Battle of The Elements COMPLETED

Chapter One

Titania

I watched from Alex's side as he threw a sword at the shield, hitting it straight on the mark. Cheers exploded through the courtyard as Alex mastered the challenge and collected his cash with a smug look on his face. It was the same every Saturday morning – he would train in the valley, just on the border of town, with me watching until some of his friends showed up, that would escalate and soon the whole town would come and make bets on what Alex could do. After he had achieved the impossible he would get bombarded with slaps on the back from his friends. The pretty town's girls would flirt and say he was amazing and I would leave. I would disappear into the woods and collect herbs for my father. Later I would return to the town and take him home because he would drink too much. That was our Saturday mornings, and I liked them.

That Saturday I sat down below the largest forest tree. Looking around, I checked the area in case someone would wonder through the huge sea of brown and green. After making sure the coast was clear in set down my basket and placed my hand out onto a spot of dirt. With the other hand, I moved my fingers gently and with care. A small plant started rising out of the ground, around my hand and up, winding and swirling until it reached the tips of my still moving fingers. I looked around again, just to be sure.

Then, pulled the plant from the ground and stuffed it into my basket. I brushed some dirt over the dent in the ground where the plant had been. Being an Elemental was a huge secret that no one could know about.

I pulled away from the old tree, the way it felt like I belonged with it and the magical bond that it had around me left as soon as I left the forest. I made my way to the tavern to find Alex with another girl. She was leaning her body onto his and he was sitting down, their faces were almost touching. She was a pretty girl. And I'm sure she was nice, but everything inside me wanted to grow large roots out of the ground and wrap them around her and drag her down into the earth.

I gave a slight shake of my head, banishing any violent thoughts because I knew that if I really wanted to, I could do each and every one of them with the powers I had.

I put a friendly smile on my face and walked towards them. Just as I had expected him to do, as soon as Alex saw me he pulled away from the girl and asked her to leave, leaving us in – a very familiar – awkward silence.

Alex went to take my arm with his but he was sloppy. I dodged out of his way just before he slumped to the floor in a drunk mess. So much for a good Saturday! Using all the strength I could muster I lifted him off the floor and half carried, half dragged him to the horses.

***

After dropping Alex off at his room I headed towards where my father and I lived. I opened the heavy wooden door without knocking and opened the window to let the light in. My father's notes lay scattered on his desk in piles of parchments with words scrawled down in lines of research that only my father could understand. He wasn't home today, he never was on Saturdays. He had a special tradition of having lunch with the king in the royal chambers. I was invited once when I was little, it was fun. They would sit at a table by the window and eat steak and wine – my father never had alcoholic drinks unless he was with the king, and even then, he would never come home drunk like Alex did.

I went straight to my room and sat against my bed. I didn't really have anything to do in the next– I checked the half broken clock on my wall – 3 hours. My bright green eyes drifted to the photos on my desk. I felt a sense of warmth as the two children smiled at me. Me and Alex. I had remembered that day well. It was the day Alex had saved my life. I wore a white flowing dress and a little flower crown. Alex was smaller than me by a few inches, his dark brown hair was almost covering his chocolate eyes and his smile stretched to the edges of his face.