Colliding Elements (Original Draft)

28. Failure

All four friends lowered their left hands from their upward position and down to their other hand. The dance of elements behind them drifted down to the stone table they came from. The fire resorted back to being a small flame on a candle. The soil rested in a wooden bowl. The air dissipated and left no trace of a breeze. And the water fell back into its wooden bowl, rippling out until it became stagnant.

Niver walked up to where the four spoke and murmured a "Thank you." The four walked away and merged into the crowd of people, all who had their eyes trained on the blonde at the white slab.

He looked from the ground and up at the people. His eyes glanced over those in the front, eyeing the four prophecy children, his family, and then over the current Elementals in the Elemental Four; Kallai standing in his father's place.

It was another moment before Niver spoke, taking a breath before doing so. "Adroushan, my father, was a great leader of this country. He was an apprentice of Niver, the fire Elemental before him, and was a great help during his existence of sixty years. He was a great father, and also a great man who helped out anyone he could; the true definition of a Sagittarius man."

He continued on to speak about his father, the torches all around illuminating his skin and the metal intertwined with the white fabric of his clothing. Those who listened in kept their attention on Niver; some had their heads down and eyes closed while listening to his words. Lights flickered across people's faces, the stars shimmered above, and a small light shined from the white slab of stone behind Niver.

"...And in his memory, a statue of him will take its place here with the other past fire Elemental leaders." It was there Niver stopped talking and stepped out of the way, also having the table moved so people could see the small light coming from the stone.

The light flickered for a moment, morphing into a small, yellow flame. Another moment passed as it grew into a small fire on top, Niver setting down an opened urn next to it. The flames shifted and soon made the image of a rooster. Small lights came flying out of the fire bird's breast and into the urn, bringing out the ashes of Adroushan.

While it was astonishing to see the movements as if the ashes were being bent like the elements did, they soon made contact at two spots on the white marble slab containing Adroushan's name engraved into it. The light soon flashed and gathered the ash as it then spiraled upwards from its new creation; gold. Golden feet were in the spot the light and ash started, and it soon began to build muscular legs with its magic, not to mention, the tail of a cloak. It continued to craft a life-size sculpture of the fire Elemental, defining every detail in his robes, hair, and facial features.

The light tapered off at the crown of the sculpture's head, the rooster made of flames appearing in its place instead. With fiery orange flames fading into white, the bird extended its wings outward as a disembodied voice went through the area,

"A great man has lived upon you all. May his memory live on in all of us and carried throughout the light you all bring."

The rooster then disappeared, all the torches lit flickering as all magic ceased to exist in that moment. The sound of bugs buzzed and chirped around the mass of people, not to mention the popping cracks of the flames adding a comforting ambiance to the fire graveyard.

People started leaving left and right, only creating noise as their feet hit the stone below them. No more words would be spoken by them tonight, mourning was the only thing that could be done.

~~{*}~~

It was late in the night as Kallai walked around his new quarters. Each little trinket was studied by the man, the smallest details being memorized with each passing second. All of them belonged to Adroushan and soon would be retrieved by existing family.