《Unlocked Element》


 Chapter 1

    The early autumn sky was turning into a deep orange glow, a soft breeze rustle through the coloring leaves. Aless took a deep breath, she was finally here. It had taken her a whole day to get away from her overbearing grandmother, granted the woman was finally better after a pretty bad health scare. She sighed again, and pulled her suitcase over the brick road that lead towards the school. She dreamed for the last six years, her parents met and fall in love at this school. A pit of sadness grabbed her heart, which always happened when she thought about her parents. Her familiar owl sat on the suitcase, turning its head from side to side. The school building was lurking in the end of the road, she was almost there. The street lanterns jumped on, the small warm flames flickered in the evening air. Aless felt her mouth twitching, the small flame playing in the small container.


    "Ahh, we have another dreamer. Not bothered by the fact that she is late," a heavy grumbling voice. Aless head snapped towards the owner of the voice. An old man stood in the middle of the road, she hasn''t seen him there before. A black cat walked around him and planted its fluffy butt on the ground. It looked at her with his golden, yellow eyes, started at her. She smiled at the man, his lifeless gray eyes gazed towards her. The man had a wrinkly lathered face and his muddy gray hair hung in strings around his face. "Like I said, not bothered at all." Aless blinked with her eyes, was he talking about her? She has informed the school about her late arrival, she also explained why this was the case. The man sighed. "Why do even I bother?"


    "Uhm, you are mister Incedis I assume," she said, she already knows the answer. "Never mind, I know that I am late. My grandmother was sick, and I needed to take care of her." Mister Incedis sighed deeply, he already knew that. "But I will go to my small cabin behind the large building." She took a piece of paper out of her pocket. "Building four, I believe?" She grabbed the handle of her suitcase and wanted to walk on.


    "You have being moved to building fourteen," mister Incedis said, clearly annoyed. "Someone, not me, should have told you this. But here I am, doing someone else''s job, as usual." Aless smiled softly.


    "Then I am going towards cabin fourteen, thank you for telling me this." Aless said, the man frowned as she walked away. The sky darkened with every step she took, she thanked the elements that there were street lanterns that light the way. She was not yet able to create fire, she hasn''t unlocked that element yet. The only element she was able to wield was air, it was the element she was born with. But that was the whole reason why she was at this school, she needed to find her other familiars to unlock the other five elements. Her owl started to hoot, and she turned her head slightly. The nocturnal animals started to appear, bats started their hunt. So were the owls that hunt by night, badgers were shoveling around. Fireflies, and another insects, are trying to escape. The cabins, who were behind the school, were placed in odd places. They were not even number in a logical order, the cabin that would be her home for the upcoming years was all the way in the back. A large willow tree was growing in the backyard, a soft light was burning behind the glass. Heated voices were coming from the building, there was a horse laying in grass at the side of the building. It didn''t raise it''s head when she came closer. So this meant that there was a fire elemental inside the cabin. She now wondered what the other elementals were inside. She raised her hand up towards the door, and knocked softly. The heated voices stopped, and the door swung open. A young woman stood in the opening, her piercing blue eyes were a bit puzzled. The blazing red hair was hold back with a green hair tie. The woman wore a cute green pajama''s with matching slippers.


    "And who are you?" she asked. Two other heads popped up behind her, those were men. It was not a secret that the academy didn''t only mix the elementals, but also genders.


    "Aless, mister Incedis said that I was moved to this cabin." Aless said, she stepped aside so that they were able to see her suitcase.


    "Ah, I already wondered why you weren''t here. I even blamed it on Initor''s sour mood." the woman said, while her thumb pointed towards one of the men behind her. "Come in, I am Ixis Stowne Earth. And you are Aless?"


    "Aless Cerulea, air." Aless replied, she picked up her suitcase and her owl flew inside the house. "That is Silver, don''t mind her, she is a bit shy." Ixis nodded.


    "Boys introduce yourself, this is Aless, our new roommate." Ixis said. The first man waved at her, he had soft green eyes and very long black hair. The other man had amber eyes and very short black hair.


    "Hey, welcome. I am Raldor earth, this sour face here is Initor. Fire elemental." Raldor said, with a wide smile. Initor, who indeed had a sour face, turned around, walked into his room and slammed the door. The whole cabin shook from it, and Aless was shocked by such an outburst of anger. "Don''t worry about it, it is his way of saying hello." That didn''t comfort her at all. She quickly looked away from the closed door and let her gaze wonder, the area they were in was not that big. There was a large couch, a simple coffee table, a small kitchenette in the corner of the room. Which contained one cabinet and a small fridge, they could eat in the cafeteria inside the school. This was only to store personal snacks and drinks. There were four doors, the one that Initor used to ''say hello''. The others probably led to their individual rooms. "The door next to Initor''s is yours. Have a good night sleep, the elements know you are going to need it." Raldor walked towards another door. "And here I am, following my own advice."


    "He is crazy, but he is right. You do not have the luxury of settling in, like the other first years, at the beginning of the school year. You have Air class first thing in the morning, and mister Kizor is not going to make it easy for you." Ixis said. "Just keep in mind of who your grandmother is." Aless didn''t need to hear that she was going to get drilled into being the perfect air elemental, her grandmother has being doing that for the last six years. But she was going to tell Ixis, or anybody else, that. She simply smiled and went towards her room. Her room was simple, small and totally bare. Which was not strange, there was a double bed, a desk with bookcase attached to it and a wardrobe. There was another door that led towards a small bathroom, complete with a toilet, shower and sink. Aless quickly opened her suitcase and started to unpack, placing the books in the bookcase. Lay her notebooks, and other stationary on the desk. She would save changing the bed linen for the next day, her toiletries found their way into the bathroom. She placed a picture of her family onto the nightstand, together with a small stand for Silver, and crawled into the bed. It was strange, this was a new room in a totally new place. But she felt at home, she now understood what her mother said about this place being home away from home. She turned on to her side, closed her eyes and listened to all the noises of the forest that was just on the other side of the window. A tear rolled down her cheek, and a smile appread on her lips. She was finally here.


    *******


    The morning came, after a good night sleep. Aless jumped out of her bed and quickly took a shower. The warm water on her skin was enough to wake her up, she put on the black pants, white shirt and the light blue trans coat that was part of her uniform. She brushed her hair and put on her glasses. She didn''t look in the mirror before she left the room, she never looked into the mirror. Knowing what she would see, she would see her father''s brown hair and her mother''s violet eyes. She would never see herself, she always saw her parents in the reflection. Something she didn''t want to, so she simply trusted her ability to dress herself. She never wore make-up either, she would need a mirror for that. Ixis was already inside the small living room, her backpack was standing next to the couch.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    "That looks like someone who is ready to get started," Ixis said. "Good, you are going to need it. But first it is time to get breakfast." Aless couldn''t agree with her more, her backpack hung over her shoulder.


    "Sounds like a plan," Aless replied. Both of them left the cabin, into the crisp morning air. Birds were singing their songs in the trees, that they pass as the joined the other students on their way to the school building. It wouldn''t be long before the rain will dominate the season, but so for now she would enjoy the fact that there was a soft sun.


    "Brrr, it is a bit colder than I thought." Ixis said as they walked over the path that lead towards the main building. The cafeteria was on the main floor and was a very large space, tables with multiple seats were littered throughout the room. Besides the plates and cutlery, there were large plates with bread, various meat, cheese and sweet spread. Glass jars with various fruit juice, and two large bowls with eggs and various fruit. Aless sat down next to Ixis, she didn''t know anybody else, and the cafeteria was already packed with people. Ixis said nothing about it, so she believed that it was not a big deal. "Ohh, this looks good, I am getting some coffee, do you want some too?" Aless nodded and followed her roommate with her glance. Ixis went towards a counter in the middle of the room, on that counter there were three large metal dispensers were placed. One for coffee, one for hot cocoa and one for hot water. Well now she knew where to find those, she grabbed a slice of bread and started to place some bacon and cheese on it. Ixis placed the coffee in front of her.


    "Thank you so much," Aless said with a smile. Ixis said down next to her, and started to grab pieces for her breakfast.


    "It was not a problem," Ixis replied. "By the way just in case we didn''t say it before, Raldor and I are both second years. We both unlocked the metal element last year. Initor is a first year, but was hold back a year." Aless nodded softly. So he has not connected with another familiar and was not able to connect to another element yet. Which was something that happened more often lately. And she had a theory about why that was.


    "Again thank you, now I know that it is a touchy subject." she said softly, the others who were sitting at the table looked up. All of them were wearing the same green coat as Ixis, the color of an earth elemental. Ixis nodded and took a sip of her coffee. The others kept looking at her, probably wondering why she as a air elemental was sitting at their table. She made a mental note to herself that she needed to find another table in the future, she didn''t want to upset that states qou. At least for now. She quickly eat her slice of bread, and drank her coffee, and took a glance on her watch. That she was not wearing. "Ohh, I forgot my watch. I need to get it before class starts." she said. She picked up her back and grabbed an apple from the bowl of fruit. Before she rushed off to the elementals knows where.


    *******


    "Ahh, miss Cerulea. How nice off you to join us," A old man accompanied by two crows entered the classroom, some students who were not wearing the light blue air color coats looked at her with a smug face. An air teacher who gave an air elemental a slide was in their eyes a small victory. Aless nodded slightly towards the teacher.


    "I have to agree with you on that, mister Tumul. And my grandmother hoped that you are able to beat some sense into me, like you have done with my father." Aless said, mister Tumul looked at her with narrowed eyes. Aless created in her mind a small thundercloud above her head, a small beam of lighting shot towards the ground and made a small impact next to her seat. "Do not worry, I am not that far behind." This small demonstration showed how far she was in controlling the element, her grandmother forced her to practice every day.


    "You are nothing like your father, miss Cerulea." Mister Tumul said. "Or like your mother," She closed her eyes, he was right she was nothing like them, and she will never be like them. "They would never have showed their full extent of their power." She smiled.


    "Who said that I did," she replied, did he forget who her grandmother was. Lady Cerulea, was the leader of the air elementals and a formidable foe for the other elementals on the council. When she got sick, some of them even hoped that it would be the end of her reign. But she recovered, and went back to work.


    "Fair point, alright, let''s get this class back on the road." Mister Tumul said, and he started to give his lecture. Students bowed down over their notebooks, writing notes, trying some small exercises with the elements. Aless read her textbook, made notes, but she didn''t do the exercises. "Alright, that was the lesson of today. Miss Cerulea I want a full essay about the effects of low air pressor is upon the wild life of this planet. I want this paper at the end of next week." Aless wanted to groan, she right now only had lessons about the air element. But that wouldn''t stay that way, the amount of lessons would grow with every element that she was able to unlock. But he wanted to punish her for speaking out of turn, something her grandmother would have done.


    "Yes, sir," she replied through grunted teeth, but she was still able to keep a sweet smile upon her face. She gathered her stuff and left the classroom, before he could give her more homework.


    "Ouch, so much for settling in." A girl with a crow upon her shoulder said. She had short brown hair, and was a bit smaller than Aless. "But then again, he is a hard ass towards all of us. So you are nothing special."


    "I have no doubt that he is, and I know that I am not special. I just have the misfortune of him being good friends with my grandmother. But I will survive, I am sorry, but I was not able to catch your name?" Aless said. The girl shook her head.


    "That is because I didn''t share it with you, airhead. I am Sera Clarke. And like I said, you are nothing special." Sera snapped at her. Probably to make sure that Aless understood that fact, and it didn''t matter if Aless told her that she did understand it all too well. "Well, I need to get to my next class." The crow upon her shoulder disappeared, and an otter took its place. The otter jumped down and raced into the water element classroom. Aless watched it, as Sera followed it into the class. "Have fun with that paper."


    "Thank you," Aless muttered under her breath. She turned around and almost bumped into Itinior. "Oh, Itinior. I am so sorry." He rolled with his amber eyes.


    "And do you understand that you are no one special?" he asked. Was he really asking her this, she wouldn''t humor him by giving him an answer. Instead, she took a step aside so that she was able to walk off without bumping into him. Silver landed upon her shoulder as she descended the stairs. "You know that not replying is considered rude."


    "So is eavesdropping, but you do not hear me battering you about it." she replied, she turned towards the left at the bottom of the stairs. The rumors about the large library were not doing the space justice, it was even bigger than she thought. She went over to the fire element section and grabbed the first book that she saw. Which was about the first steps in to understanding the element.


    "Didn''t you have a paper?" he asked. Was he still here? That is when she remembered that he didn''t have any other lessons, like her.


    "I still have time to write it, so I am not worried. And besides, I just want to read a book, and enjoy the nice weather outside. It is not going to last forever." she said. "I have heard about a nice pavilion near the lake, inside the forest." He frowned, and then sighed.


