Rise of the Elementals (4 page)

The Last Hope

Brato crept through the empty streets, his
wife and children close behind. He stopped and leaned against a
wall. Craning his neck he peered around the corner.

“
I can see the hall across
the courtyard.” He whispered. “It looks clear, keep the children
and I’ll make sure it’s safe.”

“
No!” Eliana responded. “We
go together.”

Brato glared at her and sighed. “Fine.” He
mumbled. He knew there was no sense in arguing.

With his jaw clenched he turned and looked
back to the great hall. The courtyard was nearly demolished. It was
once decorated with ornate sculptures and artifacts that had been
gathered from across the worlds. Now nothing but rubble
remained.

Brato gripped her hand tightly and stepped
into the courtyard. He looked to his children and smiled then
pressed his forefinger against his lips. Together they scurried
across the ruined grounds and stopped near the entrance of the
great hall.

Enormous, ivory columns towered on both
sides. Marble steps led into the entryway that opened up into a
giant dome. This was the heart of Elisia, the most sacred place in
the whole city.

“
Quickly.” Brato whispered
as he placed his hand on the small of Eliana’s back.

They moved swiftly up the steps, their feet
barely making a sound. As Brato crossed into the great hall he slid
to a stop and fell to his knees.

“
No!” He screamed, banging
his fists into the ground.

A shinning blue liquid streamed across the
floor. It swirled and began to evaporate before his eyes.

“
The portal…the portal is
gone.” Eliana mumbled, tears pouring down her cheeks.

There was a sudden rattle outside and Brato
swung around and jumped to his feet. For a moment his eyes flashed
white until he realized it was Daviathan and Lupercus followed by a
flood of people.

“
Why are you not…” Lupercus
cut away as his eyes met the dissolving blue puddle. “How…how could
they have known?”

“
Cleonicus!” Daviathan
growled.

“
We can open our own
portals!” Lupercus stammered as he stormed further into the
hall.

Brato grabbed his arm and slung him around.
“The children Lupercus, you know they cannot travel that way!”

Lupercus sighed and looked into Brato’s
eyes. He glanced past him to Eliana and then to Daviathan. He
looked at the countless faces of people that swayed back and forth
near the doorway. All lost, all shattered, hoping that he could
find a way to save them.

“
We…we will have to
retrocile the children.” Lupercus said feebly.

“
What?” Eliana exclaimed.
“No…no! That will kill them!”

Eliana lunged at Lupercus, slapping him
across the face before Brato could grab her.

“
How dare you!” She
yelled.

“
Eliana calm down.” Brato
wrapped his arms around her and pulled her away.

“
You know they won’t make
it Brato. We can’t let him do this.”

“
Eliana, there is no other
way.” Lupercus pleaded.

“
He is right.” Daviathan
said as he stepped forward. “A legion of spectrals are headed this
way. Ravens have demolished our home, what you see before you is
all that is left. There is no other way out of the
city.”

Eliana looked into Daviathan’s eyes and then
fell to the floor. She cried silently into her hands as the crowd
of strangers looked on in confusion.

“
We need three. I only see
two here that could hope to complete the retrocile process.” Brato
said grimly.

Lupercus made to respond, but there was a
loud explosion outside that shook the entire hall. Daviathan ran to
the door and glared out. A giant fissure had opened in the middle
of the sky. The air around it swirled and twisted as light was
sucked into the void.

Daviathan turned back to the hall, his face
amiss with panic. “They are bringing the others!”

“
We have no time. Brato we
must do this now!”

The Last Stand

The walls rattled and the ground shook and
split apart. Outside of the great hall the sky ripped open and a
storm of spectrals poured into the city. Inside a sense nervous
hesitation loomed in the air.

Brato stood in a circle holding hands with
Lupercus and Daviathan. His children were in the center, their eyes
fluttered skittishly as they tried to maintain contact with their
father.

“
You’re doing so well.”
Brato smiled at them.

Eliana knelt to the side, her face covered
in dried tears. She wanted to hold them, to kiss them and tell them
everything would be okay; but she didn’t know if it would. The
truth was, no one had ever survived the process.

Retrociling was a dangerous thing. It could
only be attempted on the young. It was an age reversing process and
the only way an immature elemental could travel through a spawned
portal.

“
I didn’t know you’d
reached ascension.” Brato glanced over to Daviathan.

“
Few did.” He smiled
back.

“
We must hurry.” Lupercus
grunted.

There was a scream from the onlookers and
they shuffled away from the door. Scampering further into the hall
they ran over one another as a raven leapt through the entrance and
slid across the floor.

“
We cannot break the circle
now!” Lupercus yelled.

Eliana looked to her children then jumped to
her feet and charged at the raging animal. It was still lumbering
in the doorway, snarling at the crowd of trembling elementals.

“
Eliana no!” Brato
screamed.

“
Brato finish it, finish it
now.” She yelled back.

Eliana tackled the beast, wrapping her arms
around its head. The raven reared up and drove one of its horns
into her shoulder. She bellowed loudly and dug her fingers into its
eyes.

Brato turned to run to her side, but
Lupercus squeezed his hand tighter.

“
Brato we can’t. If you
break the link now the children will certainly die.”

Eliana staggered backwards as the raven
pulled away. It growled at her and dove forward again. This time
she side stepped its horns and punched her fist through its throat.
The raven flew into the wall and crumpled to the ground. Blood
gushed from the hole in its neck and swirled onto the white, marble
floor.

“
What are you waiting for?”
Elaina stammered as she turned back to Brato.

“
Concentrate!” Lupercus
exclaimed.

Together they closed their eyes and focused.
In order to perform the retrocile it would take an almost
unbreakable meditation. With the city falling apart around them and
a horde of spectrals and ravens right outside, this was nearly
impossible.

