I let myself back into the flat a little earlier than Ronan and I had arranged, so I quickly grabbed a drink and started getting myself ready to go. I'd never teleported before, so I wasn't quite sure how it would go. I shoved the piece of paper with the prophecy on it in my bag, just as Ronan appeared in my room.
"Ready to go?" He asked.
"I think so." I said, looking round the room to see if I needed to take anything else. "I don't need to bring anything, do I?"
"I don't think so. Only the prophecy." He said.
"Got that." I tapped my bag, and threw it on my back.
"Okay, then." Ronan said, and was just about to grab my arm.
"Wait!" I said quickly. "I have a question."
"What?" Ronan asked.
"Do I need to do anything when you teleport?"
"No." He said.
"So you know where you're going?"
"I believe so, yes."
"So, if I think of some place different to you, we're not gonna end up splitting off in different directions and losing limbs and stuff?"
"No."
"But what if-"
"Millie." Ronan interrupted me. "I can assure you that teleporting with me is completely safe. You might feel a little dizzy on your first couple of journeys, but that's normal. Just relax, and let me do the work."
I sighed, heart racing. I was nervous to say the least. "Okay." I said.
"Ready?" Ronan asked.
I nodded. "Ready."
Ronan grabbed my arm, and I felt my feet leave the ground before the room surrounding me vanished. Then, another scene seemed to explode around me, and my feet hit the solid ground. I would have fallen over if it weren't for Ronan holding my arm tightly, as for a moment my legs felt like jelly and my head was spinning.
"You good?" Ronan asked, holding me up.
I took a deep breath, and began to feel normal almost straight away. "Yeah."
I looked up then, and realised we were now in my village, only a short walk from Stella's house.
"Quick, I don't want anyone seeing me." I said. "Otherwise they'll insist to my mum that they saw me and she'll get very confused."
Ronan didn't ask questions as we quickly walked through Stella's front gate, out of sight of anyone save for the residents of Stella's house.
I knocked on the door, and waited until a man answered- I presumed that this was Stella's husband. He was only a little bit taller than I was, and had short brown hair and glasses on.
He smiled. "Can I help you?" He asked.
"Is Stella in?" I asked.
"No, she's out at the moment." The man said. "Can I help at all?"
"Hmm." I said. "I don't think so. Do you know when she'll be back?"
"She shouldn't be too long." He said.
I smiled. "Okay, well when she gets back, could you tell her that Millie called by and needs to speak to her?"
"Wait, Millie?" He asked. "As in, Millie Millie?"
"Um, I guess so?" I laughed.
He chuckled. "Sorry, I mean, Stella has told me about you. About your abilities and things."
"Oh!" I said. "Yeah, that's me."
"Well, you can come in and wait if you like?"
"That'll be lovely, thanks." I said, and stepped over the threshold of the house before taking my shoes off.
"My name's Phil." He said. "I'm Stella's husband, in case you hadn't guessed."
I chuckled. "Well, I'm Millie, as you know. And this is Ronan."
"Nice to meet you." Ronan said, giving Phil what I would call a manly handshake.
"Come, take a seat." Phil led us to the living room, and as usual there were plenty of flowers in full bloom in various vases, filling the room with colour. Ronan and I sat on the sofa, as Phil started to put the kettle on in the kitchen opposite.
"Do either of you take sugar?" He called through.
"No thanks." I called back.
"Two, please." Ronan called.
A few moments later, Phil came in carrying three cups of tea and placed them on the coffee table, before taking a seat opposite.
"So, you're a Dreamwalker?" Phil asked Ronan.
"Yes." Ronan nodded.
"I've never met one before- Stella's only mentioned them." He said, and then looked at me. "Ever since Stella told me about this stuff, I've always been fascinated."
I heard feet coming down the stairs then, and then Jacob walked in.
"Hi, Jacob." I said, smiling.
He smiled back. "Hi, Millie." He then turned to Phil. "When's mum coming home?"
"She shouldn't be too long now." Phil said. "Why?"
Jacob shrugged. "Just wondering." He then turned back to me. "What are you doing here?" He asked.
"I need your mum's help with something." I asked. "I need her to help me awaken the earth element inside me."
