The Elementals - The Ice Princess

Chapter 19

I know I've left my light on too long when Alexander materializes out of thin air in front of me. He doesn't look to be in a playful mood and looks even less impressed when he sees the tree. His expression changes almost immediately to a look of concern.

"Whoa! What happened here? Are you okay?" He grabs my hands and begins looking for wounds on arms.

"I'm ok. Whatever it was that did this, you apparently scared it off. " I say, not sounding overly confident. The gravity of the situation is starting to sink in now that my adrenaline is wearing off. My mind starts to a race a bit when I realize that if the animal was able to do this to an eighty year old tree, I wouldn't have stood a chance.

"We should get back to your dad."

"No!" I pull my hand away. If these things are here and can track me, I need to lead them away from my dad. I won't put him in jeopardy."

"But..."

"No buts. Whatever did this might come back. You said that you were here to protect me and I am leaving. Are you coming?"

Alexander pauses for a moment weighing his options and looks up at me with those blue eyes. It's amazing that even in the light of the moon, I can make out that his eyes are that beautiful blue color. "Ok, let's go. But I have no idea where we would go."

"I have an idea, but I'm going to need you to jump. How much can you do?"

"I should be good for a couple of jumps, but if you're looking to get across the world. I'm nowhere near that."

"We're not going very far for our first stop." I lean in and whisper my chosen destination to him, in case we are being watched. He looks surprised that I would choose that location, but he says nothing out loud. I think he picks up on the reason that I am whispering and goes along with it.

I pick up my bag from the ground and Alexander grabs ahold of my hand. In the distance, I begin to hear loud wails from some kind of animal. I feel a bit relieved that I didn't make it far before Alexander found me. I am particularly thankful for the fact that he scared off whatever it was that was mauling the tree. My thoughts wander to my dad and how much I hope that this plan will work and draw them away from him.

Alexander's hand is warm. He looks over at me and smiles, I might be blushing.

"Ready?" he asks. But before I can answer him, we are already jumping from the forest to our first stop.

The trip is over in the blink of an eye. Alexander doesn't let go of my hand and tries to steady me as my feet nearly give way causing me to stumble. He can tell the affect it has had on me. My stomach feels again like it is going to turn on me. I turn my back to Alexander and crouch down so if I do get sick, he won't be able to directly see it. Plus, I won't get any on him. That would be very embarrassing.

It takes me a few seconds to get my stomach back under control and once again, I am able to do it without losing the contents within. I feel quite proud of myself for this accomplishment, even though I know it's not anything that I should actually be proud of.

Once I get my feet back under me, I stand up and look around. I don't even recognize this place. I know we are back in my house standing in the living room, or what I remember being the living room at one point. Everything is ripped to shreds. I'm not talking about thrown apart like you would see in movies, I mean absolutely destroyed. The furniture is shredded and its contents ripped out. My dad's favorite arm chair lays in pieces scattered across the floor. The brown fabric that once held it together is the only way I am able to identify it. The wooden coffee table that once sat in the middle of the room has been broken into several pieces which lay everywhere. There are multiple holes in the wall which kind of match the slash marks that appear through the room. Whatever tore apart this room, wanted to ensure that it was done thoroughly and left nothing behind.