Ash (The Elemental Series, Book 6) (15 page)

Dhan smiled and slid to the edge of the bed. Already his skin was gaining in color and looking far better than it had only moments before. “Yes, for the prank, my hairy friend.” He clapped a hand on the Yeti’s shoulder. “When you are done with Ash, I will find you and heal that wound in your head, if you wish.”

Norm frowned. “Maybe. I was angry all the time before. I like being happy, even if it means being away from my family.”

I couldn’t help the way my eyebrows climbed. Norm’s words were the most cognizant so far, and showed he was aware of more than I’d thought.

“That being as it may, Dhan, I need to get my stash. I’m going to need money to fly us to our next stop.”

“You think you know where the woman went?” Dhan stood and I held out a hand, but he waved me off.

“Yes. I’m headed for the British Isles. There is a storm headed that way.”

“And you think that the queen would cause it? Is she not of the earth, should you not be looking for things pertaining to the ground?” Dhan frowned.

“She is out of balance and because of that, the world will twist around her. She will cause chaos, and all the elements will react to it,” I said with more certainty than I probably should have.

The thing was
,
though, I was positive Miko had been right. In the past when I’d sought out those who’d defied the king or broken a rule, the first thing I searched for was a disturbance in the world. But in the past, I’d only sought out a disturbance in the earth, something I could do with my Ender training. But with Cassava . . . I wasn’t so sure that would be the case. Nor did I think it would be as easy as saying that it would only be the earth she would affect. Having had the Spirit stone, she had been able to do things she shouldn’t have in any normal circumstance.

Dhan made a circular motion with one hand. “Your stash is in the back wall. I had it mortared in when I made repairs.” He paused for a moment. “And I may have a way for you to travel that will not tax you or the Yeti so much.”

My ears perked up with that. “Truly? I have an armband—”

He waved me off. “No, it has nothing to do with your elemental form of travel. This is older, and deeper. A way to cut through the Veil and travel that way.”

Now that was interesting. I made my way to the back of the house and the oldest section where I’d carved out the mountain to begin the creation of the home. The wall was flat except for a single line that was indeed mortared over. I placed a hand on the edge and it broke open with a crack that echoed throughout the house.

I peeled the rock back until the small pile of weapons and other items waiting for me became clear. I reached in and pulled out a heavy cloak that would repel water and keep me warm if the weather turned cold, but otherwise, would feel as though I wore nothing. There were two small daggers and a box that contained what I thought was a fair amount of human money. Four hundred American dollars—from what I understood it was taken in most countries, so it had been the money of choice at the time. I touched them, then shook my head. Would it get me anywhere?

“Unless you will need it for bribes, leave the money,” Dhan said behind me. I turned and he held up a small weapon. A circular blade edged in gold, a chakram. I’d used that kind as a weapon before in my training, but this one was ornamental. A weapon made for beauty, not use. “Yes. This is how I travel. I will not be able to heal for some time, so you might as well use it.” He offered it to me and I took it.

“Thank you. I do not know when I will bring it back, but I will.”

He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “I know you are a man of your word. I will give you a piece of advice. Be careful out there. The world is not what it once was. The myth and legends of old are dying, being replaced by the humans’ technology. They are worshipping new gods now . . . ones that have no heart, no soul.”

I could hope he was wrong, but that was a fool’s way of thinking. “How do I use this?”

He nodded once. “The place you wish to be, you must hold it in your mind. Then you touch the blade to the center of your forehead and then touch the ground. The place you seek will open up to you then. Step through. It will close within seconds, so make sure your friend is not slothful.”

I nodded and strapped the circular blade to my waist. “Again, thank you.”

“Of course.”

I paused, then turned and took the stack of money, stuffing it inside my vest. There was no way of telling what we might need on our journey. I touched the earth around the enclave and beckoned it to cover the hole.

A thought rumbled through my mind. “Why are you helping me this much? In the past
,
you would barely even acknowledge me as I stopped in.”

He pursed his lips and his eyes went thoughtful. “Because . . . what you are doing, I feel it in my bones. These actions of the one who was your queen will shift the world somehow. Whatever happens, Ash, is meant to be. Fight and do not fight. That is what I see for you.”

Fight and do not fight? His words were about as clear as mud.

I could only hope that by the end of my quest they would make sense.

stood in the overgrown garden of Dhan’s home with Norm by my side. Dhan remained back watching us. We’d said our farewells, and he’d wished us luck in his own way.

