The Trials of the Elements

Chapter 7: The Final Trial

As Hope slowly opened her eyes, she could see the emptiness that now embodied her room. Her posters were stripped from the plain grey wallpaper, her blue curtains had been taken down, and even the stars she had painted on the ceiling when she was younger had been painted over. This was no longer her room. Hope sighed sadly; it was the end of the week, which marked the end of her long stay at the orphanage. However, something bothered her more than leaving her whole childhood behind: Henry Evanston. She had read the local newspaper the previous evening and had learnt that the millionaire was to arrive at Broken Myth Forest at midday to begin cutting down the trees and make way for his hotel. Hope was determined to not let any harm come to her home and the spirits that still lay in the portal.

But doubt clawed at her brain: How on Earth are YOU going to stop this guy? He has thousands of resources, whereas you have some lousy powers that can grow trees. And even if you stop him once, how do you know he won't just come back later without you knowing? Also, what's stopping him from finding out who you are? You could be in real trouble if he knows you used to live here...

Although the girl didn't want to admit it, they were some fair points.

I guess I'll have to make sure he doesn't know who I am then... Hope thought smugly to herself.

Sitting cross-legged on the bed, the girl leaned forward and began to cast some of her Earth magic. Since she had completed the trial two days earlier, she had practiced her magic daily to she what else she could do, and Hope had already learnt so much. Familiar warmth spread throughout her body as small, light green vines began to come out of her fingertips, weaving together to create intricate patterns. Soon she could see a simple masquerade like mask being formed in front of her. Two large almond shaped holes were created for her eyes, the vines creating the mask had started to sprout leaves, and four foxglove flowers bloomed form each corner of the mask: a white for air, an orange for fire, a light blue for water and a pink for earth - as the mask was already green. As the final ends of the vines were tied together, Hope picked up the smooth mask and placed it on her head to find that it fit her perfectly. Looking at the clock on the wall, Hope realised that Evanston would be arriving in less than 15 minutes at the site. Hurriedly, she was ran over to her bedroom window and jumped out of the house, making sure to summon some wind magic before hitting the ground. As she landed, she made sure that she was alone before running off through some nearby hedges, past various alleyways and streets, and into the forest.

It wasn't difficult to figure out where the site was as deep track marks from various machines were pressed into the ground. As she followed them, Hope felt an eerie silence wash over the entirety of Broken Myth Forest. There were no birds chirping, no squirrels nibbling on nuts, and no rustling of leaves in the wind. It was like everything was just watching and waiting to see what would unfold. Soon something bothered her, she had walked this way many times this past week.

They're at the willow tree! She realised.

Breaking out into a sprint, Hope ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Within minutes she could hear the roaring of engines and the shouts of workers. Slowing down, Hope hid behind the nearest pine tree and watched. Already, she could that they had already cut down the majority of the trees in the area to make room for more of the machines - however the willow tree had not been touched yet. The machines were painted yellow and black, and some reached the height of a two-story house. As her eyes reached the centre of the manmade clearing, Hope saw none other than Henry Evanston. His hair was grey and combed to the side, wrinkles could be seen on his cheeks and hands, and although he seemed like he was in his late 50s, he looked surprisingly young for his age. His navy and black striped suit along with his golden cuffs and black swayed shoes made him look younger somehow. Although she couldn't hear what he was saying, she knew that based on his hand gestures towards the willow tree that they were about to cut it down. As the largest machine of them all pulled up along side the large tree, Hope suddenly dashed across the clearing and stopped in front of the willow.