    "You are going to hunt for another familiar," he said. But she shook her head, she really wanted to read a book. And she really wanted to see that pavilion. But she didn''t have to explain all of that to him, she only needed to find it. Which, with the many detailed stories, would be a piece of cake. She checked out the book, and walked out of the main building. He was still following her. "The cabin, is the same way." which still didn''t explain why he followed her into the library and now this. But she was not going to stop walking, and ask him what his deal was. He indeed walked straight towards the cabin as she set her first steps into the forest. According to her parents, she only needed to follow the path towards the pavilion. Birds that were singing their song this morning, were still singing their hearts out. Animals in all shapes and sizes were walking in the thick bushes and on the path.

 Chapter 2

    He had always known that luck never favored him or his family, this feeling cemented itself when Ixis opened the door of their cabin. The first sight of her took his breath away, her curly brown hair that hung on her back. The round glasses that framed her violet eyes. He knew who she was, before she introduced herself. Because this was not the first time he had seen her, it seemed ages ago since his brother took everything from this girl, and now he needed to live with her. He was so mad at everything, that he had stormed off to his room and slammed the door. As if he was a small child, and not the almost adult man he thought he was. The next morning he had waited until, Ixis and Aless were out of the cabin before he felt comfortable leaving his room.


    "Hey man, good morning." Raldor greeted him, with a sly grin upon his face. "Care to tell me what that was yesterday?" Initor shook his head, he rather kept this piece of information for himself. "Too, bad man. Because I am." Initor knew that Raldor meant it and sighed.


    "It is simply not so easy, Raldor. But let me put it like this, it would be better that Aless and I keep our distance." Initor said. This made Raldor''s eyes shot up. Of course, this half-baked explanation would raise more questions, more than he felt comfortable sharing with someone. But to his surprise, Raldor said nothing more. He just turned around and walked out of the cabin. The both of them sat down at the same table, and they started to eat breakfast. His gaze however shifted towards her, she was sitting next Ixis with the other earth elementals. Who were staring daggers at her, even though her only crime was that she was an air elemental. It seemed that she had clocked them staring at her as well, she ate her breakfast quickly and then rushed out of the cafeteria.


    "Our new roommate is a smart one," Raldor said, and chuckled. "She was able to read the room and acted accordingly." Initor nodded, drank his coffee and sighed. "By the elements, what is wrong with you?"


    "Nothing," Initor said, knowing that Raldor wouldn''t believe him. "I need to prepare myself for class." He grabbed his back from the ground and rushed out of the cafeteria. He went up the wide stairs that lead towards the next floor, where the six classrooms were located. Initor saw that Aless entered the Air classroom, and he went into his own classroom. Madam Blaze, the Fire element teacher, was already inside the classroom together with another student. Their familiar was nowhere to be seen, which was not uncommon with the larger animals. The sandy blond haired boy had his back towards him, but he was standing close to the forge. The flames inside were roaring, and the heat was filling up the classroom. It was not the first time that he saw James working on one of his copper art pieces right before class, but it was the first time that it was this hot inside the room.


    "Initor, you are early, which I do not mind at all. But I actually hoped that you would arrive a bit later," Madam Blaze said. And he understood directly what she meant by that, he was held back a year because he wasn''t able to unlock another element. And his possible late arrival would mean that he was hunting for another familiar, which he tried to do in his first year.


    "I was planning to do that after class, madam." he replied. She simply nodded, and turned her attention towards James. Initor took his usual spot all the way in the back of the classroom, hoping that he wouldn''t be noticed. Of course, things were never that simple, and luck was never at his side. Luckely the lessons didn''t take long, and he was free to go on his merry way. But as soon as he stepped out of the classroom, he spotted her. Together with Sera.


    "But then again, he is a hard ass towards all of us. So you are nothing special." he heard Sera say, they were probably talking about mister Tumul. Who was known to be an old grump that got stuck into the old days. The only one that was more despised at this school was mister Incidis.


    "I have no doubt that he is, and I know that I am not special. I just have the misfortune of him being good friends with my grandmother. But I will survive, I am sorry, but I was not able to catch your name?" Aless said. The girl shook her head. So Sera didn''t introduce herself, which was not that surprising. Sera was known to be blunt, and rude.


    "That is because I didn''t share it with you, airhead. I am Sera Clarke. And like I said, you are nothing special." Sera snapped at her. Aless didn''t seem to be taken aback by that comment. "Well, I need to get to my next class." The crow upon her shoulder disappeared, and an otter took its place. The otter jumped down and raced into the water element classroom. "Have fun with that paper." So the old man has given her homework. A paper by the sounds of it.


    "Thank you," Aless muttered under her breath. She turned around and almost bumped into him. "Oh, Itinior. I am so sorry." He needed to act annoyed, otherwise she would think that he was stalking her or something. Which he kind of was, he wasn''t able to get her out of his head.


    "And do you understand that you are no one special?" he asked. Was he really asking her this? He was such an idiot, now she would think he was some kind of creep. She didn''t say anything.  Instead, she took a step aside so that she was able to walk off without bumping into him. He was slightly amused by her reaction, she didn''t reply to his stupid comment. "You know that not replying is considered rude." He wanted to know how far he was able to go with her. She walked down the stairs.


    "So is eavesdropping, but you do not hear me battering you about it." she replied, she turned towards the left at the bottom of the stairs. She was entering the large library, probably to pick up a few books for that paper. But she didn''t go towards the air section of the library, instead she went towards the fire section and picked with hesitation a book about his element from the shelf. Without knowing why, he had followed her into the library.


    "Didn''t you have a paper?" The question left his lips before he was able to stop himself. She looked at him, a bit shocked, and she probably tried to figure out why he was still there. A question he was asking himself too.


    "I still have time to write it, so I am not worried. And besides, I just want to read a book, and enjoy the nice weather outside. It is not going to last forever." she said. "I have heard about a nice pavilion near the lake, inside the forest." He frowned, and then sighed. She was just like everybody else.


    "You are going to hunt for another familiar," he said. He had heard stories about the pavilion, and he had seen it a few times when he was inside the forest looking for familiars. She shook her head, and checked the book she had picked out. He wanted to apologize for his rude behavior, but the words were not able to leave his lips. It was better to say nothing, and to go back to the cabin. He needed to create as much space from her as possible. But he needed to go into the same direction as she did, and she already seemed a bit weary of him. He didn''t blame her for that at all, he wouldn''t trust him either after the stunts he pulled. Following her and eavesdropping onto her conversation. Maybe he should clarify what his intentions were before he messed this up. "The cabin is this way." She didn''t reply, but she didn''t look so often over her shoulder either. Which was a huge win, he walked past her towards the cabin. But turned around as she enters the forest. He nodded, she was going to do whatever she wanted inside that forest. It was not for him to know, and besides that he had some homework to do. It was not much, but it was still homework. He grabbed his books and notebook out of his back and placed it on the small coffee table. The next thing for him to do was to grab his favorite spicy sausage snacks out of the cabinet. His parents made it a point of sending him a large bag, with each letter, and he knew how expensive they were. So he savored each of them, and never told his parents when he ran out of them. Otherwise, they would buy them more. Raldor and Ixis know this as well, and they stayed away from them. Their former roommate didn''t care and took whatever they could, so Ixis kicked them out of the cabin. Of course, they tried to stir up the pot, but it didn''t go anywhere. Initor smiled when his memories brought him back to that faithful day, and he was glad that Raldor and Ixis had his back. They even offered to go into the wood with him, to look for a potential familiar. But he had declined their offer each and every time. Initor placed a snack into his mouth and sat down, ready to get started, when he heard a scraping sound against the door. "Rapid, I need to do some homework. We can go for a ride later." Rapid was his familiar, a proud black stallion that loved to run through the woods on a daily basis. But instead of going away, Rapid started to kick the door with his hooves. "Alright, alright." Initor jumped from the couch and opened the door, Rapid looked at him with some kind of pride in his eyes. Initor looked at his familiar with narrowed eyes. "Well, here I am, but I can''t go outside if you stay where you are." Rapid stepped back, but not much. Ready to kick against the door, when Initor decided to close it. He had done that only once, and service to say he wouldn''t do that ever again. Initor stepped out of the cabin and jumped onto Rapid''s bare back, clutching his hands into Rapid''s hair. Before the animal was able to take off, which it did. Initor was not going to lie, he loved the way the wind blew through his hair. How the trees flew by in a simple motion, the strong muscles of Rapid flexing underneath him.Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.


    ********


    The animal ran, and ran. But came to a stop inside the open clearing near the lake. The soft sound of somebody crying, reached his ears and he knew that Aless was close by. He slipped of Rapid''s back and stepped out of the bushes. And there she was softly sobbing.


    "Aless, are you alright?" he asked. She turned around, her eyes were red from the tears. Her cheeks were covered with tears, he rushed towards her, afraid that she might hurt herself.


    "I am," she said. But this didn''t calm him down, he quickly rushed and looked her over. She was physical fine, but why was she crying? "I am really fine." He sat down with a sigh of relieve.


    "My parents used to tell me stories about their first meeting, it was right here. Just after my mother connected with her water familiar. He was hunting familiars himself, but he was struck by her beauty and his ability to connect with a water familiar so early in her first year." she said with a thin smile. His stomach sank, now he knew why she wanted to go here. It was his brother that took her parents from her, and all what she wanted to do was look for some connection.


    "I am so sorry," he said. She again smiled at him, which didn''t relieve his quilt.


    "It is not your fault, they are gone. They are simply gone, and there is no element in the world that is able to bring them back." she said. Aless didn''t even know how wrong she was about that. But he was not going to tell her that. "Ixis told me about your struggles with unlocking the other elements." she was clearly changing the subject, and he didn''t mind at all. "May I ask you something?" he nodded. "Are both of your parents born fire elementals?" he nodded. "And your grandparents from both sides?"


    "Yes, but I fail to see why this is important," he said. Her smile became a bit wider and more genuine. This was apparently a topic she loved to discuss.


    "It is what I believe the reason why you are struggling to unlock other elements. My mother was able to unlock the water element so quickly, because her mother was a born water elemental. My father, on the other hand, came from a pure air elemental bloodline, and he like you had some trouble unlocking the other elements." She said, and he started to realize what she was saying. It was not so long ago that marring or have kids with someone that was born with another element was discouraged, it was believed that the children of a pure elemental union would be stronger. They were, but he was also able to see that it had its side effects as well. "I really believe that I am able to unlock the fire and water element with ease, because of what my direct bloodline tells me. You on the other hand need to fight for them." Fighting, that was a nice description for his struggles.


    "So, how did your father unlock the elements?" he asked. She gazed towards the water, and closed her eyes. A soft breeze started to play with her brown curls.


    "By expecting the fact that it wouldn''t be easy, and he never stopped trying to connect with another familiar. My mother also helped him." She said, and he believed her every word. She nodded towards the lake. "A lot of water familiars live in or near the lake, maybe you should try to go near it. While admitting to yourself that, the will to connect is stronger than your bloodline." His gaze went towards the lake, and butterflies started to fly up inside his stomach. But he didn''t protest or anything, he just stood up and did what she said. He knelt down at the edge of the lake, closed his eyes, and he controlled his breath. He stretched out his hand, and waited. Aless at one point stood up from the bench and went to sit next to him. He didn''t open his eyes to see what she was doing, but he could feel some kind of energy shooting towards him. A calming yet strong, just like her. "Initor, open your eyes." she whispered, and he did. For some reason unknown to him, his palm was no longer facing the water. Instead, it was facing the sky and on it stood a small crab. A water familiar, was this the moment that he was going to unlock another element. Water from the lake shot up and started to circle around them, but then bright red flames joined the water. His gaze snapped towards her, and at her side was a white hedgehog. She was right, she would be able to connect with a fire familiar with ease. The water fall down towards the lake and the fire faded into ember.


    "Well, that was really something else." A male voice said. "And here I thought that I for once would have a nice stroll into the woods. But instead of that, I see history repeat itself." Aless and Initor turned around and behind them stood Irius Gritt the Headmaster of the academy, together with his familiar Orsin a giant brown bear. "But what else could I expect, the daughter of Ulyn and Aleus is here." Initor frowned, what did the headmaster mean by that. He was about to ask this, but was interrupted by the headmaster raising his hand. "I mean that Ulyn was an extraordinary woman, she was able to help Aleus to unlock the other elements with her energy. I do not have to ask you what you felt before you unlocked the water element. A calming, but strong energy washed over you. I know this because Ulyn used her gift on me as well." Initor was now even more confused, she lent him her energy? Was that even possible? Clearly it was, otherwise the headmaster wouldn''t have said it. "But I even believe that Aless is even stronger than Ulyn, because she was not only able to help you. But she was also able to unlock an element herself. Something Ulyn wasn''t able to do at all." Initor looked at Aless, who had tears in her eyes. She came here in the hope that she would find a glimpse of her parents. And now she discovered that she indeed has found them. "But we are not going to stop here, we are going to try this again."

