Dawn of the Elements - Book 4: Future Rewritten

Chapter Six: Captured

Gail sat up in bed, her vision still fresh in her mind. She had been seeing glimpses of the future in her dreams, ever since she merged her mind with Melody's, but this vision was of a recent event.

Leaving her husband to sleep, she waddled from the room, and began down the hallway. When she reached her destination, she heard voices from in the room.

"What do you mean, by she's immune to sunlight, wood, holy water, and silver!?" Silver's voice hollered from in the office. "How do we beat her then!?" Gail then heard a ruffling of papers.

"She has built up an immunity to them individually, over the past millennium." Gail heard Silana's voice reply. "However King Harold determined that together, through her black heart, and by removing her head, can she be killed by them."

"So what I'm hearing is, that the Blood Cross wasn't just designed for vampires, but to kill Raigan specifically." Silver said, puzzled a bit. "He really did plan for this war." As he spoke, Gail entered the office. "Gail, what are doing up at this hour?" He asked the pregnant Mistress of Wind.

"She did it." Gail said, sweating bullets. "Raigan used the first wish." Silver stood up from his chair as she spoke. "He's alive, Silver. Caius is alive." The Master of Fire offered his chair to her, who sat down.

"Which means the battle is upon us." Silver stated. "I assume she used the second wish to ensure her victory?" When Gail shook her head, he knew what to ask next. "What did you see?"

"That's the weird part. Loki, the Djinn sealed within the Lamp of Syran is her eldest child. The First Daughter of the Damned." Gail cringed at the thought. "She won't use the last two wishes, because she doesn't want to lose her again."

"What else did you see?" Silver asked, not looking forward to the answer. "I'm your teacher. You can tell me anything." What came next, was the last thing he wanted to hear.

"Loki's magic is what gave Threngar the knowledge and materials necessary to build The Hand of Threngar." Gail said, tapping her foot. "Raigan was behind all of it. She sealed her daughter in the Lamp to save her, then gave it to him, as a means to destroy our ancestors."

"Then we have no time to waste." Silver said, sternly. "We must prepare ourselves for the War to end all Wars." As he finished, a soldier entered the room.

"Your Majesty!" He shouted, out of breath. "We were checking on the Princess, as you requested! But when we went in the room, she wasn't there! It looks like there's been a struggle!" Silver's eyes went reptilian.

"We found this!" The soldier continued,  handing Silver a piece of paper. "It looks like it's written in blood!" Silver read the note over, as quickly as he could.

"If you want her, come and take her."

Eight words was all it took. Gail, Silana, and the soldier watched as horns grew from Silver's head. Flames poured from his eyes. He breathed fire with every breath. "I want every guard at the ready! Every soldier armed to the tooth! Every able Elemental Master primed, and ready!"

"Why?" Gail asked, standing. "What's happened?" She then heard something that chilled her to the bone. Words that explained the end of her vision.

"Caius snuck into the castle." Silver hissed, his tongue becoming forked. "He knew Melody was here. And he has taken her." He then looked at Silana. "Summon the Elemental Council."

The alchemist nodded, helping Gail from the room. As they left, a large vampire bat flew in the open window. Strapped to it's leg was another message. Silver took the message, and read it as we walked down the hall.

Approaching the door to the Hall of Elements, a guard noticed him. Seeing the horns, she entered the room, and closed it's doors behind her. Looking at the tired Elemental Masters before her, she spoke.

"Presenting The Horned King!" She said, before screaming. As she screamed, the doors flew off their hinges with a burst of crimson flames. Through them walked Silver, his eyes still ablaze, his horns still prominent on his head.

"Silver, what's the meaning of this meeting?" Lyna asked from the end of the room, clearly annoyed by being woken up in the middle of the night. Her mother, and eldest sister standing next to her. Silver approached, handing her the two notes.

"Caius has cut our time short." He hissed. The Elemental Masters began trying to interrupt him, asking what was going on. In his current rage, Silver breathed an intense flame over their heads, which silenced them all.

"Caius has Melody." He explained. "He took her to Raigan's castle, in the Valarian Mountain Range." Sparx, being very pregnant, waddled up to him. But before she could speak, Gail spoke up first.

"Silver, I don't believe he has intentions of killing her." She said, sternly. "At the end of my vision, Raigan had another glimpse of the future. She knew Melody was here, and asked if Caius knew what that meant for them. He responded with 'it's feeding time'."

"He intends on draining her, without turning her, or killing her." Silver said, finishing her statement. "As a means of using her as a bargaining chip. I'm aware. He sent another message." Lyna then proceeded to read the second note.

"If you want your brat returned alive, you will come to Mother's Castle to negotiate terms of surrender.

Come alone, no weapons, wearing Dampening cuffs. I know you still have the cuffs I used in your sister, that can stop your powers.

I expect to see you soon, Fire Breather."

"You realize this is a trap, right?" Gold asked, finally speaking up. "You aren't seriously considering this, are you?" Silver chuckled, his horns shrinking.

"I'm aware that it's a trap, little sister." He said, taking out two pairs of dampening cuffs. "And I know better then to wander into the lion's den without a plan. These cuffs serve the same purpose, only one blocks my powers, and the other doesn't."

"Your Majesty, I don't quite understand." Toxis said, adding in his thoughts, while trying to help Sparx back to her chair. "Why explain how they work?"

"They're identical, Master Toxis." Silver explained, putting one pair on. He tossed a set of keys to his wife. Snapping his fingers, flames ignited, and they fell off. "You see, while visually they are the same, mechanically they are different." He put in the other pair, and snapped his fingers. When no flames ignited, Lyna unlocked the new cuffs.

"Classic bait and switch." Terry stated, walking over and putting his hand on his brother's shoulder. Silver growled at it, but when Terry didn't recoil, he relaxed. "I was wrong about her then. I hurt her, and I'll have to live with that. But if he kills her now, our future is set in stone."

"Bring her back, big brother." Gold said, as Lyna grabbed her hand. "Bring your daughter home." Silver nodded, then put on the set of cuffs that wouldn't block his powers. "And stick it to Caius along the way."