I thought of the cliffs of Moher on the western coast of Ireland. I’d been there once, when I was a child and Traveling was allowed for the common elementals. My mother and I had stood on the cliffs, looking out into the ocean, breathing in the fresh salty air.

I did not like how my memories had suddenly decided to make themselves known on this journey.

I swallowed down the bile that suddenly rose in my throat and touched the circular blade to the center of my forehead as I’d been instructed. Going to one knee, I touched the blade to the ground at my feet. A bright bolt of light shot upward and stopped just above Norm’s head. Slowly it spun, widening in its circumference until it was four feet across. I stepped through and then looked back to Norm. He hesitated and then leapt at the last moment when the bright light was dimming and shrinking.

Which pretty much meant he tackled me to the ground, taking me out at the waist. I hit the hard rocks and instinctually softened them. They drew me down, Norm’s weight pressing me in even farther. “Get off!”

“Sorry, that was spooky, man,” he said as he pushed off me.

It was only then that I noticed the weather. The wind ripped around us, catching both my cloak and Norm’s long fur into a tangled mess in a matter of seconds. He looked down at his body once and then shook his head. “That’s going to take forever to comb out.”

The image of the Yeti combing out his long hair stuck in my head and I couldn’t help the sudden swift smile. I lost the humor, though, as I really took in what was happening. Rain slashed sideways, and the only reason we hadn’t been hit by it was because we’d stepped out between the two rocks I’d remembered from my previous visit here. But looking out from the small shelter, the world was a dark and violent place. The hurricane obviously hadn’t dissipated as the humans had hoped. I frowned against the blustering winds and took a step out from between the shelter of the two rocks. The storm caught me, shoving me back before I connected to the earth and sunk my feet down a few inches.

“Friend, I don’t like this weather!” Norm called to me over the wind. I glanced back at him.

“You got anything you can do about it?”

He frowned and shook his head. “No, this is too strong for me. I can do a little, and mostly with snow. This is way too much for me.”

Of course it was. I started off along the cliff edge, letting my connection to the earth guide me. There was something under the rocks that hummed to me. A call of like to like. I broke into a jog, feeling the connection grow stronger and stronger until it made my skin feel as though I was getting a light electrical shock running over me. But not in a painful way; more like I couldn’t shake the sensation, it was just there, irritating me. That was not Cassava, I was sure of it.

Okay, almost sure of it.

I bent one knee and went to the ground. I pressed both hands to the earth, as rain dripped down my face and the wind tore at my cloak. The earth could not fight those elements, but it held steady through their battering. Norm crouched beside me, hunched down small enough that he might have gone unnoticed if not for his brilliant white coat. “What you doing?”

“Listening,” I said.

That he heard me over the storm raging around us was something. He flicked his tongue over his single sharp tooth. “What are you listening for?”

He roared the words, and I knew I would not have heard them otherwise. I shook my head, not sure I could explain the Ender ability I was employing. One that allowed me to find those I’d been sent after. The thing was, despite the humming energy, I wasn’t picking up on any other Terralings. If Cassava was here, and close enough to be causing the storm, I should have been able to pick up on her energy.
Should have been
. For all I knew, she’d learned a way to hide her signature from Enders who might search her out.

“Damn it,” I snapped and pulled my hands from the earth. A particularly sharp gust of wind swept across my body, sending me flying, knocking the breath out of me as I slammed into a large boulder, my side taking the brunt of the hit. I gripped the stone and looked out over the cliff edge and into the ocean.

The heart of the storm approached, and it was one big bad bitch; but worse was what I could see within it. This was not going to go well, no matter how it ended. “Norm, to me!”

The Yeti leapt in my direction and the wind caught him up, flinging him over my head. He yelped and then was silent. I looked over at him to see him clutching the ground about thirty feet away from me. Good enough for now.

“Stay there!”

“You got it!” He ducked his head, and I think he closed his eyes. But I couldn’t be sure. Not that it mattered. I had more trouble than I wanted, and the last thing I was worried about was Norm burying his head in the sand.

I turned back and looked into the heart of the storm again. Within it floated two figures. One that hovered high, within the wind tunnel, and one that rode low in the waves.

Elementals.

As an Ender, it was my calling to stop wayward elementals, even if they weren’t Terraling. It was part of my vow to protect our world from those who would cause it harm.