Empire of Sand

The tap house was teeming with drunk sailors. None of them appeared to be with the Emperor’s fleet; all of them looked like outsiders; either traders or slavers or both. I remembered what Mayven told me about pirates—they kidnapped elementals like us and sold us to high- paying slavers or landowners on other continents. The empire relied on their trade as much as it did anyone else’s, but would it turn a blind eye to kidnapping and enslavement of its own people?

I had a sinking feeling I knew the answer to my own question.

“Look,” William hissed.

Stretching up on my toes, I peered through the cracked glass window pane and into the packed interior of the tap house. A pair of bearded men played the piano, flanked by two women, scarcely clothed. At the bar, a weary-looking tender served ale, and tables were crowded with poker players and raucous drunkards. I spotted a thin figure hovering in the background, just behind the piano- playing duo. Her limp brown hair had been cut with a dull blade, and her face was pale and sunken. Her tunic was in tatters, her arms and legs bound with heavy rope.

“Do you recognize her?” I asked.

William nodded.

“That’s Elise. She’s a water worker.”

Elise glanced warily around the room, plotting her own escape. A large man leaned against the cabin wall to her right, picking his teeth with a small hunting knife. The tender glanced at her often, clearly uneasy with harboring hostages, but helpless to do anything about it.

“I don’t understand. She could drown them all,” I whispered. “Why doesn’t she?”

“Because of her,” he whispered.

Following his gaze, I spotted a second female hovering on the opposite end of the tap house, also guarded and bound. This girl looked to be a couple years younger than the first, her blonde hair long and falling in waves past her elbows.

“Who is she?”

“That’s Gwen, her best friend. They traveled together. Gwen is a polymorphic.”

“This is absurd. Why don’t they do something?!”

“Sometimes we must surrender ourselves for those we love,” he whispered.

“Do you think they threatened them?”

“I’m certain of it.”

“Well, I can’t watch this any longer,” I told him, dusting the cobwebs from my tunic. “Are you coming?’

“Coming? Where?”

“To assist our elemental friends, of course, you dolt!”

Before William could object, I burst through the doors of the taphouse, and every eye fell upon me.

“Good evening, gentleman,” I began.

The taphouse was utterly silent. The pianists ceased their melody and the hostages regarded me silently from their guarded places near the walls. The tender, expecting trouble, eased away from the cracked bar top slowly, preparing to duck behind it. A large man with unruly red hair and an honest- to- goodness hook for a hand stood up from his table closest to the door and growled.

“I think you’ve got the wrong spot, love,” he crooned. His accent was heavy and foreign, and his face scarred.

“I think I’ve got the correct place,” I told him reasonably. “I’ve come to collect the elementals,” I said, pointing at the two females. Their eyes widened and they stirred, and their guards grasped them by the shoulders and shoved them back down to their knees.

Three more hulking men had risen from their chairs, ale mugs still in hand, and the others stirred in their seats, anticipating a brawl. I glanced behind me, disappointed to find that William had not followed me inside. I supposed I couldn’t fault him; what I was doing was rather foolish, but my conscience wouldn’t allow me to leave the girls behind. Nevertheless, I hadn’t expected William to be a coward.

“What do you intend to do about it, little lass?”

I heaved a long-suffering sigh and flicked my wrist, sending a powerful wave of sand against the building. The noise of the impact rattled the windows and shook dust from the ceiling, showering the drunken patrons.

“An elemental,” the hulk growled, revealing a row of stained, crooked front teeth. Now others began to creep toward me, trapping me in a semi-circle of heathens. I knew if I ran now, I could make it out the door and into the city in time. I wasn’t sure the Emperor’s guard would protect me, but it was more promising than remaining here, outnumbered and surrounded. A quick glance at the cowering girls reminded me why I couldn’t leave, and I stood my ground, preparing my assault.

