The Order of the Elements 01 - Breaking Point (58 page)

I’m sorry for what I said a few days ago. I never meant to hurt you.

I know. I’m so sorry I yelled at you. You were just trying to help, and I think you were right. I couldn’t bear to hope that you were right, then. Now I can’t bear to think that I might never get back to test your theory.

The corners of Lucy’s lips turned up and then back down. He still loves you. I know that much. If something happens, at least you know that. I understand your reason for yelling, and you never needed to apologize, but thank you anyway, and thank you for the advice.

Anytime,
Phoebe replied and exited Lucy’s mind. She tried not to think that she was also making last minute apologies. To be making amends at a time like this sent a bad omen. It was like a premonition that was colored with nothing but uncertainty. Had they come all this way just to die?

“One mile,” Jared said.

“Is there anyone with her?” Hector asked, again as part of the act.

If it turned out no one really was there, they could feel stupid later.

Jared cocked his head to the side as he pretended to concentrate. “No, she’s alone.”

“Excellent.” Evan muttered his line with practiced ease.

Hector glanced back at Phoebe with an accusatory look. The hours that had passed had been frustratingly dull. So what if she had time to come up with a scripted conversation? She figured it was better than having somebody slip up. In her mind, he should have been thanking her.

“Do you know where the cave entrance is?” Cynthia prompted.

Jared nodded. “On the west side of that mountain, about two hundred feet up. Shouldn’t be too difficult to get to.”

The mountain he indicated was directly in front of them and, just like all the other mountains, made of nothing but rock. Hector made an impatient noise in that back of his throat as Phoebe’s play continued on but turned to lead them to the west side of the mountain anyway. She tried not to laugh. They weren’t even to the second act yet.

“Should we all go in the cave, or do you think some of us should wait outside? Just in case,” Evan asked. He was probably the calmest out of any of them. A bomb could go off right by his head, and he would probably laugh.

“I think we should all go in. We’ll be stronger together, not that I’m expecting anything to happen,” Phoebe said.

Hector’s jaw clenched. Phoebe was pretty sure the long hours of no sleep, no food, and unending flying or walking were starting to get to her. She was a little overly elated and found Hector extremely funny.

“Do you think it’ll be much trouble to get the prophecy?” Cynthia asked as they reached the base of the mountain and found a path that led up to the cave entrance.

“I don’t know. Maybe we won’t get it at all,” Jared replied.

The steep path up the mountain wasn’t hard to navigate. The rock had worn down into a nearly level and easy to manage path. Phoebe couldn’t imagine being stuck in a cave for two hundred years. She couldn’t even wrap her head around being alive for that long. As they neared the cave entrance, she reached her mind out to Irena again. The older woman could hear them coming, and her heart overflowed with happiness.

The seven of them reached the cave entrance and halted for a minute. Despite their careful planning and their knowledge of what was going to happen, they still feared what was coming. All Phoebe’s practiced lines vanished at the mouth of the cave.

“Faith,” a quiet voice whispered in her ear. The same voice from earlier was back.

Did she have any hope? Did she still have any faith? She couldn’t honestly say that she did, but she had to go on with or without it.

“Jared,” Cynthia whispered.

He turned to look at her. “Yeah?”

“I’m sorry. I never meant to be so cruel to you.” This was not part of Phoebe’s script, but could she deny them?

Cynthia’s stance was strong and composed, but her eyes glistened with unshed tears. Jared stepped around Phoebe and squeezed Cynthia’s hand. “I know, me either. I’m so sorry.”

Cynthia nodded, and they released their hands. Phoebe couldn’t help the fear that settled into her stomach as she looked at everyone. Would she lose one of them? Evan, too brave for his own good, or Hector, her best friend? Lucy, her kind and sweet friend from the moment she met her, or Ethan, her friend and last connection to a world she had? Cynthia, bold and confident, or Jared, careful and calculating? Would she lose Dorian by simply never making it back to him? It was too late to turn back now.

Hector turned and led them into the cave. It was dark in the passageway, but she could see torch light ahead where the cave opened up into the main chamber. She could also see a flat slab of rock at the far end of the cave with a wasted figure chained to it.

