Water {Elements of Power 2}

Chapter 33: Roxy

I was rocking; I could feel my body being gently swayed from side to side, up and down.

It felt as though I was floating. There was a lapping sound, too, like water slapping against wood. I recognised it from my journey to the Sephan Realm.

If I was dead, the Helian God had a pretty sick sense of humour-why give us an afterlife surrounded by the very thing we hate most? It even smelt of water here: salt and fish.

I heard a gruff, Sephan voice and a thud, like a door closing.

Huh. Maybe I wasn't dead.

Where was I then?

I opened my eyes and was momentarily blinded by dazzling light. I squeezed them shut again then tried to open them once more, slowly, with lots of blinking, to give them some time to adjust. Hanging above me was a cloudless blue sky. My other senses were giving me the strong impression that there was water below me, so did that mean that I was on a boat? What had happened? Erica had been seconds from cutting my throat.

Brae! I forced my mind to focus as I replayed the final moments before my blackout in my head. I had heard Brae. He had come to rescue me. He had probably killed Erica and was taking me back to the Arcan Realm. Where was he now then? And would he really kill someone from another Realm to rescue me? Something wasn't adding up.

"Brae?" I said cautiously.

Another face appeared in my view. All too familiar and definitely not belonging to Brae.

"Guess again, Helian," Tristan teased before his face retreated.

What the flames was going on?

I tried to sit up, to get a better view, but my arms and legs were weighted down. Something was pressing on them; restraining me.

"Tristan? What's going on?"

I heard a low chuckle from my right, but I couldn't see him. My vision swam when I tried to move my head. My stomach rolled.

"Don't worry, Roxy. You're perfectly safe. I took care of Erica for you before she could cause any permanent damage. Although next time you're in another Realm, surrounded by enemies, I would suggest you don't drink so much... Still, it gave me a useful excuse to get rid of her, so thank you."

"Erica's... dead?"

"Of course! She was a danger to herself and the Realm. She started an earthquake in the middle of the capital, days after a devastating fire! She could have killed hundreds of Sephans. Not to mention the fact that she was attacking a very important foreign prisoner."

"Prisoner?" Something about this situation wasn't adding up. "Tristan, why am I tied down? And where are we going?"

He laughed again. "To the Arcan Realm of course, like you wanted. Although, I'm afraid you're heading there on my terms: as a Sephan prisoner.

"Once we get there, I will present you to the Arcans as a gift, so to speak, to prove how different my regime will be to the last. They'll be able to have you, so long as they agree to my terms. It will be an excellent chance for you to test how Brae really feels about you." I could almost hear the grin on his face.

"What has this got to do with Brae?"

"He is the reason you're so keen to get over there, isn't he?" He must have had a better view of me than I of him, since when my eyebrows went up in surprise he added. "Oh, Roxy. Did you really think that you had managed to keep your crush a secret? Why else would you have gone through so much, to reach a Realm full of people you are supposed to despise?"

I started to fight against my restraints. I was going to hit him. I was going to burn him. Then I was going to push him into the ocean and leave him to drown. He'd been playing me from the start. Devious, useless Sephan. Did he really think that the Arcans were going to play ball? That they would listen to him in order to help me? They'd let him kill me. And if he was too blind to see it, I was going to have to save myself first.

"I will kill you, Terra!" I hissed.

"I really don't think you're going to be doing anything anytime soon!" He laughed.

I screamed as I struggled against the restraints. But as I moved more violently my stomach began to pitch and roll.

"Ooooh," I groaned, staying very still.

"You're still pretty hungover from the alcohol. I suggest you sleep it off for the rest of the journey. It will be a day or two at least."

"Should you really have left your Realm so quickly after winning? What about all those promises you made? All the things you have to do."

"That's what they have Fidelity for. She can take care of all of the more mundane tasks while I focus on the bigger picture." He sighed, getting to his feet.

"I've got things to do before we reach the Arcan Realm. Get some sleep."

"Not until you untie me!" I growled.

"Have it your way," he said and moments later another, unknown, face was hovering above me. I thought he was about to untie the restraints, until I noticed a glass of milky fluid in his hands.

"Goodnight, Roxy," Tristan said as the liquid was forced down my throat.

I choked, trying to fight it, but it was no use.

Within seconds I felt my head grow drowsy and my vision began to grow black.

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