Forgotten Elements

Alora

“The Empress of the Solar Eclipse Court is Empress Estella,” I said, rubbing my temples. A few weeks ago, Caspian had begun randomly quizzing me about the rulers and their names. He said there was no reason I shouldn’t be able to quickly name the ruling royals off the top of my head. If I had the time to write out their names and their courts, I could get them right, but this rapid-fire questioning was impossible. None of these rulers should be allowed to step down or die any time soon. I wasn’t ready to attempt learning any new names.

“Try again,” Caspian said as he gripped the back of the chair he stood behind, his chest bent over so he was closer to my level. He gave me one of those disapproving stares that I’d seen fathers give to their children. “And this time, you must also include which court Estella rules over.”

I tried holding back my sigh but failed as I glanced at the door for the umpteenth time. Several minutes ago, Ander had received a call from the others in the neighboring realm, and Starling followed him out of the room as he sought out privacy.

My curiosity and worry over what could be happening in the realm had my focus scattered, and as a result, I’d been getting questions wrong left and right. Several of the ones I had gotten wrong I had known and even answered them right before.

Caspian’s patience was clearly wearing thin, making my anxiety spike. My life was in his hands, literally. He was the leader of this court, the one in charge of my studies, and one of the four Mythics able to track where I was and decide whether I could leave this realm.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, rubbing my temples with a groan. “I cannot focus, not with everything going on.”

Understanding filled Caspian’s expression as his fingers tapped the back of the chair. “Your friends are resilient and can handle themselves.” He paused, his vibrant green eyes meeting mine. “I know you wanted to join them, but with elementals getting killed, having a necromancer there wouldn’t look good. The others are ready to blame you for every little mistake. We can’t give them anything to use against you.” His voice was patient as he held my stare, waiting until I nodded in resignation.

I understood—I may not have liked it—but I knew I was treading on thin ice at all times.

Before Caspian could say another word, Ander and Starling returned. My focus honed in on the tension holding their bodies. Ander’s face was impossible to read as per usual, but I was able to read a hint of worry in Starling’s expression.

“What’s happened?” I asked as I stood up.

“Ari was abducted,” Starling said with a sigh.

My heart felt like it stuttered for a moment as I struggled to comprehend her words.

“What do you mean she’s been abducted?” Caspian asked, crossing his arms as he pressed his lips together.

Ander and Starling shared a look that made me even more anxious, my legs going weak, and I ended up sitting again. “They’d split up, and she, Wyatt, and Reed somehow came across the summoner key. As soon as they found the key, the village they were visiting was attacked by gorgons. While Reed and Wyatt were dealing with them, the guardian was killed, and Ari and the key were taken.”

It was a lot of information to take in at once. I refused to think about how if there were creatures present, then there was a high chance a necromancer was around. It wasn’t surprising with how Kain was so desperate for those keys, but it did make me wonder how they got to the realm. The others had told me there was at least one traitor helping the necromancers and creatures. I wished I knew their names, but unfortunately, I kept away from the politics of my kind. The less time I spent around Kain and my parents, the better.

The possibility that a necromancer was in the realm next to me had my stomach twisting, and I felt like I might puke. I may have lived among them for twenty-nine years, but now that I was away from them, I never wanted to go back.

“Why would they take her?” I asked to distract myself from going down a rabbit hole that would only lead to panic.

I couldn’t understand how the keys and creatures fit into this. Were they connected or two separate events that coincidentally took place in the same realm at the same time?

Either way, I still couldn’t see the logic in her being taken. My urge to puke grew as I considered the possibility that Ari hadn’t been abducted but was dead. I didn’t like even considering it, but I just couldn’t make sense of their actions. This was no disrespect to Ari or her family, but it wasn’t like she was a royal, and she was taken as blackmail. Taking her made no logical sense from where I stood.

“I believe she got in their way when they went after the key,” Starling said as she took Ander’s hand in hers. She looked up at him, sharing another look before she sighed again and rubbed her forehead. “Then there’s the fact that no one can reach Parker. Wyatt said he thinks Parker and Harmony have left the realm but he has no idea where they went.”

The hits just kept on coming. “Is there anything else going on? I’d rather hear all the bad news at once.”

I felt so freaking useless, stuck in this realm, and worse, I was dragging Starling and Ander down with me. I hadn’t asked them to stay here with me; they insisted. They’d made it clear multiple times that it was their choice to stay, and they didn’t regret it, but I did, especially with this new knowledge.

“Is…are the others alright?” I asked hesitantly, my heart pounding in my chest at the thought of Reed facing any of my kind’s creatures.

“They’re fine,” Starling said, which reassured me, but at the same time, it didn’t.

“Is there anything we can do to help? Do you guys need to go to the realm to help them?”

Starling shook her head and pursed her lips. “There isn’t anything we can do to help them, but that doesn’t mean we have to sit around on our hands. We have another possible threat to deal with in the human realm.”

A crease formed between Caspian’s eyebrows as they pulled together. “What threat?”

“Someone else is looking for the keys, and apparently, they have a way of finding them.”

