Elemental Dreams

Chapter 12

   Rosaii sat in the cave, poking at the fire that Dax created. She was holding her legs to her chest, hoping that Phil would succeed in his healing process. She'd missed Flint, surprisingly- she didn't have a chance to apologize for making him attack Kifu. She'd missed his soothing voice lulling the group to sleep at night, and she missed his flute playing when the excitement of the day wore them out. She turned her head and sighed, still staring at the mesmerizing movements of the flames.

   "Want a log? It's kind of- how do I say this?- depressing looking at you, sitting alone, in a corner, staring at the fire, holding your legs to your chest. Cheer up. I'm sure Flint will be fine soon." Dax dragged a log into the cave, then another. He pulled one to one side of the cave, then another to the opposite. He sat on the one facing Rosaii. Rosaii sat down, facing Dax.

   "Thanks, Dax. I just miss Flint, you know? I never thought that I'd actually want to be around a person that completely ruined my life." Rosaii rested her face o one hand, sighing.

   "Hey. I know how you feel. The same thing happened to me when I was, like, 15." Dax smiled at Rosaii gently, beginning to use his pocket knife to peel a branch.

   "What happened?" Rosaii ventured, looking at Dax attentively. He looked up at her, stunned, then sighed.

   "Are you sure you want to listen? It's a pretty long story." Rosaii nodded and crossed her legs on the log, still looking at Dax. He sighed and pulled a picture out of his backpack, momentarily looking at it, then passing it to Rosaii. She examined it as she listened. Her hair was a beautiful shade of blue, and she had stunning blue eyes. She had a necklace on, and was laughing and hugging Dax. A young Dax, who was smiling at her.

   "I was around fifteen. I'm not sure, though. I may have been somewhere around 14-I'm pretty fuzzy on the dates. Anyways, I'd been travelling with Veata, Flint, Kifu and Diamond for about a year. Diamond was a girl that I met when I was in the Almaz Caves with Flint and Kifu. Anyways, now we all were heading toward another forest that lay near the same caves. Around the time we were-" Rosaii interrupted, saying, "What was her element?"

   "She was the elemental of gemstones. Anyways, right when we were nearing the Almaz, an elemental ran out. Dulore-the elemental of pain. I watched in horror as he clamped a shaking, dirty hand over her mouth- her eyes were wide with fear. I could hear her trying to call to me with some kind of mental connection we'd developed,  but I was too stunned to reply. He got out a knife and started carving a shape into her wrist. After he finished carving, he ran. I ran after him, but alas, I'm no speed elemental. He escaped by the teeth on his skin- do you Earthlings have that metaphor?" Dax stopped momentarily, and looked at Rosaii expectantly. 

   "Well, I didn't know that you thought I was an Earthling. Someone finally believes me. However, we do have that metaphor. I do think that you mean the 'skin on his teeth.'" Rosaii laughed.

   "Oh. Whatever. Anyways, she fell to the ground and  I ran back to her, tears streaming down my face. I grabbed her wrist and she slapped my hand away. I looked into her eyes and saw that they were a deep, dark red. Her pupils were blacker than anything I'd ever saw. It seemed as if she was staring into my soul. I stumbled away from her and she sat there, still as a rock. Flint rushed over to me and picked me up, while Veata grabbed Diamond. She was in for a surprise. Diamond got out her pocket knife and tried throwing it at Veata's head. Veata caught it mid-air and pressed it to Diamond's neck, whispering something in old Elemental's language. Diamond fell unconscious and Veata dragged her to a cliff. 

   "I screamed at her to stop. I didn't care if Diamond was insane- I loved her. Veata looked at me, and what happened next I never would have thought would happen. While Veata quizzically stared me down, I saw Diamond pounce onto Veata, wrestling her to the end of the cliff. When they got to the end, Diamond kicked Veata off. I jumped out of Flint's grasp and grabbed Veata, holding her hand while her body wildly flailed above the jagged rocks that she would hit, had she fell. Flint grabbed Diamond and pinned her down, yelling at me to pull up Veata. I hauled Veata up and we climbed to a higher spot. I watched as Flint threw Diamond off, and her demonic screams filled the air around me. It was painful, I tell you. I didn't talk or eat for a week." Dax looked up at Rosaii, a single tear rolling off of his cheek. Rosaii looked at him with empathy, smiling sadly.