Minutes passed as the other elementals
looked on with a confused silence. Eliana smiled at her three sons,
her hand squeezing the bleeding hole in her arm.

“
It’s okay.” She whispered
to them.

The boys huddled closer together, their legs
trembling with fear. Their eyes flashed white then back to their
normal hazel color.

Daviathan, Brato and Lupercus didn’t move.
Their hands were locked together, their eyes closed, their bodies
as still as statues. Then with a sudden rush of heat, all three of
they were all engulfed in ravaging blue flames.

The other elementals gasped and a few of
them cried out in shock.

“
The children, the children
they’re going to burn.” A woman yelled.

Eliana glared at her and then turned her
attention to the boys. “Stay calm. It’s almost over.”

The flames rose high into the air, licking
at the ceiling of the dome. Brato and the others hadn’t moved and
even more they seemed totally unaffected by the blazing fire.

Without warning the flames shot from the
circle and covered the inside, spreading over the boys like a wave.
Eliana shrieked and ran forward. She reached for the circle trying
to save her boys from the inferno, but was thrown backwards by an
invisible field that enclosed them all.

“
Brato! Brato!” She
screamed over and over.

Then, as suddenly as the flames appeared,
they vanished and Brato and the others fell to the floor. In the
center of the circle where the boys once stood were three glowing
blue spheres.

“
It…it worked.” Daviathan
mumbled as he staggered to his feet.

Brato scampered forward, scooping the three
balls into his arms. Eliana ran to his side. She slid to the floor
and wrapped her arms around him, ignoring the stinging sensation in
her shoulder.

“
Are they safe…are they
safe Brato?”

“
Not yet.” Lupercus
stammered.

He pulled himself to his feet and walked to
the back of the hall. Holding his hand at eye level he rolled his
fingers into a ball and snapped them back open. A shallow, blue
light swirled in his palm. It flickered dimly like a dying
flame.

“
I…I am too weak.
Daviathan…”

“
I am here.” Daviathan said
as he stepped next to Lupercus.

Squeezing his hands together he created a
light of his own much brighter than Lupercus’. Together they placed
their palms flat against the wall and it rippled like water.

“
Quickly, this way!”
Daviathan turned to the other elementals, beckoning them to
come.

One by one they rushed forward and stepped
towards the wall. Lupercus helped them enter the portal as
Daviathan ran to Brato and Eliana.

“
We must take them now.” He
said, pulling Brato to his feet.

Suddenly there was a thunderous explosion at
the steps of the hall. Daviathan looked up and panic gripped his
heart as the largest spectral he’d ever seen loomed in the
doorway.

It was an enormous creature, nearly nine
feet tall with a raven on either side of him. His head swept left
and right as he seemed to suck in the room with hollowed, black eye
sockets. A forked tongue jutted from his mouth, licking his razor
sharp teeth.

“
Ah Daviathan, of course
you would be here with the women and children.” The spectral
snarled, tracing a grin across his monstrous face.

“
Nordus?” Daviathan said in
confusion. “You…you would bring them here. After all we’ve done to
shepherd peace between our kind?”

Nordus leaned his head back and laughed. It
was a high pitched cackling that made the hair on Daviathan’s arms
stand.

“
We are not your pets
Daviathan. You wouldn’t even treat us as equals, yet we are so much
more.”

Several more spectrals began to line the
steps behind Nordus. The ravens started to pace back and forth
anxiously as he spoke. They growled and snapped at the air.

“
Always one step ahead,
always plotting, always planning. Oh, but now we know your secret
don’t we.” Nordus grinned as his eyes settled on Brato and the
three spheres he held.

Eliana gasped. She turned to Brato and
placed her hand on his cheek. “I love you…keep them safe.”

“
What?” Brato tilted his
head.

Before he could move, Eliana surged forward
in a blur. Nordus lunged at Brato, but he was too slow. Eliana
collided with him and together they tumbled down the steps and into
the darkness outside.

Daviathan spun to life. He moved swiftly
across the marble floor, slashing the heads off both ravens with
his bronze dagger. The other spectrals charged into the hall and he
flung himself at them.

“
Eliana!” Brato
screamed.

Lupercus rushed to his side. “We must get
the children into the portal.”

“
Take them, take them
Lupercus. I can’t leave her.”

“
Have you forgotten your
charge? There is nothing more important than the safe keeping of
the children. Nothing!” Lupercus said furiously.

Brato stood to his full height. He looked
down on Lupercus his eyes blazing like a dying star. He pushed the
glowing spheres into Lupercus’ arms.

“
Keep them safe. I cannot
leave her.” Brato said forcefully.

Turning towards the door, he clenched his
jaw tightly and squeezed his fists. His skin darkened as his arms
grew and ripped through his shirt. Like a bolt of lightning he
surged forward, tearing through the crowd of spectrals and landing
outside.

Daviathan drove his dagger into the heart of
another spectral and then stared after Brato.

“
Lupercus, get them through
the portal! I’ll get Brato and Eliana.” Daviathan
yelled.

Lupercus grunted and let out a deep breath.
He gripped the spheres to his chest and turned on his heels.
Running full speed he dove into the wall and vanished.

Daviathan quickly dispatched the remaining
spectrals and rushed outside. In the middle of the street Eliana
and Brato stood back to back surrounded by an army of spectrals and
ravens. They were both severely injured and bleeding heavily onto
the floor.

“
Just give us the children
and we will end your suffering.” One of the spectrals
heckled.

Daviathan started towards them. The shadows
hid him well now that nearly all of the Zaspar had been depleted.
He inched closer and closer, clenching his dagger tightly.

All of a sudden a voice exploded inside his
head, it was Brato.

“
We are done for my friend.
Please protect the boys, see the prophecy through and return honor
to our people.”