The Arrival (Birthright Trilogy #1) (51 page)

I smirked, 'No, that’d be Kassie.'

Sian and Loi laughed hard as Kass clambered over the top of her bed to mine and walloped me with her pillow.

'But, it’s, true.' I protested between thumps and she gave in, laughing. Kass used her gift to extinguish the lamps and I was asleep with minutes.

Loi had a weird dream. She was in a vast swamp; the mud was thick and the stench strong. Her feet were firmly stuck and she wriggled hard to try to loosen them, but it seemed to make them more stuck. She reached down to pull one up, when a force grabbed her by the throat and squeezed tight.

I woke in an instant as I felt Loi’s silent scream.

'LAURA!' Kassie screamed.

'Cat, light!' roared Sian.

Something was seriously wrong and we felt it. The terror and the awful sensation of Loi weakening. I flared my energy out.

'HOLY HELL WHAT IS IT?'

Sian gaped at the creature that had Loi by the throat against the wall and then blasted it with her energy.

'Shit.' Her energy pinged off. 'It’s shielding!'

Noticing Nnelg cowering beside Audi, she yelled at him.

'Get Elena. Get everyone!'

The dragon vanished.

'Loi, get your shield up.' Kassie circled the creature warily, an expression of revulsion and fury on her face.

Loi focused hard as her vision begin to blacken, and visualized her energy expanding out, under the clawed grip. Relief washed through her as she managed to take a breath. The strange reptilian creature hissed in anger, and slammed her, again and again, against the wall as she struggled to keep her shield in place. The girls hurled bolt after bolt at the monster and Loi realized she could sense its shield weaken. It turned and hurled her to the floor.

I grabbed Loi by the arm and pulled her behind me, then Sian, Kassie, and I moved toward it. The freakiest looking thing I’d seen yet. Its head looked similar to a crocodile, with a long snout and jagged teeth, but its body was human-like in form. Covered in scaly skin, its hands were strange curled claws. It hissed at us then opened its mouth and spat. We jerked our shields up and the nasty brackish scum that splattered over them, dissolved away. I could feel the acidic properties in it and shuddered.

Kassie gave me a hard look then began to concentrate an intense wind tunnel, directly onto the creature. I knew what she wanted and focused my energy.

Fear streaked through Sabyn as he sprinted for the girls’ room with the other men. Nnelg had burst into their quarters, screaming that a koratil attacked Loi and the girls couldn’t stop it. They’d bolted from their quarters and met Elena and Yakov racing down the turret. As they reached the suite Elena extended a hand, and the doors wrenched open exposing the chaos within.

Kassie had it pinned against the wall, and Cat shot it with a bolt of fire. It shrieked as its shield dissipated, and there was a loud thud as it exploded, remnants splattering everywhere.

I stood, panting, and stared in shock at the remains strewn about.

My brain wasn’t up to making sense of this. Being wrenched from a deep and much needed sleep, then thrown into a sudden, intense fight, bewildered me. I didn’t know what to do. Sabyn pushed past Kassie, Sian, and I, and scooped Loi into his arms. It was then I realized her throat was bruised and bleeding. Elena hurried forward to attend to her and we were led away.

'Where are we going?'

Yakov looked at Cat, 'You are being moved to your official Quarters. It’s earlier than intended but your suite is in no state to be used now.'

He expected more questions but she just nodded and allowed Alek to lead her onward. After he saw the girls settled in, he headed to Elena’s suite.

'Are they okay?' she demanded as he entered.

'Yes, just in shock. Will Loi be okay?'

'Yes. All healed. She will be fine now.' She sunk onto the seat at her dressing table, her beautiful face creased with stress. 'How did this happen? It shouldn’t have been possible.'

He stood behind her, gently massaging her neck. 'I don’t know.'

He was silent as he thought through it all.

She’s very right, it shouldn’t have been possible.

Elena put a hand to her head and leaned back to look up at him her eyes troubled.

'Thank goodness we began training them immediately. If we had lost our Earth elemental…'

'Hush.' Yakov interrupted her, 'Don’t do the ‘ifs’ Ellie. There’s no point. They’re safe in their Quarters now and we can arrange for increased security.'

She nodded and stood, he pulled her close enfolding her into his arms.

'Should we cancel the ball?'

He shook his head. 'That’s not possible now, it’s too soon.'

'But what if she strikes again?'

'We won’t let her, we’ll have more troops in place and you’ll set up extra traps to warn us.'

