The Elementals

Trust

I'm shaking with rage. "You set this up." My fists clench till my nails almost break skin and I walk deliberately down the deck, my feet stabbing imaginary holes into the fiberglass.

"You deceitful, evil, untrustworthy, low-life, horrible, lying, two-faced dirtbag. I can't believe I thought I could trust you!" I snarl and Caelum winces with every word. I reach him and I glare right into his eyes. "I can't believe I ever liked you." I hiss in his face and he steps back as if my words are actually hitting him.

"I-"

"Don't even try." I snap, and almost against my will I feel the power rise but instead of stopping it I let it flow. A bit of water slithers up the side of the boat, unnoticed till it's in the air and suddenly Coal is in front of me, shaking free of the guard.

"Tide." He says, grabbing my shoulder firmly, stopping me in my place. "You're going to regret this."

The water hangs still as I hear guns clicking. My voice quivers with tension. "Get out of the way Coal."

"No." He says and quieter, "This isn't you."

"How do you know?"

He pauses, trying to put his answer into words. I can see it in his face though. The water falls and my hunched shoulders drop. I spin again and face Izila, who has by now boarded our boat.

"I thought you were going to kill him." She says plainly. "Shame you didn't. I need only the strongest in my command. Only the ones willing to do whatever it takes." She smiles coldly at me, inspecting her nails.

She hunted us.

She burned down innocent peoples' homes just to find us.

She trapped kids for horrible experiments.

She killed Breeze.

Silently, like a cat, I go to tear her apart. She ducks away like a bullet and the soldiers move in. I shriek something like "Sparta!" or maybe "for Narnia!" but I bring the puddle up and slam it into the first man. He goes down like a rock and more men board the boat. That's fine; I have the entire harbor at my disposal.

More water spirals up from the ocean and I duck a blow and freeze a mask on someone's face. They step back, and trip over the rail. I barely have time to think about what I'm doing. All that's important is getting to Izila and making her pay. It doesn't matter who I have to go through.

It takes a second for me to realize I'm not alone. Coal is fighting next to me. He's fighting with me. We both spin, blasting out attacks, fire and water, and then we're back to back and I feel calm. Yes, my world is spinning out of control, I'm not sure who else I can trust, but I know I can trust Coal.

It's a good feeling. You should try it sometime. Not the whole fighting to survive thing, but the trust. It's life affirming. I take down another couple men and then I'm face to face with Izila.

I'm so close. I almost do it. The water, it's inches from her neck, formed into little blades, ready to shred her skin. I was so close.

Then the ice smashes to the ground, shattering into itty bitty pieces. The sound is like a thousand little screams I haven't let out. I'm thrown into the air, hovering at least ten feet above the deck. I see Coal up higher than me.

"Put him down!" I shriek, pedaling my feet uselessly in the air.

"Destroy them." Izila flicks her hand and motions for the soldiers to start moving the others onto her boat. I drift higher into the air.

"Caelum!" I shout. "What are you doing? Whatever she promised you, you're not going to get it!" He doesn't answer. Then, as if his voice is floating up with me, I can hear it clearly.