The Elementals - The Ice Princess

Chapter 27

"Where are we headed anyway?" Jared asks Alexander who is now sitting fully in the backseat.

"I have no idea. But it should be somewhere that we know we can keep Eira safe."

"That's going to be tough to do seeing as how, we aren't old enough to rent a hotel room or have a credit card and that much cash for that matter."

Alexander smiles. "You don't have to worry about that, you can leave that part to me."

I turn around and look at Alexander who winks at me and smiles. His dark hair is messy and his blue eyes shine in the setting sun. There is an orange glow that is cast upon his face as we drive southwest on Hwy 71 past Akron. I take a look at the clock and see that it's nearly 6pm. That means that darkness is going to be coming soon and it's probably important to get some mileage between us and Fenton. If Alexander is right, that place will be crawling with things that we don't want to find.

I take a quick look over at the speedometer and see that Jared is driving about 10 miles over the speed limit. He is driving quick enough to create some distance, but slow enough that he won't draw any attention to us.

"I think we should just stay on 71 for a bit," Alexander finally says from the back seat. He's got his phone out and is looking at a GPS feature on it. "It will take us through Columbus and that is large enough that we should be able to find a hotel to stay at for the night. If there is anything tracking us, we should be able to hide out a bit more than in a place like Snowspell or Fenton. From now on, I think it's best we stay in the more populated areas.

"What could be following us?" asks Jared into the rearview mirror.

"Well, let's hope nothing. But there are a lot of things that we don't want following us. Most of all, the Achlys."

We spend the next 10 minutes filling in Jared on the Achlys and how dangerous they are. Alexander does most of the talking. He tells a story of the first time that he encountered one about 3 years ago in a place that he only refers to as home. He said that one Achlys was able to take out almost an entire village.

"How can one Achlys, take out an entire village?" Jared asks as we drive on into the night.

"The Achlys are deadly, they move with precision and their purpose is to target and kill whatever they are ordered to. They have a number of weapons that they can use, things that we've only ever heard about. Some of our best didn't even slow it down. It was almost as if their weapons didn't touch it."

"How did you get away? I mean, you could have all jumped right?" asks Jared as a follow up.

"Yeah, we could have. But the problem with jumping is that it takes a lot out of us and if we jump without knowing where anyone is, it could be next to impossible to find them again. My mom and dad had a special spot back home that they said would always be their meeting place if something were to happen. It was a big rock cliff that overlooked the Tialis. The Tialis is an ocean that looks like it glows under the star light. Your scientists here would say that it is a reflection from the pigments in the water. The moonlight is the perfect wavelength for the light to make the Tialis glow and sparkle. It's very beautiful. So we went there and waited. When my dad didn't show, my mom began to get upset and she decided after she had rested to jump back to the village to check on my dad. There was a cave near the cliff which is where my mom made me wait until she got back. Only, she never came back."

Alexander looks toward the floor as if he is consciously making the effort to not make eye contact with anyone.

We drive on for nearly half an hour without anyone saying a word. What do you say to that story? Especially knowing that the same thing is after us.