The Forgotten (Elements I)

Chapter 15

Isla’s actions continued to baffle him. When he found out that she’d spent the night in the garden, with a fawn as her only company, he couldn’t believe his ears. She was full of surprises.

It was a few days later when another surprise knocked on his door. Baffled, because he wasn’t expecting anyone, he frowned, and opened the door. When he saw Flynn standing there, he broke out into a grin.

“Flynn!” He opened the door wide, invited the powerful mage in. “It’s been a long time. What’s brought you here?”

The older man just smiled, and they were interrupted as Isla came own the stairs. To Korith’s amazement, her face lit up, and she literally flew towards Flynn with a happy cry.

“Flynn!”

The mage caught her, hugging her tight as he swung her in a slight circle. “Hello, my dear,” he said affectionately. “How have you been?”

She pulled back, looking at him, studying him while Korith just looked on in astonishment. “I’m alright,” she replied, giving Korith a sideways glance. Flynn chuckled, and put his arm around her shoulders, keeping her close.

“Has he been treating you well?”

She shrugged, and it stung. Korith stiffened slightly, not realising it. “Would you like to have a meal, Flynn?” he asked, breaking into their conversation. They both looked at him, and then the older mage smiled.

“Of course I would, Korith. Show me the way, and then you can tell me what I’ve missed.”

The young man nodded, shooting the elemental a narrow look, he led the way into the dining room, where food was on the table already. Isla didn’t follow them, but he didn’t see where she went, and he put her out of his mind for the moment. He had questions for his mentor.

“How were your travels?”

Flynn sat back, a smile crossing his face. “Good, good. Met a lot of elementals in the desert – the fire ones are the most common there, with air next. It’s quite interesting the ways they are different from the ones we have here.”

“Really? Like what?”

“They cope with the lack of water easier.”

Both men turned at the sound of Isla’s voice. She came forward, and slid into a seat near Flynn, propping her head on her hands.

“How?” Korith asked, interested. “What do they do to survive?”

She smiled slightly. “I help them, if they are desperate, but they have their ways of conserving the water. Added to the fact that they don’t need much to start with – they need the heat more than the water – and they’re the perfect elemental to live in the desert. They’re made for it. Like the airs are made for the plains, the earths for the forests, and the waters for the mountains. We each have our own ideal home.”

Korith leant forward, hoping to learn more. She had never been so forthcoming about her kind before. “What about in your homeland? What happens there?”

She shrugged a shoulder, helping herself to some of the food. “Again, we have our ideal homes, but we are happy to mix. We help each other survive, for we cannot survive without each other. It is one of the reason you enslaving us is slowly killing us. We can’t survive that well now. There are too many of us missing.”

Thinking about it, the young man frowned. “So what’s been happening?”

She shrugged again, but didn’t answer. He sighed, recognising the signs, and turned back to his mentor.