The Elementals

Lotus couldn’t look away from their failed transportation circle.

“How is it from here?” they asked.

“Singe!” Skylar yelled beside them, watching where the ice giant’s face would be.

Luckily their ice giant was slow enough to give them time to think.

“Yes, where is our assigned knight?” Lotus asked.

“He flew up after I told him to take a look. Why didn’t he come back down?” Skylar’s shoulder blades were sparking.

“Go up and check,” Lotus said, “I think your wings have recovered.”

“What?” Skylar asked, “It’s colder now than when I fell down.”

And the sparks dissipated.

“I understand that it’s unique, but you should really understand how your magek works by now.”

Lotus accepted Skylar’s scowl with grace. Perhaps making her angrier would help.

“You’re lucky I’m more worried about Singe than I am about that comment.”

Evia pushed the two of them apart as she slid down her ice-wall.

“I’m not warm,” she said.

“Of course not,” Skylar said, “It’s freezing.”

Evia shook her head.

“My return hasn’t happened.” her hands moved slower this time to emphasize.

“But you—oh,” Lotus nodded, “That’s why the circle didn’t work.”

“Why didn’t it work?” Skylar asked.

“Because it’s not real,” Lotus explained, placing a hand on her arm, “Something’s messing with our heads. The town is fine.”

“Then how did I feel a portal?” she asked, “Singe felt it too.”

“Whoever did this is skilled.”

Lotus looked back at the section Skylar melted. The foot it had left was far too small to hold the rest of it up.

“Phoenix Fire can heal,” they said.

“Are you telling me I have to handle this?” Skylar asked.

The other two nodded.

“I have to kill the thing? Singe hasn’t even confirmed if it can be reasoned with.”

“Singe is seeing something else,” Evia said, “Destroy it to find him.”

Skylar scowled, but walked toward the ice giant.

“She cares about him,” Evia said.

“Yes,” Lotus confirmed, “They aren’t subtle.”

Lotus had to take some steps away from the blaze as Skylar’s flames ate at the ice giant. If it was real ice, it wouldn’t have torched this well.

“I do hope we weren’t the only ones affected. Otherwise this will be an awkward conversation with authorities.”

“It always is,” Evia said.

“True, but I’d prefer not to say, ‘sorry officers, we thought there was an ice giant trying to destroy our humble town’ without corroboration.”

Evia shrugged, eyes on Skylar’s display.

“So much power,” she said.

“And no will to use it,” Lotus finished. It wasn’t like Evia was lacking in the power department, considering her ability to make walls so large, but Skylar seemed disinterested in her own limits, or lack thereof.

The ice giant disappeared, and Evia took the walls down with a wave of her hand, turning them to vapor.

The sky cleared up, with no hint of their Draconic companion anywhere. Skylar flew up, wings now functioning perfectly. They were large enough to make obvious her panicked spinning. She descended quickly, grabbing Evia by the shoulders.

“You said we’d find him if we destroyed it, so where is he?”

Lotus pushed her off.

“It’s not like she could see any better than we could. He’ll come back to you in time. It’s not like there’s much that can hurt him.”

Skylar pushed them to the ground.

“If Singe disappeared, either he left, or something took him,” Skylar said, “Just because he’s strong doesn’t mean he’s safe.”

She moved her glare back to Evia as Lotus scrambled back to standing.

“Good work noticing. Sorry for taking my anger out on you.”

Singe had never seen this type of creature before.

Giants were possible, but they weren’t made of an element, they were people that grew.

“We can help!” Singe said, “Just don’t do anything dangerous.”

The thing yelled at Singe and he felt cold.

Too cold. Freezing. He never felt freezing in this form.

“Where are you?” he asked, “Because this thing isn’t real.”

He looked around, no threats to be seen. He wasn’t sure how to remove an illusion without someone psychic, but Lotus could probably figure something out.

He fell back, only to stop in mid air by no will of his own.

He tried to turn and hit whatever stopped him, but he couldn’t turn.

He tried to struggle against his invisible restraints, but he couldn’t move at all.

He stopped wasting his energy on something useless.

“The monster’s an illusion!” he yelled.

Your friends can’t hear you, a voice sang in his head, He never said that you’d be clever.

Singe sent back a demand for whoever it was to show themselves, more based in feelings than words.

You’re in no position to make demands, darling. By the time your friends find you… Well let’s just say it won’t be a pleasant meeting.

Singe woke up in a cage, back to a more human form.

“Couldn’t let me stay pretty?” he asked his unseen captors.

No response.

He had no idea how much these people knew about him, but maybe they weren’t aware he was still strong like this. He walked up to the bars, pulling them apart. It wasn’t an easy task, but he made room enough to get out.

He nearly turned more draconic as he exited, but thought better of it. If they were on alert, they’d be more so with his draconic form, and he had the training to get by most of them without need of the extra armor. Besides, the halls were small enough as he was.

As he crept forward, careful near the doors, he saw a streak of flame go past the hall.

“Where is he?” Skylar asked.

“Skylar?” Singe called.

“Singe!”

She leapt into his arms, and Singe held snugly.

“I was worried about you.” she cupped his cheek, and he leaned into the warmth of her hand.

“I’m sorry to cause such concern.”

She shook her head.

“There’s no way this was your fault. Where is she?”

“She?” Singe asked, “There was a voice in my head, but I don’t know who it was. I just—”

“The place is empty,” Lotus said, “They must have left when we got here.”

