Forgotten Elements

Hardly anyone was out as I walked through town toward the council chambers. With how late into the night the festival typically ran and the amount of alcohol involved, it expected, especially with the early hour.

It came as no surprise that I barely slept last night, both due to nerves and thinking about Parker. The amount that I thought about that man was getting ridiculous. Igniting my body was one thing, but screwing with my sleep was a fucking problem. And rather than take the edge off like I’d hoped it would, the orgasm he’d given me had ignited a fire hotter than before. It was like now that my body had a taste, it wanted more.

Maybe a couple of months away from him was just what I needed.

The sky had begun lightening to a dark purple with the approaching sunrise as I entered the chambers. My steps echoed throughout the empty stone atrium as I headed toward the portal room. The room was circular, with lines on the floor separating the different courts. All four of the elemental courts were to the left. Etchings on the floor depicted the cities and the courts they represented. I chose the portal heading to the Tree houses.

The Tree houses were deep in a forest filled with trees that were twice as tall and thick as the ones in the Wilds, which made them good for holding up houses. Each house seamlessly blended into the trees and their branches.

If you wanted access to a house, you’d need to use your magic to bring down the rope ladder. This village wasn’t the destination spot for those afraid of heights. Luckily, I’d never had a problem with that.

The forest was in the center of elemental territory, making it the perfect spot to access a nearby realm.

After nearly twenty minutes of walking, I finally came across the house I was seeking and used my elemental magic to connect to the ladder. It unraveled before me, swaying back and forth from the momentum and kept swaying as I climbed it. The movement didn’t bother me since I’d been to this village countless times growing up, having visited my uncle who still lived here.

The ledge in front of the house was just big enough to have a couple of chairs and a small table between them to the left of the door. I’d forgotten how beautiful the scenery was, being so high up in the trees. This house was higher up compared to many of the other houses, and as a result, I could see the tops of some of the shorter nearby trees.

Many of the houses were halfway up the trees, but this one was near the top.

The doorknob warmed under my palm and unlocked with a click. The entryway was small with macramé covering the walls and led to the living room. The furniture was what you’d expect from a treehouse, with most of it being made out of wood and rope, and cluttered to fit it all in such a small space. There was even a hammock in one corner and a hanging chair in the other. The hardwood floor was covered in a soft and shaggy rug.

I didn’t stop in the living room, walking straight through it and barely sparing a glance before heading through a couple more doorways until I entered the conservatory. Dark wood separated the windows, creating geometric shapes and allowing shafts of early morning light to brighten the room that was twice the size and height of the living room. A long wooden rectangular planter lined the back windows, filled with various herbs, all with the purpose of healing.

The conservatory wasn’t empty; Magnus knelt in front of the section of the planter that contained calendulas. He infused his magic into the bud until the vivid yellow-orange petals bloomed. “I’m not surprised you’re the first one here,” he murmured without turning around.

Magnus was up there in age—even though his umber skin showed no age lines or the typical physical markers humans used to determine age. I didn’t know his exact age, but from what I’ve heard, he was around a thousand years old.

He sometimes came to our lessons when I was younger, and I loved it every time he was a guest instructor. The knowledge he’d accumulated over the years was vast. It was why he was the one in charge of preparing us for the retreat and opening the rift. Should anything go wrong during the next two months, he would be the one to come and save us. Well, hopefully. There weren’t any guarantees that he’d find out in time. Going on the rite of passage was a risk—nature could be unpredictable, and we had no assurances we’d be safe—but it was worth it.

I took a seat on one of the swinging benches and anxiously waited as the others began filing in not even a few minutes later. Fifty others were joining me on this retreat, and according to Magnus, it was one of the biggest groupings.

I recognized the ones from the Earth Court, but not the ones from the other courts. Other than a polite greeting, we barely spoke. Even though it was a ridiculous fear, I couldn’t help but steal glances at them. None of them appeared to be psycho killers, but looks could be deceiving. When you were out there alone in the wilderness, it was hard to distinguish friend from foe.

I knew I shouldn’t have watched that horror movie with Ari and Reed the other day. It was making me paranoid.

As soon as everyone had arrived, Magnus guided us up the spiral staircase to the mezzanine where a circular table sat. Rather than having chairs, there was a bench circling the table, and it was clear there wasn’t enough seating for all of us. Magnus leaned across the table and tapped the clear crystal embedded in the center, and the table expanded, as well as the bench.

He remained standing as we all sat on the bench, looking up at him expectantly. His bare arms were crossed over his chest as his light gray eyes scanned over each of us. The weight of his stare was heavy and had the girl next to me squirming.

Magnus started with a spiel about the history of the rite and how it began. Several from our group weren’t able to hide their groans at hearing this story for the umpteenth time. We’d heard this several times over the years until it was ingrained in our brains.

The rite started over two thousand years ago with Juniper before she became Queen of the Earth Court. According to the stories, she accidentally created a rift to a neighboring realm. Magnus called it some foreign-sounding word that I’d never heard before and had all of us looking at each other in confusion since we’d never been told the realm had a name. He clarified that the word meant Land of plenty. If I wasn’t mistaken, the name of the realm had been spoken in the elemental deity language, but I couldn’t speak a single word in that language. I could read a few of the symbols, but that was it.

