Finding Home - The Light

Chapter Thirty - Freedom

CHAPTER THIRTY

Freedom

Sara wasn’t surprised when she didn’t see Alexander again in the next few days. She could imagine him running effortlessly, Roderick draped over his shoulder as they escaped. She spent most of her time reading books in the oversized chair in the corner of Vlad’s study. According to the legends she read, elementals had ruled all worlds at one time, some even claimed they created the worlds. As other races came into existence, elementals slowly disappeared. The only known record of them came from the first King of Caraveil, King Leyden.

“You named your palace after the first king?” Sara asked when she read this.

Vlad looked up with a scowl on his face. “No,” he said sharply. “This was his palace.”

Sara glanced around the room skeptically. “How has it lasted so long? Wasn’t it built hundreds of thousands of years ago?”

“Magic,” Vlad answered shortly before turning back to his desk.

Sara frowned at his sharpness before turning back to her book. It was several hours before Vlad stood from his desk.

“It’s time for dinner.“

Sara noticed the dark circles under his eyes for the first time. She bit her lip, wondering what could be weighing so heavily on him. They ate on the roof again, as they had for the past few nights. Conversation was nonexistent after Vlad barked at every question she asked. As they were leaving the roof, Sara was struck by an idea.

“Wait,” she said, softly pulling on Vlad’s arm. “I want to try something.”

Sara walked away a few steps without waiting for his reply. She concentrated on the solid feeling of the earth beneath her feet, pulling the magic up and through her body. She felt small ribbons of energy stream from her fingertips as she released it slowly.

The flowers around her grew brighter as the tendrils of magic stroked them. The ground began to vibrate beneath her feet as the energy grew. She glanced hesitantly over her shoulder at Vlad before she released the magic fully.

The dense energy of the earth flowed through her body and back into the ground beneath her. The flowers rapidly tripled in size, then kept growing. The petals of the closest flowers were easily the size of her head. Sara laughed as she spun around, her fingertips brushing the closest flowers causing them to sing.

She gasped as the energy suddenly turned hot, her skin heating up until she seemed to be burning from the inside out. She couldn’t control it as she felt a wave of power pulse through her body. Panic clawed it’s way into her chest when a wall of fire suddenly surrounded her.

“Vlad?” she called hesitantly.

She felt relief flood through her as he suddenly appeared before her. He didn’t seem to notice the fire as he wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to his chest.

“So much power,” he whispered softly. “How do you contain it all?”

Sara shook her head against his chest, denying his words. “I can’t.”

When the fire slowly died around them, Sara let him lead her off of the roof. The panic she felt subsided as she drew on the comfort of being in his arms. Sara mentally shook herself to gather her wits, but found it hard to concentrate on anything but the strong arms supporting her.

Sleep came quickly after Vlad tucked her in and gently kissed her forehead. Sara was dreaming of the summer she had spent with her parents in Colorado. She and her mom had learned to ski together, while her father cheered from the sidelines. It was the greatest summer of her life, two years before he had died.