Argent Eye

27

"I can't say I've heard anything." Stella said. "And we've been sat out in the garden for the last couple of hours."

"Are you absolutely certain?" Kathy asked. "Only, it sounded very distressing."

"I honestly didn't hear anything." Stella assured her. "Perhaps it was a bird?"

I heard Kathy sigh. "I suppose my old age must be getting to me. Sorry to have bothered you."

Stella chuckled. "That's quite alright, Kathy. Take care now."

And with that, the door shut and Stella came back into the room.

"Whoops." I said, wondering how loud I'd screamed.

Stella laughed. "I hope nobody else heard. They might have wondered what was going on in here."

I clenched my teeth together. "Yeah." I said.

With that, Ronan stood up. "I think it's best that we make our way back soon." He said.

I nodded. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea." I then looked at Stella. "Thank you so much for what you did."

She chuckled. "You mean for torturing you?"

I smiled. "Yeah, well, without you I doubt I would have manifested at all."

"For what it's worth, you're very welcome." She said. "Good luck with everything- come back and see me any time." Stella looked me dead in the eye. "Be safe, Millie." And with that, she hugged me tight.

"I'll do my best." I stepped out of the hug. "Oh, and please don't tell my mum I was here. She'll get very confused."

Stella laughed. "Don't worry. I won't."

"Thanks guys." I waved to everyone, just as Ronan took a hold of my arm and I felt my feet lift away from the ground and the scene before me vanish.

__________

We landed back in my room, just as it was beginning to get dark.

"That's another element to tick off the list." I said.

Ronan looked a little worried.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Well, you know that the closer we get, the more restless Haydn will get. You need to be prepared for any kind of situation."

"I know." I sighed. "That's why we need to hurry."

Ronan read over the prophecy once more. "Choked by water, and united with metal." He stood in thought. "I mean, I hate to say it but choked by water seems kind of obvious. So far, you've had to be somewhat near death to manifest."

"So you think I need to be drowning to get it?"

Ronan shrugged.

"But we still don't know how I got fire." I pointed out. "Perhaps it will just happen like that one did."

"Perhaps." He paused. "Are you feeling up to training tonight?"

"Maybe a little." I said. "I still feel quite tired."

"That's okay. But obviously things are getting rather heated with Haydn and you haven't tried using the earth element yet."

I nodded. "Okay. Well, when the park closes we can go there."

"Meet me outside?" Ronan asked.

"Yeah, cool." I agreed, before he vanished.

I sighed loudly in my empty room, wondering how exactly I came to be in this position. Over the past few weeks I'd gone from being a regular student to someone who had way too many responsibilities, and who was probably on the top of a guy's hit list because I'd 'stolen' something that belonged to him. The amount danger I was in had yet to sink in, and I got the feeling I was being too calm about it all.

I decided to spend the next couple of hours making a start on my essay, as I wasn't exactly sure on how much time I would have over the next few days to do it. Then, when nine thirty hit, I walked down to the park gates.

__________

Training wasn't any different from the usual. I was finding it much easier to grasp my elemental powers whenever a new one came about, although I did come to realise that them being easier to access wasn't exactly the best news either. Ronan warned me that because they were easier to reach, they were also easier to lose, meaning that it would be far more likely for me to lose control. He told me to picture it like a glass of water- each element I manifested would fill that glass higher and higher, making it easier to spill over the top. It would come handy in battle, but not so much in day to day life.

Ronan also informed me that alongside the basic elemental side of things, each element comes with other physical and mental benefits. For example, the earth element is used to heal people and strengthen the mind. I'm able to use its energies to make myself stronger mentally, as well as heal to a certain extent. Ronan said that Jacob's healing abilities were extraordinary, so it was unlikely that mine would reach that level, but earth was good at easing pain.

Lightning heightens the senses.

Ice sharpens the mind.

Fire brings energy and adrenaline.

With water there is empathy and flexibility.

Air aids discretion and silence.

Metal strengthens the body physically.

I was going to be up against someone who'd had years- and I mean years- of using fire and lightning, meaning Haydn would undoubtedly be a master in using the elements he had to his full advantage. Although I would eventually have access to all seven of them, I was no where near mastering them. His two elements were probably stronger than all of mine put together, not to mention the fact that he's also had years of experience in other things. He probably knew how to fight without using his powers, and over his lifetime would have gained invaluable knowledge of the world.

Putting it lightly, he was going to be very difficult to defeat. What did defeat even mean? Did I have to kill this guy? Was there a way to disarm his Argent abilities? I'd never really thought to ask Ronan.

"I've been thinking." Ronan began, as we walked back to the flat in the dark. "You said going back that Haydn managed to get into your dreams."

"Yeah?" I asked, and then realised what Ronan was inferring. "Wait, how would he even do that?"

"Well, I never knew if the facts were true before, because it had never happened, but now I'm not so sure."

"Not sure about what?"

"You know the power to wonder through dreams belongs to a Dreamwalker, right?" He said. "That's how we got the name. It's not a power that belongs to an Argent Eye for sure. But somehow Haydn has managed to acquire that ability."

"How?"

"Rumour has it that if you kill your own Dreamwalker with the Black Prometheum they gave to you, you will inherit their power."

My eyebrows went up. "All of their power?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure, but clearly Haydn can walk people's dreams. Who knows what else he can do." Ronan was clearly disturbed by this.

I then remembered the last time I'd seen him outside the dreamworld, and wondered how he managed to disappear so suddenly and quietly. "I think he can teleport, too." I sighed.

"Then it's worse than we feared." Ronan said, deeply concerned. "If Haydn has the powers of a Dreamwalker, it makes him more powerful than ever."

"Then we better get cracking on unlocking water and metal." I said, as we arrived at the doors to my Halls building.

"Training tomorrow?" Ronan asked.

I nodded. "Yep. And maybe I'll try and do some in between stuff."

Ronan smiled. "Rest well tonight. I fear we have an eventful week ahead of us."

"Night, Ronan." I said, before he vanished.

__________