Wrath of the Elementals

Sword of Fire

*Kai's Perspective*

"You said what?!" Jay yells. I slap my hand over his mouth to shut him up.

"I didn't mean to," Cole says. "It just slipped out and now-"

"Now you're screwed," I finish for him. He nods slowly. I shake my head and lean on my crutch. Sure I've made mistakes with Skylor. But never this bad. "What'd she even say?"

Cole leans against the bedroom door. "She started blushing, licked her lips, and then I bolted."

"Wow, that's just, wow," I say. Jay pushes my hand away.

"Dude, why'd you even say it? Do you love her?" Jay questions.

Cole groans. His answer is exactly what I expected. "I don't know." Jay makes a series of noises which could be words but I can't make them out.

"Wow. I really should have taught you guys how to date," I say scoffing.

"What? Why are you making this about me? What did it do?" Jay throws up his hands in question.

"Cole here, has been dating her for like less than five months, and is ready to propose. And you have been dating for the same amount of time, I mean you guys literally live together, and the most you've done is hold hands." Cole rolls his eyes while Jay turns red and stares at his bunk.

A knock on the door makes us all jump. Cole steps away and opens the door. "Hello friends," Zane says.

"Glad to see you're doing better, buddy," Cole says, patting his shoulder.

"Thank you. I feel much better. What are you three discussing?"

"Cole told Seliel he loves her," Jay says, zero hesitation. Cole groans and begins to pace from one side of the room to the other.

"Oh, congratulations," Zane says, smiling at Cole. I try to hold back my laughter.

Cole stops and points at him. "No, no, no. This is not a good thing."

Zane cocks his head. "It is not?"

"What?! No! This is terrible!"

"I am confused."

I take a few steps so I can set my hand on Zane's shoulder. "Cole, is not ready to say that yet. It's probably not even true. Sure he likes her, a lot. But loving someone, especially after their history is a bit much. Seliel didn't even say it back which is never a good sign. Now it's gonna be awkward and uncomfortable until they figure out where they stand in their relationship."

"So why are you not there now?" Zane asks. "If the way to solve this problem is to talk, shouldn't you be doing that?"

Cole shakes his head. "How can I face her after that?!"

"Yo," the door swings open and Lloyd steps through. "Sword of Fire time. You guys ready?"

Cole clears his throat. "Yup. Let's go." I sigh and follow him out the door.

The five of us step up onto the deck. This first thing I notice is Nya and Skylor. I wanted to talk to Skylor alone. She seemed so, off yesterday. She was fine and then suddenly it looked as if she was having a panic attack. It made no sense.

I start to make my way to her and Nya but Wu blocks my path with his staff. "Come, Kai. I must talk to you." I take a deep breath and nod.

"What is it?" I ask him.

"I wish I could keep you here, let you heal. But considering this weapon is yours, I need to let you go. There will be a guardian of this weapon too. Do not fight it. All of you need to get out of there immediately. You all took quite a beating last time, I can't let that happen again." Wu takes hold of my shoulder. "Be safe, Kai. If a battle is unavoidable, stay toward the back. Let the others take care of it."