They entered the main chamber of the cave, which opened up considerably. The ceiling was at least three hundred feet above them, and the floor was a little over a hundred yards long and fifty yards wide. Torches were lit in ancient-looking sconces every few feet, and crude chandeliers made of twisted metal hung from the ceiling.

Their footsteps echoed in the cave as they came closer to what appeared to be the sleeping figure of Irena. Hector held everyone back as Ethan and Phoebe stepped forward to talk to her. Phoebe didn’t want to wake her, and it wasn’t necessary. The second she sat on the large stone slab, Irina’s eyes snapped open, and she turned her crystal clear blue eyes on Ethan and Phoebe.

Irena was thin and pale with wispy, white locks of hair. Her skin hung around her frame, showing where her muscles had deteriorated from lack of use. Deep scars and unhealed wounds covered every inch of her skin, undoubtedly from many years’ worth of torture. She shivered under ragged remnants of clothing. Even under all that, Phoebe could tell that she had once been pretty. She was obviously still alive, but only just.

“You made it.” Her voice was strong and clear.

Ethan didn’t say anything.

“Yes,” Phoebe replied. What else was she supposed to say?

Irina took a labored breath. “You have come here for the prophecy.”

It wasn’t a question, and this time, Ethan responded. “Yes.”

Phoebe could hear Hector and Evan pacing.

“I am going to give you that and more.”

The pacing stopped, and everyone closed in around them in a matter of seconds. “What do you mean?” Phoebe asked. What else could Irina possibly have to give them?

“I will show you. I need the two of you to take my hand.”

Phoebe looked down at the withered hand. It looked so breakable, but she took it softly as Ethan placed his hand on top of hers. “This will not take long, but I must tell you that what you are about to receive will burden you as much as it will help you. Knowledge is a great power and weapon, but it is also a terrible burden, as you will find out soon enough. I am splitting this gift in the hope that it will make the burden easier to bear.”

“Please, let us take you back. We can help you, heal you.” Ethan was at a loss for what to do.

Irena sighed agedly. “All in time, young one, all in time. I have waited a long time for this. It is good to still see hope. Love will save you all. I know, because I have seen it.”

Phoebe suddenly realized why this sounded wrong. Irena was saying goodbye. Before Phoebe could even try to stop whatever it was the woman was going to do, she grabbed Phoebe and Ethan’s hands with surprising strength and started muttering under her breath. White light shone around her body and then pulled into the center of her thorax and spread down her arm and into Ethan and Phoebe.

39. Caught

Image upon image exploded into Phoebe’s mind as Irena grasped her hand. Some were pleasant, but most painful. A field of flowers, fires burning, people screaming, children playing, Shamarian killing, and then it ended. Phoebe opened her eyes, which she hadn’t realized had been squeezed shut, to see a shimmering silver cloud hanging over the prophet’s body, and then it vanished and her hand went limp. Phoebe took several deep breaths when her lungs protested from lack of oxygen, but Irena’s chest didn’t move again. She was dead.

“Power Shifting?” Hector asked, sounding a little confused.

“What?” Phoebe asked; her head was spinning.

Hector shook his head like he couldn’t believe something. “I’ve heard of it once, but it’s very rare and causes instant death. Ethan was right; we could have helped her. Why did she do that?”

“What’s Power Shifting?” Ethan asked.

“It’s where someone gives up their power to someone else,” Hector explained, “but like I said, the consequence of that is death. I don’t understand…”

Phoebe broke in. “She didn’t want to be saved. She’s suffered enough for one lifetime. She wanted to die.”

“I can understand that,” Ethan said as he surveyed Irena’s lifeless body.

“Yes,” Hector agreed. “But apparently her power needed to be passed on. You have the prophecy, right?”

Phoebe quickly searched her memory and found it with ease. The rest of the prophecy had flitted into the Void as Irena was being carried to this desolate cave. Phoebe saw her writing the prophecy down. It seemed Irena had passed down her memories to Phoebe. Or at least some of them; there were blank spots.

“No!” Ethan shouted. “I mean, I can see her sometimes doing stuff and suffering.” Ethan winced. “But I can’t see the prophecy!”

