The Five Elements (34 page)

The force holding Aaron lifted. As if he'd never stopped, he ran at the sorcerer. The moment he was close enough, he stabbed the quills into him. Energy exploded all around the wizard, knocking Aaron and Ensel Rhe away, but the quills held fast. The wizard howled in pain, his form instantly growing so brilliant Aaron had to look away.

Aaron found Ensel Rhe. The two nearly fell into each other's grasp, leaning on one another for support.

"We have to get out of here," Aaron said.

They'd crossed half the lab when Serena came running through the entry. She took one look at her master and his predicament and, without a word, ran to the table where the Element of Water lay. Cradling the urn beneath one arm, she joined Aaron and Ensel Rhe. Together, they started towards the exit. Behind them, the air sizzled with energy as Ansanom howled in pain.

They threw themselves from the chamber, stumbled down the passage, and hobbled up the flight of stairs. The dining room was a blur as they made their way to the manor's front door. All three piled out into the cool night air. They made it a dozen paces when Aaron and Ensel Rhe stumbled together and toppled to the ground. Serena, who currently possessed more vitality than the two of them combined, encouraged them to rise.

"We cannot go any further," Ensel Rhe said, his breathing labored. He pointed, a half-hearted gesture. "Not until we deal with them."

Aaron and Serena followed the line of Ensel Rhe's finger. From the dark, his broad-bladed death dealer held in one hand, emerged Krosus. Behind him came his hounds.

Ensel Rhe tried to stand, but he faltered and fell to the ground. Aaron did likewise. Only Serena, with the Element of Water grasped in both hands, remained standing to face the pack.

Behind them, Wildemoore Manor shuddered as noise from the overloading extraction engine swept over them. It rose to a fevered pitch, drowning out everything. The manor trembled again as the earth shook. A boom sounded from below them, the shock of it nearly tossing them into the air. It was enough to knock Serena from her feet. She did not rise, but instead huddled alongside the others. In the next instant, Wildemoore Manor, home of the great wizard Ansanom, exploded in a shower of rock, timber, and earth.

T
HE
GRIFFIN'S
ENGINE SPEWED SMOKE and heat through the deck's exhaust pipes as the airship sailed up and away from Cauldron Mountain. Once the fires of Anaktoa were a pinprick in the distance behind them, the
Griffin
began a steep ascent, rising higher and higher until they approached the very underside of the clouds. An unspoken signal must have been conveyed, for crewmen started breaking out an assortment of gear: heavy wool jackets, fur-lined boots and gloves, and, most striking of all, masks that covered the face and that had tubes extending from a mouthpiece to small, belt-mounted tanks that Shanna learned were full of air. Right away, as the
Griffin
ascended through the lowermost clouds, she recognized their necessity, for gradually, as if someone were stealing her very breath, it became more and more difficult to breathe. She took deep breaths to compensate, but it did no good. Her head swam and she felt faint.

"The air is thinner here," Erlek said from next to her in a dry, monotone voice.

Shanna started. She'd neither seen nor heard his approach. Though she loathed his presence, the suddenness of his appearance at least forced her to shake off the slow grip of panic brought about by the thinning air.

"We will remain this high only as long as it takes to secure the next Element." From the ship's foredeck, he probed the way ahead as if he could see through the mistiness of the clouds. "Two of them are ours now. Soon, we shall have the third."

Shanna didn't say anything right away. At first, she hoped the man would just go away. She hated the way he always stood so close. She leaned away, taking a small step from him in the process. The movement jostled the satchel that still hung at her side. The bowl that was the Element of Earth remained within. It was joined by a small obsidian box where rested the Element of Fire. The obsidian box was necessary, Erlek had said, to contain the Element lest it set the airship ablaze. Shanna thought about excusing herself and returning to her cabin, but her curiosity got the best of her. "The third. But what about the fourth?"

"The fourth has already been retrieved," Erlek said. "I only need meet with its caretaker to exchange for it."

A shiver went through the man. Shanna saw his breath as visible puffs. It was cold, she realized, seeing many of the airmen buttoning tight their wool jackets. Strange she hadn't noticed anything herself. But for the thinning air, she felt perfectly fine.

