The Elementals: Since the Beginning of Time

Chapter Nine

"Breaking news!! Storms in the Foreignlands are at a record high!! Half of the region is already gone! Citizens are being evacuated to the other two regions here on Calif, but things are looking grim for these Foreigner people. Death rates are skyrocketing, and are only expected to get higher!!"

I stared at the TV in horror. The footage shown of this storm was awful. Waves were higher than buildings, and the skies were even darker there than they were here. Several areas on the ground were being split apart, swallowing up houses, vehicles, and even people.

"Dios have mercy..." I heard Dylan mutter under his breath. "How is it already this bad?!"

Not moving a muscle, I continued watching the terror unfold before my eyes on the screen. The reporter was pointing to things and rambling terrified words that I couldn't discern clearly. Another huge building was about to collapse, and suddenly, the screen went black.

"Okay, that's enough. I... I can't watch..." Dylan sighed shakily, tossing the remote to the side. "Come with me, Derek. We have a lot to discuss."

Huh?? Discuss what? Does he know about this Foreignlands disaster thingy? Why, in the almost couple weeks that I've been here, hasn't he told me about this? What the heck is he hiding?

I followed Dylan upstairs, unable to shake my rising suspicions.

As we walked into his bedroom, I was immediately met with a setting that was basically his living room on steroids. House plants were scattered everywhere, and there were so many books that it wasn't far off from a library.

"Ay... I wasn't planning on telling you this for another while... But... The worsening Foreignlands situation may change that..." Dylan said, running his fingers through his hair.

"Yay... That's promising... What now?" I replied sarcastically, casually leaning against a bookshelf.

Dylan grabbed a curious looking notebook from his nightstand, flipping through its pages. He murmured to himself, pointing and nodding.

"Ah. Here we go," He stopped, turning to me. "So. To put things short... There's another Elemental in the Foreignlands. The Air one, to be precise. I've been trying to do some research on who this person could be, and how to get to their region safely. That's why I panicked... I didn't expect the storms over there to get this bad so soon... I'm not fully prepared to go over to the Foreignlands yet..."

"Dude, why did you wait this long?! Why didn't you prepare faster?! THIS POOR ELEMENTAL COULD BE DEAD FOR ALL WE KNOW!!!!" I shouted, getting irritated at the traumatic footage I witnessed on the news station. My palms quickly rose in temperature, meaning my anger was triggering my powers again.

"DEREK!!! PARATE!!!!" Dylan snapped, stomping his foot on the ground and making it shake. "Let me explain! Good grief, child... Be a little patient, will you?"

"Sorry..."

"As I was saying before, I haven't had the time to properly prepare. Especially finding you, that definitely delayed things for me a lot. And there are multiple other factors that don't make getting to the Foreignlands particularly simple."

"Really great timing, huh?" I chuckled sarcastically, trying to push back the sick feeling I had in my gut after he said that.

"Not really... But... I will make it work. You'll just have to come with me. And that's part of what I needed to talk to you about... You're here, so you might as well be a part of this."

I had really mixed feelings about that. I was happy that I could see the outside world beyond this cabin, and was maybe even a little excited. But another part of me dreaded being in the most dangerous place on this planet. Drowning was one of my worst fears, and this was increasing the chances of it happening to me.