Earthshaker (Book Three of the Elementals)

XII. Tegen

A deep thud brought Tegen's head up: the circular and stone ceiling fitting the entire room started to descend—with nowhere to go, they were bound to be flattened.

A squawk and flash of red caught Tegen's eye as the scarlet macaw reappeared again; it flew through a doorway suddenly opening in a wall.

"Follow the bird! Go!" he yelled.

The Elementals ran toward the safety to find it a narrow hallway to where only one could pass through at a time. A resounding boom signaled the ceiling hitting the ground; it also shut off their lighting. Pica created a ball of light to float over her head, illuminating the hallway.

They entered another circular chamber with a green hill in the center of the room and a small sprouting at the crest. Flying to a niche in a wall, the scarlet macaw looked down at them; a wooden sign sat at the base of the hill. Another doorway was not in sight.

Tegen stepped up to the sign to read:

While time is beautiful and needed, it is also cruel and unjust.

Nature has many allies and oppositions,

But only has two phases

And one enemy.

Combine all to continue the cycle.

"What does that mean?" Pica asked after reading it for herself.

It clicked for Tegen. "In time, nature destroys itself to start again." He considered the tree sprouting. "We have to grow the tree, then kill it to move on."

"That seems cruel," Pica said.

"That is the way of nature," Kalisa said.

Tegen turned to face them. "Pica, Renuo, and I will grow the tree; Kalisa, Geryon, and Aeris will destroy it."

The Elementals separated into the two groups on opposite ends of the hill; Zelenia and Helian stood between them. Tegen nodded to Pica and Renuo on either side of him; Light took a steadying breath before she made a miniature sun and its rays shone on the budding. Renuo had to focus harder on making a small cloud appear and rain down on it lightly, as to not drown it. Tegen attached himself to the fragile life force of the sapling, willing it to accept the providers and grow quicker.

As soon as Tegen established connection with the sapling, it grew in astonishing quickness. Before long, the little sprouting became a fully developed tree with a wide trunk and branches full of lush leaves.

Bracing for the pain, Tegen looked at the other three and nodded for them to proceed.

Kalisa started first. Stretching her hands toward the tree, it jolted with surprise and shook as its flawless bark drained of color and turned gray—she was drawing the life out of it. Tegen ground his teeth as the tree had its life and energy stolen—through his connection with it, it felt like the same thing was happening to him.

A cooling hand landed on his back and the pain nearly disappeared. He jerked away from Zelenia—he could not abandon the tree to die alone; this test was to see how well he could establish connections with nature and keep its trust to where it would help him.

"No; I must suffer with the tree."

Once the fresh green leaves turned brown, dry, and withered, Geryon stepped up and waved a hand at the tree's roots where some dead leaves had fallen. A few tongues of flame lashed out of his hand and caught the leaves on fire. Aeris inhaled and blew out the breath with a hand directing the air toward the leaves; when the wind picked up the burning leaves, she flicked the hand up—the leaves trailed up the trunk and landed among the branches. In an instant, the canopy was ablaze; Geryon had his hands out to control the blaze.