Phoebe stood quietly, knowing she had the information they needed, but with a quick glance at Hector, she knew letting on about it was a really bad idea. It was too late to be careless now; they were in the lion’s den and they had to find a way out alive. If those laying a trap knew she had the prophecy, their chances of getting out would go down dramatically.

“She died too soon, before it could all get passed along,” Phoebe said lifelessly, leading everyone else to believe, even Ethan, that they really didn’t have the information they had risked their lives to come there to get.

Suddenly a loud bang sounded as figures erupted all around them. Ethan and Phoebe jumped up at the same time, bouncing into one another, causing them both to stumble. Dark creatures—metallic figures—were closing in, and then something grabbed Phoebe from behind. She heard her friends yell and knew that they had also been caught. Heavy chains clamped around her wrists before she could even think, and she was dragged into the middle of the room, a few feet in front of the others, and forced to her knees. Phoebe struggled against her captor as she tried desperately to use her powers, but they just wouldn’t come.

“I wouldn’t bother if I were you.”

A man had turned around from in front of the creatures gathered before her. Phoebe recognized many of them from descriptions in books she had read even before coming to this world, and others resembled the creatures she had learned about during her time at the Haven. The metallic-looking soldiers were also there.

The man smiled down at her maliciously He had a deep scar down the side of his face, and his eyes were black pits of hatred. His hair was surprisingly clean looking, although just as black as his eyes. He walked with a slight limp and had many weapons strapped around his waist and over his shoulder. He had thick shoulders and appeared to be very muscular. Phoebe was sure that even if she got the opportunity to fight with him, he would have the upper hand in strength. He walked around her as he surveyed her with contempt. She already knew who he was; Dorian’s memories had been colored with this face.

“You see those chains are not just binding your hands, but your magic and companions as well. Cloaking is such a useful talent. You all walked right in here, sure that you were safe.”

Phoebe had been expecting something of this very nature to happen, but she hadn’t been counting on the chains, and apparently, neither had Hector or he would have said something. Phoebe tried again to use her powers, but they wouldn’t come. At the same time, she heard a familiar buzzing in her head. Her Truth Seeking talent was still working.

The childlike whispering was back in her ear. “You can do it. Not all power requires magic. You know what you have to do. Do it for them; do it for Dorian. Go home to him.”

Phoebe understood. She knew how to win this battle, for all of them.

“Now, let’s get down to business, shall we? I am Zuriel, and this is only a small portion of my army, so even if you were to somehow escape your chains, you would die anyway. So, I get what I want, and I let you die quickly.” Zuriel smirked.

Phoebe used Zuriel’s pause while he waited for her answer to assess her own emotions. They were carefully controlled and nothing was too strong. She was angry about being caught, but the anger was at bay. She was afraid for her safety and the safety of her friends, but she was able to keep fear at a minimum as she tried to think of a way out.
Great. The one time I need my emotions to be widely erratic, and they decide to be tame.

“I’ll take that as an agreement. Now, we have been waiting a very long time for that prophecy, and I know that you have the information we need. So, you tell me what it is, and then we leave.”

Phoebe was thinking quickly. She had to buy herself more time. “And suppose I lie?”

It probably wasn’t the best idea she had, but baiting him would definitely either cause him to become as angry as she needed him to be or make him take out his anger on her, which would make her angry.

“You won’t,” he said simply.

“How do you know?” Phoebe asked as she concentrated on her friends behind her. They had to know what was going on so they didn’t do something stupid.

“Because I can tell when someone is lying. It’s one of my talents,” Zuriel said triumphantly.

Phoebe could already feel her sarcastic side trying to break free, but she had to keep it in check just a little longer. She had to warn them first.

Listen to me!
she thought as she concentrated on their minds. She could only get Evan, Jared, and Cynthia’s attention. Ethan and Lucy were as silent and impenetrable as ever, and Hector required too much effort. She had to conserve what strength and energy she had left.

Their thoughts faded as they turned their attention to Phoebe’s voice. I need you all to get very, very angry. I haven’t had my elixir, and this is the only thing that might get us out of here! This is the only power we have left to use.