The Elementalists

Chapter 25

Rai

Time freezes.

Every thought dissolves into dust.

Eldred. Eldred.

How—could—he—?

'ELDRED?'

Kass screams Eldred's name before I can do a thing to stop him. His emotions displayed for the world to see. Shock. Hurt. Betrayal.

For him to see.

Eldred swivels on the spot, his mouth opening a fraction. The moment he spots us, his eyebrows rise so high they disappear into his grizzled hair.

'Damn.'

Meanwhile, Fina stares. At the body of her lover, her protector, as he bleeds at her feet. A hole blinking like a third eye through his brain.

A noise erupts from her lips. A sound I won't forget 'til the day I die. It's all the agony and horror of the world condensed into one throat-shredding shriek that sears a wound into my memory forever.

The golden lights flicker and die. The fire snuffed out in one chilling breath. Leaving behind nothing but darkness. 

'I'll kill you for this.'

There's a crack. And a spark. Through the black, a sizzling, pulsating sphere illuminates Fina's face. It grows between her hands, white at first, then deepening to a rich, electric yellow. The surface is fluid, moving and flowing—orange tendrils fizz out in all directions, until the sphere bursts into two expanding orbs, currents crackling on her fingertips.

'Oh hell.' Eldred dives to the ground.

Suddenly, light is everywhere. The plasma spheres explode, showering the cave in sparks that bounce off the walls and burst into flames. Fina steps forwards and the spheres flow with her, ravenous beasts intent on engulfing everything in their path. She glows, hair standing on end—it's impossible to tell where her hair ends and the sparks begin—and with a simple click, a bolt shoots from her index finger into a stalactite above Eldred's head.

It collapses in an avalanche of rocks, missing Eldred by inches.

The plasma is Fina's fury come to life. It knows no bounds, and the louder she screams, the brighter and stronger it flares, consuming everything. . . I watch as Hayden catches alight, his black curls sparking instantly. Together, for the last time, they blaze.

A sob escapes my lips. My hands are shaking, and with a jolt, I realise that Kass is trying to pull away from me. I lock my arms around his chest, fighting, tugging him as hard as I can away from the cave, tripping over his feet in my desperation to escape.

He's yelling at the top of his voice, but my ears are numb. It doesn't make sense. None of it.

'Do you want to get burnt to death?' I roar instead.

'I DON'T CARE,' he screams back.

I shake him, and he shouts louder. But I keep shaking, and shaking, locked in this useless battle until finally his body sags against mine, his forehead drooping onto my shoulder.

'I don't care,' he repeats, this time in a broken whisper. 'We have to help her. We have to.'

Inside the cave, Fina prowls. There's an almighty flash of light and we turn back, glued to the spot in terror.

'Face me, you coward,' she shrieks, blasting another pillar to ashes. 'You can't dodge me forever.'

'You think I'm hiding from you, child?' Eldred's voice, followed by a laugh, echoes from wall to wall. 'You can't hurt me. You are mine, remember.'