. The tension and energy were building, closing in and suffocating her. She could feel the hairs on her arms and on the back of her neck rising, pulling at her skin. The mark on her neck throbbed, and Almyra felt scared.

She had to get out of this place. That was the one thought that was galloping through her mind relentlessly. She tried to block it and the chanting out, to concentrate on her surroundings, but she felt herself being sucked into the Power that was rapidly filling the room.

Almyra fought the pull with her all. She thought of everything and anything she could bring to mind to keep her anchored; her mother, Matthew, who was now dead, Lisle…

Seeking Wind,

Resolute Earth,

Passionate Flame,

Soothing Waves,

NO!

Frederick, Frederick, Frederick….

For him, Almyra would try to stay strong, ignore the allure of all the Spirit calling to her…beckoning…teasing…caressing…

Frederick knew the exact moment that Almyra was lost to reason, when the Master had matched his pendant to its indentation to feed the power flow, the exact second that the Spirit swallowed her. In fact, the entire world probably knew that moment that the only living human that held the Four Elements in her hand became Complete with the fifth.

It was time to act.

Rupert. Now.

Frederick sent his command as strong as he possibly could, practically throwing it across the cavern to the one man who had the ability to part the sea of boys milling throughout the room. His calculating gaze followed the progress of the hulking man as he waded through the crowd to reach the young lady standing still, oblivious to all but the Elements. As tall as both he and Rupert were, Frederick eventually lost sight of the latter. His only way to follow Rupert’s progress was in his mind. And of-course, by the reactions of everyone else in the room, if all went successfully. So far all was going according to his revised-on-the-spot Plan B. Rupert was a few steps from Almyra and the Master. He had only a little more to go and then they could flee from the place.

Ahhh!

Frederick let go of the hands he was holding and clutched his head as a flash of white shot through his mind, followed by a searing pain. His connection to Rupert was severed as someone intruded in through their minds.

Really, you foolish boy. How you can even think of betraying me is beyond my comprehension. I, who brought you up here, who shaped you to be my pawn, could recognize your work anywhere. I knew sending you may not have necessarily been the greatest of ideas; I knew that you were susceptible to infatuation, but I went ahead anyway. I knew the moment you started doubting me and since then searched for a way to eliminate you. And you just handed me the perfect excuse. For that I am grateful. Good-bye.

The pain intensified, and once again, Frederick found himself losing consciousness, darkness threatening to overtake his awareness. But this time he had more of a reason to fight the Master—and prevail.

Rupert felt the link being sliced through and for a moment, hesitation overrode his emotions. But he pulled through it, focusing on the thread that he had been tied to for more years than he had ever bothered to count. He forged forward, ignoring the slaps, hits, kicks and all other forms of abuse thrown at him to prevent him from reaching the one person who was keeping it all together, who was feeding them the Energy that was giving them the high of their lives. He reached her quickly enough, despite the attempts to slow him down and being slightly wounded, and heedless of the pain, including from the few knives that had found their way into his back and sides. Using strength from reserves that he had never needed to use before, he picked up his charge and threw her bodily over his shoulder. He turned around to make his way back through the crowd, ignoring the blast that miraculously avoided him and the girl he carried. The explosion blew away half the cave wall upon his separating Almyra from the power source.

Pain. Rupert nearly collapsed as the first wave hit him, both in mind and body, making him unsure of where the attack was coming from. It surprised him, the strength of the sting, for the knives sticking out of his body were not….

PAIN! The second Rupert’s mind went to the blades sticking out of him another wave hit him, this one knocking him to his knees. He fought the wave and struggled valiantly to his feet, gathering enough presence of mind to realize that whoever was doing this to him—most likely the Master—was taking the existing hurt, bringing it to the front of his mind and enhancing it. The realization did nothing, however, to relieve the throbbing, and Rupert was forced to fall back on some old training that he had never thought he would need to rely on and were mostly a bit rusty.

He had scarcely reached the edge of the cave, now revealing a forest darkened by the night where the opening had been blown to pieces, when he once again fell to his knees, and then onto his face.

Pain…

Almyra struggled to slip her feet out from under Rupert’s heavy body, but she was finding it difficult to gain her bearings after losing contact with the Stone. The power source was still struggling to keep its hold over her and she was just barely managing to shake it off, or at least keep it at bay. With every inch of her feet that she managed to free, the explosion re-occurred in her head, like someone was swinging a torch around and every time it passed in front of her face, it nearly blinded her. When the actual blast had occurred at the moment of separation between Almyra and the stone, she had been too lost to the Power to comprehend anything, but as Rupert had swung her over his shoulder, she had seen the immediate effect: a large section of the cavern wall had been blown away; the boys standing nearest to her were thrown back and up, their impact into hard stone killing them if the overflow of power had not. And from the epicenter, a pillar of fire and smoke flew up and continued burning as Almyra watched from Rupert’s back for as long as she could keep her head up.

Finally, Almyra managed to slip entirely free from under Rupert’s body mass. She attempted to stand, but her feet could not find traction and they slipped out from under her. Almyra held out her right hand and lit a small flame to see what had caused her to fall and nearly vomited when she realized she was sitting in a pool of a thick, red liquid that could only be one thing: blood. And it was most obviously Rupert’s.

Almyra felt her eyes beginning to burn even as nausea roiled around in her stomach as she realized that her nightmare was coming true, albeit in a twisted manner. She wanted so badly to just lie down and cry, to let her grief overwhelm her, but she knew she could be discovered at any moment, and had to force herself to gather her wits. If she lay down now, she would not get back up.

Using more than a bit of wind to help her, Almyra turned Rupert’s body over. She checked quickly to see if there was even a remote possibility that he was still alive, but she knew right away in her heart that he was utterly dead to the world. Gently, she brushed back his sandy locks and then once again held out her right hand, this time to wash away as much blood as she could from his face and neck. When she was finished cleaning him to the best of her abilities, she stood up carefully, this time managing to remain steady on her feet. With her left hand, she shifted the earth underneath Rupert until he was lying in a deep hole that would have to pass for an impromptu grave. Then, slowly, she closed her hand into a fist. Clumps of earth expanded and roots of the nearest trees stretched out, suddenly growing branches and leaves, covering the grave the best that they could, while Almyra watched her companion of a lifetime being swallowed up by the earth.

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