“I would, but I can’t exactly get a moment alone with the fire, now, can I? We’re trying to be discreet,” Kai hissed back.
Jade snorted. “Since when are you discreet? Just do it and make them forget like you did the crew.”
“Are my ears deceiving me, or did you just suggest I actually manipulate their minds?” Kai’s eyes widened in feigned horror, her jaw dropping.
Jade looked to the skies and pursed her lips, as if trying to hold her tongue. Kai laughed. “I’m just kidding, but I would rather not have to get inside every single mind of each person here,” Kai said. “It’s far too much work. But I think I can help.”
She led Jade behind a copse of trees, out of sight from any bystanders. Kneeling, Kai pressed her palms into the earth and sent a rush of power from the tips of her fingers out through the ground, snaking tendrils of water over grass and sticks until they reached the huge hole by the caves. If anyone had been looking too closely, they might have been curious about the little rivulets seeming to come from nowhere, but nobody was paying the ground any attention. When Kai’s water blended with the river water being thrown on the fire, its raging began to lessen.
“It should die down soon,” Kai said, standing and wiping the dirt from her hands.
Jade nodded. “Now we just need to find him. It’s been what, almost a week? Aidan could be anywhere by now. He could be on a ship to Evonlea, for all we know.” Jade let a rush of air out through her mouth. Walking around a foreign land aimlessly with sweaty backs and growling stomachs was not how they wanted to spend their day. They didn’t have any leads, and Kai didn’t think they’d be as lucky as they were in Callum’s Port to hitch a ride all the way to Evonlea.
Something in the trees off to the right caught Kai’s eye. It was hard to see through the gray haze, so she squinted and took a step forward. The smoke was thick and heavy, and the wind made it sway ominously, fading in and out so that it was hard to distinguish what was real—but she thought she saw a man. As the smoke danced, it revealed a tall figure dressed in all black, with hair as light as the sands on Iona’s shore. Kai could barely see a face, but she could’ve sworn the figure cocked its head to the side, looking directly at her.
“Kai, what’s that?” Jade touched her arm and pointed at their feet. Kai’s attention on the strange man shattered as she glanced over at Jade, then quickly back to where the man stood.
He was gone.
She shook her head and looked down to where Jade pointed, finding a small stream circling and lapping at her feet. She knelt and grazed a finger through the cool water, following the trail with her eyes as it headed north.
This was not her doing, but she had an inkling about where the water was coming from.
“Come on.” She stood and pointed to the stream, grabbing Jade’s arm. “I think we can find Aidan.”
“Wha—how in theworldcan it do that?” Jade ogled the water incredulously. Kai smiled and gave a little shrug. Internally, though, she was full of apprehension. She often tried to hide her uncertainty behind a mask of confident nonchalance, and this time was no different. She didn’t want Jade to see how much this affected her. The water had only ever led her somewhere she needed to go once, and as before, it seemed like it was now going to help her find the fire elemental.
The last time she had followed the water had been about eleven hundred years ago, at the start of the war when humans on Iona had begun to turn from the elementals and sought to destroy those who still held allegiance to them. That had been a dark time in the kingdom. While the elementals may have led with pride and ego, they never led with violence of their own. It would have been a slaughter if Kai and the others had ever used their powers to fight. Instead, they had sat back as humans fought for and against them. Kai wasn’t sure anymore which was worse, but the elementals had made a pact back then never to raise their own hand to a human.
However, it had all become too much for Aidan. He’d always wanted to be the protector, to control the situation and make sure his people were safe. But then, the people started fighting against one another, shedding innocent blood, all because some wanted to see the elementals in power while others wanted freedom from an immortal reign. The fire burning so brightly in his heart had consumed him, making him lash out aggressively. The day her water led her to him was the day he had reached his breaking point.
That day, it had looked as it did this time: a trickle of water creating a path that carried her deep into the trees on Iona. When she’d reached the end, she had found Aidan towering over a mass of rebel humans, flames engulfing his ebony skin and pure rage blazing in his eyes.
She would never forget the sight of the men, women, and children cowering, saying prayers to nameless gods that would never answer, waiting for their last moment. He’d been so close to killing those people. She had cried his name and quickly doused the flames that were readying to converge on the humans. It had taken weeks for the wrath to subside and for the real Aidan to come back to her.
While it defied all logic, her water was drawn to his flames and led her to him when he needed her most.
They followed the slow trickle north for a few miles as the sun reached its highest peak of the day. Even though the two walked under the shade of trees most of the way, they still sweated through their tunics.
“You know,” Kai panted, “it would be helpful if you could do some of your earth magic to get us there faster.”
“And how do you suggest that would even work?”
“I don’t know, just make it—move, or something,” Kai laughed between breaths, waving her tired hands in the air.
Jade looked at her and chuckled. “You can’t always take the easy way out. Why don’tyoucool us off, oh great and mighty sea goddess?”
Kai grinned as she flicked her fingers at Jade and sent a spray of water across her face. Jade gasped and laughed, shaking it from her brown hair.
They continued through the forested area north of the River Isles in silence, too exhausted to work up a conversation. What little comfort the shady trees brought them was lost as the ground turned into dirt roads and flat land. Soon, however, they entered a town square of sorts, with little shops lining the streets and families going about their daily routines. The water finally stopped, pooling around the door to a pub. The sign out front read “Cane’s Crossing.”
“At least he had the sense to pick someplace with food,” Jade remarked. “I’m starving.”
Kai chewed her bottom lip nervously. She hadn’t seen Aidan in centuries, of course, even though for her it only felt like several days. She could still picture the hateful, scorching look in his eyes on that day so long ago.
Jade pushed open the door and they stepped into a dingy, dimly lit bar. As it was the middle of the day, very few patrons sat around. The smell of old ale and some sort of cooking meat hit their nostrils. They spotted the barkeep cleaning tables with a dirty rag and a small group of men eating stew and talking in low voices.
And there, in the furthest corner, was a man cloaked in shadows. Kai could barely see him, but couldn’t mistake the lingering scent of smoke and honey. It sent a shiver down her spine, causing heat to pool in her belly.