 Chapter 3

    When the man said that they would try to unlock another of Initor''s elements, while she unlocks one for herself. Aless didn''t expect that he meant right away, and with an audience. But he told her that her mother helped her father through the same method, it brought her in some way a bit closer to them.


    "Let''s try to get air, or earth," the man said. Aless stepped towards Initor and lay her hand on his shoulder, she hadn''t done that the first time. But maybe it would go easier when there was some form of connection. They both closed their eyes, and he stretched his hand out towards the earth, and she did the same thing. A shot of warm energy passed through them, and the sounds of the forest became louder. The rustling of the leaves, the clapping of powerful wings that rushed towards them. Together with the soft sound of something getting closer. "Wonderful, Initor your air familiar is a powerful eagle. I expected as much, and you unlocked earth Aless." She opened her eyes, and she saw that next to the hedgehog sat a white bunny with floppy ears. It reminded her of the day of the trail, right after her parents were murdered. She was sitting on a wooden bench just outside the courtroom, waiting for the jury and judge to make a decision. There was a boy that was there too, he came towards her and in his hands was a stuffed animal in the shape of a white bunny. He was able to see that she had cried, which happened a lot back then, and he gave her the bunny to cheer her. That is when her grandmother swooped in, grabbed the toy and burned it right in front of their eyes. Aless bowed down and picked the white bunny and white hedgehog up.


    "Another white animal, you have a theme." Initor said, his amber eyes rested upon the white bunny. Her memory brought back the image of the boy, he had the same amber eyes. Was Initor the same boy that gave her the stuffed animal? What was he doing there?


    "What do you mean, Initor?" the man asked. He hadn''t introduced himself, but it was not hard to guess who he was. There was only one adult at this school who had a bear as familiar, the headmaster.


    "She already has a white owl, now she has a white hedgehog and bunny." Initor said. And the headmaster frowned, it was indeed a strange thing if you thought about it. "Thank you, Aless. For your help, you didn''t have to do it, and still you did." She felt a smile tug on her lips, and she hoped that he meant it. She closed her eyes for a split second, and then she turned towards the headmaster.


    "I want to thank you too, headmaster." she said, and he looked a bit shocked. "When I arrived at this pavilion. I believed that I lost my parents for good, but you brought a part of them back to me." The gaze in his eyes softened.


    "I hate the fact that you were believing that in the first place. Both of them were good people, and both of them would have changed the world." he said, and he side glanced towards Initor. It was brief, but she noticed it. "But you are the embodiment of them, I can see the both of them in you. You have your father''s curly brown hair and your mother''s violet eyes. They were my best friends, and I miss them every day of my life. But my grief has softened now that I know that you are alright." He turned towards the bear and petted it. "Your father, had a hedgehog as a fire familiar and your mother had an owl as her air familiar. But they didn''t have a bunny, so that one is all you."


    "What did they have for a water elemental?" she asked, her cheeks started to hurt from the wild smile. She wanted to know anything that was there to know about her parents.


    "They both had an otter." he replied, his gaze went towards the lake. "Ulyn was so glad that she unlocked that element so soon. She was so proud when your father was able to unlock his first element, she was radiant on their wedding day. She was over the elements when she found out that she was pregnant with you, and she shared it with anybody that wanted to hear that you had bonded with your first familiar." Her smile dropped, that was the same day that her parents got killed. And he was right, both of her parents were over the elements that she connected with her first familiar at such a young age. The headmaster most likely saw the change in her, and lowered his head. "I am sorry, I didn''t mean to hurt you. But that is what I will say about it, for now. I also believe that the two of you got some homework to do, we are at a school, after all." He turned away from them and made his way back to the school. Aless gazed towards Initor who had the crab still in his hand and a large eagle upon his arm.


    "It is almost time for dinner," he said. She nodded, and they left the clearing. The eagle flew up and went ahead.


    ********


    The sun was still high in the sky when they arrived at the main building, but it wouldn''t be long before they would walk towards dinner in the dark. Initor''s eagle landed on the roof of the cabin. Silver flew towards it and sat next to it, the eagle looked at her, but then ignored the little white owl. Aless put the bunny and hedgehog in her room, Initor did the same with his crab. He closed the door with a large smile upon his face, the smile light up his face and made him even more handsome. Wait, what, handsome? Since when did she come to the conclusion that he was handsome? Earlier today, she thought that he was annoying, when he followed her into the library and eavesdropping. But now she was seeing him in a different light. But she was not going to act on it, especially since she didn''t know why he was there at the courthouse. She was not going to start that conversation, at least not yet. She smiled back and they both left the cabin. Ixis and Raldor were just outside the main building.If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "He, he, he. I was wondering where the two of you were." Ixis said, she sounded a bit annoyed. "Raldor shared with me something he had noticed this morning. The reason why you rushed out of the cafeteria, and I am so sorry, Aless. I didn''t realize it at the time." Aless wanted to say that it wasn''t a big deal. But Ixis shock her head. "Just let''s put this behind us, and from now on let''s just sit with the roommates." Raldor nodded in agreement with Ixis. But Aless didn''t felt comfortable by this. They were at this school for a year now, and all three of them might have friends of their own.


    "It is also a nice way to get to know you better." Raldor said. Still, this didn''t make her feel more comfortable. "Let''s see how it goes, we are just going to have dinner." She could live with is this. They entered the building, and went straight towards the last free table. The whole room, smelled amazing. Instead of the large plates with bread and topping, there were plates with one meat dish, one fish, and one vegetarian dish. There were some sauces and ranch, and fries. The counter that had the three large containers, had now two large pots with what seemed to be soup. Aless didn''t see any drinks, or glasses next to their plates. But when she looked around, people did have drinks in their hands. She didn''t have to wonder for too long when Initor came back with a glass.


    "I didn''t know what you wanted," he said, and placed the glass next to her plate. "But I believe lemonade is the safest option." She gave him a smile, he was so sweet. Was he always like this, or was this because she helped him? She didn''t know, and at this point she didn''t care. They took what they wanted from the plates and started to eat.


    "I heard that the old fart gave you a lot of homework," Ixis said, between bites. Aless, who just had taken a bite, nodded in response. "That is just so like him." The others nodded. "We are so lucky that we do not have him yet, am I right, Initor and Raldor?" Initor lowered his head.


    "Well, I might have him tomorrow." he replied. "I unlocked air."


    "You did what!" Ixis screamed. The whole cafeteria turned around to look at them. "You unlocked air, what is your new familiar?" Initor looked at Aless and she nodded.


    "An eagle, I also unlocked water. And that is a crab." Initor said. Ixis drew in her breath loudly, they still had the attention of a lot of students.


    "Wait an element," Raldor said softly. Maybe trying to calm Ixis down. "You unlocked two elements in one day?" Both Aless and Initor nodded, Raldor''s gaze went towards her. "And you were there?" She nodded again. "What is your secret?" Initor glanced around the cafeteria.


    "Can we talk about it later?" he asked. Ixis shook her head, in disbelief. Clearly not ready to drop the subject just yet, but Aless grabbed her hand. Ixis blue eyes looked at her, trying to ask a question through that. But Aless in turn motioned with her eyes towards the other tables. Ixis closed her eyes, and sighed deeply.


    "Alright then, but after dinner, we are going to the library to collect all the books you two might need for homework and preparation for your new classes." Ixis said. "We need to study." That was something Aless could live with, they eat their dinner and took some extra snacks and large can with coffee with them. Raldor helped Initor pick some easy books, and she did the same. In the meantime, she grabbed some earth books and the book that she needed for her paper. They placed all the books on the coffee table in their cabin. Raldor took his books out of his back and sat down on the floor, Aless did the same thing. "Initor was that your eagle on the roof of the cabin?" he nodded when he took a seat on the couch.


    "She is, and the crab is inside my room," he replied. Ixis frowned. "Okay, okay, I will tell you how I unlocked two elements in one day. According to Aless my pure blood heritage is the reason why I struggled at first. Both my parents, and grandparents on both sides, are fire elementals." Both Raldor and Ixis nodded.


    "That makes a lot of sense. My mother is water elemental and my father a metal." Raldor said.


    "My parents are both earth, but my grandparents are mixed." Ixis said. Aless started to grin, she knew that some might say that the theory was a bit far fetched. But here in their small circle there was proof that it was the truth. "But this explains why you struggled, not how you unlocked two elementals in one day."


    "Aless helped me," Initor said. Now both Raldor''s and Ixis gaze snapped towards her. Both where forming the question who she was able to help Initor, and really she didn''t know how to explain it either.


    "According to the headmaster, it was something my mother was able to do. She helped him and my father to unlock elements as well. But I do not know how, but there is one thing we didn''t tell you." Aless stood up and walked towards her bedroom door. She opened it, and the bunny and hedsehog walked out. "Apperantly I am able to unlock elements as well, when I help people."


    "Wait a second, you unlocked fire and earth while helping to unlock Initor''s elements?" Ixis asked, and Aless nodded. "Well this year might get a bit more interesting. Alright Aless, yesterday there was not a lot of time to go over the rules of this cabin." Aless frowned she knew all the school rules by heart. "Well we needed to set some rules with our former roommate, who is now making the lives of their new roommates a nightmare. But she is no longer our problem. The main thing is that we do not get into each other''s rooms without asking first. And we do not steal each other''s snacks. If you take something that isn''t yours, replace it as soon as posible."


    "That sounds like comic sense, but alright." Aless said, and all three of them nodded. "Now let us focus on our homework."


    "There is one snack that is however off limits, the spicy sausage." Ixis said. "Initor gets those from his parents, and those are not suited for their budget." Aless nodded again, she was not planning on taking anything that wasn''t hers. She bowed over her books, and started on her homework. Maybe they all were able to become friends, and somewhere deep down she wanted nothing more. Her grandmother told her that she needed to socialize with only air elementals, but right now she was not able to see the point in doing that. She glanced towards the others, who were in small worlds of their own. Yes she liked to be friends with them.

 Chapter 4

    The weeks have passed by in a blur, fall has taken over the world. Rain was pouring down from the sky, making it difficult to hunt for familiars. By the elements, it was even hard to get from the cabin to the main building without getting soaking wet. Luckily, Raldor showed him how to create a barrier of water for himself and somebody else. To block most of the rain. Initor was sitting in the cafeteria, listing to the soft ticking of the rain against the window. The soft rumbling of the thunderstorm that passed them by not that long ago. The kitchen staff was busy with preparing the room for lunch, placing plates with various types of meat, cheese and sweet spreads. Placing bowls with fruit, and eggs. In many ways, it was the same stuff they used at breakfast. Except for the coffee, tea and hot cocoa tanks. They were swapped with the large bowls of soup. Initor had grabbed some for his friends, their lessons wouldn''t take that long, and then they could start eating right away. It was strange how easy it was to fall into a routine, they eat breakfast as a group, went to their respective classes, eat lunch, spend some free time in the library until the next class. Then dinner, and a homework session before bed. Aless like himself has grown in this last couple of weeks. He could feel a smile grow, when he thought about her. She was smart, open to new ideas and overall a calming presence. Which was a star contrast with Ixis, who was loud. Rapid seemed to like her as well, and he didn''t like strangers at all. Much like himself. The sound of voices, echoed throughout the building. Becoming louder and louder, as the large group of students entered the cafeteria. Aless, Ixis and Raldor directly came towards him. Placing their schoolbags on the ground, and sat down.


    "Hmm, that smells amazing. Thank you for grabbing us a bowl in advance." Raldor said, before taking his first bite of the soup. Aless grabbed a piece of bread from the plate and started to dip it into the soup. He himself looked at her, as her face seemed so relaxed. An image of their first meeting popped up into his mind. It was just outside the courtroom, a couple of years ago. She was sitting on a wooden bench next to the double doors, where cheeks were covered in tears. Her brown curls were unkept, and her glasses were about to fall. All the adults were screaming and shouting. Lady Cerulea was the loudest of them all. Nobody, but him, paid attention to the girl that lost her parents. Whose childhood was ripped away, much like his own. His own mother was crying, admitting that they could have done more. But his father countered that by asking how, and telling her that they have done all that they could. It was not their fault, they were loving and supportive parents. They had given him a stuffed animal, to cuddle, to sooth his feeling of intense quilt. Because no matter how many times they say that it was not his fault, the elements, and he knew that it was. Initor walked towards Aless, and sat down beside her. Saying nothing, just seeking comfort in each other''s company.


    "My mommy, and daddy are dead." she whispered softly. "They are dead, and I would have being too. I wish that I was dead, too." The tears were already streaming down her cheeks. Initor didn''t know what to say at that moment, there was nothing to say. Nothing that could comfort her. Instead, he grabbed the stuffed white bunny, and gave it to her. She grabbed it, and buried her face in it. Her cries were heartbreaking, and he started to tear up too. He hated his brother, he hated himself for breaking his brother''s trust. He hated the fact that this little girl was crying, and never could go to her parents for comfort.


