Children of the Elementi (12 page)

“What did the Omnax have?” Kiera interrupted.

“Spirit. While the crystals focus our power, the Omnax family can focus the combined power of everyone. Even our domains reflected the crystal structure. My family had the highlands, yours, the fertile plains; Firelli ruled the desert people and the Aquels, the islands and coastal regions.”

“I don’t understand why you didn’t come looking for me before now?”

“I had to wait for the High-King to activate his power. Without him, I wouldn’t be able to find you. You could have been anywhere in the universe, in any universe! You were sent a hundred years in the future to keep you safe. My great-grandmother had to stay behind to keep the Matrix working. It needs an Elementi mind in contact at all times to stay alive.”

“Right, so that means you’ve already found the Omnax king or queen?”

“High-King.” Mirim corrected her. “Yes, but he doesn’t want anything to do with us.”

Mirim’s face twisted with frustration.

“It’s his heritage! He thinks it is not his problem. It is his problem. While he lives, the Emperor must die. There can only be one person with that power and Aras is not the true heir. To live, Aras must send someone to kill him. I can't do it all alone. I need help. Will you help me?”

“One more question, how come I can understand you? Surely if you are from another world you would be speaking another language?”

Mirim rubbed her forehead. She didn't have time for this!

“When we were children, although we can’t remember it, we were given our crystals to touch. At the same time we were introduced to the Matrix. Our minds were keyed to the Matrix mind as heirs. Our language would have passed to you in that instant. Take a look at the skin between your thumb and index finger.”

Kiera opened her left hand.

“No, sorry, I meant the other one.” Mirim said.

Examining the skin, Kiera saw a pale section of skin she had not noticed before.

“That happens when people are keyed into the Matrix. The pigmentation is somehow corrupted. No matter how tanned you get, you will always have a pale shaped circle there.” Mirim explained.

Kiera sat back thoughtful. There was nothing keeping her here. She planned to start a new life anyway. This was a new world Mirim was promising!

Decision made, Kiera replied “Yes, I think I will. Where do I sign up?”

Relieved, Mirim stood up. “It’s better if you stand up. The odds of teleporting to another seat are small. I fell over several times as a child when I tried that. I soon learned to stand!” As with Jake she showed Kiera how to access the Matrix. Together they ‘ported to Jake’s home.

They appeared by the same tree Mirim had rested against earlier. Mirim leant against Kiera.

“Are you all right?” Kiera asked.

“Yes” Mirim smiled weakly. “I just get really nauseous when I teleport.”

Kiera touched Mirim on the arm and concentrated, “Better?”

Mirim stood up straight, shaking her head experimentally.

“I wish you were around earlier!”

“Which house is the one from the Omnax family?” asked Kiera looking around.

“His name is Jake, Kiera.”

“What’s he like?”

“He’s clever. I picked that up from the meld.” Mirim pointed at the intercom.

“Do you know how to use that box?”

“Sure.” Kiera reached out to the box and pressed the button. It crackled for a moment and an impatient voice answered.

“Well, who is it?” A male voice barked.

Kiera raised an eyebrow. “Charming man.”

Pressing the button again, Kiera replied “We’d like to speak to Jake please.”

Nothing happened for a little while. Kiera was just about to try again. Maybe he hadn’t heard her? They heard a door close. Jake ambled towards them, hands in pockets, hood raised to keep the chill off.

“Mirim, you found her!” he called from halfway down the path.

“Yes, her name is Kiera. Have you changed your mind?” Mirim called back.

“Not really. I suppose I could help you find the other elements though. It’s Fire and Water next isn’t it?”

“Have you tried searching for them yet on your own?” Kiera asked.

Jake laughed ruefully as he drew close.

“Well actually I did. I sensed some fire activity about half an hour ago but however hard I try, I can’t sense any water. Could she be hiding near water?” Jake asked Mirim.

“Possibly, maybe if we search for the fire first we can use all our combined energy to find the water king.”

Kiera looked confused. “You know water is a boy?”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?” They both shook their heads. “Oh, my great-grandmother recorded the names of the children they sent away. You were all imprinted on the Matrix. That is why it is so easy to connect to it.