“Teleportation?” Evia asked, “No one exited.”

“I didn’t find anyone on the way out,” Singe added.

“Are you alright?” Skylar asked.

“I was just in a cage, so no, not alright.”

“Maybe this will help,” Skylar leaned in, and Singe took a step back, shaking his head.

“I’ve dealt with dreambreaking too many times to believe this.”

Have it your way, a voice said from the shadows. Singe’s friends disappeared to be replaced with a woman with bright red hair. It had to be dyed.

“I take it you’re the ‘she’ the Ember Phoenix was referencing.”

The woman nodded.

“It’s a little bit endearing that you’re trying to be formal when I’ve seen in your heads enough to know that neither of you want formality.”

“Who the hell are you?” Singe asked.

“Excellent question,” the woman said, “You can call me Diamond, or just call me your tormentor.”

“What do you want with me?” he asked.

“What every girl wants: A good time, and some cash, but that’s not coming from you.”

Singe steeled himself.

“I’ve fought demons. There is little you can do that my mind hasn’t already experienced.”

“Color me intimidated,” she sang again, unimpressed, “Allowing that demons are real, none of them are me.”

Singe didn’t make any further comments, trying not to add fuel for the fire.

“Oh, but there’s plenty of fuel already. Did you think I chose you by chance, maybe even messed up by choosing the only one that wasn’t royalty?”

Skylar had a bad dream, but not a nightmare.

“That one was fun,” Diamond said, “You see your girlfriend has a certain romance novel flair, just without the mutual attraction or happy ending. She thinks that all the political shit is getting in the way of you two, which is hilarious considering what her father has offered you. Not that she knows all of what’s happening there.

Singe grabbed her by the arm and threw her.

Singe woke up in a cage, back to a more human form.

“Couldn’t let me stay pretty?” He asked his unseen captors.

The air was clear of fog and Sir Tyrain.

“Why take him?” Skylar asked.

“He’s more valuable than me,” Evia commented.

“There’s too much skill for them not to do their research,” Lotus said, “They chose Singe for some reason.”

“He’s valuable to more kingdoms than either of you,” Skylar muttered, clearly embarrassed about her awareness.

“Maybe they wanted to rattle you.” Lotus proposed.

“Of course I’m rattled, Singe is our friend, right?” Skylar was pointedly staring at Evia.

“I’m not what we should focus on,” Evia said.

Skylar scoffed, walking away.

“She suspects me,” Evia said.

“We just fought an illusory ice monster, and your family has a poor record with hers,” Lotus said, “As well as Singe, thanks to the incident with your father’s cousin. You are the most suspicious in this scenario.”

Evia rolled her eyes. She hadn’t gone out of her way to prove her place, but she had proven it. This escape was supposed to just be for her and Lotus anyways, until Skylar tagged along and was assigned a bodyguard.

“Does your father realize the obvious yet?” Lotus asked, “Assuming you’ve made the reports he’s demanded of you.”

Lotus didn’t actually know that, but that didn’t make them wrong. Evia downplayed Singe and Skylar’s relationship, and tried to put a good word in for Singe, while also implying nobody told her anything. No one had called out her discrepancies yet.

“I don’t think he reads them,” she admitted.

She left Lotus to join Skylar on the park bench, with conspicuously two cups of coffee.

“I couldn’t sleep, neither could Singe, so we went to try the new drinks at the Branded Flyer. They’re cold now.”

“Can you track him?” Evia asked. Not-so-secret relationship aside, Skylar had known Singe the longest.

“I can barely do a spell to change my clothes,” Skylar said, “Tracking is not in the cards, especially not a person.”

“Do you know his name?” Evia asked, “All of it?”

“You think Lotus can track him through it?”

“They’re a wizard.”

Skylar looked down at the drinks again. Was this the first time she and Singe were truly apart since the came here? That couldn’t be easy with a relationship like theirs.

Evia tried to put a comforting hand on Skylar’s shoulder, but she pulled away.

“Don’t touch me, please.”

Evia put her hands up in surrender, far be it from her to resolve the drama between their families.

“Let’s head to the cabin,” Lotus said, “I can do spellwork from there.”

The metal returned itself to Lotus’ gauntlet again.

“That’s a bad sign,” Skylar said again.

“Maybe you don’t know his name,” Evia offered.

“Maybe not,” Skylar admitted, “Maybe I only have part of it. Can you track his mirror? He should be wearing one around his neck.”

“A mirror-pendant?” Lotus asked.

“More like a locket, which might still be a pendant. I wasn’t very involved with that kind of jewelry back at the Forge.”

Lotus lifted from their gauntlet, making the figure of some elf Skylar didn’t recognize, and muttering about a mirror locket.

They opened their eyes and immediately shut them.

“Let me try that again.”

“What happened?” Skylar asked.

“Too many,” they waved her off, “I need to specify.”

They followed the ritual another time, this time muttering about a communication mirror locket.

“There’s still a lot,” they complained.

“But it’s something,” Skylar said, “And waiting around until we narrow it down is going to take too long.”

She grabbed a map of the area from on top of a dresser.

“Mark them all, divide by three, and we can check each possible spot for Singe.”

“He might not be anywhere,” Lotus warned.

“Then we try again with a bigger map,” Skylar said.

“What if we never find him?” Evia asked.

“We will,” Skylar insisted, “We’ll find him.”