    "What is this!" It was Lady Cerulea, who stormed towards them. "Is this piece of trace on off yours!" She screamed towards his parents. "Trying the last member of my family, how dare you." She then turned towards Aless, and her ice blue gaze landed upon the stuffed bunny. "Give me that," she snatched it out of Aless''s hands. "Did he gave you that?" Her voice didn''t soften when she addressed her grieving granddaughter. Aless nodded, and her grandmother''s angry gaze slowly turned to him. "Your brother killed, my pride and joy. He killed my son."


    "I know what he did," Initor piped up. Knowing that this could get him trouble. "She was crying, and I thought that it would make her feel slightly better." It was the truth, not that it mattered. Lady Cerulea looked at the bunny in her hands.


    "Is that so," she said in a low voice. Then the bunny caught fire, Initor could hear him and Aless scream. But the flames consumed the whole bunny, until there was nothing left of it but ash. "Well, now I feel a lot better. Come Aless, I do not want you to get tainted by this piece of trash." Initor blinked a few times, he was back inside the cafeteria. The sound of people surrounding him, came back to him.


    "Are you alright?" The current Aless asked. He quickly nodded, and took a bit from his lunch. The soup was cooled off, meaning that a lot of time had passed.


    "I was just lost in a memory, that is all." he said. She clearly wanted to ask more about it, he however was not sure how he would reply to her question, and that is something he would never know.


    "Uhmm, Initor," it was James, the metal elemental who loved to work with copper. "It is about Izyni." he went on. Izyni was their former roommate, and an entitled piece of shit. After she got kicked out of their cabin, she was placed in the cabin with James. And rumor has it, that she hasn''t learned anything from it.


    "What about her?" Ixis asked. James looked a bit uncomfortable, which Initor couldn''t blame him for. It was already bad enough if you were on Izyni''s good side, being on her bad side was a dumpster fire.


    "She is being waiting for the perfect opportunity to get back to you, and this morning she couldn''t stop bragging about that she has found it." James said, and his gaze went quickly around the cafeteria. "Ohh, boy. There she comes." He quickly rushed away, as Izyni walked towards their table. Initor didn''t know what to make of her smile, or the gleam of misplaced joy in her eyes. But James was right, she had the right ammo, and she was going to use it. She placed both of her hands on their table, hard enough to make everything shake. They needed to grab their glasses, before they would tumble over.


    "Look, what have we here. A nice selection of traitors, and backstabbers." She said, loud enough so that the whole cafeteria could hear. The sound of talking faded into nothingness. All the students knew what went down, before Izyni was kicked out, so that was not a big deal. "Oh, and hello newbie. I hope that my old room suites you." She didn''t even look at Aless when she said it, her golden eyes were focused on him. "But Initor, how does it feel?" He looked confused, not sure what she was hinting at. "I mean, how can I even ask. You must be overjoyed to hear that your brother Edalf gets released early." It was as if the air was knocked out of his lungs, his brother? Released? "To be honest with you, I never believed a word of what they said about him. I really think it was all a ploy to get back at the rebellion." Initor''s gaze snapped towards Aless, who''s eyes were big and full of terror.


    "Izyni, I have to say that the claims against my brother are quite real," he tried to sound calmly. Tried but failed. She simply snorted.


    "Yeah, right. Everybody knows that you are against him, so do not play dumb. And just admit the truth, the council knew that he was about to overthrow them, and they made up the lie. Him killing two innocent people, yeah please." Izyni shot back at him. Initor''s gaze quickly went through the cafeteria, a lot of people looked in disgust at Izyni. But there were a few who looked at him in the same way. He could shoot back that his brother had killed two innocent people. But that was not his story to share, he looked again towards Aless. And she looked at him, she was angry. But not at him, now she placed both her hands on the table and stood up.


    "I can assure you, that he is guilty as charged." Aless snapped, towards Izyni, who looked shocked at first. But the most annoying feature of Izyni was that she was able to reciver quickly. This time was no execption.


    "How do you know that so sure, oh wait your dear old granny is part of the council is it not. That is why you are so quick to jump to their defense." Izyni said. Little ambers started to form around Aless, and a soft breeze was picking up inside the cafeteria. The thunder that was drifting away, was apparantly on its way back. Izyni glanced at Aless with a smug smile. "Did I struck a nerve?" The wind became stronger, and the embers were just a breath away from becoming real flames. With that the ground started to shake violently. Aless was losing her temper, and with that the control over her elements. Ixis jumped up and lay a hand on Aless''s shoulder, in the hope that she snaps out of it. Initor thanked the elements that it worked, and Aless rushed out of the cafeteria. "Oops, we have a runner." Alright that was it, and you know what it was as much his story as it was that of Aless. He motioned Raldor, who rose up from his seat. Ixis was already going after Aless.


    "Izyni, do you really want to know why my brother is in prison?" Initor asked, his voice low, but loud enough for everybody to hear. He didn''t wait for her reply. "It is because the bastard killed, the son of Lady Ceruala. And not only her son, but aslo his wife. And who''s dear old granny, do you think that is?" He used her own werds against her on purpose. But agian he didn''t give her time to answer. "Aless was inside the house when it happened. So the next time, you have the genius idea to taunt someone. Do your homework." He bumped against her shoulder when he passed her by. He didn''t care what people might think of him, but Aless was a totally different story. She didn''t deserve this, not in the slightest.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    *********


    It was not difficult to find Aless, because he was able to take a well-educated guess. The pavilion by the lake, the place where her parents met. She was sitting on a bench, her clothes were sticking to her body from all the rain. Her head was laying on her knees and she was trying to keep herself from crying. Initor didn''t say anything, he just sat down next to her, and lay his hand upon her back.


    "Do not keep this all in, just let it out." he whispered. She sat up straight, and looked at him. Tears started to well up in her eyes. "If you need a shoulder to cry on, us mine." She lay her head upon his shoulder, and started crying her heart out. He could feel the tears, and he did his best not to cry as well. Although he wanted to do that, his brother didn''t only destroy her family. He also destroyed his own family, their parents, who were already scraping by before his brother killed two innocent people. But after that, things got even worse, because now they were the parents who raised a murderer. His father got fired from multiple jobs, and his mother was not even able to get a job at all. Almost all the Food drives in the area where they live turned them away as soon as they turn up. They were only able to go through one was because he went alone, and nobody but Lady Cerulea thinks that a child could be dangerous.


    "Initor, she needs to get out of those wet cloths. Before she''s catching a cold." Ixis said, softly. Initor nodded, but he didn''t want to interrupt her. But Ixis is right, she needed to get out of these clothing. Aless apparently heard her and started to pull herself together. "Aless, let''s get back to the cabin." Aless raised her head, and nodded softly. She was holding onto him, as if he was her last lifeline. He even saw himself as such, and he didn''t care that she did. Raldor rushed towards the main building, when they entered the cabin. Initor didn''t know what he was doing, but there were more important things at hand.


    "Ixis, why don''t you help her shower. I will warm up the towel." he whispered. Ixis didn''t say much, she didn''t even nod. She just did what he asked her to do. He took one of his own large towels and started heating it up with his hands. Raldor stepped into the cabin, in his hands he was holding two large cans.


    "Hot cocoa, and I also talked with the Headmaster. Ixis and I need to come in this evening to get the homework. But we have the rest of today off. He hated the fact that, he wasn''t the one to inform the two of you." Raldor said, placing the can on the coffee table. Aless and Ixis stepped out of Aless''s room, Aless was wearing her pajama''s. Her hair was hanging wet on her back, Initor walked over towards her, holding up the towel.


    "May I?" he asked. She didn''t say anything, just nodded and let him dry her hair. Ixis sat down on the floor next to Raldor. He was surprised that she allowed him to do something so intimate, but she was currently not herself. It didn''t take long, and he slowly pushed her towards the couch.


    "Thank you," she whispered softly. But he shook his head.


    "You and I both know that there is nothing to thank me for," he said, and he let himself drop besides her. She lay her head on his shoulder and sighed.


    "Alright, it is time for the both of you to spill the tea." Ixis said. Initor closed his eyes, hoping that they could avoid this topic for a very long time. But his brother had different plans.


    "It happened six years ago, the day that I bounded with Silver." Aless started, her voice sounded so breakable. He wanted to say that she didn''t have to, but she continued. "My parents were so proud of me, and they made the day all about me. As if it was my birthday, I was able to pick what we had for dinner, they spent the whole day by my side. It was so perfect, and it filled me with so much joy. That evening, we were sitting on the couch in the living room. My father started to show me little tricks with air, and encourage me to try it as well. Then there was the knock that would change my life forever. My father went to see who it was, and my mother stayed behind with me. Until my father told loudly who it was, my mother told me to go to my room. I could hear the urgency in her voice, so I left the room. But I didn''t go to my bedroom, I stayed just around the corner. Able to hear and see what was going on, but where the others were unable to see me as well." She took a deep breath. Initor knew this story already, he had heard it inside the courtroom. But it was still hard to hear it again. "My father told Edalf that his plans were not much better than those of the council, and that sent Edalf over the edge. I do not know what the plans were, because I was not able to hear them. But my parents were openly against the council, so I believe him. Edalf grabbed some kind of device out of his pocket, there was a loud explosion, and the next thing I saw was that my father falling towards the ground. Blood streaming out of his chest. Edalf mumbled to himself, but there was one thing I was able to make out of what he was saying. ''Leave no witnesses''. That is when he killed my mother. I didn''t scream, because I knew that this would draw attention to me. But still Edalf entered the house, looking for me. I am pretty sure that he would have killed me too, if the police didn''t show up when they did." Ixis mouth fall open.


    "By the elements, and then for Izyni to say such things. I do not, and I will never understand that heartless girl. First she went out of her way to torment Initor, and now this. It almost seems to me that she knew that this was between the two of you." Ixis said, Raldor nodded in agreement.


    "I do not know about that, but how many leaders of the elements are there. Only six, and it is not a secret that Aless grandmother is one of them. So Izyni might have gambled on the idea that Aless was not involved, but now I am going to give that witch too much credit." Initor said. "But now it is time to tell my side of the story, and why the wounds that my brother left me, might be not as deep as the wounds he left Aless. But they are still deep." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "My parents were only sixteen when they had my brother, and despite my grandparent''s offer to take Edalf in while my parents to the academy. They never went, and were not able to unlock any of the elements. This resulted in them being treated as nothing but trash, and my brother saw this happening his whole life. According to my mother, the resentment that he had run deeper than they wanted to admit. But there was still money coming in and there was enough to eat, a roof above their heads. So they didn''t complain, not even when they had me. My brother joined the rebellion from a pretty young age, and he didn''t listen to my parents protests. They never liked it and always warned him that those people were a bad influence. Then there was the day that I bounded with Rapid. My parents were so proud of me, there was nothing in the world that could describe the joy and excitement that was on their faces. That however changed when Edalf came home, and exploded when he saw my familiar. He said some nasty stuff against me. ''You are betraying our parents, you have become the thing that put them down.'' I started to cry, not my proudest moment. While my parents were defending me against my own brother, he left the house. The next morning, we were woken up by the police with the heartbreaking news that Edalf was arrested. And was going to trail for murder," he stopped and gazed towards Aless. Who was listing to his every word. "Your childhood ended when my brother knocked on your parent''s front door. My childhood ended after the cop shared this piece of information. I knew my parents were not rich, but we had enough to survive. But after what happened, my dad was fired from his job and struggled to keep a job ever since. My mother, who cleaned my grandparents houses, to earn some money also looked for an extra job. But no one would hire the mother of a murderer. My brother didn''t only destroy your life, he destroyed mine as well. And when I saw you, crying on the bench, just outside the courtroom. I was able to understand your pain, because it was my pain as well. That is why I gave you my bunny, the one thing that gave me comfort through all of the chaos that became my life."


    "And then my grandmother, burned it." she said softly. He nodded.


    "And then your grandmother burned it, but it those not matter now. You have now your own bunny, that somehow looks a lot like that stuffed animal." he said with a smile. Still, he knew that he didn''t do a great job. All that hurt, the shame that he had buried for six years. It was now dug up again, which was also to say about Aless. And now they both needed to heal all over again, but with the knowledge that the one who coursed all of this hurt was going to be released. "I am so sorry, if I hadn''t bounded with Rapid. Then there would be a chance that your parents would be still alive." Aless pushed herself up, and looked him straight in the eyes.


    "Don''t you dare," she said. "Don''t you dare, blaming yourself. You have done nothing wrong, do you hear me. Nothing." He nodded, it was nice to hear her say this, but he didn''t believe her. Not yet, at least. Raldor cleared his throat. Initor almost jumped up, he had forgotten that they were even in the same room. But they have kept their mouths shot when he shared his side of the story.


    "You know, there was something I noticed. It is unrelated to the death of Aless parents. But you both bounded with your first familiars on the same day." Raldor said. Initor needed to confess that he had noticed the same thing, but he was not going to say that outloud now. "But Ixis and I need to go and pick up all our home work." Ixis looked a bit confused. "Orders from the headmaster." She nodded after hearing that.


