ELEMENT

Chapter Seven: Harry's Attack

Sitting in the cave, Sage, Ethan and Meadow had a small fire going. The compacted area they were in made it quite warm and humid quick.

"And then, I punched her." Sage flourished her hands, added enunciation to her words.

"No, you didn't!" Ethan gasped.

"Yep! Right in the nose. And she didn't even fight back."

"Not a single bit of magic?" Meadow was just as surprised.

Sage lifted a finger, saying this matter-of-factly. "She isn't as skilled as Meridian makes her think she is."

"Only fifteen, just like the rest of us." Ethan shrugged, flicking a pebble on the ground next to him.

Meadow had her knees up to her chest, her hands rubbing her arms. "Is anyone else freezing?"

"Mmm- no." Ethan squinted. "It's pretty warm in here."

"Yeah, are you sick or something? You look like you have goosebumps." Sage noted Meadow's arms, riddled with bumps that, the more you looked, the more appeared.

"Haha, no. It's probably how it's so damp in here."

"Makes sense." He shrugged, returning to playing around with his magic. "Ey, check out what I can do." Ethan spun a little ball of light on his finger.

"Oh, that's nothing. Watch this." Sage closed their eyes, and her hands emitted energy as she started to float. And, naturally, she landed with a thud.

"You both are doing great, but watch this." Meadow stayed hunched as she didn't even look at the fire as it disappeared, and reappeared just as quickly.

"Not fair," he laughed. "You've been doing this your whole life."

"Like I said, I just learned from the right people. My mom was an expert at these things."

Ethan brought his hands up, leaning forward. "Dude, my mom never used her Element. It was so weird- she always refused to use her magic."

"I'm assuming my mom was good at these things. But you never know." Sage shrugged.

Ethan looked down at his watch, hopping up. "It's almost noon. We should head out."

"Almost noon?" Sage responded, incredulously. "Alright. Come on, Meadow."

-

"Well?" Meridian turned in her chair.

Harry Daughtler, the queen's second in command, shuffled in front of her as his lips tightened. "Taken care of. But Sage was already gone when we arrived. For all we know, she could have already found them."

"Or she could be dead." Meridian smiled. "She could be dead, and so could the others. I have it on good account that Peter's little experiment has finally caught up to them."

"We don't have any idea what their plan is."

"Then figure it out and kill them too."

"We don't stand a chance against that child, my liege—"

"It's not a child, Harry." Meridian snapped, then laughed. She was laughing sincerely, turning to look out the window. "Not a child at all. It's an experiment, a freak of nature that shouldn't be alive and technically isn't."

"Regardless, it is the most powerful soul in the universe."

"Harry," Meridian slowly said, her voice cautiously angry, "do not question my judgement."