“That sounds like a thin lead. The keys are difficult to track unless they’re being used or their magic is responding to something,” Caspian said as he leaned back against the table. “Do you even know their name, what they look like, or even what race they are?”

Starling pursed her lips, and I took that as a no. “I’ve gone on missions with less information than this. Let us remember the whole bad feeling about the Wilds situation. I need to be doing something—even if it’s a wild goose chase—otherwise, I’ll drive myself crazy,” Starling said as she ran a hand over her hair.

Caspian looked less than impressed with Starling’s lack of knowledge about this new mission as he considered her.

Ander released her hand and wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close to his side. He’d yet to speak, letting Starling do all the talking. I knew this had to be difficult for him since he saw the sisters and Harmony as his little sisters, making me feel guilty once again. If it weren’t for me and how I always needed a babysitter to protect me, he wouldn’t be stuck watching over me. He would’ve been in that realm with them, and maybe Ari would’ve never been taken, and they’d know where Harmony and Parker were.

“I’m assuming this is your way of asking for permission for Alora to enter the human realm?” Caspian tapped his fingers against his tattooed bicep, and I couldn’t help but wonder if it hurt. From what I heard from Ander, Starling, and Koa, tattoos in our realm were different from the human realm because we healed a whole lot faster than them—not that I knew too much about how tattoos in the human realm worked.

“So, is that a yes?” I asked, hoping he’d say yes since I knew one of them would stay with me if he didn’t, and I’d rather not feel any more guilt if something were to happen. That wasn’t something I wanted or needed to have on my conscience.

“You need to bring someone else. If they are a real threat, four of you won’t be enough,” Caspian finally said after looking between the three of us and Rowan. She’d been lying on the plush rug in front of the fireplace, napping.

I finally released the breath I’d been holding, having been unsure which way he’d go. It wasn’t that I thought he was an asshole. He was just hard to read and intimidating as all hell. How Harmony once had a thing for him was baffling. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the guy crack a smile.

I preferred a guy who made me feel safe, comfortable and had a sense of humor.

“I’ve already messaged Gemini to meet us at the rift.”

Caspian nodded to himself before slowly approaching me. He’d learned the hard way that I didn’t like to be approached too quickly or out of the blue. It activated my fight-or-flight instincts that I hadn’t been able to shake in the time I’d been living in this realm. Nearly thirty years of always needing to be alert was a hard habit to shake. A tingle of his elemental magic ran through the damn bracelet I was forced to wear. He had to do this before and after I went to the human realm, and I couldn’t wait for the day I’d be rid of this thing.

“Let me know what you find.”

I sat at the outdoor table of the restaurant with Gemini, waiting as Starling and Ander did a sweep of our surroundings for this unnamed threat. Ander had tried to get Starling to remain here but to no avail. She had crossed her arms, silently staring up at him. The corner of her mouth lifted in a smug grin when he closed his eyes and groaned. Rowan was also out there somewhere, doing surveillance. It still amazed me when she disappeared, and I couldn’t sense any traces of her or her magic.

The air was crisp, and had it not been for the heat lamps, I probably would’ve needed a jacket to sit out in the chilly night air. I couldn’t see the stars in the sky, which apparently was a thing in many cities in the human realm.

Gemini took a gulp of water as she carefully assessed the others out here with us. There were almost fifteen tables, but only two of them had humans occupying them, and both appeared to be couples.

Even now, I still found myself getting distracted by them, having never seen them before I left home. It was strange to be around someone with no magic and was so fragile, yet they lived their short lives to the fullest as if they were invincible. Another strange thing for me to get used to was seeing someone look older than twenty-eight.

As I took another sip of the water, I once again cringed at the lemony taste, surprised I was able to taste the lemon when it was only on the rim. Gemini had instantly squeezed her lemon in her water and dropped the wedge in the glass, but I hadn’t been sure whether I’d like it or not—turns out I hated it. The flavor made my mouth feel tingly and slightly numb. The next time I saw our waitress, I’d have to ask for a new water. She’d been the… Wait a second. I couldn’t remember what she looked like despite her having deposited our waters only a couple of minutes ago.

In my peripheral vision, I saw the human couples slumped against the table, having passed out, but it was hard for me to focus on that when I realized my mouth felt like someone stuffed cotton in it.

The feeling felt vaguely familiar, but it was hard to grasp the memory, my thoughts muddled and foggy.

My head spun as I turned my focus to Gemini. “P-P-P—” she tried to speak, her eyes rolled back, and her head slammed into the table with a smack that had me cringing. My eyes grew heavy, but I fought against the sensation, using my hand that no longer felt like it belonged to me, I grabbed the fork on the table, stabbing it into my right thigh. It hurt. Obviously, it hurt, stabbing your own leg with a fork was no picnic, but the pain woke me up enough that I wouldn’t pass out—for now at least.

I tried pushing my chair back, even though I was sure my legs wouldn’t hold me if I attempted to stand. My limbs struggled to respond to my commands, the numbing tingle growing stronger so that my chair barely moved.

“Oh no, you don’t look so good.” The velvety voice came from beside me.