She nodded against his chest, then sighed, the stress ebbing out of her. He felt her chuckle and looked down.

'What?'

'Do you think Nnelg spotted you?'

He laughed, 'I don’t think so, but that wee cretin nearly made my heart stop.'

She laughed with him, 'Certainly unexpected.'

Waking in a new suite was strange, and we didn’t get any time to explore. Elena woke us early and made it apparent that we had to treat this just like any other day. We stumbled about as we got ready, mumbling to each other, all of us too tired to talk. As I sat back on the bed I’d slept in and pulled my boots on, I had a look around.

This suite made the last one look tiny in comparison. The bathroom alone was almost as big as our previous suite. The room was divided into four and each bed was tucked into one of the corners. After a quick examination, I realized the walls could be extended, so that we each had our own room if we wanted. Complete with our own dressing table, armoire, and seating area. It was impressive, but I felt a little lost, not having the girls as close as normal. It was good that we were learning to link with our energy more and more. Then we still felt close to each other.

The guys escorted us to breakfast and led us to the library afterward. Elena was there with Yakov and the Lieutenants, all wore serious looks.

Elena greeted us then got straight into it.

'Last night was an unfortunate incident, that shouldn’t have been possible. The creature that attacked you was one of Jenviet’s, and we thought we had things in place to stop it.'

There was silence as we stared at each other. I knew I shouldn’t be shocked that she wanted to kill us, but we’d never even seen this woman. It felt strange to know that someone out there, truly wanted us dead.

As we had no questions Elena continued, 'We have ordered the return of the Centaur Cavalry, and the Lieutenants, along with selected members of the General Guard, will be moving to sleeping quarters on the second floor.'

She mustn’t have told the Lieutenants this yet as Rashid and Patel looked surprised but nodded. Iggy, however, turned a dark red.

'What? That’s ridiculous. I can’t possibly.'

Elena cut him off with a sharp look, 'It is necessary, Ignatius.'

Undaunted he went on, 'But these Elementals are supposed to be protecting the heir. It is not our responsibility to protect them. What’s wrong with them that they are so weak?'

Yakov glared at Alek and Daron when they both shifted in their seats at Iggy’s outburst.

Stay put, he growled at them in his mind.

Trust Iggy to have an issue with this.
The four girls stared at the Lieutenant with dark eyes, their energies smoldering around them.

'The girls are still learning to master their gifts, Ignatius. By the end of the month they will be skilled enough to not need protection. But until then it would be ridiculous to allow them to be harmed. I don’t expect anymore complaints.' Ellie’s voice was even, though her eyes flashed with annoyance. She dismissed the room, and the girls went with the men to sword training.

Yakov felt sorry for them this morning; they looked bewildered and exhausted after last night.

Soon they’ll be able to relax a bit, once they have the skills they require
.

The rest of the week was hard. We fought against each other singly and in pairs, each of us determined to learn what else we could do with our gifts. Kassie was now very capable of lifting herself and anyone else into the air. It had just taken a full explanation from Elena for it to click. The trick was to realize that because air is essentially everywhere, it isn’t about the weight that you lift, rather how much air you draw around it and how you space the molecules.

As with all new things there were a couple of practices that didn’t go as intended, though they only resulted in bruises.

'Better a bruised butt than a broken one, Cat,' Sian grinned impishly.

I scowled at her as I eased down to the ground.

Elena had Kassie and Loi practice shielding, using their energy, rather than the physical manifestation. They’d picked it up quickly while Sian and I struggled to keep ours in place.

'Your gifts are better used offensively.' Elena explained reassuringly.

'You will be able to do it with practice, but Kassie, and Loi, will likely always be better at it. That’s why it is imperative that you stick together in a fight.'

We nodded. She’d been repeating that since the incident.

The evening before the rest day should have seen us all feeling euphoric, instead we lay sprawled on our beds in our Quarters. It was strange to walk up the turrets to the third floor. Everyone looked at you differently. The third floor was solely reserved for those of the Thalian line, Elena and her family, the Griffon Guard and us.

The Elementals.

Now it felt real. I wasn’t sure if it was the change of rooms, or that thing trying to kill us, but now it all seemed very real.

'Maybe that’s why Iggy hates us.'

'What?' Loi tried to sound interested.

'Because we’re the Elementals, and according to everyone, we’re at the top of the food chain. So maybe that’s why he hates us.'

'Top of the food chain?' Kassie snorted. 'Tell that to that thing that tried to eat Loi.'

'It was trying to kill me, not eat me.'