"That's cool!" He exclaimed, then turned to Ronan. "Who are you?" He asked.
"My name is Ronan." He said in a kind voice, one I hadn't heard. I didn't think Ronan would be able to speak to children so easily. "I see you have the earth element in you."
Jacob's eye flashed a bright green for a second. "How did you know that?"
"Well, I am a Dreamwalker." He said.
Jacob's eyes widened. "No way!" He exclaimed.
Ronan laughed.
"Is it true you can hypnotise people?" Jacob asked, clearly excited. He spoke to Ronan as if he were a celebrity he'd always wanted to meet.
"It is." Ronan said.
"And you can teleport?"
"Yes." Ronan nodded, clearly amused by this boy.
"Awesome." Jacob said, still mesmerised.
With that, someone came through the front door. "I'm back!" I heard Stella's voice ring through the house.
"We have visitors!" Phil called back, as Stella came into the room.
Stella smiled when she saw me. "Oh, hi Millie! Lovely to see you." Stella was carrying several shopping bags and lugged them to the kitchen. She then began unpacking them.
"Ronan is a Dreamwalker!" Jacob exclaimed to her.
"Is he, now?" She asked, and looked at Ronan.
"Nice to meet you." Ronan had gone and walked into the kitchen with Stella, and was helping her unpack the bags like a gentleman.
Stella didn't complain. "And you." She said. Phil was making more tea for Stella and Jacob.
When she was done, Jacob ran back upstairs, and Phil retreated to what he called The Shed down the bottom of the garden. Stella came and sat down, sipped her tea, and then looked at me and Ronan. "What can I do for you?" She asked.
"Well." I said, rummaging in my bag for the prophecy. "I need your help with something."
"Okay." She said, as I handed her the piece of paper.
"This is what I heard the darkness say in a dream I had." I said, as Stella read through it. "And so far, everything has proven to be true."
I caught Stella up on the most recent chain of events that had happened, starting from my deal with the darkness, to my encounter with Haydn, and my manifestation of lightning and air.
"So, Haydn is... real?" She looked worried. "That's not good news for anyone, let alone someone who messed up his plans."
"Yeah, I know." I said. "The thing is, when he gets the opportunity I think he can somehow get the darkness out of me unless I get it out of me first. But in order to do that, I'm supposed to manifest all the elements which will drive it out. For now, it's on my side, but the moment Haydn gets it, Haydn will use it against everyone."
"That's not good at all." Stella said, and then flicked her gaze back to the prophecy. "You need to be grounded by earth. Do you know what that means?"
I shook my head. "Do you?"
"I have an idea." She didn't look too happy about it. "But it's not safe in any way, and I can't guarantee that it will work."
"What is it?" I asked, glad that at least she had an idea.
"Well, my mum once told me that an earth Argent could kill by grounding someone. It's a process in which an Argent will use the ground to literally suffocate that person."
"How does that work?" I asked, although wasn't entirely sure I wanted to know.
"Well, say you were in a fight. The earth Wielder might grab your leg with the earth or something, and then your hands, and force you onto the ground. Then, they will continue to force you harder into the ground, until you stopped breathing. My mother told me once that they used to use is as a method of torture, because your mouth and eyes would literally fill with dirt and eventually you would want to give up. Sometimes bones would be crushed in the process."
I looked at Ronan, and he at me.
"I don't think it's a good idea." Stella said honestly.
"Well." I said, not quite believing that I was saying this. "I don't think I have much of a choice."
"You don't have to." Ronan assured me.
"I mean, I nearly died before, and that worked for air." I laughed nervously.
"I have an idea." Ronan said. "This prophecy, it isn't always literal. So, let's not jump straight to the deep end here. If Stella can use her powers on you in some other way, then we should try that first. Then, only if you both agree to it, we will do this grounding thing."
Stella nodded. "I mean, it sounds completely insane, but if Millie is okay with it, then I'll do it."
I nodded, too. "I'm good with that." I paused. "I think."
