“It matters because you’re not the one in control. At least not completely, and control is extremely important for Pyroflames.”
“If I’m not the one in control, then who is?”
He tilts his head to the side. “Not who.What,” he emphasizes. “Did anyone ever teach you about where Essentari abilities comes from?”
I take some time to actually think about his question.
“I’ve only read a few brief books about the Essentari,” I begin, my voice steady even as my heart beats faster under his unwavering gaze. “So I know the basics. I know that aside from Pyroflames and Luminaries, there are the Hydrokin who control water, the Aerothane who connect with air, the Terramancers who can move the earth, and the Umbrax who manipulate shadows. And then thereare the hybrids, but very few are capable of harnessing the power of two elements, even though one stands before me now.” I cross my arms, and his eyes flicker between mine, his expression unreadable. “Are you public about what you are?” I ask, unable to keep my curiosity at bay.
“Mostly,” he says, offering nothing but a simple shrug.
I wait, but he doesn’t elaborate. Of course, he doesn’t because he knows I already understand.
“They think you’re only a Luminarie.” I had originally thought the same. Until he used his shadows to conceal me. To quiet me. To keep me hidden.
“Yes.”
“Why?” Another question that I don’t actually need him to answer and fear creeps into my veins, spikey pricks that feel like they’ll never leave.
“You know why.”
“I don’t know much about the Essentari,” I say, and it’s the truth. I really don’t know much, but I’d like to.
“You know enough.”
“We share similarities with the elements we wield.” Just like fire, I run hot. My temper is often out of my control.
Of course, I’d be a Pyroflame of all things. We’re unstable, and some fear us because of it, but not as much as they fear the Umbrax. For in order to control the shadows, there must be a special kind of darkness living deep within your soul.
Whether that’s fact or myth, I do not know, and I’m not sure Iwantto know, not with one standing here before me.
“We do,” he says. “And what qualities might I share with the shadows?” His voice is smooth, calm in a way that’s almost addictive, and I curse myself for liking the sound of it as much as I do.
“You hide things,” I say, but other than that, I’m really not sure.I don’t know him well enough to be sure of anything.
“People fear what they don’t understand,” he says, his tone even. “And their prince commanding the shadows, connecting with darkness in such an intimate way…” He trails off, his lips tilting downward. “That is not something they will understand. And they certainly won’t want to understand the reason for why it’s there to begin with.”
He cocks his head slightly, his golden eyes darkening, his expression pulling into something I can’t quite read. Sadness? Pain?
My chest tightens, my defenses cracking under the weight of his words and the ache in his voice. What happened to him to make him feel this way?
“And what if I tell people?” I ask, although I don’t know why I did because I won’t. I’ll never tell a single soul, and I can’t say I understand exactly why that is, but I know it’s the truth, and with the way he’s looking at me, I know he knows it, too.
“If you feel that’s something you must do.” He says the words so plainly, as if he truly means them, but how could he when it would alter the way his future subjects will view him? When it’s somethinghehimself has chosen to conceal? “So you know the different types of Essentari that exist, but let’s go back to my original question. Do you know where the power comes from?”
I shake my head.
“It comes from the Ether.”
The Ether.He means…
“The core? You’re saying it comes from the core of the planet?”
He nods. “Eons ago, the six elements of the universe crashed together, forming the Ether—the core of Eleclestial—and producing an entire world around it. But the energies of those six elements don’t only exist in the Ether, they seeped into the land, the air, the water, and for some,” he gives me that stare again, the onethat makes me feel like he’s seeing into me,throughme, and I can feel my face heat, “the living beings of Eleclestial, granting them the ability to wield the elements themselves.”
“Seeped into the land?” I repeat, having more than a little trouble following him. “Intome?”
He nods.