“You all have different Elementi names. Jake,” she pointed at the boy. “Your real name is Malo Omnax. Your mother named you after your father. Kiera,” she pointed at the girl “you are Lessa Terill. The others are Dinar Firelli, a boy’s name and Shey Aquel. Which could be a boy or girl’s name, but is likely to be boy.”

“Do you all want to come in?” Jake asked, rubbing his arms. “It’s getting cold out here.”

Mirim and Kiera nodded together. Noticing Kiera’s backpack, Jake asked Mirim, “Didn’t you bring any bags?”

Mirim looked embarrassed, “I didn’t expect to be here that long.” Jake shrugged and led the way up to the house.

“We’ll have to be quiet,” he said opening the front door. “Ben, my uncle, is back and he gets short-tempered at night.”

Quietly they crept past the living room and up the two flights of stairs to Jake’s room. Kiera didn’t know what she would expect from the room of the next High-King but this was not it. Her eyes roamed the room.

On the left she identified a computer buried under piles of paper. Wading through the dirty clothes on the floor she perched on the end of the unmade bed. A TV was on in the corner - just visible over the frame of a bike. How?’

Following her gaze, Jake saw the bike. “Oh, they won’t let me keep it downstairs overnight. I have to leave it outside or I bring it up here.”

Mirim shook her head. “Can you turn that noise down?”

“Sure.” Jake clambered over the bed.

“Wait!” Jake and Mirim turned to stare at Kiera, “What?”

“Listen! What they are saying on the news – look at that!”

‘Reports have come in of a volcanic eruption on the small island of Vulcano in Italy. Five British tourists were killed among the hundreds reported dead. Experts say they are baffled by the eruption. The last recorded eruption was in 1890. There were no warning signs.

It ended as mysteriously as it started. Experts are predicting no further eruptions in the immediate future. Evacuations are taking place as a precaution. If anyone has any friends or relatives in the area, the Foreign and Commonwealth Service has set up a phone line...’

“That was me! I stopped that volcano!” Kiera said. “I felt a tremor and suddenly I was there - inside the volcano. It was amazing.”

“That was about the time I felt the fire element used,” Jake interjected.

“The earthquake didn’t feel right. It was like someone had made it happen. It wasn’t natural.”

Mirim brushed her gold hair out of her eyes. Could Dinar Firelli have gone bad? The thought was too terrible to even think of. Who knew what kind of life he grew up with here? The fire element was the most volatile and the family tended to follow the pattern... but to cause a volcano? She had never heard of the family going that far.

Kiera and Jake looked at Mirim expectantly. Mirim sighed, “We have to find him and find out what happened. If he’s gone mad we will have to stop him, somehow. If we can get him to the Citadel, maybe we can do something for him.”

“Jake, do you have a map?”

“Sure.” His voice sounded puzzled. He crossed over to where his computer desk stood. Reaching up to the shelves he pulled a large atlas out of its place. He moved towards the bed, kicking a pair of jeans as he offered it to Mirim. Mirim took it and flicked through it to find what she needed. The open page showed the entire globe flattened out. She motioned the other two to kneel beside her.

“Jake, get out your crystal and concentrate on what you felt when the volcano happened. Hang the crystal over the page. It should pull you to where he is. We’ll help you.”

Jake pulled the crystal from behind his t-shirt. It was glowing slightly, seemingly in anticipation. Placing it over the book, he channeled his awareness through the crystal. He felt Kiera and Mirim’s consciousnesses join his own, in a small pyramid of power with his own mind the apex.

The crystal weaved across the page as if looking for where to go. As it hovered over the channel, he got a brief flash of water. Jake shook his head. Mirim’s thought reached him, Concentrate! Moving the crystal over the water on the map, he felt the crystal motion change to a circular motion. “He’s over the water. He’s in the shape of a... bird?”

They could all see it now. It was a bird of prey with red and gold feathers. As they watched, it turned its head as if it sensed their attention. Jake could hear Mirim gasp behind him. The bird ignored them and flew faster. Their vision kept pace and they saw it begin to writhe in the air. It was fighting something! The air around it shimmered and shone a brilliant white. A moment later and it was gone. There was nothing but the grey sky and sea.

