An Ember's Tale

Chapter Twenty-Six

Ember continued to wipe the dust and stones from her dress and body long past when they left the mansion. Her hair was covered in a chalk-like substance as she ran her fingers through it several times. Her dress was ripped and torn past anything suitable, but luckily, her several layers shielded her from any embarrassment or scandalous accusations.

"Are you alright?" Mark asked her as they walked down the path through the rolling hills they had previously taken.

"Besides from almost dying again?" Ember flicked a stone off of her elbow. "I'm fine."

Mark smiled. "We do tend to attract danger."

"I'm not sure if it's because we are elements, or," she gestured to her boot where the handle of her dagger was sticking out. "because we are trying to collect all of these jewels?"

"If it was easy," Mark continued walking. "It wouldn't be called the Forbidden Island."

"And why do they call it that?" Ember questioned. "All of the names are so literal. Like the Seven Islands, the Forbidden Island, the Electric, the Northern, Rainforest, Sea, Air, and Southern. They couldn't have come up with more creative names?"

Mark laughed beside her. "What are your ideas then?"

Ember mocked his laugh before she held out her hands. "Death Island. Instead of Forbidden Island."

"Why?" Mark raised his eyebrow.

"Because everyone wants to go to a Forbidden Island," she said. "No one wants to go to Death Island."

"Well," Mark smirked. "I'm sure Akull would be very welcoming to new ideas about how to name the islands."

Ember's mind went back to her dream... if Akull could show up in her dreams, what was stopping him from finding out everything he needed to know about her in her mind? Her past and weaknesses could all be her undoing.

"About that," Ember pursed her lips. "How powerful is Akull, exactly?"

Mark forced his gaze from hers and stared straight ahead. "Before he was immortal, he was the second most powerful element. But then, after he was immortal, he killed Fiammetta, the original Fire Element, so now he's-"

"The most powerful being there is..." Ember finished.

"Pretty much."

"And as the Fire Element, what am I supposed to do? Defeat him?"

"Why are you asking this now?" Mark turned toward her.

"Because we are one island away from reaching him, and I want to know what I am up against."

Mark turned back to the path ahead as something flashed in his eyes. "Many assume the Fire Element will kill him, but none have succeeded. I don't think he can ever be killed."

"But you lived there for so long," Ember said. "You must know one of his weaknesses?"

"Why do you think I'm telling you this, Red," Mark turned toward her with a hardened gaze. "I lived there for over ten years, and I only succeeded in discovering her has no weaknesses. The best thing anyone can ever do is keep him trapped within the Seven Islands."

"What would happen if he was let out?"

"The Northern Island represents the Ice Element," Mark told her. "If Akull got out, the whole world would be an eternal ice age, and most people would probably die."

"How would he get out?" Ember asked. "No one has ever gotten out before."

"I'm not sure," Mark shook his head. "But I do know it has something to do with the Fire Element."