Since Juniper was only twenty-eight and wasn’t skilled in making rifts, the rift had sealed as soon as she entered the realm, and she couldn’t figure out how to make another one. She’d spent hours trying over and over to get home until she realized that method was getting her nowhere. She figured since she was heir to the throne, her family had to be looking for her and would figure out what happened eventually.

As she waited to be found, she explored the untouched realm and as she did so, connected with the elements in a way she hadn’t before. In the weeks she was stranded in the realm, she discovered new ways to use her magic that took those who came before her decades longer to figure out. In the end, her family wasn’t the one to help her back home; she figured out how to tap into her power and create a rift.

The experience had been so enlightening, that when she became queen, she pitched the idea to the three other rulers of the elemental territory. They’d been hesitant at first and declined multiple times, but eventually, they relented, and the rest was history.

After telling us the origin of the rite, Magnus began laying out the guidelines of what was expected of us. “You will journey across the lands and connect to every aspect of its natural energy. Each of you will be given a map marking off the path you must take. Once you’ve entered the realm, you will be portaled off to different areas and will begin your journey. My number one rule is that you must remain alone. None of you will be allowed to team up, or “hang out” with each other. Nor are you permitted to enter the villages—they are marked off on your maps. If you break these rules, your rite of passage will be cut short.”

Most of this was common knowledge, other than the maps. That would be a big help.

Murmurs ran through the group as we gave our confirmations. Magnus nodded to himself as he tapped the crystal in the center of the table again. This time, the crystal lit up as a projected map appeared above the table.

The map contained a large landmass in the center, surrounded by an ocean, with eleven various-sized islands circling it. On the top right corner of the main landmass was mountainous terrain, with a winding river leading down to the bottom right-hand corner to a lake. From what I could tell from this map, this land had varying terrains. A perfect place for an elemental rite of passage. It made sense we’d have the opportunity to commune with all possible landscapes and different aspects of nature.

Magnus followed up his guidelines with an explanation of the different ways for us to commune with the elements. A few from our group looked ready to fall asleep, while the rest of us hung onto every single word Magnus spoke.

Once he was done preparing us, he gathered all of our wristbands and swapped them out with two crystals and a small bag full of bare essentials—where I added the extra clothes I was told to bring. One of the crystals was clear and the size of my palm, containing a holographic map of the realm. The other was small and iridescent, and would hopefully allow us to contact Magnus—or anyone else in the realm—should anything happen.

None of us spoke to each other as we followed Magnus out of his tree house and deeper into the forest. As the houses became less and less frequent, I began feeling an energy buzzing in the air as we neared the rift.

In the middle of a twenty-foot-wide clearing was the glowing blue rift, hovering several feet above the ground. A dark-haired sorcerer stood beside the rift, his arms crossed as he observed us. He wasn’t physically imposing, but the serious amount of magic emanating from him made up for it.

“This is Fletcher; he will portal you to your locations, and from then on out, you’re on your own,” Magnus said as we stood around the rift. Anticipation buzzed in the air along with the potent magic of the rift.

Fletcher didn’t introduce himself or acknowledge us. His expression was bored, like he wanted to be anywhere but here as he pressed his hand against the rift and vanished. Magnus didn’t comment on the sorcerer’s lack of enthusiasm and instead reiterated his rules and how there’d be consequences for breaking them.

Murmurs went through the group as several others began getting impatient, wanting to get started. One after another, Magnus began calling out our names, directing us through the rift. I was one of the last ones called, and I let out a shaky breath. As I waited, I began growing impatient as nerves buzzed through my body, making me jittery. But now that it was finally my turn, I was nervous. My heart was hammering in my chest as I approached the rift, raising my hand to touch the warm and glowing crack in the air.

The rift dropped me off in a field full of vibrant grass—so vividly green, it almost hurt my eyes to look at it—and colorful wildflowers. As I approached Fletcher, my magic naturally sought out the magic emanating from the elements. I nearly stumbled from the surge of pure energy, having felt nothing like this before. It was hard to describe what I was experiencing, but it was almost like the adrenaline rush I felt when in a fight. I’d been more than a little tired from my lack of sleep lately, but now, I felt wired.

As I approached, Fletcher still had yet to speak and instead, waved his hand and created a swirling portal. Despite his lack of communication, I gave him a polite smile and thanked him before stepping through the portal and landing before a gushing waterfall, emptying into a lake.

It was hard to put into words how beautiful, or impossibly blue the water was. Even with the thrumming and potent magic of this realm, the pure energy emanating from the elemental water was hard to miss. The lake was close to a mile wide and based on the sheer amount of magic, I figured it had to be twice as deep.

Velvety grass tickled my feet as I inched closer to the water, drawn in by its sheer power. I’d never seen a natural source of elemental water this size before. Kneeling next to the lake, I lightly trailed my hand over the surface, feeling a tingle racing up my hand. I didn’t dare enter the water, knowing how temperamental and dangerous it could be if you didn’t have complete control. It wasn’t a risk I was ready to take at the moment, so I remained where I was.

Closing my eyes and taking a deep breath, I began communing with the elements and officially started my rite of passage.