Forgotten Earth

Earth

The wolf wasn't sure how many days had passed anymore.

He just kept wandering, following his instincts... somewhere. He seemed to have a place in mind, but he wasn't sure where or what it was, or how far he had to travel.

Just like everything, he didn't know.

The sun was well under the horizon by the time the wolf found a place to sleep that night. He crawled under the roots of the tree and curled into a ball, drifting off into sleep.

The wolf dreamed. He was in a lone field, knowing there was danger surrounding him, but nothing was in sight. A friend had been by his side, but now they were gone. The dark wolf howled in fear and loneliness, and the ground began to shake.

The wolf woke with a start. He jerked up and stumbled to his feet as he realized - the ground was still shaking, rumbling the world around him. The wolf darted out from under the spacious roots, not wanting to get buried in the trickles of dirt coming down from the walls. He was glad he hadn't slept in a cave last night.

His dark blue eyes widened as his paws started sinking in the churning dirt, and he hopped away before the earth could swallow him. He shook his paws off, and the dirt went flying. He backed away further from the shaking ground.

How is this happening? the dark wolf wondered. He knew it wasn't natural. It was too concentrated for that. A few yards away, the ground was calm. Why was the disturbance only around him?

Maybe it's me, the wolf thought. He knew it was unlikely. How could he control the earth? Yet there was no other cause.

He realized his heart was still beating faster than normal. The wolf tried to ignore the earth sucking at his paws, and closed his eyes, trying to stay calm. If he was right, the disturbance should be linked to his emotions.

As always, when the wolf closed his eyes, his hearing and sense of smell sharpened to make up for the loss of sight. But this time, he realized he sensed something else. The earth.

The wolf was surprised, but he focused on the calm. Calm moments in the last few days. The stillness of the forest when it had rained. Slowly, the earth settled, and the wolf pulled his paws out of the dirt. He shook himself and looked around. The hollow where he had slept was half filled in with dirt, but other than that the forest was largely unchanged. He began to realize what he had just learned. He could control the earth.

And that meant he had been bonded to an Elemental.