“Sir, I’d advise you to leave while you’re able,” I called to the tender. He nodded and scrambled past the burly men, climbing out an open window and disappearing into the night.

“I’ll ask once again, sir. Release the girls or you’ll meet with my displeasure.

My stomach was tied in knots and my heart raced. What was I thinking!? I hoped William had run into the city to raise the alarm, but the coward had likely hidden himself, instead.

The men laughed as if I’d told them a joke.

“I’m not very good with figures, but by my count, you are surrounded, lady. I’ll give you points for your bravery, but I’m afraid you’ve picked a battle with the wrong men.”

The man to my left charged, and I dodged, grabbing a glass mug from a nearby table and smashing it across his head. He stumbled and fell, clutching his bleeding skull, and another man leapt over him, arms extended toward me. I wished I was a water worker; there was little sand nearby, just docks and water. The man plowed into me, pinning me to the wall with a painful thud, and my skull felt like it had split in two. A roaring sound filled my head, and I blinked hard to correct my blurry vision. The roaring continued, and I realized belatedly it was the sound of ocean water pulled by one of the water- working hostages.

The girl with the long hair stood over her captor, who lay in a heap on the floor. Her eyes were narrowed as she concentrated on something unseen outside, and the water crashed against the taphouse, busting out one of the windows and flooding its interior. A few of the pirates scattered and shoved past us out the door, making their escape. The red-haired beast charged me, gripping me by my hair and pulling. He called me a name in another language, and I fought against him, reaching out with my abilities to draw the sand. I could feel it sifting toward me, trickling from the inlands, and I sent another wave of it exploding toward the building, shattering a second window. The taphouse shook, causing one of the beams to cave in. The beam cracked and splintered as it buckled under the pressure of the sand, knocking one of the men on the head. He crumpled like a dying horse.

The older girl screamed and swept the water around the ankles of her captor, pulling him into it like a whirlpool. The water dragged him under, the force of it overpowering his strong body and drowning him. The red-haired man hit me once, twice across the face. He cocked back his fist for another blow, and I winced, preparing for impact. The man gave a startled cry and crumpled to my left, unconscious. William stood over him, his eyes wide and filled with madness. I cried with relief as he hauled me to my feet, and I stumbled on wobbling legs as I gained my equilibrium. William swept me up into his arms, cradling me like a babe, and darted through the taphouse with impossible speed.

He must have hit me harder than I thought as I watched the room pass us by in a confusing blur of color. William sat me in a chair while he bent to untie the youngest girl’s binds, freeing her from the rope around her wrist and ankles. She ran to the other girl, untying her with record speed, and William swept me up in his arms again, darting out the door and up the docks with dizzying speed.

The girls followed behind us hand in hand as the taphouse buckled and shifted. The ocean water continued to flow in, destroying the building from the inside out. I watched as it sank like a boat beneath the waves, swallowed up in the dark water. The girls stopped to watch it, and the oldest wrapped her arm around the younger one, whispering something in her ear.

William and I waited for them at the head of the dock. The girls looked back at us and nodded before diving into the ocean and disappearing within its depths.

“We’d better get you back,” William whispered.

I peered up at him from my place in his arms. He was covered in glistening water drops, his breathing heavy and uneven. I protested and tried to disentangle myself, but he insisted on carrying me off the docks and farther inland. I could feel his heart pounding, nearly matching the tempo of my own. I’d never felt this close to anyone, and the feeling was comforting. I’d thought he’d abandoned me, but William had staged a surprise attack, and it had worked.

“You’re incredibly fast,” I said.

“Yes.”

“You lied to me,” I said as we slowed. “You told me you had no power.”

“I told you I was quick.”

“You’re more than quick,” I argued. “I’ve never seen another human move as quickly as you did.”

William shrugged.

“I have my reasons,” he said.

I considered arguing with him further, but I settled into his warm hold and held my ear to his chest, allowing the sound of his heartbeat to lull me to sleep.