Chapter Eighteen

Chapter 18: Windflame


Terryn led the way onto the dais to the Gem. Elowen noticed that his back was strait, and his shoulders were tense.
He stopped a pace away from the wards and she heard him take in a deep breath.
She laid a hand on his shoulder, coming up beside him.
   "Just breathe. Remember?"
He looked at her, his bight eyes even brighter than usual because of the anticipation.
   "Lets just get this over and get out of here. I'm tired of the musty air."
Ellie nodded and gathered her energy, knowing he was doing the same.

The other four stood anxiously by, wanting to do something useful but knowing there wasn't much they could do other than sit there and wait.  Which none of them liked.
   "I sure hope they do it quickly." Ysmay whispered to Merek.
   "It would go a lot faster if you weren't whispering back there." Terryn called over his shoulder.
Ysmay jumped like she had been caught with her hand in the gravik candy.
   "Sorry!" She whispered back, causing a ripple of laughter from everyone. She blushed deeply and sunk behind Merek's shoulder a bit, but not before she saw Terryn wink at her.
Sonera just smiled, seeing as she had received that wink a thousand times before, but it was just now she realized what it meant. Kade had winked at her like that whenever she had gotten nerves or scared. Now it dawned on her that he had meant it out of love. Not the kind of friendly love he had always shown her, but a deeper love then she could have never guessed.
This sudden realization made her stifle back a sob.
   "Are you alright Sonera?" Ysmay asked, noticing the change in her demeanor.
Sonera sucked it up and hid her feelings away. Those feelings would do no good to her now. She had no idea where Kade might be, but she knew he was safe with Eleyos, and she couldn't dwell on the feelings that might be just a figment of her imagination.
She shook her head in response to Ysmay's question, and then turned her attention to the two Magi on the dais.

   "Are you ready?" Elowen asked.
The boy nodded eagerly.
   "Alright, then lets begin."
Their voices rose and fell melodically as they chanted the spells to take down the wards.
The spectators watched in wonder as the area around the pedestal seemed to shimmer until the invisible wall around it melted away.
It's hard to make out what exactly they were melting, but what ever it was, it was melting. Ysmay got excited, jumping up and down like a little girl, doing all she could to contain her squealing. Drey looked at her and grinned wildly, equally excited, but not giving it away so obviously. Sonera and Merek smiled as well, not as excited as they're friends, but excited none the less.

