Fire {Elements of Power 1}

Chapter Thirty Eight: Jasmine

Jasmine:

I couldn't find Brae anywhere. Brody was laid out on the ground, Devon and Erica tending to multiple burns, Cameron was locked in battle with two burly Helians and Imogen was helping Rowan with a third. But Brae was nowhere to be found.

There was chaos all around me. Fire, water and wind on all sides and the ground was still trembling after the assault of Erica's earthquakes. The sky was dark and menacing and I could see no further than the glare of the flames allowed.

I had started towards a group of trees when a glint of silver caught my eye. Brae. I ran towards him at once, stumbling over fallen figures and torn up chunks of earth, desperate to reach him, to know that he was alive. Safe.

But when I got to him he was standing motionless, staring straight ahead blankly. His eyes were as eerily vacant as Lorelie's and Nolan's.

I tugged uselessly at his arms but he refused to respond. "Brae come on! Snap out of it! Please. We need to go."

"It's no use. A Helian Protector needs to break the Control." She spoke quietly, as if unsure of what I might do. But she was standing at his side protectively.

"This is all your fault!" I wheeled on Roxy, more furious than ever. "He trusted you! How could you do this to him?" Tears began to fall down my cheeks and my vision blurred. I knew that my hair had come loose and that I was showing off my freakish purple streaks, but that wasn't important right now; only Brae was. Lightning flashed overhead again, striking the ground inches away from Roxy's feet.

She jumped back alarmed and held her hands up. Two heavy looking manacles glinted in the light from the flames. "Whoa! Calm down - there's no need to toast me - this isn't my fault. It was Cinaer - he put these things on me and now I can't use my powers. I was trying to save Brae, but Cin Controlled me into telling him what was going on. I want to help Brae too, but I can't get these manacles off."

I blinked, clearing some of the tears from my eyes. She looked sincere enough. If she was lying, she probably would have placed me under Control by now. "But why would you help us in the first place?"

"Because I... because... So that..." She was extremely distressed. Her eyes kept glancing towards Brae despairingly.

It suddenly made sense. "You have feelings for him don't you?" She pulled a face but didn't deny it.

"I didn't mean to hurt him. I was trying to help you all escape - I couldn't let them kill him." Her voice was small, lacking all the confidence it usually carried.

I wasn't really sure that I could trust her, but her desire to help Brae seemed sincere and she was probably our only chance of getting out of here. "Well you can still help now. We need to fix him. Lorelie too. And Nolan."

She shook her head. "You need a Helian Protector. It's really simple to do, but none of the others are going to be willing to and I can't."

I stamped my foot in frustration. It was stupid and childish but I couldn't help it.

Roxy gasped. I followed her astonished gaze to my fingertips, where tiny flames had sparked. "What the flames are you?" she asked, looking at me more in awe than fear.

I waved my hands frantically, unsure what to do. The flames weren't burning me, but they were unsettling none the less and this time I was completely certain that I had sparked them.

"Calm down," Roxy said quickly. "You've got to feel the tingling. Focus on that, then force it to subside. They'll go down."

I tried what she said, willing the tingling to stop, but still flapping my fingers as it felt like it should help. The flames died down and I sighed with relief.