__________
Once we finished our tea, Stella led us out into her garden- it was pretty big, with a huge lawn surrounded by borders of bright flowers either side, and a patio by the back door. Then, at the far end was a woodland area which, from what I could see, went quite far back. I also noticed the shed which Phil must have gone to. It was sunny, and not that cold, so I took my jacket off and threw it on the concrete patio just by the door.
I was beginning to feel pretty nervous, well aware of what it took to manifest the other elements.
"How are we doing this?" I asked, as Stella stood in front of me- I had my back to the woods so that I faced the house and I was well away from the concrete floor.
Ronan stepped forward. "I'm thinking that if Stella starts from some weaker shots, and then perhaps gets more and more aggressive as we go, then we might get there."
"Aggression isn't really my thing." Stella pointed out.
"Think of it more as doing a good deed to save the world from total darkness." Ronan said, smiling.
I laughed nervously, and planted my feet firmly onto the grass.
Stella nodded. "I'll try." She then looked at me. "You ready?"
"No." I said. "But you may as well begin."
I took a deep breath, and watched Stella as she conjured what looked like a pale green mist in her hands. Then, she cupped her hands together, took aim, and threw it at me. It was hard not to put my arms up in defence, so as an alternative I squeezed my eyes shut until I felt whatever Stella threw at me hit me in the stomach. It was as if someone with super strength had thrown a really hard football at my belly, and so I fell backwards onto my bum as I clutched my midriff.
"Ouch." I said, standing back up. "I thought you said you were starting from the bottom?"
"Sorry." Stella giggled nervously. "Are you good?"
"Yup." I said, although not entirely convinced.
"No sudden inclination to the earth yet?" She asked hopefully.
I shook my head.
"Again." Ronan said, who was stood a fair distance away with a concentrated look on his face. "But more."
I sighed, and tried to ignore the tingling pain I now had on the skin of my belly.
Stella conjured the green mist again, and threw it even harder. This time, I couldn't help but put my arms up as it came straight for my face. It knocked me flying, taking me off the floor and throwing me down hard onto the grass.
"Agh." I groaned, getting back up again.
"Are you okay?" Stella asked, a little worried. I knew she wasn't enjoying this.
"Yup." I managed through gritted teeth.
"Don't put your arms up." Ronan said.
"I can't help it!" I exclaimed.
Ronan then looked at Stella, who nodded at the look which I couldn't read, and then looked back to me. "Sorry about this." She said, as she was seemingly focusing her energy at the ground beneath my feet. Then, thick green vines seemed to grow out of the ground and twist their way towards my hands. Quickly, they wrapped themselves around my wrists, pulling my arms down straight by my side.
Now I was nervous.
I clenched my teeth together. "Is this really necessary?" I mean, I knew it was, but then again, I was beginning to wonder whether I could just try another way to manifest the element.
"Yes." Ronan said. "If you want to manifest, you must feel the full force of the earth."
Stella continued to throw harder blasts of earth energy at me, breaking her own vines every time as I was sent sprawling backwards onto the floor. I was pretty sure that I had some broken ribs, and blood dripped from my mouth where I'd landed on my face and bitten my lip.
"Are you sure you want to carry on?" Stella asked, and I could see she felt guilty from this.
I nodded, even though I wasn't so sure. "Absolutely." I said, my voice croaky and tired and full of sarcasm.
Stella fired one more time, this time hitting me harder then ever. I even heard the cracks as it made contact with my entire body, sending a shooting pain right through my back and leg. I flew, literally, landing on the grass with a loud thump, followed by a cry of pain from me. I could taste the blood in my mouth, and when I sat up, I looked at my leg to see it twisted at a funny angle. If I weren't in a vicarage, I would surely have a few words to yell right about now.
"Oh, God." Stella said, and ran over. Ronan also came.
"It's all good." I said, and felt for the light within as quick as possible. It was easier to reach when you were in this much pain. Instead of emitting it through my palms, I sent it internally through my entire body, right from my head, to my ribs, to my obviously broken leg. I clenched my fists together as the light did its work, mending my leg and healing my cut lip.
I sighed. "Okay." I said. "That's a lot better."
"I think we should take a break." Stella said.
I then looked at Ronan, who was trying to read my current expression.
"No." I said. "You need to do it."
