The Elemental Sisters: Spirit

"We should have a meeting with your sisters and my men." I told Akasha as the door to the throne room closed behind us. "Yeah, we need to strategize before your brother gets involved. No offense, but he doesn't seem like the type to be trained in battle."

"He's not, my father is sending him for appearances. He wants the kingdom to see him as the future King and respect him. If they see him go to battle and come back alive, it will help him gain favor from the people. My father knows he is not their first choice for a successor."

"I know, because he is not a logical choice." Akasha frowned.

We saw Bram and Ward guarding the sister's suite doors when we turned the corner.

"Prince Tyr, Akasha, it's good to see you." Ward smiled when we approached.

Akasha smiled and looked at Bram. "How are you feeling?"

"All healed." He smiled.

"Why do you look so angry?" Ward asked me.

"I need you to gather my men. We need to have a meeting, Get Frey, Ezryn and Mohan and meet us back here." I told him, and he nodded.

"Also, Taoen and Evander," Akasha added, before looking at me, "They will be coming with us and should know our plans."

I nodded as Ward went to go find my men and entered the room.

Huricana and Sunama, who were sitting on the couch, got up and rushed towards Akasha.

"Is it true that you saw mother?" Sunama asked.

"Yes, but she couldn't stay." Akasha replied.

"So Taoen is our big bro?" Huricana laughed. "I knew it."

"How?" I asked curiously.

"I have my ways." She smiled as she sat down on the couch, Sunama sitting down beside her. Gia was reading a book and Ari was writing in hers.

"So why are you guys so on edge?" Gia asked without looking up from her pages.

"I will tell you as soon as everyone has arrived." Akasha shared.

"This is going to be good." Ari frowned, looking up at me.

"King's orders." I put in angrily.

I sat down on the floor by Ari's feet; she put her book down and played with my hair braiding into one long braid before throwing it over my shoulder.

Tyr Sat down at in the chair, there was a knock at the door and my men filed in taking up various spots around the room.

"So why did you call all of us here, and why are Taoen and Evander here?" Ezryn asked, eyeing up Taoen and Evander.

"Taoen is my half brother, my mother trusts them both, and so I do as well." Akasha stated.

"How can you know who a dead woman would trust?" He asked skeptically.

She stared at him blankly, like it was a stupid question.

"Her element is spirit." Sunama rolled her eyes, like it explained everything.

"So why are we here?" Mohan asked.

"The King has ordered us to go after the Drow, he will not help the sisters with their army unless they dealt with the Drow first. He wants us to leave tomorrow morning." I informed them. "Akasha is still injured." Ari put in angrily, "How can he order us to go before she has healed?"

"He won't listen to reason, and that's not all." I paused, not wanting to tell them we would have to babysit my worthless brother.

"What is it?" Frey inquired as he sat on the back of Ari's chair.

"Prince Uda is coming with us, and we are supposed to protect him." Akasha shared for me.

"Your Kidding?" Mohan laughed, "He has never held a blade and has no battle experience. Why the fuck would he send him?"

"To make him look good in front of the Kingdom." Evander shared, "We all know that he is King Halamar's choice of successor even though he is the wrong choice, he wants him to earn favor from the people." I nodded, "I called you here so we can come up with a battle plan before we head out tomorrow."

"So, what is the plan?" Gia asked, finally putting her book down and looking at me.

"Ward and Bram, I want you to protect my brother. If he doesn't return, it will be a death sentence for all of us."

Ward and Bram frowned, but nodded.

"The Drow are sweeping across the kingdom towards us so we will face them head on." Tyr shared grabbing a map from the shelf in the corner he laid it out on the table."

Evander walked over, "from yesterday's reports, the Drow are currently here." He shared, pointing to a forested region about a day's ride away.

I nodded, looking at the surrounding areas, "If we can draw them here." I paused, pointing to an open area on a hill overlooking the landscape, "we would have higher ground and have the advantage against them." "How will we draw them out?" Ari asked, a spark of orange in her eyes.

"You and Frey are going to sneak past their camp and start a fire at the back, so when they flee, they will run where we want them to."

Ari smiled, "Can't wait."

Gia frowned, "There will be a lot of damage to the surrounding area."

"You can always heal the earth after." Huricana reminded her, and she nodded but still looked unhappy.

"So how many men are we going to have waiting? The latest intel says there are around a thousand in their army."

"Our army has around eight hundred men and that is if my father sends all of them." I informed them. "So, they will outnumber us."

"But we have Taoen and the Elemental sisters." Mohan smiled.

"We should separate the sisters and have one in each section of the army." Taoen stated.

"No!" Akasha snapped.

"Why not?" Taoen asked.

"For one, Huricana and Sunama aren't even eighteen. They are under my care; besides our powers are meant to be used together. Separating us weakens us and having Ari going on enemy grounds is bad enough."

"But it would give the army a better advantage." Taoen pointed out.

Akasha grimaced and stood, walking over to him, "We are able to combine our powers to make more powerful attacks so instead of fighting with just fire for example we could combine abilities to create fog to blind enemies or lightning we can't do that if we are separated."

"You can do that?" Taoen asked, confused.

"Yes. As long as you know which elements to combine, there is a lot we could do, it's just a matter of control and practice."

"My personal favorite is sink holes." Gia smiled as Sunama gave her a high-five.

I smiled, "You just gave me an idea. If we can prevent them from attacking and delay the fire in the camp, we can get you and Sunama to lay a trap to help even the numbers."

"I think that is a good idea." Akasha agreed.

We spent the day planning and working out our plan to defeat the Drow. Tyr had food ordered and brought to the room for dinner and once we worked out the strategy, everyone left, aside from the sisters, Frey and me.

Akasha yawned, "it's getting late, and we have to leave in the morning. We should get some rest."

She stood to head to her room, and I stopped her, and turned to Frey, "Can you stay with the sisters tonight?"

Frey nodded and grinned. I grabbed Akasha's hand and led her from the room.

"Where are we going?" She asked when we passed Bram and Ward, at their guard positions, closed the doors behind us.