Origins (Book 4 of Alfireán age)

Questions

Drake leaned back against the grotto wall and crossed his arms as Alf finished his story. "So this Great Evil, where is it? And when are you to fight it?" he asked, trying to make sense of the information.

Alf shrugged while he shoved a piece of dripping sausage in his mouth. "I don't know," he mumbled between mouthfuls. "The only thing I do know," he said, waving his fork at them, "is that the seal holding him in is weakening, and God told Mr. Brockovich I would be there when it breaks."

Zaphaniea sighed exasperatedly as her wind sphere fizzled out with a sharp 'fzzt.' "So let me get this straight," she spat. "Some genetic, starved monster even the dragons couldn't beat is going to randomly show up and try to eat us for breakfast. And we're expected to defeat it? That's just peachy!" she grumbled, squinting her eyes while peering at her Zikaron's memory of the day. "And why are these stupid lessons so cotton-pickin' tedious?"

Rex chuckled as the sound of Alf scraping his plate echoed in the round room. "And I thought my relatives left me with a mess," he said, using his earth magic to lift a small sliver of the green floor.

Suddenly the ice crystal floating in front of Olivia blazed with light, casting shadows on the shifting waterfalls. "I'm sure we'll be able to deal with it when the time comes," Olivia reassured them, her troubled brown eyes reflecting the glow of the crystal. "What I'm more worried about is this serum you were injected with. Did Mr. Brockovich say what it does?"

Alf shook his head and shoved his empty plate into the medallion. "Not exactly," he answered, scrunching his nose. "But it's a lot easier to control my energy now. Watch." He raised his hand in excitement, and a marble-sized fireball sparked to life between his fingertips.

Rex whistled in admiration while Drakovian raised an eyebrow at the flawlessly controlled fireball. "Is that the same thing you tried yesterday?"

Alf nodded, grinning in triumph.

"At least one of us is improving," Zaphaniea muttered as she attempted to form a wind sphere yet again.

"Interesting," Drake said, ignoring the pouting redhead and rubbing his chin. "That is quite the improvement, especially considering how you nearly set the throne room on fire yesterday."

"Yeah," Rex added. "You nearly blew us all up." So saying, he stared intently at the chunk of earth in his hand and it slowly morphed into a toothpick.

"Hey! Maybe now you won't end up blowing your arm and legs off like you did in my visions," Zaphaniea mocked.

Alf rubbed the back of his head and laughed awkwardly. Lowering his hand, he cut the energy flowing into the red sphere, letting it fade away.

"Ha, finally!" Zaphaniea whooped as her wind sphere spun above the emerald grotto floor. Then glancing around, she spotted the toothpick in Rex's hands. With a mischievous grin, she reached out and snatched it from his fingers.

"Hey!" he shouted in protest. "That was mine."

"Was yours," Zaphaniea purred in satisfaction. "Now it's mine." With a theatrical flair, she dropped the toothpick into the swirling ball of wind.

For a brief moment, the magical winds held the toothpick aloft. Then the toothpick spun out and stabbed Zaphaniea in the leg.

Rex burst into laughter. "Ha, serves you right, toothpick thief," he huffed, then pushed his short brown hair behind his ear and pulled another sliver of earth from the grotto floor.

"Humph," Zaphaniea rubbed her leg and scowled. Retrieving the fallen toothpick, she reshaped it into a ball and once again dropped it into her sphere. As the ball plummeted through the wind and bounced off the floor, Drake felt a cold drop of water splash onto his neck and run down his back.