    "We will not be gone for long, are the two of you alright?" she asked, clearly worried. Both Aless and he nodded, but not with much convintion. Ixis didn''t comment on it, she just stood up and followed Raldor. Aless stood up when the door closed behind the two. Initor didn''t know why, but he followed her into her own room. He watched as she let herself drop upon her bed, and fall to sleep. He didn''t blame her, this day has being emotonly draining. He sat down next to the bed and let his head rest upon his knees. Finally, finally he was able to let the tears go. Tears he has being holding back for the last six years.

 Chapter 5

    The morning sun came so soon, but it was something Aless welcomed. Sleep didn''t bring her the comfort that she wanted, or needed. The events of the night that her parents were killed played over and over into her head. Every time the outcome was different, sometimes Edalf finds her and tries to kill her with the strange thing, but then for one of her parents to save her in the nick of time. They always died, however, and she lost count how many times it happened. She opened her eyes, the autumn sun softly light up her room. It basket in the warm golden sunlight, the promise of a bright day was calling out to her. But she didn''t know if she was able to get out of bed. She turned towards her side, and there he was. Initor, he was sitting on the ground next to her bed. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was slow. Signs that he was fast a sleep, but she wasn''t able to understand why he was in her room. Did he follow her, most likely, because they had a rule that they wouldn''t enter each other''s rooms without permission. But then again, he has shown time and time again that he was worried about her. She didn''t remember much that happened after Ixis and Raldor left the cabin, she doesn''t remember him following her. She didn''t even remember coming into her room in the first place. The only thing she knew was the fact that she felt drained, maybe the same thing could be said about him. Maybe he was drained as well, and fell asleep after he checked up on her.


    "You are betraying our parents, you have become the thing that put them down."


    That was what Edalf has said to his own little brother after he bounded with his first familiar. Before he came to her house, and killed her parents. That were his last words before he ripped the world that Initor knew apart.


    "My childhood ended after the cop shared this piece of information."


    That where, Initor''s words, their childhood ended upon the same day. He was punished, no, his whole family was punished for a crime they didn''t commit. Edalf murdered her parents, not his father, mother or Initor. Edalf was on his own, he was the one that destroyed her world. But at the same time he destroyed his families world too. His father was fired from his job, and not able to keep one. His mother was not even able to find work to help her husband.


    "Why, the wounds that my brother left me, might be not as deep as the wounds he left Aless. But they are still deep."


    The fact that he was comparing their wounds, their trauma''s was worrying her. Yes, she lost her parents, she needed to live with her grandmother. A woman who loves her, but doesn''t like her. But his wounds were as relevant as hers, before his brother murdered her parents his father had a steady income. His mother only needed to focus on one job, to worry about the fact that there was a roof above their heads and food on the table was not on their minds. But after Edalf took her parents lives, his parents lost that security. She knew from a very young age that this world was not fair, that was something her parents thought to her before they got killed. She blinked and saw that his cheeks were wet. Tears, he had cried. He freaking cried, and she was not there to support him, no she blanked out and went to sleep. He had comforted her when she broke down, and she didn''t do the same for him. Guilt was not a pleasant feeling, and right now she felt guilty. A soft knock landed upon the door, not loud enough to wake anybody up. But for the ones that were awake to let them know that someone was entering the room. The door opened and Ixis peaked through. She smiled softly when she saw that Aless was awake. But her gaze landed upon Initor, and she didn''t look confused, clearly she knew that he was there. She stepped back, at the same time Silver flew in. The white owl landed upon the nightstand, Aless already noticed the small piece off paper tight to her paw. She quickly took it of Silver and discovered that it was a letter from Ixis.


    ''Hey, it is good to see you awake. But are you alright, the two of you were already fast asleep when Raldor and I got back. Which didn''t take that long, but I understand that yesterday was taxing. However, headmaster Gritt has given Initor and you the week off. So that the two of you have time to process.''


    Aless looked up, and Ixis was again in side the doorway. Aless pointed towards herself and then wiggles with her hand. To indicate that she was not okay, but was getting there. Then she placed her hand under her chin, which said that she was grateful to Ixis. Ixis nodded and waved, before she closed the door. Aless was able to hear muffled sounds and voices from the other side of the door. She was lucky, that they were so understanding. The sounds moved away and the front door of the cabin opened up and closed again. Which woke Initor up.


    "Wait, what? What is the time. Ohh, by the elements, we are going to be so late." he said, panicked. She lay a hand upon his shoulder, hoping that this was going to calm him down. He quickly turned towards her, the panic in his eyes grew even more.


    "Headmaster Gritt has given us the week off, and according to Ixis we were already fast asleep when they got back." she said, again this didn''t calm him down. "Initor relax." This seemed to snapped him out of the panicked state, he was still not fully out of it. But he wasn''t controlling his every thought. "You have slept on the floor for the entire night, and you might feel stiff. So you might want to take a warm shower." He shook his head, but after he stretched. He took a deep sighed.


    "You might be on the right track." he said, with a pained expression. He stood up and left her room, she pushed off her sheets. She jumped under the shower and put on some pants and a tanker top. And then stepped out of her room, after putting up her glasses. Who were laying in her bed, so she didn''t take them off when she went to bed. And she was grateful that they didn''t break. At the coffee table, stood a large wicked basket, filled to the brim with stuff for breakfast. One of her books that she needed to read for homework was laying next to it. She decided to wait on Initor, so she cracked open the book and started to read the first few pages.


    ********


    Initor stepped out of his room, his hair was still damp. His gaze went towards her, and the still filled basket that was standing on the coffee table.


    "Why did you wait for me?" he asked her. She closed her book, started to unpack the basket. Inside was the usual stuff, bread, eggs, various toppings. And a can with coffee. He started to grab plates, and some cups out of the cabinets.


    "I thought it would be nice to eat together," she replied. He sat down, and they eat in silence, there was no other sound then the sound of the cutlery. The silence drove Aless slightly mad, it brought her back to the time she had meals with her grandmother. Those were always uncomfortable, which was harshly enforced on her when she just lost her parents. Now she was used to the bustling sound of the cafeteria. "Uhm, Initor." He looked up. "I had some time to think about some things."


    "About what?" he asked.


    "About your life after the murder, how the world blamed you and your parents, for your brother''s actions. And I do not blame you. I do not blame your parents for his actions. And I am so sorry I was not there for you, yesterday. Not in the same way, you were there for me." She said, he jumped up.


    "I do not need your support!" he said loudly.


    "You are stupid if you really believe that." she snapped, at him, and he looked at her shocked. She also stood up, and went to him. "You are human! You have feelings, and this revolution that the person that destroyed both our lives is leaving prison is pretty damaging!" He took a step back, but bumped against the counter. Was he afraid of her, or was he trying to pull himself away from a hurtful situation? But she wouldn''t let him. "Initor, please listen to me. We are in the same boat again, and let me be there for you." He lowered his head, she placed her hand on his shoulder. "Let me be there for you." He started to lean against her and broke down. She wrapped her arms around his waist and let him cry it out. Tears also appeared in her own eyes, but she didn''t let it go. Not this time, this time was for him to cry. This time she needed to be there for him. Time seemed to be crawling by, but he stared to calm down after a while.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    "Thank you," he whispered. She didn''t let him go, not knowing why. "You can let me go." She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and took a step back.


    "Sorry, I didn''t know why I did that." she said, letting him know that she was just as confused as he was. He smiled at her, which she was not what she was expecting.


    "I didn''t mind, you clearly need a huge yourself." he said. She didn''t reply, she just looked at him. He looked so much more at peace, which was the purpose of this all.


    ***********


    Aless looked up from her book, and started to make some notes for air class. Initor looked at her notes and frowned.


    "Do you really think that we need that for class?" he asked, she wiggled with her head. They do not need it, but it was important to remember stuff like this. It was about the fact that the type of familiar can tell a lot about an elemental. An owl stands for wisdom, but also for a stubborn mind. Eagles are symbolizing strength, but also pride. Something she was able to see in them both. She might be smart, but she was very stubborn. According to her grandmother, she had much in common with a donkey. In Initor she could see the strength, he has shown that he would be there for his friends if they need him. But he was also very pride full. But with that said, she wanted to dive into the other familiars, a bit more. And if the color of the familiar meant something too. Because Initior was right, it was indeed strange that she got three familiars that were all white.


    "No, we do not need it. But I am curious and want to make it my passion project." she said, he chuckled slightly. This was the first time she heard him making that sound. It was surprisingly soft and warm, so different from his normal voice. "Is there something wrong with that?" she wanted to make him laugh again. He shook his head, but he didn''t laugh. Which was a shame. She wanted to try it again, but the front door opened and Ixis stepped in with Raldor. She was holding another basket, this one was even bigger then the one they found on the coffee table this morning. But Aless had an incline, that this time it held food for four, not two.


    "Ahh, the two of you are doing your homework." Raldor said. Initor and Aless cleaned up their books to make space on the coffee table. "But how are the two of you feeling?" Aless shrugged her shoulders, not sure what to say. She was not fine, but she was no longer wallowing in self-pity. She didn''t hear Initor reply either, but Raldor nodded slowly. "That is probably the reason why headmaster Gritt gave the two of you the week off. And the two of you really do not want to be in the main building right now. To say that everybody is uncomfortable, is a huge understatement."


    "That is because Izyni opened up a can of worms, there were some students who felt the same way about Edalf. Some of them hate the council, and want to see change. But after Initor dropped the bombshell of information, they are not sure how they feel about Edalf. Izyni however makes her stance publicly known, the stance that she believes that Aless parents deserved to die for a greater course." Aless heart dropped into her stomach, a greater course? Her parents didn''t die for that, they were killed because they didn''t agree with the changes Edalf was proposing.


    "My parents, were also fighting for change. They were openly fighting, and even the leader of the rebellion said as much. Yes, I have seen his interview after what happened. And I have seen him a lot at my house before my parents got killed. But they never joined them, and I think that is because they didn''t fully believe that this rebellion is much better than the council." Aless said.


    "My father said the same thing against my brother once," Initor said. "I didn''t fully understand it at the time, but I believe you are right." Everyone started to stare at the floorboards. "But let''s put that aside for now, we need to start eating." There was no silence during lunch, thank the elements. Probably to put everybody''s minds of what was happening inside the building a stone throw away. But after lunch, Raldor and Ixis needed to head back, and Aless pitied them. They needed to hear every piece of the mess that was unleashed on the school, unhappiness over the council was nothing new. But now there was a clear divide between students. Aless was somewhere, glad that she was not there.


    "I am going to do the dishes," Aless said, she grabbed the plates and cups and placed them inside the sink. Initor nodded and grabbed his other homework. The warm water and the smell of the dish soap was calming, and she did her best not to think about everything else. She could hear him stand up and walk away, but she didn''t want to ask where he was going. The sound of a door closing inside one of the bedrooms was audible. She grabbed the tea towel and dried the dishes off, again the fact she was almost done, calmed her mind. She closed the cabinet, after she placed the last plate on the stack. A smile tugged on her face as she dried her hands, and was still able to smell the soap on them. She needed to ask Ixis what kind of sent it was, because she absolutely loved it. Initor was not back yet, from what ever he was doing, but she turned around, and her foot got stuck behind something. She started to tumble forward, Initor came out of nowhere and catches her, before she hit the ground. "Thank you," the words came out of her mouth not much louder than a whisper.


    "That was a close one," he said, not much louder. She closed his eyes, a whiff of embers and pine needles hit her noise. It was so him, and wanted to take in as much as she needed. But she knew that she might come off as clingy, she opened her eyes and froze. Their faces were so close to each other, she wondered how she hadn''t noticed that at first. But right now she was looking into his golden ember eyes, seeing herself in their reflection. Her curly brown hair, the violet eyes framed behind her glasses. His gaze was warm, comforting, and a bit unsure about what to do next. Was this the moment where she will be kissed for the first time. The time crawled by once again, or were they just not paying notice to it passing by. A knock landed on the front door, and they almost jumped away from each other.


    "Just a minute!" she said loudly. Initor rushed towards the couch and grabbed a book. Burying his slow turning red face, in one of his books. She took a deep breath, and went to open the door. Only to find the headmaster on the other side of the door.


    "Good after, may I come inside?" he asked. She nodded and stepped to the side so that he could come in. He looked around and greeted Initor. He frowned a little when he saw the redness upon Initor''s face. "Uhm, Initor, I hate to break it to you. But you are holding that book upside down." Initor looked at his book, and then let out a small curse. Headmaster Gritt threw up his two hands. "Don''t kill the massager." Aless couldn''t help it, but she started to chuckle. "There you go, that is so much better than that doom and gloom. Although that is not what I saw when I just entered the cabin. I do not want to know what the two of you were doing, and to be honest with the two of you. I do not care, either, as long the two of you are doing your homework at the end of the day." Aless glanced towards Initor, who had closed the book. "But now let''s get to the business at hand, I am so sorry that I wasn''t the one who told you guys about Edalf''s early release. To be fair, I was waiting for more information so that I could prepare the two of you completely." Initor sighed.


