Hot. It felt unbelievably, indescribably hot.
Emerie started to let out a string of curse words in her head and before she knew it, she had gained consciousness and the profanities were pouring out of her mouth.
“You never cease to amuse me Em.”
“Darryl?” she croaked, a smile spreading across her face. She pulled herself up only to find something stab into her back like a million burning needles. “If you’re the one that did this to me I swear –” she growled.
“I’m not a Fire Elemental; it was just from Bernie’s team all right?” Darryl said, rolling his eyes. “Unfortunately you guys lost because you got distracted. They were all actually counting on you to make the final blow. When you went down, they took the flag and retreated to base.”
“So what? You weren’t the one to bring me to . . . this place?” Emerie snapped, gesturing her leaden arm around the large infirmary with numerous beds barely occupied that would probably do a hospital shame. “Wow is this how many people that get injuries?”
“Oh they recovered much faster than you,” Darryl said dryly. “Can’t you see the dried blood?”
Emerie frowned in confusion, squinting her black eyes and raked them along the empty, disturbed beds.
A gasp escaped her lips when she indeed saw the dried blood in spots along numerous beds.
“Man this school is violent,” she muttered, letting her head rest back down and focused her eyes on the high pasty ceiling above.
“Yeah but that’s just the way we have to survive out in the human world,” Darryl said bitterly, blue eyes darkening.
“Not even humans can survive all that!” Emerie protested, voice raising disbelievingly. “Humans are weak compared to us! You saw all that damage!”
Darryl gave her a pained look. “You won’t believe how much of us died out there with the humans. We’ve only gotten that strong in ten years yet those humans . . .” Tears blurred Darryl’s brilliant blue eyes and Emerie felt her stomach lurch as she grabbed her brother’s hand and squeezed it tightly. “My own parents; your adoptive ones? They died at the humans’ hands. Why else would I take you back to Akorin? You’ll be safer. You can choose an element and you can help us win the war.”
“No,” Emerie growled, snatching her hand out of her brother’s big one. “I will not have any deaths on my conscience! Why can’t you guys be the peaceful ones and –”
“The Time Guardians and Destinies are our leaders; they keep us in line despite the fact that physically us Elementals are stronger,” Darryl said with a frown. “You don’t understand do you? Humans found out about us thousands of years ago and the war is still raging on without most of the human population knowing. They want our power and we wouldn’t give it to them if we could. But . . .” He lowered his head and his voice. “The Elders know ancient spells. They have spell books that could do just that for the humans.”
“They wouldn’t!” Emerie protested. “They’re good people right?!”
“Of course,” Darryl said quickly, forcing a tight smile. But you don’t know the conspiracy theory that I have Em, he thought to himself quietly.
Emerie frowned, brow knitting together. “Where’s Cian? My other brother?”
“Why?” Darryl said sharply, narrowing his eyes at her.
“I want to see him,” she said with a growl, poking her brother’s cheek. “I deserve to know who he is and what he’s like. You’ve been the brother figure to me after all these years . . . but he’s also my blood brother Darryl.”
YOU ARE READING
Choosing Fate
FantasyElementals, Destinies and Time Guardians. Three races gifted with powers that exist to maintain peace between humans and themselves. At birth, every child is given the decision which decides their fate and future. But Emerie was the strange exceptio...
