The Elemental Sisters: Spirit

While the camp was being cleaned up, I made sure my brother's restraints were secure before heading over and climbing up the wall looking down at the men inside.

They looked uneasy; I tried reading their minds, but mostly just got their emotions. Feelings of regret, fear, and hatred but not for me, for my brother, and worry for their families consumed me. They didn't seem to be worried about the conditions they found themselves in at all.

"Can you get Huricana please?" I asked one of my guards when I noticed the men inside the wall were standing in a foot of muddy water. The guard nodded and walked away.

Why would my brother try to kill me? He was already named future King. I was furious that this betrayal had happened, mostly because I didn't see it coming.

I dropped a bag of my brother's provisions down to them and a few canteens of water. I couldn't be angry with them because they were only trying to protect their loved ones, anyone in their position would do the same.

I climbed back down as Huricana walked up to me.

"You asked for me?" She asked, confused.

"Can you dry up inside the wall? The men are standing in a foot of water?"

"Sure can."

"Thank you." I told her as she smiled as she headed to the ladder and climbed up.

I sighed, feeling exhausted, and headed over to the fire. Gia was sitting beside the flames, her feet were still stone, but her legs had returned to normal.

"How often does that happen?" I asked her, gesturing to her legs.

"This is the second time, last time, I was a child and didn't have control over my abilities. I overused my abilities by accident, and this is what happened. Today I overused them again, only it was on purpose I knew what I was doing and the consequences."

"It's an inconvenience in a battle, don't you think?"

"I agree, just like Akasha losing her vision, we all have our consequences, even the most powerful beings have weaknesses and have rules they must follow. If they break the rules, there are consequences, that's the way magic works. It all comes with a price."

"Where is Akasha?" I asked, looking around, I hadn't seen her in a while.

"Not sure, haven't seen her." She replied, looking around. "Ari is gone as well." "I'll go find them."

Gia nodded as she leaned to her side and grabbed a stick, throwing it into the fire.

I got up and headed deeper into the camp looking for them; it did not take long. Ari and Akasha were by the wall talking, although the more I listened, the more it sounded like an argument.

"I don't think we should go back to the Elf Kingdom." Ari stated stubbornly. "We should split up and go and seek out our allies' aid."

"We are not splitting up. We had to prove who we were to the elves. The others will probably do the same, it's better if we stick together. Besides, the Elves may need our help still, why should we abandon them?" "Because Prince Uda is too stupid to set this up on his own, that's why."

"So, what does that have to do with the kingdom?"

"He is probably working with the Drow, and he probably arranged for the King to be taken out as well because he wants to be King."

"We won't know the truth unless we go there." Akasha pointed out. "Why would he take out the King when he is already the named heir?"

"We could be walking into a trap if the Drow have taken over the city. Who knows what traps they have set up?" Ari pointed out, ignoring her comment.

Not sure if I should, I walked over to join them, "We will have to return either way, Prince Uda needs to be dealt with and we have to find out what happened to the Drow army they couldn't have just up and disappeared." I interjected. "I doubt my brother would have planned an attack on the king. He is already named heir." I told her, repeating Akasha's words.

"Eavesdropper." Ari grumbled as she crossed her arms.

"I was trying to explain to Ari that we shouldn't split up and should go back to the kingdom and figure things out from there." Akasha informed me.

"Split up, why?" I asked, curious.

"To get allies to join our army so we can stop the goblins, if we split up, we can build the army faster, who knows what they are doing right now, if they turn our allies against us, we won't have any hope in stopping them." Ari fumed. "Our powers work better when we are together, who knows what kinds of consequences there will be if we split up?"

"So, we will limit the use of our powers, simple."

"Ari does have a valid point, but right now we need to wait for the scouts to return once we get back to the kingdom and deal with Prince Uda, we can figure the rest out."

"What do you mean, she has a point?" Akasha snapped at me. "My sisters and I are not splitting up." Akasha declared, crossing her arms stubbornly, "It's my job to protect them and I say no. That's all I have to say on the matter."

Ari's eyes turned orange with her power, "You can't boss us around. We are not children anymore!" she yelled as flames shot from her eyes and hit Akasha on the shoulder.

"When our parents died, it fell onto me to watch out for and protect you. I am the oldest and I refuse to have our younger siblings put themselves in danger to seek other's help. We will get their help, but we will get it my way." Akasha retorted in an eerily low voice. Her eyes had turned grey and the air surrounding her seemed to shimmer.

"You can't control us forever." Ari yelled as her body burst into flames. Anger radiated off of both of them in waves.

"Can we talk about this when you have calmed down?" I asked them, concerned they may destroy what remained of the camp.

"This conversation is over." Akasha and Ari spat in unison. Ari angrily turned and stormed off once she was away from the camp, I heard a yell of frustration as a burst of fire surrounded her and was gone.

"Did she blow up?" I asked, looking in her direction.

"No, she just needed to expel the pent-up energy, at least this time she was able to control it to some degree." Akasha mumbled as she looked at the spot on her arm that was now blistering. "Prince Tyr," I heard Ezryn yell.

"Over here." I yelled out, moving to see where he was. Seeing him, I waved him over. "What's up?"

Ezryn walked over, "Mohan and Bram have returned."

I nodded, "Come on, let's see what they have to say." I told Akasha.

We headed over to the fire where Mohan and Bram were waiting. Gia was talking with them, her feet now completely normal.

When I walked closer, they quieted, "Well?" I asked them. "Did you find the Drow army?"

They shook their heads, "We did not find them. There was nothing." Mohan shared in disbelief.

"We will head back tomorrow and report it to the King." I informed them.

"Why would he send us, if there was no army to fight?" Gia asked suspicious.

"Maybe the scouts were lying to him as well." I thought aloud what a mess this has turned out to be. What the hell was going on?

"What about the army?" Mohan asked, nodding towards the wall Gia had created.

"We will talk to them. Hopefully, they will listen to reason. My brother remains tied until we return to my father."

"Will the army listen to you?" Ari asked.

"The army was loyal to me, the only reason they strayed was because their families were threatened. If they believe their families are safe, I am sure they will cooperate."

"While you are dealing with the traitors, I will start supper." Gia stated, getting up and heading into the forest."

"Can you promise them the safety of their families? We don't know where they are." Ari pointed out.

"I'll speak to them and see what information they are willing to give, hopefully it will be something I can promise."

"If not, you will have to persuade them to work with us."

I always thought I had the army on my side, but all it took was one threat to turn soldiers I believed to be loyal against me, even if I got them to work with us, are they men I could trust?