One thing was clear. It wouldn’t take long for the island’s growth to reach us here.
I sat down and watched. The rest of the crew was hidden inside the huts behind me. If I hadn’t known Kaden was behind it, if he wasn’t the embodiment of it, I’d have been afraid too. But now I knew, I was no longer afraid.
Within minutes, the island grew large enough that it was less than a mile from where I sat. Hot lava rolled down the sides, and I could smell the brimstone as it came closer. In anyone’s mind, this would be the part that destroyed us. But if the tidal wave hadn’t gotten us, if the pyroclastic cloud hadn’t gotten us, the burning mass of earth wouldn’t either.
Sure enough, just as the island got close enough that I could feel its heat, it began to grow around the knoll. The cliffs towering above us were hundreds of feet high. As the island surrounded us, the heat became almost too intense. I scampered back, shielding my face. The forests began to catch fire, and I knew it was just a matter of time before we succumbed to the heat as well.
Just then, a whirlwind, like a tornado, swept in around us, the air significantly cooler, and even though the huts disintegrated around the crew hiding in them, no one was hurt. We were lifted higher and higher until we were above the growing land mass.
I didn’t try to crouch as the others had. Instead, I stood and watched, determined to see whatever I could. As the whirlwind touched the ocean, we were immediately surrounded by water instead of smoke and debris.
Momentarily, as the smoke cleared and was replaced with water, I saw the smoke, ash, and steam and knew it was looking at me. I knew it was Kaden, and I smiled and threw him a kiss just as the water replaced the smoke.
I knew immediately where we were going. Kaden was sending us back to Crater Island. It only took a few minutes for us to arrive, and the whirlwind set us gently on the sandy beach. We were all soaked, covered in smoke and sand, and I didn’t think any of us had regained our hearing yet. But none of us were seriously harmed.
The island residents rushed toward us and helped us off the beach, checking for injuries. I knew there wouldn’t be any, since my boyfriend was entirely in control.
My boyfriend. I watched as the monstrous burning mass of land continued to grow. How could that bemyboyfriend? I laughed and knew it didn’t matter how powerful Kaden was, he was just that, he was mine. I knew I loved him with everything that was in me. I knew at that moment that I would always love Kaden Pierce. And since he was literally creating an island, I didn’t worry about whether I’d known him long enough or not. Conventions didn’t seem to apply to us any longer.
Chapter thirty
Kaden
Allfourelementsweretesting me, challenging me. It was as if they dared me to relax my grip on them. All four elements, one after another, went after my loved one. The first one, the tsunami, scared me. I almost lost a grip on the powers surging through me.
Something deep inside me knew if I wavered, it would spell doom and disaster for Lysander and the men and women with him.
So, I forced the sea to flatten, and it did, almost gleefully. Then the cloud of ash and fire lunged for them. Just as with the sea, I forced it to stand down, and it did. The island wanted to form. I knew what I was doing was allowing it to do what it would do naturally, given a million years or so.
Through me, the Earth was building itself, growing and expanding. It was wild and out of control. Scarier in some ways than the other elements had been. As the wall of burning earth expanded toward the small knoll where Lysander stood, I forced it to surround them instead of destroying it. It fought me harder than the Air element in the form of the pyroclastic flow. The Earth wanted destruction. It was thriving on the chaos. But it had no choice but to surrender to my will when I forced it.
I knew Fire was coming. The cloud of superheated ash could’ve been the Fire element, but I knew it was only there as a tag along with Air. So, when the small knoll, now completely surrounded, began to burn, I used Air to lift Lysander and the crew out of the deepening hole they were in.
Air obeyed me with no hesitation this time. It was like a horse that’d been broken and enjoyed running with its owner on its back.
The moment the whirlwind I created opened up, Lysander was there, standing, facing me. He even threw me a kiss. He knew. He could tell who and what I was, and he still threw me a kiss. That realization echoed through me, and all that was in me vibrated with happiness.
When he was safely released on Crater Island, I focused on the task at hand. I’d established my role with each of the four elements, not in a controlling way, but with very clear boundaries. They were happy to have me. They were just part of me, and there was a promise that they would be from now on.
The island grew and grew until it had eaten up five smaller islands, not unlike the knoll Lysander had been on. This time, there was no forcing the earth around the islands. They were simply absorbed into the growth.
We, the four elements and I, worked together all day and the night and the following day before I could finally tell the earth was tiring and the growth of this now colossal island would soon end.
By nightfall, I could feel the volcanic forces under the island begin to core up and seal. I knew once it was done, there would be no volcanic activity on this island ever again. But knowing that, I could still sense where the next island would begin to form. But not for many centuries, maybe millennia from now.
As the elements began to return to their restful state, I turned back toward Crater Island and began moving my physical form in that direction.
As I got closer, the sun slowly setting behind me, I felt my molecules coming back together into their familiar places. By the time I reached the shore, I was back in my human form. Even though I was unclothed and had yet to grow back my hair and nails, I was human once again when my feet touched the beach.
Lysander immediately rushed for me, but was held back by Elana and Dr. Fagan.
“Let me go!” he demanded, and when they did, he rushed into my arms. “Oh my God, Kaden, that was magnificent,” he said, when he landed in my embrace.
“I think you may be the only person who thinks so,” I said as I looked into the concerned faces of the men and women standing on the shore.
Lysander pulled back, tears in his eyes, and smiled. “They don’t understand. I do. I felt you. I was there as you expanded and grew. I don’t… I can’t explain it, but I-I understand,” he said as he hugged me tightly.
Tears were in my eyes now too. “I love you, Lysander.”
