The Soothing Scent Of Earth (Elemental Awakening, Book 2) (36 page)

"What about Quintessence?" I asked, just because it was the logical thing to say.

"One, two, three, four. The fifth makes it so much more."

I lifted my eyes to look at Theo, he seemed contemplative. A hand to his chin, rubbing the stubble there, while he eyed the old man with curiosity.

"
Aether
is all five
Stoicheio
, the fifth completing the transformation," Theo mused. I nodded, wanting him to dissect the shaman's words and make sense of it, as I surely couldn't. "Something has happened recently to make
Aether
needed. Something no longer balanced. But what?"

"Balance, harmony, peace, survival," Hip surprised us by saying, joining in on the brainstorming session to try to decipher his grandfather's seemingly inane riddles. "What have they got in common?"

"I don't know about 'common'," Theo replied, accepting Hip's inclusion in our conversation easily. "But all four branches of
Ekmetalleftis
concern themselves with those ideals.
Aeras
controls the weather..."

"Which we must keep in balance," Hip offered eagerly.

Theo nodded. "
Nero
controls the oceans, which work in harmony with nature to provide life."

"
Gi
grounds us," Hip said, "without which the planet is not at peace."

"That leaves Fire," Theo said, his eyes sweeping across the space to meet mine. "
Pyrkagia
fight with passion."

"Without which we can't hope to survive," Hip concluded.

They seemed inordinately pleased with themselves, but I was still a little lost. That reasoning could be attributed to almost anything, couldn't it?

"But what does that all mean?" I asked, frustration making my tone demanding.

"If all four
Stoicheio
are performing as they should," Hip jumped to explain, "then balance, harmony, peace, and survival are foregone conclusions. If
Aether
is needed, then they're obviously not performing
as they should
."

"I'm here because you guys couldn't maintain your positions in the grand scheme of things?" I asked, dubiously.

Theo and Hip shrugged simultaneously, it would have been humorous if things hadn't taken a turn for the bleak.

"
Aetheros
created us to maintain unity throughout the world," Theo explained. "Humans were becoming unstable, the environment suffering because of it. Our roles were to control the Elements should the humans push them out of balance."

"And have they?" I asked, fascinated despite the consequences of this being true. Despite what it meant to me and the enormity of it.

"The Amazon Rainforest is being culled mercilessly," Hip offered.

"Global warming is melting the polar ice-caps," Theo added.

"Bush fires blaze out of control in the Australian Outback," Hip threw in.

"Man-made CFCs are depleting the ozone layer," Theo finished.

Oh. It made a sick kind of sense. But how the hell did I
balance
it all out? Bring about
harmony
and
peace
? Help the world to
survive
? How?

I shook my head in utter bewilderment. Why me?

"Where do I even start?" I muttered, under my breath.

Hip and Theo turned to look at each other, a communication in silent words being shared. I'm not sure what their looks said, but whatever it was made sense to them.

"If this is because of
that
, it's taken centuries to reach a cataclysmic level," Hip reasoned, but I was lost.

"I agree," Theo countered. "But what else could it be?"

Hip shook his head from side to side, but didn't offer a verbal answer.

"What?" I asked, wanting to understand the conclusion they'd obviously reached.

But neither got to answer, because the shaman suddenly spoke up. And it wasn't to offer any blinding clarity. Of course not.

"Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Release the lock."

Unlike the previous times he'd spoken this evening, his eyes flashed a brilliant white, reaching out across the expanse of the room, touching every single person. Gasps, and the sudden screeching of chairs being pushed back, resounded out through the space. Hip stood up suddenly, glanced towards the King, then back at his grandfather.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Tick, tock. Tick, tock," was all the old man said, before he blinked out of sight on a boom of thunder. Electricity arced across the table from where he'd previously been sitting, striking me point blank in the chest.

A scream tore from my lips, as Theo rushed to catch me, my body bending backwards and then beginning to topple off the side of the chair.

"What's going on?" he demanded, his voice laden with unsaid threats. "Why did he attack Casey?"

"He didn't attack her," Hip argued. "He released her
Stoicheio
." He had? "If you just hold still, I'll release yours."

Why? Why now? They weren't meant to return our Elements to us until tomorrow, once we'd been escorted off
Aeras
land.

Theo obviously agreed.

"What's happened?" he asked, sounding more in control of his emotions now, no longer a growling beast about to defend his mate.

"Someone has breached our outer defences," Hip replied, voice strained. Another blindingly bright white light and sizzle of electricity followed, and then Theo jolted against me, where I lay in his arms.

"Fuck," he breathed out, clearly feeling the release of his
Stoicheio
as keenly as I had done. "You bastards don't hold back," he muttered. Hip didn't reply, but from what I could see from my semi-reclined position, the room was in motion and he wanted to be as well.

Organised chaos ensued, barely controlled by the shouted directives of the
Aeras Rigas
. Theo helped me to sit upright, brushing my hair out of my eyes. I'm sure he wanted to question if I was OK, but we had more pressing matters of concern.

"Who's attacking?" he asked, bringing us up to our feet beside Hip and his Guards.

"I've no idea, but we haven't had a breach for centuries." Our
Aeras
guide glanced at us both, purposefully. "My guess, whoever it is, is here because of you."

