49
“You see, Abbie, the elementals live in cycles,” said Celeste. “There are always four at a time, and when they all die, four more are born. And no one knows this better than our dear Ariadne.” She gestured at the seething elf. “You see, when Ariadne was young, the elves found out about the elementals, who to them were a purely human and ultimately mysterious source of power. The elven government sent Ariadne to this world to find the elementals and train them, turning them into weapons that the elves could use against Goldie.
“Ariadne found and trained the first group of elementals. But I don’t think she watched them carefully enough, because Goldie hunted down and killed them all.” Celeste chuckled, as if this were funny. “After that happened, the elves decided that Ariadne wasn’t wo
