In My True Element

Chapter 27

Ilana is gone; I'm lying on my mattress, staring at nothing in particular. One of my siblings betrayed us. Is it possible? It certainly doesn't sound right, but I've made so many judgment errors recently that I can't really trust my senses. Three hundred years ago I didn't trust Ilana enough to give her a second chance and get to the bottom of things. I had no idea how gentle, loving and caring Fire is and it looks like I didn't know that one of my siblings couldn't be trusted.

But which one? Could it be Earth? No. He's too kind, too innocent. Everyone loves him. When I came back, he took me in without a single word of accusation. I remember when our parents died, how devastated and angry with Brackwick he was. He left for several months and lived in isolation, trying to make peace with what'd happened. He would never go to Brackwick and volunteer this information. He'd never betray our family.

Then it must be Water.

But this idea also doesn't sit with me well. Although he's cold and somewhat distant, he is a very smart man. Sometimes I feel that he cares for nature and other people more than for his own family. But that's exactly the reason why he wouldn't tell Brackwick about the jewels. He knows that once Brackwick gets the jewel, he'll kill a lot of people. Brackwick's desire for power could bring destruction to many, and Water wouldn't allow that.

Fire? No, this idea is just ludicrous. She hates the man with every fiber of her being.

Plus, Brackwick learned about the jewels, then he learned about my return, and about our attack plan... there's no one single person in my family who had all this information... Only Earth knew about my return. Only Fire and Water knew about our plan to save Earth. No one had all the information... except for me.

That night I don't close my eyes. Whenever I feel exhausted and ready to escape into the world of no thinking, another question pops into my head and tortures me from the inside. All these questions twirl in my head, openly laughing in my face for not having a single answer. So when I leave my tent to get ready to move forward, I feel quite annoyed.

"Hey, did you sleep at all?" Ilana comes closer to me, pretending to help with the tent.

I shake my head. "No, I couldn't."

"Maybe I shouldn't have told you." Her hands are moving quickly but she's not looking at what she's doing. Her eyes are glued to mine.

"No. I'm glad you did. Even though now I have a thousand more questions, it feels good to have the answer to the one that's been bothering me for centuries."

"It'll be over soon." Once the tent is packed, she walks past me to her snowmobile and brushes my shoulder in the process. Not like in the past, when she wanted to inflict as much pain as possible. Gently this time. Saying that she's there for me.

Feeling grateful, I finish with all my bags and put them on the sledge behind the snowmobile, which we use for transporting all the heavy bags.

Soon we start moving, and from time to time I feel Ilana's hand on my knee. She quickly squeezes it, communicating that she's still here and she cares for me. With all her father's men around us we can't do more than that, but even that small gesture means the world to me.

A few hours later we finally reach Dome A. This whole thing could really be over soon.

We stop and everyone gets off their bikes.

"Should we try the talisman?" Davidson asks Ilana.

"I think we have to." She's frowning, afraid of what I'll do. Taking the box from Davidson's hands, she turns to me. Now she just needs to take three steps forward and give the box to me, but she doesn't do it.