Element Guardians *To-Be-Edited*

39 ~ It has begun

Dedicated to graceeva who has stuck by this story, maybe gotten a slight bit impatient at some points, but nonethless has been faithful. Merry Christmas and I am sorry this had to come so late - but I really hope the wait was worth it.

This is my present to you and I really hope you enjoy it xx

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The one thought that ran through my mind was to panic, to thrash wildly and unmistakably give away our position. I did my best not to move the water and sank Cale and I deeper into the familiar Lake which had started everything, from the Water Crystal up till now.

My throat started burning from the lack of oxygen followed by the searing agony of my lungs, desperate to breathe the fresh sweet air.

A thought occurred to me: I had control over water so why not create an air bubble?

I let my bag drop to the bottom of the bed like a weight and placed my hands together in front of my face, concentrating solely on the water surrounding my brother and I.

Suddenly the water rippled, making me flinch and glance above when I realised the ripple wouldn’t reach the surface. Dark silhouettes loomed over the edge of the lake and from my previous encounters with those horrid creatures, I knew instantly that they were unmistakably the Hunters.

Water drained out from the bubble I made, the ring burning hotter than ever. I let out a gasp of breath and felt Cale’s on exhalation brush my hair.

“Rose . . . Rose,” he gasped, panic evident on his face. “Rose, we have to get out of here.”

“No duh!” I snapped, still focusing absently on keeping us weighted in the water. “But how? Those Hunters are surrounding the entire lake and we won’t stand a chance . . .”

“I . . . I don’t know.” I floated there, stunned and gave my brother a blank look in the air space we were both breathing in. “Damn it Rose, don’t give me that look!”

“But – but you’re Cale!” I wailed, unable to help myself and prayed they couldn’t hear us from down here. “You’re supposed to know everything! You’re my big brother! You’re –”

“My Air Crystal,” he interjected with a frown, brow furrowing. “I know the magic runs a lot deeper for Air than the other Crystals. Like how yours heals, I think I know what mine can do.” I watched as he fished in his pocket with a hand. I glanced above and watched the silhouettes come to a complete stop, all of them surrounding the jagged edge of the Lake.

My heart sank. This was hopeless. If we somehow were to get out, there were would no way were could without getting injured. Not even the control over my element would be enough – there was a whole army up there, I could feel it in my bones.

“Sidara reached me in a dream last night but I didn’t recognise it was her until now,” he explained to me and placed both hands around the jagged crystal fragments embedded into the silver. “The Air Crystal was meant for me specifically because I didn’t panic too much. It also helps ease people’s minds so I figured I could send a thought using that sort of link.”

He shut his eyes, hands over his Crystal. It glowed silver for a moment, jolting me nervously. What if the Hunters saw it?

“Oh how do we get out of here?” I cried out miserably. “What if they –”

Cale’s brown eyes snapped open, his irises almost glowing blue. “We have five seconds before both Felix and Ashleigh are going to attack. When the ground moves, get us as high into the air as possible and I’ll help.”