"Are you serious?" She asked. "I could quite well kill you, and I'm telling you right now that I don't want that kind of guilt on my conscious."
"You won't." I said, looking her in the eye. "I have faith that it will work."
"I don't." Stella scoffed.
I held her arm. "It's our only hope. I am seventy percent sure that this will work."
"Only seventy?" Ronan asked. "That's not very sure."
"Yeah, well, I guess I'm a little nervous." I looked back at Stella. "If I die, I promise I won't blame you."
She chuckled then. "Thanks. Because I'm sure the police will believe you if you're dead."
"I won't die." I assured her, sounding more certain that I felt. I then stood up. "Just try and do it quickly. Whatever happens, just keep going. If I tell you to stop, don't listen, okay?"
Stella nodded slowly. I then looked at Ronan. "Don't let her stop." I said, and Ronan nodded more confidently than Stella.
"Let's get to it." I said, rubbing my hands together and taking a standing position at the entry of the woods. "Perhaps these trees will help me out." I chuckled.
Stella stood opposite me. "Are you ready?" She asked, not for the first time today.
I nodded. "I'm ready."
"Okay." She said, and she was clearly nervous about this. In fact, she looked even more nervous than I did, which made me even more nervous.
Stella started by winding thick roots round my ankles and wrists, but this time they were longer and far stronger. They wound up to my knees and elbows, and then they were getting tighter. Soon enough my blood circulation would be cut off. I could already feel the tips of my fingers going numb.
She paused to look at me, so I just nodded in response. Stella quickly brought her hand down, and the roots holding my legs were tugged downwards so hard that I fell onto my knees. They then proceeded to wind round my waist, and started to squeeze tighter and tighter until I was finding it harder to breathe. The roots round my stomach then pulled me down onto the floor, so I was now laying on the grass with my arms and legs tied down. I held my head to the side, trying to get as much oxygen in as possible, although it was beginning to prove difficult.
My legs and back were beginning to hurt- the roots seemed to be pulling me harder towards the ground, as if I might eventually fall through it, or maybe become part of the ground itself. Roots continued to wrap around my neck and head and pull me tighter towards the earth, before the dirt beneath the grass began to rise up and climb over me as if it were alive. First, it covered my legs, and then it began to make its way higher and higher.
Now I was beginning to panic. As my limbs were slowly being crushed, I started to cry and wail a little. Fear crept in as I tried my best not to let my already manifested elements try to free me. I could feel them there, almost begging to be let out, but I shoved them down. I wouldn't mess this up just to have to go through it again.
My back cracked, and I screamed at the pain. Then, my leg. I screamed again as tears fell freely down my face and dampened the earth there. The pain was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. If I thought being strangled was bad, I was wrong. This was bad. For a moment, I thought I felt some of the pressure recede a little- it was enough for me to take a small breath.
"Keep going!" I heard Ronan's voice, as the dirt started to make its way over my shoulders. "You know what she told you!"
The pressure built again, and I continued to scream as I was pulled deeper and deeper. My fingers were crushed for sure, as the dirt started to fill my ears. I could no longer hear anything but my racing heart. I could only feel the pain coursing through my body. The dirt started to go up my nostrils, and although I tried to keep my mouth clamped shut, the pain was too much.
I screamed loud before I was plunged into darkness.
Then I saw it. A little green light. It got closer and closer, until I felt the most incredible burst of energy shoot it's way through my whole body.
All the earth that was on top of me exploded upwards. The roots snapped, as the energy escaped me all at once. For a moment, I was still laying on the floor, although I didn't feel anymore pain. I realised then that as soon as the green light had come to me, the light element had already begun its work without me even having to summon it. Bones cracked back together as my body repaired itself. The dirt no longer filled my nose and ears, and it wasn't even in my hair anymore.
I sat up, and saw Stella and Ronan also sitting on the ground some distance away, clearly having been thrown by the force of the outburst of energy. At first, they frowned, but then they saw me and came running over. Stella had been crying, and all the colour had drained from her face. Even Ronan looked worried.
I felt physically and mentally drained, and so before I could even say anything, I felt my body hit the floor again and take me into a deep sleep.
__________