Face the Elements

Chapter 4

4. Elektra

 

We had been in the SUV for three hours already. It would be getting light soon. We were going straight to our destination, no hotel stays, just bathroom breaks. The guardians had packed us food and water, and if we needed a refill we had my twin, a handy water elemental, to do the job.

I’m sitting next to Clay, who is staring at the back of Ariel’s head with longing in his green eyes. I hold back my eyeroll. Rhett looks like he’s asleep, head leaning against the window. I am unbelievably bored. Grabbing a package of all-natural fruit snacks, I open it as loudly as I possibly can, rustling the packaging between my fingers. Mission accomplished: everyone looks at me.

“Oh, sorry,” I say, not apologetic at all, “Did I wake you?”

My twin gives me a knowing look, “Bored?”

“You have no idea. Entertain me.”

Rhett’s light blue eyes twinkle at me as we pass under a light, “You should’ve sat next to me, Lex.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. You would be plenty entertained.”

“Big talk, but I don’t think you’d back it up.”

Clay groans, “Can we stop the banter? It’s giving me a headache.”

Rhett chuckles, “You could try it yourself, ya know. Ariel’s right here.”

Of course I look at my twin to see her reaction to that, and of course she looks down, suddenly shy. For Christ sake. She’s impossible.

Before I can tell Rhett to shut his idiotic mouth, Gerald speaks from the driver’s seat, “Now that you’re all awake, let’s talk.”

I have a feeling this talk won’t cure my boredom.

He continues, “At this new school, you will all behave. You will not make exhibitions of yourselves. You will be normal. Average. Try to be like every other stupid little human teenager.”

I bite my lip before I can laugh out loud and give him an “Amen”. Gerald can be hilarious, even though I know he’s not trying to be funny.

“We will continue your training. Physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and of course, elemental. Never forget that you are not long for this world. This is not your home. When you reach ascension, and have mastered yourselves and your gifts, you will reclaim our world. You will bring salvation to our people. You will avenge your families.”

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard the spiel. And honestly, if we couldn’t do the things we could with our powers, none of us would have believed this stuff. Apparently in our home world, which was kind of like a different dimension of Earth, we were each born of royal families. Only the Royals have elemental gifts, although everyone has some sort of magic. The royal blood comes with the good stuff, apparently. Lucky us. But it also comes with danger. When we were only six years old, there was a coup. Our families were slain, and the throne usurped by the lesser nobles, greedy for power. The guardians had done their job, they got us out before the Nobles could kill us too, or use us for our gifts. Gerald and Gretchen took us through a portal, and here we were. Their whole intent was to train us. To make us the best that we could be, then take us back to our dimension, to take back what is rightfully ours.

“Destiny will come, young Royals. Your homeland is dying. The rivers run drier as time goes by, the plants droop, and the air hangs heavy. When you return, the world will heal. It will be no secret homecoming, and you must be ready to act. To take from the Nobles what they took from you.”