Authors: Annalynne Thorne
Sighing, Terra shook off the concern she felt towards him and looked up to a bare tree. Its spidery branches reached out, crisscrossing each other to create a lovely web against the black night sky. If she didn't know any better she would think of it as a sign. Like them, a web was interconnected, you touched one strand, and the whole thing was affected, for better or for worse.
Behind her the horizon was painted a light blue. It was already near morning, and in response, she yawned. "You have school. I'll drop you off."
Marissa groaned. "What about Era?"
"I'll take care of her."
"And Bryne? I have to tell you what he said."
"You'll tell us after school."
"I'm tired."
Terra shrugged. "You should have stayed home like we told you. No more excuses, get in the car, Issa. It's been a long night."
She looked like she wanted to argue, but she did as Terra told, and scooted alongside Era, propping her head in her lap, smoothing her silvery hair back. She cooed promises of home and quiet, as soft as a feathers flight.
Terra took one glance to fire's house. She saw his shadowy figure in the window, watching them as they drove off.
She wouldn't let him do it. They were in it together, if one of them failed, they all did. They would endure. She would make sure of it, because no leader was going to abandon their troops in the battle field. It was bad enough that the war had begun without their knowledge...
The bed was the best invention of man. Better than the wheel.
After dropping an averse and bitter Marissa off at the loading dock of her school, Terra went home. Aunt Gwen stood in the kitchen area, a mug bought from a park in
Orlando
steaming from Irish coffee in her hand.
"What happened," she whispered frantically, her eyes wide at the sight.
"Long story," Terra whispered in return. "I can take care of her. Go on to work, she'll be okay."
Aunt Gwen was discerning, but nodded. "Call if you need anything."
"Thanks.”
While she gave a wave and left, stifling the jangle of the keys in her hand, Terra climbed the staircase to Era's bedroom. She laid her on the comforter, bringing up the other half and wrapping it around her.
“I'm going to give you some piece and quiet. I'm going to leave for a while, okay?”
Era flinched to show that she heard. Terra didn't want her disturbed by the sound of her heart beat, her breathing, her footsteps and the rustle of clothing and bed-sheets. It would serve no good and hinder her wellness.
As quietly as possible, tip toeing through the house, Terra took the car. Hating the loud noise the engine made, she drove to an offside dirt road a good five miles from the house. On either side of her were yards of yellow grass, the changing of the weather stripping it of its green color. In the distance she could see houses, statuesque against the light hue of the sky.
She parked to the side and killed the engine with the turn of her key. She jerked the handle at the bottom of her seat and laid back pulling her cell phone out of her jean pocket. She set the timer for her to pick up Marissa and then she pitched it to the dashboard.
Wiping the strands from her forehead, she truly relaxed, the tense muscles in her back and shoulders unwinding. Sleep was immediate.
A large metal pot hung on a hook over a fire. Dangling, the water inside sloshed and spilled over, the fire hissing in anger, the water boiling in retribution. Bubbles built in climax popping.
A candle in a tall votive flickering with life, licking the air. The cover came down by an invisible hand and the small fire shrunk, attempting to re-spark, to survive, but it died, curling smoke in its place filling the top in an illusion of fog on the glass.
Grass, a sea of it, swaying in the breeze. Dirt, rock, worms, dirt, and more dirt. Further and further down... Fire.
Blackness. A ticking. Ticking... Tick... Tick... Tick...
"Terra..."
Tick... Tick... Bang!
“Terra!”
Wheezing, she shot up, her hands seizing the wheel, her hair flying over her face.
"Terra?"
Out of the window was Bryne, lowering his fist from the window. It seemed as though he tried to smile kindly, but if he was, it was pretty terrible and unpracticed. Hadn't he ever been a child? At least he was dressed in jeans and a wrinkled button up plaid shirt.
She motioned for him to come in and he did, heaving himself into the seat, his knees hitting the dashboard. Grumbling incoherently but probably curse words he slid the seat back releasing his cramped legs.
"So," he finally said. "You're the ring leader."
"What?"
"I told Mari to get you all to leave the state, or at least the country, but oh no, you're still here."
"What's your problem, Bryne? Why do you want us to leave so badly?"
"Think about your life, flower child. Has anything bad ever happened to any of you?"
"Yeah…”
"Death, grief…”
"My parents are dead. Era was an orphan."
There was sympathy, for a second, but then his eyes were guarded once more. "Continuously," he corrected.
She thought, but nothing came to mind. "No..."
"That's right, because the danger is with me. My parents died, my brother died, and now my grandmother is dying. I have scars over my back to remind me not to cross the line. I'm risking everything to talk with you right now. Your sister pushed it farther than it should've ever gone last night. Stay away from here."
"We can help you. Together as four we're stronger. Did Marissa tell…."
"She told me everything, the prophet, the elements, everything. Listen." Bryne grimaced, "please. You have to move. It's for your own safety. As long as we're apart it will not harm you. I swear on my families graves that it won't."
"Why?" Terra asked as she touched his shoulder. It felt as though he was running a temperature, but she held on. "Because it's here with you? It's hurting you, isn't it? Look, Bryne, it doesn't have to be this way. Come home with me and we'll all be ok."
He shrugged her hand off. "Mari said the exact same thing."
"Because it's true." Terra explained.
"The prophet said that, sure, but don't you know that it's ever that simple? You three have been safe your whole lives because the danger was with me. I'm a prisoner here, and yeah, I can easily give you over, we can all fight this together. But why? Why fight and lose four when we can surrender and lose one?"
Terra shivered at the prospect, but it was nothing that she hadn't known. "Why lose one when we can win as four?"
"Because, I'm damaged. Remember, I'm fire. Don't you get it, Terra? I'm not air, or water, or earth. You three will always be around, but fire... Fire will always be extinguished in the end. Water can end me, without air I can't survive, and I will destroy you. I am
meant
to die."
"We are not the elements, our powers are." She touched his arm hoping to convey the strength in Era's words that she had taken. "See? I'm not physically hurting you. So see? We can beat this. Together. Please, come with me and we can get started."
"This is very screwed up. Our freedom has been stolen from us because of what we can do. We are the freaks of the freaks. It's all so cliché, teenagers saving the world. It's a collect all four and rule the world."
A cord struck within her. "What?"
He raised a thick brow. "What aren’t you understanding?"
"What did you say? Rule the world?" Terra asked.
"Yeah, what about it?"
She went cold, ice pouring over her stomach. "That's what this is about? Power?"
"That's the most important thing, right?"
Bryan
replied.
She disagreed and she knew he disagreed too. She never thought... Never tried to guess what the danger was... It was power; someone was trying to gain power. "One of the Kin?"
"An old one, yes."
Bryan
looked out the window, seeing a place that was not there. He was remembering.
"You know this person." Terra questioned.
"Terra, I thought that Mari would've told you."
"I sent her to school."
"Yes. I know the person. He's of the Kin. An elder." Stated
Bryan
.
Of everything she had heard growing up, the threats on their lives, that right there, was the scariest thing Terra ever heard. An elder of their community was putting four children in danger, and it was likely that that wasn't all. What other acts of sins had they committed?
"Bryne, I want to see the scars. Please?"
He assessed her for a few seconds, and then nodded. He twisted facing the window, and unbuttoned his shirt. It took her breath away. They were not scars of an awry fire like she had guessed, but a free-handed brand, the block words "this" scrawled in paper-white over the blades of his shoulders.
"What does it mean?"
Turning back to her he held out his forearms. Written across them in the same fashion was a word for each. "Remember" and "warning."
"Bryne..."