Fractured Soul

Chapter 19: Nadai's Festival

Kai was true to his word, and he didn't say anything about that night. Mella's training, both water and combat, continued without a hitch. Now it seemed most days when they trained on the lake, the other elementals were training and learning too.

As November went on, it got even colder. It didn't rain, it snowed. When Mella wasn't training, she was constantly dodging the snowballs aimed her way by the guys. She was smiling and laughing as much or even more than Kev and Dilan. She, the boys, and even Gwen-when Mella saw her-were like a big family.

There was an air of excitement building as December rolled around. Not even the huge winter storm could keep people from being happy about the upcoming festival. Less people showed up when the five of them trained, either driven back inside where it was warmer or making plans for the first night of the festival.

"So, you still haven't been asked or asked someone to Nadai's Festival yet, Mella?" Dilan asked one day. The recent storm had left the lake iced over to the point the five of them could just walk over to the island. It was frigidly cold still, and Mella shivered under her layers of clothing. It's official, I hate the cold.

"No. But why is it a big deal? There's still two and a half weeks."

"Yeah, but most girls spend the two weeks leading up making sure their dresses are perfect, and how they're gonna put up their hair and girly stuff like that." Kai said, making a face.

"Do I look like most girls, Kai?" Mella asked.

"She has a point, dude." Kev pointed out.

"What about you guys? Do you have dates yet?"

Kev, Dilan, and Kai all nodded. Alex shrugged off the question and said briskly, "Hey, training now, dates later. You wanna try scrying or not?" He walked towards the ice.

"Someone's touchy." Mella noted.

"Don't mind him, Princess. No girl will ask him and he doesn’t like asking." Dilan told her.

"No, this year I will ask someone. I just haven't gotten around to it." Alex said, his ears turning red.

"Oooh! Who's the girl?" Dilan asked.

A snowball hit Dilan in the face. Mella laughed and walked over to Alex. He poked a hole in the ice covering the lake large enough to look into.

"Scrying is easy enough when you talk about it, but it's a whole other story when you try it. Just imagine a mirror and then think of what you want to see. "

"Anything?"

"Anything you've seen before."

"You aren't going to scry?" Mella asked.

"I'm not good at it. I'll start to see something and then it vanishes."

Scary, something Alex can't do.

Mella looked down into the lake and imagined a mirror. Almost immediately, her watery reflection sharpened as ice coated the hole. What do I want to see? She thought of Myra, and Mella longer saw her own face on the ice.

Myra was smiling at her, her face dirty, and the collection of worry lines she had seen the first day in Berna had spread further on her face.

"Oh my god. Myra." Mella whispered. Myra vanished, leaving Mella staring at herself again. The memory of scrying blew through her mind, and then Mella was back standing on the lake.

"Now try a place, instead of a person." Alex said. A place? Hmm…I don’t want to see Berna. I can guess at what happened there. Mella thought back in her memories she had reacquired. That temple was destroyed…how about… Mella looked down. She was looking into the tower she had seen in her dreams and the vision (well, she thought it was a vision) from All Hallows. There was the pentagram, and a wall of bookshelves. Suddenly, something moved into the picture. It was King Stephen.