The Elements: Air

Chapter 3

In the morning, I woke up to the sound of cracking wood. I gazed around the meeting hall. Miranda had helped me set up a hammock in a corner, as almost every tree house in the village.

There had been some argument as to whether it was safe for me to sleep in the the same room as Jaria, or whether they should put her in a cell, but we both argued pretty well on how things wouldn't be any different if she still hadn't discovered her Element, and that they wouldn't care that we were friends if she wasn't a fire user (The technical term is actually pyrokinetic, but that sounds like a piece of software). In the end, they agreed to let us stay in the same room, but they put a vine barrier around a cot for her, and stationed two guards at the door. They were still there, though one of them kept nodding off. I pushed back the covers and sat up.

"Ugh." My dark hair was a poof that nearly hit a 90 degree angle. I pressed on it. It poofed back stubbornly, but the tiny braids lining it were at a 75 degree. Improvement. I sighed and got up. I was still in the clothes I was wearing yesterday: a navy tank top, and a dark gray skirt that made my ankles itch every time they fluttered over.

The hyper lady had also given me a strange band of silver she told me to wrap around my neck, like a choker. It was shaped like curls of wind, and had bits of blue tourmaline embedded in it. I never asked why she gave it to me, but I'd noticed that all the Air Elementines had been wearing a silver piece of jewelry. It was the only bit of jewelry I had on, except for the thin silver ring that had been with me for as long as I could remember.

I twisted it nervously as I walked over to one of the guards. He started when I tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hi, um, do you know where I'm supposed to go?" I pulled a strand of my poof, then flicked my hand, and a strong gust of wind flattened it back to it's normal volume. I sighed in relief.

The guards looked at each other, then the one who kept nodding off shrugged.

"I'll bring you to where Miranda lives with her Father." He suggested.

I smiled gratefully and followed him through what remained of the vine pathways. I gazed at the ruined village. The dirt looked like a plow had run through it, and most of the tree houses were hanging from a few vines, like puppets.

"Careful," the guard said, as he lowered himself to a sitting position on a tree branch, "You want a ride?" He raised his arms, and the branch lengthened and stretched like Playdoh.

"I'm OK." I said, hovering an inch over the tattered vine bridge that had been shredded to bits, ready to cross.

I hovered in front of a door. It was an ordinary door, but going through it meant I'd sealed my fate for danger.

The guard had conveniently scurried back to his post in front of the meeting room door.

I raised my fist, and knocked twice. 10 seconds later, a lapis eye peeked out from the crack between the door and the wall. John sighed, and opened the door wider.

"Who is it?" Miranda asked from somewhere inside.

"Who else?" John replied "Come in." he added to me, stepping aside so I could slip inside.

I stepped into a single round room, with bark walls, and olive-green furniture. Deep yellow pillows lay thickly on a small bed, and a couch.

Miranda was sitting on a chair facing said couch.

"Sit." she said, not quite smiling-but not quite frowning-as she pointed to the green couch.

I sat down slowly, and John crossed over and plopped down on the bed.

"Soo..." I fiddled with my ring, twisting the simple band back and forth.

"I guess we have to plan how to get there." Miranda suggested.

John snorted.

"What?" she protested.

"Uh, we know next to nothing about technically anywhere other than the villages."

"You don't?" I raised my head. I thought that since they lived here, they would know about the rest of the world.

"We never leave the villages. We're not allowed to." Miranda explained.

"Why?"

"Because," John shifted to a crisscross position. "My parents were part of a group of 20 people who were hunting Monos. Only six of them came back. My parents weren't amongst those six. My Dad was my Uncle's brother, and he's super protective. So no leaving. I've never been out, since I was 4 when they died, and even if I did, I can't remember." He lowered his head

"Hmm. It's a wonder why/if? he's even letting us on this quest."

"Oh, well, I can help you." I offered.

"You'll have a lot of explaining to do though." John warned.

He was right. I was in the middle of explaining what a subway was, when a large piece of bark fell on my head.

"Ugh." I wiped it off. Another piece fell in its place. Three fell on the bed. John ran to the open window.

"Guys! The Monos are back!"