Finally, none of the wards were left up, and the two Magi stopped chanting and took several deep breathes. Trying to regain their strength.
   "El are you alright?" Drey asked, coming up behind her.
She nodded as he helped her up and she tried to stand on her own, only she teetered and quickly grasped his arm that hadn't gone far.
  "Okay, so maybe I'm not so alright." She muttered. Drey nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist so she could use him as a support.
Once she knew she wouldn't be going anywhere, she turned to Terryn, who looked slightly winded, but other wise unaffected.
   "How are you holding up Terryn?" She asked.
He shook his head, trying to clear it.
   "I'll be good in a moment. That took more out of me than I thought it would."
She nodded in understanding.
   "Yes. Now, go get Windflame."
He looked at her in surprise.
   "Me?" He pointed to himself. "Why me?"
   "Because you were the first one to know what element it was."
   "I thought it was an obvious thing." He pointed out. She smiled.
   "For you, yes. Because it's calling to you, now go pick it up and lets be done with it." She urged.
Terryn moved cautiously to the pedestal, still expecting the wards to be up. But the closer he got the more he realized that the magic had actually worked, and he arrived at the pedestal unhindered and perfectly fine.
He glanced back at Ellie, who motioned for him to hurry up.  He turned back to the Gem and hesitantly reached up to take it.
The heat that he had felt earlier, was stronger now. His fingertips brushed the Gem, where he expected it to be steaming hot, burning to touch. It was hot, but cooled some once he touched it.
He took the Gem off it's pedestal and held it close.
He made his way back to the others, starring in wonder at the small Gem that made such a big fuss over.
   "Do you think it'll have a tiger in it like yours does?" He asked.
   "Uh...." She racked her brain for information on the Lost Gem's. "No, I don't think so, but it'll have something I know. Some kind of animal. They're the Guardians of the Gems, they're last line of defense. So yes, I think this one will have some kind of animal. But I do not know what."
Terryn nodded but suddenly jumped, almost dropping the stone when that animal appeared.
The rest of the crowed jumped back a pace, Merek almost cried out.
A sudden ball of flame, hovered over the Gem, still clutched in Terryn's grasp. Slowly, that flame, formed a body, then wings, finally a head and tail. Though none of it was any less a flame.
Elowen gasped in delight.
   "It's a phoenix!" She cried.
Terryn looked back between her and the animal.
   "A what?"
   "A phoenix you daft dimbo. Where have you been living? Under a rock?"
Elowen smiled as the others tried to figure out where the voice was coming from.
Their eyes finally fell on the phoenix it's self. His eye looked at Terryn suspiciously. Taking in the boy's innocent gaze.
   "Oh just my luck," The phoenix said, shaking it's head. "I finally get someone to take me away from this cursed place, with the only person to talk to an old ghost, and I get some plot who doesn't know a phoenix from any other bird." He complained.
Elowen nudged Terryn, who looked at her with wide bight eyes.
   "Ask it's name." She suggested.
   "I -" He looked back at the strange bird. "You want me to talk to it?" He asked in shock.
Drey tried to disguise his laughter as a cough.
   "I talk to Lorem all the time." She reminded him.
He turned back to the  phoenix and cleared his throat.
   "Um...what's - what's your name?" He asked hesitantly.
The phoenix eyed him with a beady eye for a moment before replying.
   "Raklos."
   "Well now that that's over and done with, let's get out of here." Merek said.
As they moved towards their camp to gather their things, a low rumble could be heard.
   "What was that?" Sonera asked, her head tilted towards the sound.
Merek stalled for a moment, before hastily packing up his things.
   "Probably some of the rocks coming down or something. This place is old and I'd rather get out of here before it fell on top of us all."
The rumbling got louder, several stones that laid on the ground began to vibrate.
   "I think it's too late for that." Elowen said. She looked up at Drey, the meaning, clear to him.
   "Get your stuff!" He cried. "Hurry!"
They all scrambled to grab their things before he led the way out of the Citadel and into the tunnel and back up the stairs.
Stones were falling everywhere, making it hard for them to get any purchase on the stairs.
They were constantly ducking and holding their hands over their heads to ward off any stones that might hit them.
They were quickly out of the secret tunnel to the Inner Sanctum, they burst into the throne room.
   "Keep moving!" Merek yelled over the thundering sound of crashing boulders, and cascading glass from the high windows.
The gang ran through the throne room, to the open door at the end. As they came out, several heavy stones fell in the doorway, blocking it.
   "Well there's no going back that way I suppose." Terryn remarked.
They all nodded, seeing as that was all they could do as they tried to regain their breaths.
    "Come on then. We had best - " Merek's voice was cut off when he suddenly saw a young boy standing in front of them.
   "What in the blazes?!" He cried, jumping away from the child. "Where on Cevlon did you come from?!"
The boy's gold eyes looked him over as he smiled, his gold hair whipping into his face.
   "You must go strait to Asmodea." The child said. The authority in his tone was quiet obvious, making Merek and Dreyden stall for a moment.
   "Why?" Drey asked, gathering his wits about him once more. "We have to go to other places." He answered.
   "You must go strait to Asmodea." The boy repeated, starring Drey in the eyes.
Drey opened his mouth to speak but words refused to come.
   "Is there a particular reason as to why we must go to Asmodea right now?" Merek asked.
   "You will find what you are looking for in Asmodea. There is not much time left. You have to go strait to Asmodea to avoid the ruin of both worlds."
Elowen jerked her head up at that thought.
   "And by the things we are looking for, you mean....?" She asked letting her sentence hang, but the meaning was obvious.
   "The Lost Gems will be waiting for you, along with your rightful place." His eyes were back on Dreyden, only he and Ellie of them all knew what the boy was talking about.
   "I can't take that place." Drey muttered.
   "You have to. She will get you through it. Now go before you waist more time." He ordered, and then he was gone, just as quickly as he had appeared.
Everyone exchanged looks, Merek was dying to know what the boy was talking about to Dreyden, but he knew by the look in his brother's eye that that wasn't a topic open for discussion.
   "I guess it's off to Asmodea." He said, starting out across the rickety draw bridge and through Arricsent.
The others glanced at each other before taking off after him, not wanting to be left behind in the dead city.