The vision faded away, and all three collapsed on the floor with cramp.

“Next time we do this, I vote we sit in chairs,” Kiera grumbled. She grabbed her crystal and healed herself first before hovering her hands over the other’s calves.

Mirim didn’t reply, deep in thought. Something wasn’t right. She’d felt the energy ripples which only happened when teleporting through to another dimension. He couldn’t travel on his own. Aras must have found a way to grab him.

She reached out to the Matrix. Deep in the Citadel the yellow crystals lit up as she connected. He hadn’t used the power of the Citadel. He must have been taken! But to where? She entered the coordinates into the Matrix. Tracing the trail from Earth it led direct to Eleria. She gasped as she saw the final destination. Not only did he go to Eleria but the coordinates led right back to the old Elementi castle!

Mirim withdrew smoothly back into her body. Jake had said he couldn’t even get a glimmer of the water element. His power should be strong enough now that he should at least feel something. What if the heir never arrived on Earth? Her mother had said the power had failed on the last transfer. Their checks would have shown that he or she would not have been on Eleria at the time, but what if she were sent to the future Eleria - the Eleria of now? She had to get Jake and Kiera back. The other elements were back there now and for good or for worse she needed to reunite the powers - even if she had to lie. Decision made she turned to address Jake.

“I know you don’t want to leave your life here, but why not come back with us, just for a visit? As soon as we find the others, we can send you back.”

Jake nursed his ankle. Why not? It wouldn’t take long. Hadn’t they found Kiera in a day?

“OK.”

Mirim waved her arm to grab their attention. “We all need to connect to the Matrix. Teleporting to another dimension is not like teleporting across the road. We need to really concentrate. That said, with the three of us we will have enough combined energy to create a portal.

“Jake, you need to take the lead. You go first, next Kiera and I’ll take up the rear.” Jake nodded. All three took out their crystals and enclosed them in their left hands. Following Mirim’s lead, Jake took Kiera’s left hand and Kiera took hold of Mirim’s free hand.

Linked within a circle, all three concentrated on their crystals. Jake moved his awareness into the center of the circle. Spots of light danced between them creating a ball of light suspended several feet off the ground. Kiera joined Jake and the globe grew to almost fill the space between them. Mirim could make out the outline of the control room through the light. Lastly Mirim joined them, falling into the now familiar meld with ease. The light increased, covering the trio and imploded.

Karl climbed the tree grumbling under his breath. He hated climbing. His clothes were filthy and the rain was trickling down his cuffs soaking his sleeves. He’d called Jake three times since the beach. Each time it had gone straight to voicemail. Something was wrong.

Reaching out to the red slates his hand slipped on the wet tiles. His heart skipped a beat as he steadied himself against the old oak tree again. Breathing slowly through his nose and mouth, he made himself concentrate. He could hear voices floating down from Jake’s room.

If only Ben would let him through the front door! Karl grunted as he grabbed hold of the guttering and swung himself up on to the sloping roof. He’d only scratched his car once and it was an accident! Karl ground his teeth at the memory.

The window sill was only an arm’s length away and he was able to pull himself closer. His jaw dropped as he watched Jake and two figures through the streaming window. They were holding hands and a bright light formed between them. The light grew larger obscuring the figures from view.

Karl yanked the window open and jumped inside, He threw himself at the light to help his friend.

CHAPTER ELEVEN: ELERIA

It had taken Shenella more than an hour to get away from the emperor’s apartment. The First Adviser’s arrival with urgent business had interrupted them. Luckily, Aras had invited her to sit with him in the outer room. The First Adviser would never have dared enter the Emperor’s inner chamber. Under the First Adviser’s severe gaze she had backed away and slipped into the corridor while they were talking about her.

Leaving the room Shenella considered Aras’s strange behavior. Marta must have done something to him - it was the only explanation. For the entire hour, Aras had stared soulfully into her eyes protesting that he was sorry. He wouldn’t say for what, but she guessed. There was only one thing he would be sorry for. But why now? He had never shown any signs of remorse before - in the two years she had lived here.