The Elementalists

Chapter Five

~~~

Again, what I was seeing changed, and I saw myself running through a forest, the very same one that I woke up in that morning. I stopped by the tree, the same one, and started to dig with my hands. I made a decent hole in the soil and pulled something out of my pocket. From where I was standing I could not see what I had buried. I pulled something else out of my pocket, a small bottle, and drank. I threw the bottle as hard as I could into the forest, then sat down on the ground, covered in scratches and bruises, my clothes dirty and disgusting. It looked like I'd been running all day. I leaned back against the tree and closed my eyes.

"Is she going to be okay?" a voice said.

"She'll be fine. She just needs rest," said a second.

I felt a hand in mine, and I mumbled, "I remember how it happened," before drifting back into the oblivion of sleep.

~~~

I opened my eyes and squinted in the harsh light of the room I was in. How did I get here? My mind flew back to my visions, and I sat up a little too quickly. I groaned at the sudden pain in my head and massaged my temples. I needed to at least talk with my friends, maybe even the Headmaster. I looked around and realised I was in the nurse's office. The walls were piecing white, and there were beds all around the room, all of them empty except mine.

I heard a door open, and swivelled around on the bed, causing my vision to swim again.

"Tyde?" It was Alec.

"Uh, hey?" I did a little wave. He walked over to the bed with an expression of relief on his face. "You're all right," he said.
I grimaced, "As all right as I can be when my vision is swimming and I still have a splitting headache," I laughed, and my vision swam some more. I felt a hand take mine, and I knew it was Alec, just like it was Alec who asked if I was going to be okay. His hand was gentle and strong.

"You mumbled something when you were out," Alec ventured, "it was something like, 'I remember how it had happened'?"

"Ah, that. Have Dylan and Kim told you how I arrived here?" I asked.

He nodded, "We've been doing a little bonding, Dylan, Kim, Michael and I. What about it?"

I took a deep breath, "Well, I remembered how I got into the woods, how I ended up laying against the tree. How I had soot in my pocket." I went on to explain my memories to Alec, how I was in the throne room, running, how I beat all those enemies, and finally how I found myself at the tree.

After a moment, Alec said, "We should talk to the Headmaster and the others about this. Do you remember what was in the box?"

"I-... I don't."

"Well then we are going to have to find it."

"First, let's tell the others and the Headmaster."

"Right," Alec nodded, "Do you think you can walk?"

I took a deep breath, and slid off the bed. I managed to stay on my feet, and with the help of Alec, we went and found our friends. They were in the Dining hall, all three of them at the one table, eating. There wasn't much chatter going on. We managed to get all the way to the table before Dylan looked up and saw us. "TYDE," he yelled, and leaped up, immediately followed by Kim and even Michael.

They started to ask all kinds of questions like, 'Why did you pass out? Are you alright? I heard you're a master at fighting."

I butted in, and said, "We all need to go see the Headmaster, now. There is something I got to tell you, ALL of you. The headmaster made me swear not to tell any of you, but I'm starting to think that the time has come."