Envisioned (The Elemental Prophecy) (31 page)

I crept down the hallway, straining to hear any noise coming from in front of me. Dim light coming through the windows informed me that it must be close to dawn. Most of the guards would be sleeping still. I quickened my pace when the foyer came into view, empty of the guards who were posted there earlier. I ran once I entered the foyer, knowing Jace would be on the other end of the hallway I was now in. I reached the door to his jail, and I gathered my Air since it was the quickest attack method. I shoved the door open with wind, throwing the two guards inside against the back wall, knocking them out. I went to retrieve the keys from one of the guard's pockets, and then I threw both into the cell next to us and slammed the door, trapping them inside.

I rushed to Jace's cell, fumbling with the keys as I hastily tried to unlock his door. I finally opened it, and we both collided as I threw myself into his arms. He pulled me down with him onto his cot, putting my back to the wall. He leaned his forehead against mine before tenderly pressing a kiss to my lips. I closed my eyes and sighed in relief as the pain evaporated from my body, and within seconds, exhaustion set in and sleep consumed me.

I was once again jolted awake, but from a different source. The Elders had thrown me from the cot onto the floor. I didn't see Jace, and I assumed he had been taken out to the courtyard already. I was so tired of their shit, so I flung the four of them back against the cell bars, watching with amusement as they scrambled to get off the floor.

“How dare you?!” Anastacia spat. I chuckled in response, infuriating her more and provoking her to use her Air against me in the same manner, throwing me against the wall. I landed on the cot as pieces of dust and fragments of cinderblock crumbled on me from my impact.

“I'm going to enjoy punishing you in front of the community today. Maybe it will teach you some humility and respect,” Marcus said as he walked over to me. “How's your neck?” he asked as he grabbed the back of my neck. His smug smile disappeared as his expression changed to surprise when I didn't flinch in pain. He grabbed the back of my hair and pushed my head between my legs. I heard him intake a deep breath as the others shuffled over to see my unharmed neck, complete with my tattoo.

“How…” Gwenyth trailed off as she exhaled a shaky breath.

“It does not matter, we will cut it off again in the courtyard to display the lengths of their blasphemy in front of everyone,” Demetrius offered.

Marcus pulled my head back, still clutching my hair as he forced me to stand and walk out of the cell.

“Where's Jace?” I growled.

“He's already prepared in the courtyard. We will begin once we arrive,” Gwenyth answered as she and the two remaining Elders followed Marcus and I. I was led through the hallway into the foyer and out into the day. The sunlight was a welcome sight, reminding me that the time for our escape was near. I was taken down the stairs and into the packed courtyard, my eyes searching for Jace. It didn't take me long to find him—he was shirtless, strung up by his arms on a stage between two large, wooden posts. Four guards were stationed on both sides of him, and two had those strange guns that I had seen in my cell. Once he saw me, he began to yell and flail against his restraints, his desperation to get to me apparent. One of the guards roughly punched Jace in the stomach, causing him to flinch in pain as I clutched at my middle. Panic gripped me as I struggled to free myself from Marcus' grasp, but he pulled my hair tighter as he forced me up the steps of the wooden stage. He shoved me down once we reached the top of the platform and I braced my fall with my forearms. Marcus and the other Elders walked to the middle of the stage, where Marcus addressed the crowd, “Today, we have two Elementals in need of punishment for their blasphemous lies. They mark themselves with the Ultimate Unity symbol, and the female claims to be the One.”

A collective gasp sounded from the audience before they all began to talk at once, causing Marcus to bellow, “SILENCE!!!”

A hush fell over the crowd as Marcus once again began speaking, “The punishment for them both will be to strip them of their self-inflicted markings and twenty lashings each.”

Lashings, really? I guess we were back to the Roman Empire days. Marcus motioned to a guard behind me who grabbed me by the upper arm and hauled me to where the Elders stood, his fingernails digging in my skin as he roughly guided me. Marcus pulled out a sleek knife with a slim, jeweled handle, causing dread to fill me. The pain from last night returned as I remembered every second of their cruel torture. It was one thing to cut me, but to remove the symbol of the bond Jace and I shared—that brought the pain to a deeper level. I was so afraid that it might not reappear, but when it did, I was relieved that it healed back in its rightful place.

Gwenyth held my head down, just as she did last night, with Demetrius bracing my arms in case I tried to flail them around or escape. I could hear Jace fighting against his bonds again as he screamed for the Elders to get away from me. I felt Marcus push the hair away from my neck right before he ripped the blade into my skin, the familiar agony reverberating down my spine. I bit my lip, not wanting to please them by crying out. The coppery tang of my blood assaulted my mouth, which was a welcome distraction since I was desperately trying not to focus on the pain. Tears formed in my eyes as the knife cut through my skin, leaving a searing sting that throbbed and burned intensely. Once he was finished, the lingering pain intensified when he grabbed me by the neck. I inhaled sharply before crying out in agony, causing Jace to buck and thrash more wildly against the chains that held him. The posts holding him began to shake, but the guards braced them, holding them steady.

Marcus turned me to face Jace, who was red with anger. Sweat beaded down his sculpted body as he continued to fight against his restraints. Marcus whispered harshly in my ear, “You are going to watch as we break your beloved. Then, we will rip the mark from his body when he is too weak to even fight us.”

