Embrace the Dark

25

The crowd surged forward in anticipation and I was shuffled along too, anxious to see whatever they were about to do to gain magic. As I watched, the leader nodded at some of the other masked figures, who yanked off the cloth. Underneath it was four cages, and inside them were elementals—one of each type. They were in bad shape too, the fire elemental’s flames dim, the water elemental’s body too thin, the earth elemental’s rock body partly smashed, and the air elemental little more than a wisp. I couldn’t help but gasp in horror at the sight, and quickly covered my mouth. Something terrible was about to happen. I needed to stop it, but I had to know what they were doing too. “Do we have a volunteer?” the leader asked.

Dozens of people raised their hands, and she chose a young woman with red hair who wasn’t wearing a mask, then asked her, “What type of magic would you like? Earth, air, fire, or water?”

The redhead glanced between the elementals with excitement in her eyes. “I think… air. Yes, air.”

“A fine choice.” The leader stepped toward the cage with the air elemental, who floated backward as she approached, but there was nowhere to go. "Step forward, initiate."

The redhead moved closer, and the leader took her hand, before reaching toward the elemental with her other one. Dark tendrils lashed out from her fingertips and sank into the air elemental’s chest, causing it to scream, a sound like a whirling tornado. It struggled and fought, but the iron cage kept it contained and unable to use its magic.

“No!” I yelled, rushing forward.

A strong hand clamped down on my arm, holding me back. I glanced over my shoulder and saw black hair. Varek.

"Don't do anything stupid," he hissed.

"I have to stop this!" It was my duty to protect those elementals from the humans, and vice versa. I couldn’t stand back and do nothing as they hurt it.

As I struggled to get closer, the leader’s dark tendrils yanked out something from inside the elemental, a swirling vortex of glowing yellow air, and shoved it into the redhead’s chest. The air elemental immediately dissipated, vanishing before our eyes as it passed away. A yellow glow surrounded the redhead for a brief second, before fading.

“You now have the powers of an air elemental,” the leader said. “Try them.”

The redhead looked uncertain, but she waved her hand and a breeze went through the room. The crowd erupted into a loud cheer, stomping and hollering, and the woman cracked a huge smile.

The leader gave her a nod. “You are one of us now. We will train you in how to use your new magic to defend humankind and take back the world.”

“Thank you,” the woman said, and another masked member led her away.

The leader gazed back at the crowd. “I need another volunteer.”

This time just about everyone’s hand raised. It made me sick. Did no one care that this was murder?

I wasn’t going to stand around and let this happen. It was time to end this meeting and free these elementals. I shrugged Varek’s hand off my arm and used my air magic to lift me up toward the ceiling, then used my newest elemental magic to spray water down on everyone, drenching the crowd. People screamed and looked up.

I yanked off my mask as I hovered over them. “What you’re doing is murder and I won’t let this continue! Free the elementals now!”

“It’s the Dragon spawn!” the leader yelled. “They’re here to stop us from gaining the power that should be ours, but we will not be stopped!”

She launched fire at me, and I stopped it with a blast of water magic. Erroh flew up next to me, while my other mates surged through the crowd toward the remaining cages. They knew what to do—freeing the elementals was our number one priority.

Most of the crowd screamed and fled in a panic, but many of the people on stage started fighting us back with their elemental magic. There was not enough space for Erroh or Carth to become dragons with so many people running around, so Erroh and I fought from the air, while my other three mates climbed the stage. Zain and Varek used fire and death magic to stop some of the cultists, while Carth ran to the first cage and freed the elementals.

It was total chaos in the warehouse. I didn’t want to hurt anyone in the crowd who wasn’t attacking us, but it was hard to know who had magic and who didn’t. I tried to go after the leader, but she’d vanished into the crowd at some point.

Soon the warehouse was empty except for the five of us, a few cultists we’d knocked out, and the freed elementals, who I immediately began healing as best I could. The Silver Guard showed up, hearing the commotion, but by then it was over. The leader and most of the cultists had fled, but at least the other three elementals were safe.

And now we knew why they were going missing.

Chapter Thirteen

T

he elementals were escorted back to the palace by the Silver Guard, where our staff began taking care of them immediately. The few cultists we captured were dragged off for interrogation, but I doubted they’d give us much information. Varek left to try and track down the Unseen’s leader, while the rest of us returned to our quarters in the palace.

As we entered our communal area, I slumped down on the sofa, feeling defeated. Yes, we’d rescued three of the elementals, but we’d failed to save the fourth, and everything I’d seen and heard tonight had left me shaken.

“I need to contact my parents and tell them we know why the elementals are going missing,” I said.

“I can’t believe the Unseen would go to these lengths,” Parin said, shaking his head. “It’s barbaric.”