Ah, freaking hell. Alchemists or
Gi
?

"Well," Theo replied, gold glinting in his eyes. "Best we welcome them, then."

"I was so hoping you'd say that," Hip replied, and led the charge out of the room.

I stumbled twice, unable to get my feet beneath me, and then had my balance further compounded by the restriction of the very tight skirt. Theo swore softly the third time he had to right my near fall, not caring now about touching me and showing concern; the
Aeras
were too busy running for shelter, or taking up arms, to notice our 'dependence' on each other.

Muttering something in Greek under his breath, Theo gripped the hem of my dress and yanked hard. A ripping sound reached my ears above the cacophony of noise in the room, and I watched stunned as the expensive material was torn apart. Leaving me in a thigh length skirt. Despite the chaos and uncertainty of what lay ahead, Theo's eyes blazed gold at the sight of my bare legs, as he lifted his face to mine. He offered a smirk and a wink, and then gripped my hand and hauled me after the still retreating Hip and his Guards.

Pandemonium reigned out in the corridors, civilian
Aeras
being herded by those of higher rank, shepherding them to the safest location in their village. We forced our way through the sea of people; elbows poking into our ribs, high heeled shoes digging into our feet. I felt like I was about to be trampled on, but Theo maintained a solid grip on my arm, ensuring I didn't slip under the tide of panicking people.

Finally we came out through the front doors of the building we'd been in, the first time I'd seen Machu Picchu up close, and not through the sheen of a glass window. The sky had darkened further, and the strategic lighting I'd seen before was now gone. Dark shadows lurked in corners, lights from various windows were all methodically being snuffed out. The
Aeras
were going into stealth mode, hiding their village from sight.

But there was more going on than a blackout. Super chilled air wrapped around my bare shoulders, making my body shiver uncontrollably within seconds of escaping the indoor crowd. My teeth started chattering not long after, and even with my fingers held by Theo's hand, numbness was creeping into the tips. I swear frost had started to coat my eyelashes, I dashed the moisture away and my hand came back wet.

"Wh..what's going on?" I stuttered in a whisper.

"We're lowering the Mesosphere," Hip explained, not looking any worse for wear. "Concealing the buildings in a higher layer of the atmosphere."

"But if it's
Athanatos
attacking, won't they see through the ruse?" Theo asked.

"We still don't know if it's
Ekmetalleftis
or Alchemists. We're taking what precautions we can to protect our people."

Theo nodded. I just shook with uncontrolled shivers.

"Come on then," Hip urged, eyeing my chilled state and interrupting Theo's attempts to get circulation back into my extremities.

We followed the
Aeras
, who led the charge through the mountain village, over the cobbled streets, weaving in and out of the Inca ruins. "The outer defences are some distance away, allowing us time to prepare for attack," Hip went on to explain in a loud whisper over his shoulder, as we squeezed between buildings that were layered in frost, icicles forming along their roof-lines.

We came to rest, some time later, at the base of a series of worn stone steps, leading up and around the side of a tall tower. I was guessing it must have been a watch tower, but once we made it up the many treads there were no Guards, other than those still with us, present.

"This is as far out as our observation platforms go," Hip whispered, creeping toward the edge of the roof to peer over the raised side. "The
Rigas
has commanded we keep our defences close to the village, this tower's contingency of Guards have already been instructed to fall back."

"So why are we here?" I asked, looking around at the very open space. For a Guard tower it was extremely exposed.

Hip turned to look at me, his lips pursed in a thin line, brow furrowed. "You're the bait," he announced.

Theo swore. "And you'll gladly hand us over to save yourselves," he spat.

Hip didn't even blink in the face of all that was Theo right then; a pissed off, powerful Prince of
Pyrkagia
. "What would you have us do?" he said evenly.

"Work with us to fight whoever is approaching," Theo ground out.

"We'll fight to defend what is ours, but we won't take unnecessary risks. Not if an alternative is available."

"What about all of that back there?" Theo almost shouted, waving a hand in the direction of the banquet's building. "Balancing out the Elements.
Aether's
role in securing peace and harmony for all."

Hip flicked crystalline eyes to me, his face was otherwise blank.

"She doesn't command Air," he pointed out. "Until she does, she'll be considered an enemy of
Aeras
."

Oh, hell. That pretty much summed up my life in a nutshell, didn't it? And even those
Stoicheio
I did command, didn't want a bar of me.

I walked to the edge of the rooftop and gazed down the mountainside towards where anyone approaching would come from. I couldn't see movement to indicate our attackers, nor could I feel any burgeoning
Gi
power flowing up the steep slope. Whoever was on their way to attack the
Aeras
village hadn't arrived in Machu Picchu yet.

My eyes scanned the buildings beneath us. There were only a handful this far away from the
Rigas' Pyrgos
. And I was sure all the inhabitants had been hauled out of their homes and taken further back into the safety of the town. We were it, on the front-line, facing off against an unknown enemy. Without any support from the
Aeras
.

"Why don't you just head on back up the hill," I suggested, feeling an inevitability that wasn't worth fighting. I kept my eyes on the access point to their village, while I waited for Hip's reply.

"I've been instructed to watch what you do," he said, from a short distance over my shoulder.

"Make sure we leave with whoever is coming, you mean," I corrected.

I could almost feel his shrug from here.