    "It is not your fault that Izyni was holding a grudge." Initor said. "She has being waiting for the moment to get to me, and the others." Headmaster Gritt shook his head.


    "That might have being the case, it doesn''t absolve me from my lack of action. I know that the murder didn''t only effect Aless, but also you. Your father''s slimy worm of a boss that fired him just like that. And then all those other scumbags that came after him. Your mother that isn''t even allowed a change, because their oldest son turned out to be a bad apple. Everyone was completely willing to forget that they had another son to raise and feed." He shook his head. "No, I should have been the one to tell you. And again, I am sorry that I wasn''t. The two of you need to prepare yourselves, Edalf will be released next month. But he is not allowed to come near the school, which means that he isn''t allowed to come near you, Aless. So, with that said, the two of you have the entire week to yourselves. The teachers aren''t allowed to give you more homework, not during or after this week, ''to catch up''. The two of you are my best students, and that is not a secret. But that doesn''t mean that the two of you can sit here and do nothing. You need to finish the homework that has already being given, and that was all. I see you both next week." Headmaster Gritt turned around and walked out of the cabin. Initor looked at Aless, who lowered her head.


    "He is not allowed to get near me, who says that would stop him?" Aless said, out loud. Not carrying if Initor heard her. "He wasn''t allowed to kill my parents, and yet he did it anyway." Initor stood up and wrapped his arms around her.


    "This time he has to go to me," Initor said. This should have comforted her, but for some reason it didn''t. Edalf was willing to kill her when she was still a child. He didn''t even know back then that she had seen what he had done. All that he knew was that she was somewhere inside the house. But now he knew that she had seen everything, and he knew where she was. But would he stop, and leave her alone for his little brother''s sake? She shook her head. No, he wouldn''t, because he saw his little brother as a traitor.


    "You are betraying our parents, you have become the thing that put them down."


    That was what Edalf had said to Initor, that is how he sees his little brother. As something he hates with his whole being. Softly, she pushed herself off him and grabbed her books from the coffee table. And without another word, she left him alone. Closing her bedroom door behind her.

 Chapter 6

    Initor doesn''t know how to feel about this all, he almost kissed Aless. She was about to fall, and he, like every normal person, caught her before it happened. But he wasn''t prepared for the feelings that hit him afterward. The soft rose scent that circled around her, those violet eyes trapped behind those round glasses. The beating of his heart, no, he wasn''t prepared for that at all, but that doesn''t mean that he hated it. He wished that he was able to turn back the time. And he hoped that they would be able to stay at that moment a bit longer. But turning back time wasn''t possible, but the headmaster didn''t help by sharing that mind-blowing news. His brother would be out of jail, next month.


    "He is not allowed to get near me, who says that would stop him?"


    That is what she said, and he was wondering the same thing.


    "He wasn''t allowed to kill my parents, and yet he did it anyway."


    She was right about that, Edalf was not known to follow the rules and no matter how hard they would try to enforce this boundary. If he really wanted to hurt Aless, he would find a way to do so.


    "This time he has to go to me,"


    Who was he kidding, not Aless that much was clear. She had left him alone, to be by herself. And he wished that he could help her. But he knew that she needed to be by herself for now. He walked back to the couch and sat down with a sigh. What a mess, and this was only the beginning. His brother would be out and about in a month. The door of the cabin flew open, Ixis and Raldor entered.


    "Hey, headmaster Gritt has given us the rest of the day off. But he didn''t tell us why?" Ixis said loudly. Raldor lay a hand on her shoulder.


    "We brought some snacks, and hot cocoa. Just in case." he said. Initor smiled softly, they were good friends and just what they needed. At least he couldn''t speak on Aless behave, but they were what he needed. Raldor placed the basket with snacks on the coffee table. "Oh, nice, I see that one of you already did the dishes. Thanks, I was planning to do that after dinner." Initor tried to smile, but he knew that this wouldn''t convince his friends. Instead, it might be better to share the news with them, and he did.


    "I agree with Aless," Ixis said, with a low voice. "Your brother wanted to kill her, just on the odd change that she might have seen the murder of her parents. He didn''t know, still he wanted her dead. No, he is not going to listen to the council, or the leaders of the rebellion. If he wants to finish the job, he will." Initor nodded, and his glance went towards the closed bedroom door. Aless was in there, did she just hear them talking? He wanted to get up and ask her how she was doing? Raldor slammed his flat hand upon the table, this made Initor jump up.


    "Now that we know that, let us prepare." Raldor said loudly. "I do not know about the two of you, but I don''t like to wait and hope for the best outcome. We almost know for sure that he will turn up, so let us train." Initor knew that he looked confused. What did Raldor mean by train? "Don''t look at me like that" Raldor snapped. "I mean we are elementals after all, Ixis and I have unlocked our Metal element, and Aless and you have unlocked three. We train with them and our familiars until we are skilled enough to defend ourselves." That was indeed something they could do, it was not forbidden by any law or school rule. And if it was, they had a very good excuse to do it anyway.


    "I think it is a great idea," Ixis chimed in, and Initor nodded in agreement. "There are bound to be books in the library about the subject." The door of Aless room opened up and she stepped outside.


    "No, there aren''t any books about that inside our library, the council forbade that years ago. If an elemental needs to learn how to fight, they either go to the police academy, or the rebellion." Aless said, and Initor was able to see Ixis shrink a bit in defeat. He knew that this wouldn''t be that easy, but the fact that there was no material that could teach them anything, well it made things difficult. "But I was thinking the same thing, we need to be able to defend ourselves against a mad man. So there is rumored that a heavy storm comes this way, the perfect timing for us to train." Initor frowned, why would it be perfect timing. A storm would make things more dangerous, especially if they would go into the woods. The sound of thunder was already audible in the background, it was the exact same sound as the day before. The day that Aless almost lost control, Initor''s eyes grew. She was controlling the storm, by the elements he knew that Aless was powerful, but he never knew how powerful. The storm would cover their asses, because it was otherwise too dangerous inside the forests. "Let''s eat those snacks and cocoa, to give the storm a bit more time." Aless sat down and picked one of the cups Raldor had filled up, and drank from it. The wind outside the cabin picked up, the wood moaned and creaked. There was no rain, that is because Aless has not unlocked the water element yet. It seemed that Raldor has noticed it too, Raldor closed his eyes and not much later rain started to pour down from the skies. "Thank you," Aless said.


    "It was not a problem," Raldor replied. "I never knew you were this strong Aless. You are a first year, after all." Ixis snorted.


    "A first year that grew up in a council member''s household, she has learned almost all that there is to know about the air element. And besides, it is almost a well known fact that not all the elementals show how powerful they really are. I am not showing it to all, and neither do you, Raldor." Ixis said. Raldor nodded slowly, and Initor did the same thing. "But Aless, where do you want to go for training?"


    "The pavilion, by the lake. It is the one place I know inside the forest with enough open space, and all the elements present. We have to take all our familiars with us too, because we are stronger with them there." Aless said, and once again Initor was surprised by her. Something he apparently needed to get used to, it seemed. Aless placed her empty cup on the table, and sighed. "Well, it is time for us to go, grab all the small familiars." Her bunny and hedgehog were in arm''s reach. Ixis, Raldor and he jumped up to pick up their familiars. It was easy for them, Ixis had her bunny, Raldor his turtle and he had his crab. Their other familiars were outside the cabin, and were waiting for them at the door as if they knew that something was going on. It didn''t take long for them to arrive at the pavilion. Which was the only spot that the rain wasn''t falling, the wind wasn''t blowing, and the thunder didn''t crash in to. But they were not alone on the field, there were two figures. Figures he never imagined seeing on school grounds, they were Asitiye and Owyn Fusilis, leaders of rebellion. Aless spread her arms and ran towards them. "Da, Ma, you came!"


    *********


    It has being so long, too long when she had seen them last. But it felt so good to see them again.


    "Da, Ma, you came!" she screamed when she ran into their arms. Knowing that this might confuse her friends, but right now all she wanted to do is huge them and hold them tight.


    "Of course we came, silly girl." Ma said loudly. "I always said we would, it is so good to finally hold you in my arms again. My sweet, look how much you have grown." Ma squeezed her a bit harder, when she said that, and Aless didn''t mind. Because Ma was right, it has being too long. "So now, let''s get down to business. Because there are a lot of things that needs to be done. First things first, who are your friends? I see Initor, but who are the others?" Aless was surprised that Ma knew Initor, but then again, Da and she lived inside the fire elemental neighborhood so it might be that they have seen him pass by.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    "Ma, Da, these are my other roommates. Ixis and Raldor. Guys, these are my mother''s parents." Aless said, and she already expected to see their shocked faces. "They are going to teach us how to protect ourselves against Edalf." Da stepped forward.


    "It is nice meeting Aless''s friends. So, as my wife said, let''s get started. I am doubting that the fine headmaster of this school is fooled by this sudden storm, and it will not be long before he comes to see what is going on here. Raldor and Ixis, I see that the two of you have two unlocked elements. And Initor, you have three. Alright, Initor you and Aless are going to train together with Asitiye. Ixis and Raldor, the two of you, are with me." Da said, Initor nodded and walked towards her and Ma. Together with his small group of familiars.


    "It is good to see you, Initor, and Rapid of course." Ma said, she stretched out to pet Rapid. "Looking strong, you have taken good care of him. Now I see that you have unlocked water and air." Then Ma turned towards her. "And Aless has unlocked fire and earth. Alright, this is a good start, we can work with those. But I want the two of you to focus on unlocking wood and metal as soon as possible." Aless could feel a frown appear onto her forehead. "Edalf, and a lot of Elementals that haven''t connected with a familiar, are currently using a weapon called a gun. Which is made by a crazy metal elemental who thought that he was helping them. Does guns are forbidden inside the rebellion, but that doesn''t mean that we didn''t study them. Because the weapon was made by an elemental, it means that the weapon has the same weaknesses as the elementals themselves. Wood and metal are each other''s opposites, so unlocking both of them is crucial." Aless slowly turned her head towards Ixis and Raldor. "Da is currently telling them the same thing, my sweet, so do not worry about that." Aless nodded, and slowly bit her underlip. "Your mother used to that too, always at times when she tried to hid things from me. So spill the beans, my sweet."


    "I can help Initor unlock metal, and wood. And I in return can unlock wood and metal." Aless said softly. She didn''t know if her mother ever told Ma about her gift. A gift that she inherited. Ma smiled.


    "Just like your mother, why am I not surprised." Ma said. "But that is something for later, right now let''s focus on the elements that you have." This confused Aless a bit, Ma just told them that they needed to unlock the wood and metal element. And now it was something that could wait until later. "Alright, Initor I want you to teach Aless everything you know about fire, and Aless the same thing goes for you but then about air. And I mean everything, do not anything back, do you hear me." The both of them nodded. "Good now, Initor I am going to teach you everything I know about water, and Aless I am going to teach you about earth." Aless was used to being drilled, her grandmother did that for the last couple of years. Day in, day out. There might be some things about air that she doesn''t know, but those were not many. Still being drilled in earth, was even harder than she originally thought. That didn''t mean that she was slacking off, she moved rocks that were bigger than she was. She split the earth, made pillars of stone raise up and fall. Next to her, Initor was not wasting time either. Water rose up from the lake, he froze it with the help of air, or boiling hot with the help of fire. In other words, he was already incorporating his other elements. She never knew that he was this strong, and she was amazed about how quick he picked things up. The daylight faded away, into the darkness of the night.


    "Alright, I believe that this has being enough." Da shouted over the field, Raldor dropped towards the ground together with his tiger familiar. Heavily grasping for air, Aless rushed towards him and helped him with her element. "Good job Aless." She glanced at him and he grinned. "Don''t look at me like that, this is part of your lesson." She rolled with her eyes and sighed, that was something she could have known. "The four of you have worked pretty hard today, and I have seen you grown a lot in just a couple of hours." He turned. "You should be really proud of them, Gritt." Aless''s heart stopped inside her chest, headmaster Gritt stepped out of the thicket. His eyes were locked on Da.


    "I am," Gritt said, through gritted teeth. "But do the two care to explain why you are here?" Da nodded.


    "Our granddaughter needed us, and we jumped to answer her need for lessons. You know as well as I that Edalf and his cronies will not listen to the council, and Asitiye and I have seen signs that they no longer listen to us either. So do you really believe that he is going to stay away? No, you aren''t otherwise you would have stopped the training a few hours ago." Da said. The headmaster was here for hours, so that means Da was right. He doesn''t believe in that false sense of hope, either. "And do not worry about the council, Lady Cerulea knows that we are here. She already warned us that this was going to happen." A dark black hole was forming in Aless''s stomach. Her grandmother knew that she has contacted Da and Ma. That would be something that was going to be used against her, she was sure of it.


