“A man with feathers for brains would not use the word 'sentience,'” Water said.
Jath's head swiveled as he tried to follow the sound of the voices.
Many of the other lords got to their feet and started speaking. I winced at the sudden cacophony.
“Calm down, everyone,” Ranor said. “They are not like Death.” He waited a minute, then shouted, “Wraith Lords, shut the fuck up and sit down!”
The Wraith Lords shut the fuck up and sat down.
“General, if I may?” Air asked.
“Please,” Ranor said, his annoyance still present.
“Wraith Lords, I am the Consciousness of Air. The consciousness of the element and the magic. Which, in our view, are aspects of the same thing. I am pure energy, and I, along with my companions, have been with you for your entire lives. You wouldn't live without me.”
“Or me,” Water added. “They are sixty percent me.”
“They are more me,” Earth said. “Carbon-based lifeforms. Not water.”
“Carbon is not Earth,” Water said.
“It is a key component! And it is the basis of all life on this planet.”
“Oh, fuck off,” Fire said. “They'd all just be bags of meat without the spark of Fire. I make their hearts pump and their brains work. Their atomsfirebecause of me!”
“All right, let's not argue about who is the most important to existence,” Air said. “I'm merely trying to show them that we are a part of them. We're on their side.”
“We couldn't betray you even did we wish to,” Earth added. “We are united on this planet.”
“Death is like you, and he betrayed us,” someone said.
“No,” Air said. “Death is like Spirit. It is pure energy, but not an element. Not exactly. And its consciousness has bound itself to a physical entity. This union has gone against the natural order and altered the rebel consciousness. We have watched this happen, helping all of you fight it when we could. But we've decided that we can remain silent no longer. So, we offered to train Lord Ember.”
“And we'd like your support,” Water quickly added.
The room went silent.
“I've given my approval,” Ranor said. “But I want this to be unanimous.”
“How do we know they are who they say they are?” Lord Veker asked.
Suddenly Veker was lifted off his bench.
“No!” I shouted, reaching a hand out to him. “Not him!”
Veker was a Ladrin, and he, in particular, didn't like heights. He howled like an animal as Air held him aloft, and wriggled wildly to get free.
“Put him down!” I summoned Air to combat the consciousness. Which was insane, really.
But as soon as I did, Air set the wolf down. Veker was snarling and furious, sweat beading on his brow. His eyes were wild and the other lords at his table were on their feet as well, having stood to help him.
“My apologies,” Air said. “It was how I proved to Lord Ember that I am the element. I forgot you are afraid of heights, Lord Veker.”
Veker's eyes went wide. “I'm not afraid!”
“No, of course not,” Air hurried to say. “I misspoke. You're wary of heights. A rational wariness since you don't possess Air Magic.”
Veker grimaced. “How do you know my name?”
