The Power of Four

Chapter 7 - Ash

I woke to a scream that matched one I had just heard. This time though, it was in the real world, and not too far away. I leapt up from the ground, startling Elm, who was peacefully munching grass. I grabbed my bow and my quiver and hopped on Elm, who instantly got the urgency of this, and started speeding across the terrain. We came to a stream, and I saw a figure rolling up a sleeping bag directly next to the water. It was Raine. Was that dream even real? I thought, but without further contemplation, and without slowing down, I reached out and grabbed Raine, tugging her onto Elm behind me. Raine just looked at me and clutched onto my waist tightly, fingernails digging into my skin.

I winced, but only said, "Hold on, but don't kill me with your death grip."

Raine loosened her grasp a little, but she still refused to let go. I sighed, and urged Elm on until we reached the clearing where the scream must have come from. A pile of sticks, moss, and vines lay nearby in a heap.

I slowed Elm to a stop and hesitantly asked, "Aspen?"

A slow creaking stretched across the moonlit clearing and Aspen's head popped out from under the pile. She took in a deep breath, propped her head on her chin, and said, "Oh, how nice to see you both. Would you please help me out from under here?"

I hopped off Elm and heaved Aspen out from the pile, Raine still sitting on Elm with a mildly surprised look on her face.

"Why, thank you. You're officially not a maniac to me." Aspen smiled, brushing herself off and fixing her hair.

"Oh, thanks I guess," I replied, raising an eyebrow sarcastically, but not in a mean way. This girl was kind of growing on me. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Raine fidgeting on Elm, clearly uncomfortable and not quite trusting of him. Judging by the look in Elm's eye, the feeling was mutual.

"Here," I went over, and helped Raine down from Elm, both looking relieved.

"Thanks," Raine said in a louder voice than usual, and she huffed out a breath, looking really glad to be off Elm.

"So... I'm guessing you two also had a prophetic dream as well?" I ventured.

Raine nodded, looking terrified at the mention of the ominous dream. Aspen nodded as well, and she seemed to be mentally thinking about the random words we had heard.

"So if this was about four elements, then does that mean we need to find the air element? Because fate wanted to tell us what to do, I guess," I added.

Raine actually made eye contact with me this time, and she asked, "Well, how do we do that? It sounds dangerous, I don't know if I want to do that, or if I even can. I'm kind of hoping that it was just a joke."

"I doubt it is. Honestly, I'm up for this, I have nothing else to do right now..." I trailed off, thinking of burning my home.

Raine timidly put her hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?" She asked, seeming genuinely concerned at the sudden drop in my mood.

"Huh?" I jerked back to the present, "Yeah, I'm fine, just... thinking."

"Personally, I am okay with doing this, too. If we find the air elemental, maybe we can throttle her until she gives us clean air. Wait... how did she even go missing?"

In the silence that followed, I said, "I don't know, but having clean air would definitely be a plus. I don't think I've ever breathed clear air..."

"Same here. It happened when I was like... a baby." Aspen chimed in, still fidgeting with her flowers.

"This is probably the wrong time to ask, but, do you mind if you guys show me your powers? I'm really curious, and I need to know what is going on." Raine asked.