    "The police are patrolling the area," headmaster Gritt countered.


    "And still we found a way to get in here," Ma snapped at him. "Do not be so naive, Irius, it doesn''t suite you." Headmaster Gritt lowered his head a bit, but he didn''t say anything. "And do not beat yourself up either, now children it is time for you to go back to your cabin and rest." Raldor stood up slowly, and was quickly supported by Ixis. Aless turned towards Da and gave him a quick hug.


    "Thank you, Da." she whispered. He squeezed her before letting go of her.


    "There is no need to thank me. And by the elements, I see so much of my little girl in you. The same fire, of course, I am also able to see your father. But by the elements, what have I missed you." Da said, tears were appearing into his eyes. "Go, I will see you the day after tomorrow. Remember what your grandmother asked of you, teach Initor all that you know, and let him do the same. And unlock the other two elements." Aless nodded, she gave Ma a soft smile before turning around. Initor was by her side as they walked through the forest.


    "I am going to drill you tomorrow," she warned him.


    "Good, because I am going to do the same thing," he replied with a wide grin upon his face. "It is time that we are going to take back our lives." She nodded, agreeing with every word.


    *********


    Ixis and Raldor were standing behind the cabin.


    "Alright, first things first. Your father''s mother is the leader of the air elementals, and your mother''s parents are the leaders of the rebellion. Doesn''t that course any conflict?" Ixis asked, and Raldor rolled with his eyes.


    "Of course, it does." Raldor said. Aless was glad that he interjected himself here. "So your grandmother told you about unlocking the wood and metal elements." Initor nodded. "I want to try something, if you are cool with it. Ixis and I, only need to unlock wood. So..." He looked at her, and she narrowed her eyes slightly, was he really suggesting that she tried to help the three of them at the same time? She never tried that before.


    "I can try, but to be honest with you. I do not know if it would work." she said. Which of course was the truth, what was also the truth is the fact that she was willing to see where the limits of this ability were. So she saw no reason for not trying it. Ixis and Raldor nodded, as a sign that they understood.


    "Are you sure about this?" Initor asked. It was so sweet of him.


    "Alright, Raldor, Ixis and Initor lay your hand on each other''s shoulders. To make a chain, of energy." she said, and they did just that. She laid her hands on Initor''s shoulders. "Close your eyes, and focus all your energy on the element you want to unlock." She wanted to give more instructions, but there it was. The same type of flow of energy that she had felt when she helped Initor unlock water and air. The feeling that they were just a small part of this large world. Then something heavy landed upon her shoulder, something hairy. Her eyes flew open and saw the white raccoon, looking at her with its large brown eyes. Another white familiar, what does that mean?


    "I have a squirrel," Ixis said. "It worked, my new familiar is a squirrel."


    "Mine is a groundhog, hello little one." Raldor said to the creature that was hopping over his shoes. Initor had a large brown rat on his shoulder. But he was not looking at his new familiar, instead his eyes were glued on hers. She was able to guess what went through his mind, the same thing that went through hers when she saw the white raccoon. "Aless, I do not know where the limits of your powers lay, but this is crazy." Raldor said loudly, and she couldn''t agree more. "I am going to do a resource on this, in order to help you understand it more." Aless didn''t know how to feel about this. "Are you, alright?" She wanted to nod, but she was not able to. Her vision became a little blurry. Someone wrapped his or hers arms around her.


    "Let''s take her inside," it was Initor. His warmth and scent wrapped around her as he picked her up. Like it was nothing.


    "Maybe we should have waited until tomorrow, we have spend a lot of engery while training." Raldor whispered.


    "You think," Initor''s voice sounded hars. The door of the cabin opened up, and soon after that her bedroom door. She didn''t know what happened after that, because she was fast a sleep.

 Chapter 7

    A soft breeze played with the soft green grass, birds were singing in the thicket nearby. Not close enough to hear, but their song was calming. A soft sun was shining upon her face, yet she was not able to feel the warmth of the golden rays. Aless also knew that she wasn''t alone, but she was not able to look around. Still, she wasn''t worried. Knowing deep in her heart that she wasn''t alone. A smile tucked on her face, and she enjoyed this small moment of peace. She rarely finds them, even when she is fast a sleep. A small white bird, with a black on the back of its head, flew towards her. Never in her life seen a snow fairy up close, they were extremely rare and were not among the animals that would act as familiars.


    "Princess of Light," the little bird chirped. She reached out her hand so that the small creature could land on it. The small animal gazed up towards her with its small black eyes. It was strange, she felt some kind of connecting with it. A connection she also felt with her familiars, but this was not one of them. Or was it? She didn''t know, and then it hit her. The bird just said something to her, or was that just part of the dream. "No, it is not." the bird chirped again. This time she was sure that she heard it correctly, the bird said something to her. "I am indeed one of your familiars. But I will not be with you, for quite some time." He was, what, one of her familiars? Another white animal, which is strange in itself. "I am the familiar that comes with the Light element, an element that can only be unlocked by the Princess of Light. That is you." Aless frowned, she never heard about the Princess of Light. There was no royalty inside their world, there was the council and the rebellion. "The Princess of Light and the Prince of Darkness, do not appear that often. Only when the world needs them, and currently the world needs the both of you." Aless wonders who the Prince of Darkness might be. "He will appear to you in due time, as will I. You have grown strong, Princess. But you need to unlock the other elements, water, and wood. You need to become stronger before you are able to unlock the light." That was her goal all along, to become stronger. She needed to be ready, Eldalf will come to her, he will kill her. And she needed to be ready for that, she needed to be ready to safe her own life. "There are more dangers that await you, after you defeat the rogue rebel. But do not worry, train, learn, live, trust your friends, and you will survive each and every obstacle." The bird chirped. Wait, what does he mean by that? More dangers? What kind of dangers? "Our time together has come to an end, I will be watching you, Princess of Light. I will be not far from your side, I will be there when you unlock the light." The bird spread its wings and flew away.


    "Wait, what!" Aless screamed after it. But instead of getting more answers, she woke up. The peaceful field near the forest was gone, so was the song of the birds and the soft golden rays of the sun. She lay in her own bed, still wearing the clothing she wore the day before.


    "You are already awake, good, that saves me the trouble of waking you up." Initor''s voice reached her. He was standing in the door opening, already dressed, ready for the day. He smiled softly at her. "It worked, Ixis, Raldor and I have unlocked wood while you unlocked metal. But it took a bit too much of your energy." She remembered that, her metal familiar was a white raccoon. While she was thinking about her new familiar, the animal dropped on her bed. She chuckled softly and scratched the raccoon over the head. "How do you feel?" Initor asked. She didn''t reply with words, instead she pushed the sheets off her.


    "I am going to take a shower," she said. Pushing him out of the door, and closed it in front of him. The water was not hot, nor cold. But it did the job, it took all the dirt of the day before with it down the drain. She gets dressed after drying her hair, Initor was already eating a piece of toast. Aless set down and picked up pieces of her breakfast.


    "We should hurry up," Initor said, she nodded.


    *******


    Aless clapped inside her hands, it was time to drill Initor. They were standing near the pavilion near the large lake. The same place where they were drilled by Ma, and Da. She couldn''t wait until it was his turn to teach her everything he knew. But right now it was her turn to teach him.


    "Alright, first things first. Making a storm like I did yesterday is child play. Easy and doesn''t take long to learn how to do it." She said, while creating a little tornado inside the palm of her hand. "I am going to show you how to do it. But I am also going to teach you how to do this." She pointed her finger towards the nearest tree, a small blast of air shot towards one of the leaves. A hole appeared inside the leaf, before it shot down towards the ground. "My father taught me this, right after I unlocked air. He wanted to teach me so much more, but we both know what happened."  Initor looked shocked towards the leaf, but nodded. "Alright, close your eyes." She stepped beside him and lay her hands on his shoulders. "Feel the air, when you feel it, then reach out towards the clouds."


    "I can feel them," he replied, softly. Aless knew that he had some lessons from Mister Tumul, and what she just said were the basic''s. Still, it was important to repeat the basic''s until someone was able to do it without thinking. She closed her eyes and did the same thing, she could feel Initor''s touch inside the air and clouds. She was able to feel the way how he manipulated the wind that was circling around them.


    "Again," she said softly, and he did it. They repeated that a few times, until she was able to feel that he did it without her telling him what to do. "Good, now you are able to control massive storms and tornadoes. Lightning is not far from your grasp. Just do this every day and you will get it." He nodded, and smiled.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "This took me a solid three hours," he said. She lowered her head, she was trying to give him a complement. "But I will do as you said. Now teach me the difficult stuff, the thing you did with the leaf." She stood next to him and opened her hand. A small gust of wind formed on her hand, at first it was a small tornado. But then it became a ball. She glanced over towards him, and she was able to see that he did the same thing. Her heart skipped a beat, he was learning so fast. She nodded towards the tree, she had used as a demonstration. And the both of them shot their air towards it. His didn''t make a hole in the leaf.


    "Again," she said. He did it again and again, he did it so many times that she wasn''t able to count them all. But in the end he was able to shoot a hole in the leaf. "That was the easiest target, wood or even a can will be harder. But we have enough time to practice with those, tomorrow or the day after that." He nodded in agreement.


    "It is time for lunch anyway, so let''s go back to the cabin to eat." he replied.


    ******


    Aless felt recharged after lunch, she was ready to get to her part of the training. In other words, she was ready to learn everything Initor knew about fire. They were back by the pavilion, rain was hanging in the air. She was able to smell it, and she knew that Initor now that he knew what to look for was able to do that as well.


    "Good, now you are not able to burn down the whole forest." he said with a large grin upon his face. She didn''t see it as a joke, but maybe that was because she wasn''t born as a fire elemental. "Alright, I know you have studied the fire element a lot. But as far as I know, that was all inside books. Now it is time to put that knowledge into practice." From out of nowhere, flames started to circle around him. At first, the comfortable yellow, then orange and after a blink of an eye, blue. She knew, from books, that the color changes had something to do with the heat of the flames. The flames disappeared, but there was no sign of the flames ever being there at all. No black grass, of burning smell. "Fire, is one of the elements that is alive. Just like wood. Fire breaths, procreates, produces waste, and dies. We as elementals need to understand that before we are able to control it." She nodded in agreement, again, that was in one of her books. "Alright, now that you know that, it is time for you to create a flame." She flattened out her hand, like she had done to create a mini tornado. Only this time a small, yellow flame appeared on it. She looked at when it turned into yellow and then blue. The flame grew slowly, while she controlled her own breathing. It didn''t feel like the other elements, the small flame inside of her hand felt like a living animal. Warm, cozy, and with a small heartbeat. "Alright, let it grow. Let it live." She nodded, and the flame in her hand grew with every breath that she took. It jumped from her hand, and surrounded both Initor and herself. It didn''t touch the grass, it simply circled around them. The blue flames should have burned them alive, even from a distance. But the warmth was not unpleasant, it felt protective. "By the elements," Initor whispered. "You are a natural." The flames died down, again there were no signs of the flames ever being there. No blackened grass, not smell or the warmth. Which was something she missed right away. Aless started to shiver, and wrapped her arms around her. She was almost tempted to bring back the flames. Initor probably saw this and wrapped his arms around her. His warmth, his smell, it was nice.


    "Do I need to do it again?" She asked, and he nodded. So she did it again, this time she directly started with the surrounding barrier. She changed the temperature of the flames, without thinking too much about it. The barrier broke apart and now small balls of flames were taking its place. All of them in different colors.


    "By the elements," he whispered again. "I can learn a thing or two from you." She smiled as the flames died down, and the fall''s cold took a hold on her once again. Only this time it didn''t come as a surprise. "Come, let us sit down." He guided her towards the pavilion, and they both sat down. Which was a good thing, because she started to get a bit dizzy. "How do you feel?"


    "Better, now that I sit down." She said, not seeing a point in lying. Or beating around the bush. He nodded, and sighed.


    "Controlling fire cost a lot of energy, but you will learn how to control it better in time." He explained, and he smiled. "But I am not lying when I say that you did it wonderfully well." A smile tugged on her lips, it was nice to hear him say that. She started to lean into his warmth, and rested her head upon his shoulder. They didn''t say anything, they just watched the rain fall upon the lake.


    *******


    "Where in the name of the Elements are they?" Ixis said loudly, as Raldor and she made their way through the forest. She of course knew where Aless and Initor were, they were at the pavilion, teaching each other stuff about their elements. But it was well past dinner time, and they were still not back at the cabin.