Shanna was just about to probe for more information when the mist parted and suddenly the
Griffin
was above the clouds. Her question died on her lips as she was overwhelmed by a night sky she had hereto only imagined. Millions of pinpricks blazed across the dark veil, twinkling, signaling, almost calling to her. They were so close, too, as if she might reach out and grab hold of them if only the
Griffin
would climb just a little higher. Shanna relished the sight for as long as she could, or at least until she realized that Erlek still stood close. It was with some disappointment that she returned her attention to their discussion.

"What about the third then?" she asked.

While Shanna had been delighting in the night sky, the
Griffin
had leveled off, the rush of her engine diminished, so that she now just skimmed the tops of the clouds.

"The Element of Air lies ahead. Those entrusted with hiding the Four Elements thought they were clever, hiding each of the artifacts deep within the elemental sphere to which it belonged. I learned that Earth was deep underground. Water, immersed beneath the sea in a sunken city. Fire, in the bowels of a volcano. And Air. Killius Roe was the elementalist entrusted with the Element of Air. Much like ourselves, he soared aloft, searching for a place to secret away his charge. What he found, hidden amongst the clouds, was Valacia. Its name means 'Palace of the Skies'."

A palace, hidden amongst the clouds? A week ago, Shanna might not have believed it. Now, she accepted it without question.

"Valacia is an elusive place to find. Once, I knew its location. But that was before I had commissioned to have the
Griffin
built. The palace moved, carried along by the winds, so the knowledge of where it had been soon became useless. Valacia never remains in the same place for long, for, you see, it flows with the very air. Many years of collecting data and studying the patterns of the winds while onboard this very ship finally revealed its course to me. Now, if my calculations are correct—and, of course, they are—we follow in its wake."

Shanna felt the man’s stare on her.

"You did well with the Element of Fire. Perhaps my approach to your learning has been flawed. I release you from further lessons. Now, I must see to matters below."

Shanna stayed, only mildly surprised that Erlek seemed content to allow her to keep the two Elements in her possession. Perhaps Erlek let her keep them because there was nowhere for her to go as long as the airship remained aloft. Perhaps he simply knew that, now, he could not take them from her.

Shanna wanted to remain abovedeck, but she soon noticed she was the only nonessential person remaining. Most hatches leading below had been sealed already. She saw there was only one still visibly open, presumably for her. The airship's crew, with their heavy jackets, gloves, and masks looked alien to her now. Though their eyes were concealed behind circular oculars, still she felt them on her. There was little kindness in them. Suspicion, mistrust, perhaps fear. They knew their mission and what she'd been sent down into Cauldron Mountain to retrieve. But there was more to it than that. Engus Rul hadn't said a word to her since she'd taken control of the Element of Fire. He'd hardly looked at her, except to flash her a look of disappointment. Shanna knew what they all feared the most: that she was becoming another Erlek. She wished there was a way to reassure them she was not. But no one came near her unless some ship's task required it. At those times they saw to their duty, not looking her way or saying a word to her before they were off, leaving her alone once more. Even Tom seemed to want nothing to do with her now. Once she'd returned onboard Shanna had tried to exchange a glance with him, but he’d refused to return her acknowledgment.

Now, memory of it caused her to leave the thin air abovedeck for the pressurized areas below. She made her way straight to her room, sequestering herself there. It was several hours before anyone came to her door. Shanna knew it was Mirna by the soft knock. Resting in her hammock, Shanna did not respond to the woman's request for entry. The woman soon went away. Shanna immersed herself in the solitude, staring at the ceiling when lying on her back and the floor when on her stomach. Eventually, Mirna returned. This time, she entered, but so quietly Shanna never even heard the door open. It was only to leave a tray of food, though, and she soon left, closing the door behind her as quietly as she’d come. Shanna eyed the food, thinking she was hungry, but the sight of it only churned her belly in an unwholesome manner. She rolled over, closed her eyes, and must have dozed off, for the next time she looked about the first tray of food had been replaced by another. This time, Shanna did eat. She took the tray to the hammock, draped herself across it, and consumed the meal of lukewarm stew without relish or taste. When she was finished, she curled into the hammock, staring at the ceiling until sleep reclaimed her.

