In My True Element

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

2014

"Earth! What are you doing there?! RUN!"

I am screaming to my brother, but he can't hear me. He is too far away. He doesn't see the danger.

Taking a bite of his apple, he keeps sauntering in his usual relaxed manner towards the small wooden cabin he calls home, and as he gets closer, Brackwick's soldiers surround him. Dressed all in black and moving in a well-rehearsed manner, they form a circle, cutting off any chances of his running away. How did it happen? Earth is one of the best warriors I've ever met. Couldn't he tell that something wasn't right?

I swear and look around; there is absolutely nothing I can do. The smooth surface of the lake that reflects the bright blue sky and the thick green trees that grow near the shore is too wide; I won't be able to get there in time to help my brother. All I can do is impotently watch him getting ready for a fight. And the jewel... for the first time in many, many years I regret not having it here.

I watch Earth drop his grocery bag to the soft grass and turn around in an almost lazy manner. With his head tilted ever so slightly to the left and his hands hanging loosely at his sides, he appears relaxed, but he must know that he has no chance against nine trained soldiers.

My fists are balled up at my sides; the tension in the clear afternoon air envelops me, squeezing my insides and turning my blood into ice. Brackwick sent this squad for me; my brother should not be readying himself for my battle.

"Earth." I whisper in terror as the first attacker lunges forward. With lightning speed my brother throws his half eaten apple at the head of one of the soldiers on his left, ducks, stands up and lands a beautiful roundhouse punch on the first soldier's head. His precise move sends the first player to the ground.

Eight remaining men take a small step back surprised by Earth's strength, and a glimmer of hope finds its way to my aching heart. But all too soon the soldiers' military backgrounds kick in and they go for my brother all together. He throws a few punches and kicks, but before I know it Earth is plastered on the ground, and eight men are towering above him like vultures, ready to feast on his flesh, as well as the dying glimmer of hope in my heart.

The time seems to freeze and no one on that side of the lake moves; everything becomes very quiet, even the birds stop singing, but the sudden appearance of a tenth man brings the motionless picture back to life.

I can't see his face from such a distance, but I know I have never met him before. The man in a grey three-piece suit walks so slowly and softly that it seems like he's floating through the air. As he approaches Earth, he slowly lifts his hand to his forehead and my whole body begins shaking with new force. A terrifying premonition squeezes my throat and the concept of breathing once again becomes very obscure.

The man stops at my brother's body and talks to him. I can't hear their conversation, but I have a good idea of how it is going.

The suit asks him of my whereabouts. Earth tells him to go and hug a tree.

The man gets angry, grabs Earth's hair with the speed I didn't think was possible for a man with such soft movements, lifts my brother's head up and hits him in the face.

What the hell!

I swear and scream again, but no one hears me.

Rubbing his knuckles in a way that tells me he's wiping off my brother's blood, the man slowly turns to the soldiers and tells them to take Earth's now limp body to the car. They quickly nod, pick him up by the arms and drag his body across the green clearing to the forest border, where their cars are hidden.

Feeling as if the air has been sucked out of me, I sink to the soft ground, my head in my hands. Rage, helplessness, and guilt wash over me and I hit the ground making chunks of dirt fly to all sides.

This war has gone on for too long. Brackwick's been persecuting my family, trying to get his blood-covered hands on the jewels that belong to my siblings and me for... well, for longer than I've been around. He killed my parents, he killed my faith in love and happiness, and now, thanks to me, he's taken my brother. I was such a fool thinking that if I waited long enough and didn't fight back, he would finally give up... Now I know better. He has to be stopped. I won't run away. Not this time.

I take a few deep breaths, trying to calm down and think of a plan, but I have no idea where to start. The fog wrapped around my brain makes thinking an insurmountable obstacle.

It takes me about fifty minutes to get back to the wooden cabin and when I stagger inside I can't even remember which path I took to get here. A smell of grilled meat that was so enticing a few hours ago suddenly assaults my senses making me wanna puke. Swallowing hard and trying not to think of what Brackwick's men are doing to my brother, I take a slow look around the room realizing that there's only one thing left to do. I need to see the rest of my family. Together with Fire and Water we'll be able to figure out how to get Earth back. That is if they agree to talk to me in the first place. After all, the black sheep of the family comes back after years of absence and two weeks later the favorite brother is in mortal danger. I am such an asshole.

Shaking my head in frustration, I step into the small room I've been sleeping in for the last two weeks. Like all the rooms in the cabin, it's furnished quite simply; there is a dresser, a standing mirror, and a rather hard bed covered with a faded quilt. After years of sleeping under the stars this interior looks lavish to me. As I walk in deeper a moving reflection in the mirror catches my eye. I stop for a second to look at it, surprised by the hunted expression on the face that must belong to a stranger. Those tired, beaten up eyes can't possibly belong to me. That black tousled hair and dark hardened skin can't possibly be the same that so many years ago made all women swoon and call me an angel... Well, all women except for my sister who called me an-imp-sent-here-to-torment-her.

Feeling like screaming I turn away and move to the dresser. The next step will nullify the last three hundred years of the pathetic existence I called life. With my jaw tightly clenched, I open the top drawer and fish out the talisman. At first glance there is nothing special about it, just a round, brownish stone with some illegible inscription on it. But to those who know the meaning behind it, it's the most precious possession in the whole world.

I clench my fist around the talisman.

All I wanted was a peaceful existence. All I got was three hundred years of exile followed by the kidnapping of my brother. Welcome back, thank you very much.