    "Ixis, calm down. They probably lost track of time," Raldor said calmly. How could she calm down? They were not training their elements because they felt like it. They were training because a dangerous person was about to be released. Raldor and she stepped out of the thicket, and there they were. Sitting on the stone bench, Ixis sighed. She walked over towards them, ready to give them a lecture. But Raldor was a bit quicker, he placed his hand before his mouth and chuckled softly. He motioned towards her that they were sleeping. Ixis couldn''t believe it, but when she saw them from the same point of view, she was able to see that it was true. Aless''s head was resting upon Initor''s shoulder, and his head was resting upon her head. They were so cute together, and she knew that there was something going on between the two of them. She knew Initor just over a year, and this was the first time he has being this protective. "I am going to wake him up," Raldor said softly. She wanted to stop him, but then again they couldn''t stay here. Raldor placed his hand on Initor''s shoulder, and his eyes flew open. "I am sorry, man." Raldor whispered. He nodded towards Aless, at first Initor looked confused. But then his gaze softened.


    "How long?" Initor asked, and Raldor motioned towards him that he didn''t know.


    "It has being passed dinner time," Ixis said. "We better wake her up too, it is not good if she missed two dinners in a row." Initor nodded and slowly shook Aless. Who woke up, and smiled softly when she saw him. Those two were just too sweet.


    "It is dinner time," he whispered, and the four of them slowly returned towards the cabin.

 Chapter 8

    A scream woke her up, she quickly looked around, but there was no more sound. Did she dream it, or was this her own scream that woke her up? It wouldn''t be the first time that it happened, and it wouldn''t be the last time either. Her grandmother had cursed her out when it happened under her roof, but it was not if she had any control over it. Still, tears started to roll, she was so scared that her friends, who were sleeping in their respective rooms, heard it and were going to hate her as well. A door somewhere inside the cabin opened up, there it was, the hate. Her own bedroom opened, but the person who entered didn''t make any sounds. Instead, she felt the corner of her sheets lift, and someone crawled under the sheets with her. Aless turned towards the person, it was Initor. She didn''t ask what in the elements he was thinking, the warmth of his body and his scent, burned leaves and pine needles, calmed her. She had forgotten what had woken her up in the first place, instead she moved towards him and snuggled up. He wrapped his arm around her, and she never felt more safe.


    "I am here, you are safe with me." he whispered, his voice was still filled with sleep. She nodded, she knew she was. But it was nice of him to tell her this, she wanted to thank him. But somehow the words seemed to be just empty whispers of sounds. So instead, she lifted her head, until she was able to feel his breath. Her hand slid towards his cheek, his breath stopped when she touched his skin. Slowly, she moved her head towards him and kissed him. It was a soft, and brief kiss. But her heart was galloping inside her chest, she just kissed him. When he was laying in her bed, but for what ever reason this felt right. "Why did you do that?" His question was not filled with anger, frustration or another negative emotion. It was filled with a hope, wonder and love.


    "Because I love you," she whispered. "And I wanted to kiss you for an entire week now." He was now the one that moved closer and kissed her on the lips. His kiss was burning with longing, apparently he wanted to do this as well. He broke off the kiss, and chuckled.


    "You are something, Aless Cerulea. But now it is time for you to go back to sleep. We have classes in the morning." he said softly. He was right about that, they would attend classes again. Their week to recuperate was over, and it was time to face the reality of it all. "I will be with you every step of the way." He kissed her cheek. She turned around, glowing with love and warmth. She loved him, and she was not afraid to admit it. Sleep didn''t wait long, but this time Edalf wasn''t waiting for her. This time it was Initor, who wrapped her into a nice warm huge.


    *********


    Aless couldn''t believe that her week off with Initor has flown by. Ma and Da had visited them one more time after their solo training session, but they couldn''t stay long. Still, Aless believes with all her heart that they learned a lot about their elements and how to use them. Da was so impressed about the fact that Initor, Ixis and Raldor had unlocked their wood element and that she at the same time had unlocked her metal element. The warm water on her skin woke her up slightly, somewhere deep down she wished that she could stay in bed with Initor forever. She laying in his arms, dreaming of what can be.


    "Aless, are you almost done?" Initor''s voice came through the closed door, and over the sound of falling water. "I am starving." She chuckled softly when she shut off the water. A warm towel was shot towards her from a creak inside the door.


    "Thank you," she said softly. She dried herself off, used her air and fire element to dry her hair. Her bedroom was empty when she stepped out of the bathroom. Which she didn''t mind, she needed to get dressed, and she wouldn''t feel comfortable when he saw her naked. It was so strange to put on the school uniform, but at the same time it felt like coming home. A knock landed on the door. "Yes, yes, I am almost ready." She put her hair into a messy bun, grabbed her backpack, which was filled with her homework, and left the room. Ixis, Raldor and Initor were inside the living room waiting for her.


    "So, are you ready to face the wolves?" Ixis asked, and Aless shock her head. No, she was not, but she didn''t have any other choice. She couldn''t hide in the cabin forever. Initor wrapped his arm around her waist and placed a kiss on the top of her head. Aless could see the shocked, or was it an all-knowing she was not sure about that, expression on Ixis''s face.


    "I will be by your side," he whispered into her hair. She nodded slightly. But then she felt a tuck on her backpack. "By the elements, what is this thing heavy."


    "You do not have to carry it," she said, and reached out to take her backpack back. But he stepped backwards, a bit out of her reach. "By the elements?"


    "I didn''t say that I mind carrying it," he said with a sly smile upon his face. Ixis and Raldor looked at each other, and then they shock slightly their heads. "Come on, we do not want to be late on our first day back." Initor said while rushing towards the door. She chuckled and followed him into the crisp fall air. It didn''t rain, but the scent of winter hung in the air. The days slowly turned colder, and the nights took over the day. A shiver went over her spin, and Initor wrapped his arm around her waist. They were done fooling around, now that they were outside and surrounded by the other students. Ixis and Raldor were flanking them, as if that would protect them from the question looks and whispers. The main building was warm and welcoming, their normal table near the windows was still vacant. So Aless and Raldor sat down, Ixis and Initor went to grab some coffee.


    "Aless, did you have a nightmare last night?" Raldor asked softly. She nodded, and had her apology ready. But he shook his head. "Don''t apologize, at least not to me. I just wondered who screamed last night, and to be fair, I figured it out when Initor left your room this morning." She again nodded slowly. "I am just glad that Initor was there for you, the two of you are so cute together." She smiled, never in her mind she would have thought that someone would call Initor cute. But then again, he said that they looked cute together. "Ahh, just what I needed, coffee." Ixis placed his cup on the table, and he directly took a large sip of it. She again wanted to apologize. "Do not even think about it, I will survive." Ixis narrowed her eyes, clearly wondering what was going on. "We talked about last night." Raldor explained. "And I already told her that I do not want to hear an apology."Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    "I second that," Ixis said. "I am not mad at you either, I am just worried. Do you have nightmares often?" Aless lowered her head. "Ohh, why didn''t you tell us?" Aless shrugged, she didn''t know why she didn''t tell them either. Maybe she was scared that they would think that she was a bother, just like her grandmother. "I have picked up some books about medical herbs, now that I have unlocked the wood element. So I will look if I can find something that would help you sleep better." Aless glanced over to Initor. "Other than him." Ixis poked her index finger into Aless side, she was just in time to suppress a shriek. "He needs his sleep as well."


    "Hey, I am not complaining. Last night, I slept like a bear in winter hibernation." Initor said. He placed his hand on Aless''s. "I really didn''t mind, but maybe those herds will help as well." She smiled at him. "But for now eat your breakfast, you kind of need it." They eat their breakfast in silence, until it was time for the first class of the day. Initor and she walked towards the air classroom, he needed to go to the fire classroom which was on the other side of the building. But he still went out of his way, to escort her to hers. "I see you at lunch," he whispered, as she walked into the classroom. She repeated the same thing to him, and he left her alone.


    "Well, I did not see that one coming." Sera appeared next to her. "But it is nice to see Initor like that." Sera sighed when she sat down. "I am sorry to hear about your parents." Wait, was Sera nice to her? That was a nice change. "Do not look at me like that, I have a heart too, you know. Other than Izyni Terberis, that girl has a brick of ice." This made Aless chuckle slightly. "I mean it, that girl can hold a grudge like no one else I know, she wanted to get back at Initor since she got kicked out of that cabin." Aless looked at the book and the large stack of papers that was her homework inside off her hands.


    "I can think about someone else, actually." she said softly, and it was as if Sera knew what she meant. Because she dropped the subject completely.


    "You haven''t missed much, last week. Mister Tumul went on and on about the right air pressure to create a tornado." Sera said, and she sighed. "Which was boring, but I still do not know how to make one." Aless smiled and created a small tornado on her hands. "How did you do that?"


    "Here, let me show you," Aless said, and she started to teach Sera the technic. Something that was overheard by others in the classroom. Aless could see from out the corner of her eye that some were coping her as well.


    "I see that today''s class has already started without me," Mister Tumul entered the classroom. "Miss Cerulea, may I have your homework?" She fot up and handed over the stack of papers. He simply looked at it and nodded. "I assume that you have being very vigilant with your resource, you had more than enough time." This was meant as an insult, and she was going to let it slid.


    "Sir, I have read almost everything written about the subject. I also went out of my way to do some further resource how the other elements are effected. And no, I didn''t have enough time to do more than what you will find inside the papers. I was a bit busy to deal with the fact that someone who committed a crime that has lasting effects on the rest of live, is getting out of prison." She turned away from him. "And yes, I know you will report this to my grandmother. Go ahead, I do not care."


    *******


    "So I heard that you were being a badass, during Mister Tumul''s class." Raldor sat down at the table, he had a large grin upon his face. "I normally would not advise this, but that old goat probably had it coming." She lowered her head, she had said to him that she didn''t care if he reports her actions to her grandmother, but the elements knew that this was a lie. She was so scared, but right now she needed to appear strong. "Aless?" Raldor''s voice sounded a bit worried.


    "Sorry," she said. "Mister Tumul''s comment rubbed me the wrong way." He sighed.


    "What did he say?" That was Initor. He took his place next to her, but she didn''t answer him right away. His presence calmed her slightly. Initor looked at her and then nodded. "Never mind, I have taught you how to control the fire element. But I never explained how much it would affect your emotions." She frowned slightly.


    "Ahh, the same thing can be said about water." Raldor piped up. "Fire amplifies your emotions, something that would bother you as much are now the thing that lets you snap. Water has the opposite effect, it calms you more and let it slide off you like a raindrop from a duck''s wing." This made somehow a lot off sense. But on the other hand, she has unlocked fire a couple of months back, so why was it effecting her now. She was about to say this when Sera took a seat.


    "You guys aren''t wrong, but you are also not right. Mister Tumul was insulting the fact that she needed time off school, which is not the first time he made that comment towards Aless. He also did it when she arrived, both times she had a legitimated excuse not to be in class. But that old fart is a bit old school, it seems." Sera said, and the boys looked confused at her. Aless too, was a bit surprised by her presence. "What, I wanted to thank you for your help today. You helped not only me, but some other too." She turned towards the boys. "She taught us how to create a tornado, something the old fart tried to teach us. But it is safe to say that talking about it doesn''t always work." Initor nodded, he flattened his hand and a small tornado formed there.


    "You know it is only the first step of controlling air, right?" he asked Sera, and she nodded. "Aless taught me to, but you all shouldn''t only rely on her, or the teacher. You should go out and practice stuff for yourselves. That is the only way you learn how to control an element. " Sera nodded slowly, and sighed. Aless smiled at Initor, he was so caring to her and right now also to others outside their circle. Which was something she hasn''t seen before.


    "You are probably right," Sera sighed, and she turned towards Aless. "Thank you, but now I need to get back to my friends." Sera got up and left. Raldor looked at her and chuckled.


    "That was something that doesn''t happen every day. Hey Ixis," Raldor said, Ixis sat down and they started eating. Initor placed a sandwich on Aless''s plate, one with salmon. He knew that she loved salmon, and she knew that he hated it. So she was a bit surprised when he took it, now knowing that it was for her. "Ohh, you guys are a bit too sweet."


    "Shut up, Raldor." Ixis snapped at him. "And help me to get something to drink for all of us." She got up and winked at Aless. Raldor wanted to say something again, but she took him by the arm. "Give the two love birds some space, would you." Aless started to chuckle, which was she believed the first time that day. She had smiled, but she hadn''t laughed. Initor''s smile was so wide, it lights up his face. She loved him, not in the same way that she loved Raldor and Ixis, it was much deeper than that.


    "Don''t listen to them, just eat your sandwich." Initor said. Something he didn''t have to say again. "Are we still going to train after school?" she nodded. Ixis had promised her to teach her more about the earth element. Something she really wanted to learn. "Good, then you need a lot of energy. So do not pick more fights with teachers. Even though they are in the wrong." She again chuckled, she took another bite and ignored the whispers that were circling around them. All that mattered, right now, was that she enjoyed the moment. Which was all too short. The time that classes were about to start arrived, she had metal. He had air, and she hoped that Mister Tumul would go easy on him. She highly doubted it, but still. "See you after class," he said before they parted ways.