He dug his fingers into my neck, bringing me to my knees as I shrieked in pain. Jace roared in fury before screaming my name and thrashing harder against his chains. Demetrius then positioned himself about ten feet from Jace's back, a whip held in his right hand. Fear strangled the air from my lungs as I anticipated what was going to happen next. I moved to stand, to prevent this torture from happening to Jace, but Marcus clenched his hand tighter, causing my eyes to blur from the intense pain. I blinked the haze from eyes, focusing on the whip that Demetrius now held above his head. He brought it down forcefully, and the resounding clap against Jace's skin echoed through the courtyard. An excruciating pain spread across my back diagonally, and the breath left me as the next one came, almost directly on top of the first. The tears I'd been holding back spilled onto my cheeks as the pain compounded tremendously. I looked up through blurred eyes at Jace's back, the open, bloody slashes shattering my heart. I sobbed his name as another crack of the whip impacted his raw, bleeding back, sending another shockwave of pain across my own. A piercing scream left Jace after several more impacts, the sound so heart-wrenching that it released a raging fury within me. I ignored the pain as I shoved Marcus off with my Air, sending him soaring off the stage and into the crowd. Demetrius continued to whip Jace, unaware of his impending death by my hands. The sky darkened as I began to pull my Elements to me, the intense emotion in me fueling my powers to a higher level. The air whipped and pulsed around me, causing the people in the crowd to run in a panicked frenzy from the courtyard. The guards with the weapons both fired at me, sending a luminescent yellow stream of light. The first shot connected with my leg, sending me down to one knee as the other bullet flew past my right ear. Adrenaline coursed through my veins, numbing me to the impact of the bullet as I lifted the guards up into the air. I twirled them around higher and higher before slamming them down from at least three stories high, each of their bodies landing in a sickening thud on the ground. Blood pooled under their broken forms as I directed my attention to the Elders. Demetrius was frozen in place, whip still in hand, as he stared upon me with fear. I flung the whip from his grasp, and he stumbled as he attempted to rejoin Gwenyth and Anastacia, who held the same stunned, fearful expression as him.

The ground quaked beneath me as I stood back up, causing the stage to tremble. Rain poured down ferociously, pelting them with force. I shielded Jace with my Air, forming a protective barrier around him. He was slumped over, his chin resting on his chest with his eyes closed. I hoped he was passed out and unable to feel the radiating pain I felt through our bond. I narrowed my gaze to the three Elders before flinging them into the center of the courtyard with a flick of my hand. They tried to get up and run away, but I cracked a bolt of lightning directly in front of their path, halting their movement. I pooled my Akasha in my hand as I stalked towards them. I stepped over an unconscious Marcus, who seemed to have been trampled by the fleeing crowd judging by the awkward position of his limbs. I cast another lightning bolt by the Elders' feet, and they fell backward in shock, looking up at me with pleading eyes.

Gwenyth held up her hands and released a ball of flame in my direction, which I quickly froze with my ice. It fell to the floor and shattered, tiny shards of ice spraying from the point of impact. Anastacia lifted me with her Air, then threw me back about ten feet, where I landed on the crumbled earth. Roots burst forth from the ground, wrapping around my limbs and pinning me to the dirt.

I heard Demetrius' laughter as he continued to tighten the roots around me, holding me to the ground. The Elders advanced towards me, no doubt thinking that they had bested me based on the smile that they shared. Fire whizzed past me, catching Demetrius in the chest and knocking him back on the ground. The roots loosened due to his lack of attention, and I forced them to release me with my own Earth.

As I stood, I turned and saw Jace haphazardly throwing fire from his position on the stage, arms still tied to the posts. I turned back and directed my attention to Gwenyth and Anastacia, who were trying to extinguish the flames on Demetrius, which had already begun to char his skin. He screamed in agony as the fire spread to his face, Jace's flames leaving him unidentifiable. The two women looked up at me as they both raised their hands, preparing to attack. I sent my ice to capture their hands and legs, leaving them incapacitated as I prepared my own assault.

I smirked as the roles were now reversed. They looked so pitiful, drenched and trembling from the biting rain, but I would show them no mercy, and I knew they were too proud to ask for it. “I told you I would make you pay,” I said with finality. I threw my arm up, sending my Akasha soaring up into the sky. I controlled it as it sailed upward, about twenty stories high, before I pulled it back down again, barreling towards the Earth, directly at the Elders. It impacted, engulfing the ground in a bright light and sending out a blast of energy that threw everything, including me, away from the center of impact. I landed on my aching back, about thirty feet away. I struggled to get up, my body drained from injuries and the power I expelled. The rain stopped, and I managed to stand after several attempts, wobbling from the effort. My eyes widened as I took in the scene before me—the area where the Elders stood was now a huge crater, about thirty-five feet in diameter and five feet deep. Smoke billowed up from the fractured earth, showing no trace of the Elders except the still unconscious Marcus.

I turned and limped towards the stage, which had now crumbled to the ground. I fell several times, each time requiring a tremendous effort for me to get back up. The last fall forced me to crawl the rest of the way to the stage, and up the steps to the platform. I dragged myself to Jace, who was still tied to the posts, which were now strewn across the broken stage. He lay unconscious, face down on the rubble, and I shakily melted the chains on his wrists, which were bloody and ragged. I immediately placed both hands on each of his wrists to heal his wounds before moving to his back, where open, gaping lacerations glared at me angrily. I gently place my hands over his shredded skin, which still oozed blood. My tears dropped onto his torn flesh as I healed each gash until his skin restored to its flawless form. I flipped him over and strained to pull him into my lap, but finally managed to cradle his stout upper body in my arms. I caressed his face with the back of my knuckles, gently trying to wake him from his unconsciousness. More tears dripped onto his face as I thought of the pain I put him through. The pain that I could have prevented if I had just left yesterday like he wanted to.

Jace began to stir as I continued to caress his striking face, and his eyes flitted open. His gaze found mine and a small smile graced his mouth as he reached up to rub his thumb over my cheek before lightly stroking my bottom lip. “Saved me again, huh?” he joked hoarsely, his voice sounding like someone had scraped the inside of his throat with a dull, serrated knife.