When next Shanna woke it was to find Mirna standing at her side, the woman's hand lightly shaking her awake. No words passed between them. Mirna's look told Shanna all she needed to know. They had arrived. Shanna rubbed the sleep from her eyes, then lowered herself from the hammock. She took a moment to wash from a basin Mirna had brought. Once finished, she gathered the Elements and, with Mirna a step behind her, the two made their way to the upper decks. Or at least as far as they were allowed before having to don the airmen's high altitude clothing. There was a jacket a tad long and insulated boots made for a cabin boy, but they fit Shanna well enough. Gloves and the mask also, the latter with straps adjusted to their smallest and a belt with two of the air tanks. Shanna was instructed to breathe normally. She found the mask restricted her vision as she stared through the slightly scratched, circular oculars and felt the jacket and boots overkill, for while the interior of the airship had gotten colder, she still experienced no discomfort. Except that by wearing them Shanna knew she'd stand out less. Right now, she very much wanted to blend in.

There was a suit for Mirna, but she politely excused herself, saying she wasn't to leave the ship and so would remain belowdeck. The hatch was opened just long enough for Shanna to go through alone.

The
Griffin
had come to a stop, or at least moved at a very slow cruising speed, keeping time but still some distance from a bank of clouds from which the palace of Valacia sprung. Right away, Shanna's notion of a great castle floating amidst the clouds was dispelled, for there were no walls, no turrets, no towers. There were instead pillars, arranged in rows that disappeared into the ever-shifting mist. In the distance, statues rose up singly and in pairs at regular intervals amongst the columns. Despite the meaning of the place's name, Valacia really wasn't a palace at all. More a temple, Shanna thought. A magnificent temple, set upon the clouds by sorcery of a kind Shanna imagined no longer existed and, according to Erlek, by a race gone extinct a millennium ago. Even in her most vivid dreams Shanna doubted she'd ever imagined such a place. Her eyes were locked on nothing else as the
Griffin
sailed closer. Gradually, the airship descended, until she was only a stone's throw from the first of the pillars. Then she slowed, matching the moving cloud's speed until the two were as one.

The expedition was the same as before: Erlek, with his sitheri guard, Engus Rul, carrying his covered axe, and Shanna. All but the snakemen wore high altitude clothing, though Engus Rul had chosen not to wear the wool jacket. Shanna doubted there was one broad enough for him, anyway. The sitheri showed no signs of discomfort, though it seemed to Shanna their movements were slower, their breathing more shallow.

Several mates secured and lowered a rope as before, though the distance they'd have to descend was nothing compared to when they'd hovered over Cauldron Mountain. While the group waited for them to finish, Erlek spoke, his voice muffled from behind his mask.

"Valacia is an ancient place, built in a forgotten age, by ones whom scholars knew little enough about even five hundred years ago. Empyreans, they were called. They were a gifted people, inventive, and, as you can well imagine, masters of flight. But they are gone now, their secrets lost.

"Killius Roe chose this place for a reason, for one does not simply walk into an Empyrean palace without paying a price. It is why, even on land, their temples, sanctuaries, and cities remain unmolested. The Empyreans may be gone, but something of them remains. It is a sort of magic which no one fully understands. Some call it a testament to the Empyreans' strength. Others call it what it is: a curse. Whatever it may be, it does not suffer trespassers—or thieves—lightly."

"But the Element…" Shanna began. Speaking through the mask, her voice sounded odd to her ears, as if she were underwater. "We're not stealing it. It doesn't belong here. It doesn't belong to the Empyreans." She wasn't sure how she knew this, but she did.

"That matters not. Killius left the Element of Air behind. Whatever curse guards this place also now guards the Element."

"So how are we going to deal with this… curse? Surely you know a way around it. Why else would we be here?"

"Of course." There was such smugness in his voice Shanna imagined he must be smiling.

With the rope declared ready, Erlek wasted no time, following the first of his sitheri over the side. The second snake-warrior went next, followed by Engus Rul, who stopped right before lowering himself to eye Shanna. "You should have burned him alive in the bowels of Anaktoa." They were the first words the dwarf had spoken to her since they'd returned. He left no opportunity for reply as he lowered himself down the rope.