The Uprisen

Chapter 10

For a long time, the Council stares at them, though Riley gets the feeling that they’re particularly disappointed in him.  In truth, that’s exactly how he wanted it when he convinced the Council to approve Devin’s task.  He told them that even though Devin is a very capable elemental, the responsibilities that the Council sought from him were too much.  If he were to fail, it should be Riley’s fault, since he’s the one who put faith into Devin in the first place.  Naturally, Ryan was all too anxious to seize the opportunity for Riley to fail, but that’s beside the point.

Now, Devin sits next to Riley holding an ice-pack on his eye, which is already turning purple and black.  There’s no trace of fear or nervousness on his face, but Riley knows better than to think that the seventeen year-old doesn’t fear the Council; everyone fears them.

Ryan smiles, then tries to hide the amount of joy he feels as he says, “Devin, if you can’t already tell, the Council is very disappointed in you.  You’ve managed to give away information rather than retrieve it, which I hardly think is acceptable,” he pauses, looking at Riley.  “However, you are lucky enough to have Riley take responsibility for your actions.”

“Don’t think that we will simply forget that you are the sole purpose for the failure, though,” Victoria says without emotion.  Riley has always suspected her envy towards him, so he’s not surprised to see her almost as happy as Ryan is about his failure.

“From here on out, you’re on a probationary status within The Seekers, and we’ll be watching you closely on your next task,” Clare says.  She looks at Riley somewhat hopeful for Devin’s success, but mostly pitiful for his failure.

“Next task?” Devin asks.

Clare nods.  “Yes, you’ll be working with four others, who will be in here shortly, but first--”

“Devin, you mentioned something about the girl’s jewelry,” Ryan interrupts.  “Was there some relevance in the observation, or were you simply stating a useless fact?”

Devin ignores the doubt in Ryan’s tone, and explains his conclusion that Willow and Waverly Lurwick are elementals, and his suspicion that the kids from the mansion are too.

As Riley sits at the large conference table listening to Devin’s recap, he suddenly remembers a pair of elemental twins he encountered a few years back.  Their names and faces aren’t familiar to him for the simple fact that he didn’t know them in the first place.  The memory is about five years old, and it goes back to the day of The Uprising.

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Riley stood behind a tree, tying the ropes that bound a small brunette-headed girl who struggled against the ropes’ bindings.  When he finished, he stood before the grand Oak tree that a man and woman were tied to by separate rope.  

A few feet away, Ryan walked toward Riley wearing a triumphant smile.  Back then, he must’ve been in his forties; less grey highlighted his hair and beard.  “You were right, they took the bait.  Good job, Riley.”

“We’re not out of the doghouse yet, boys,” Hillary said as she paced in front of their captives.  “We can do this the easy way or hard way.”  She turned around to Riley and Ryan and whispered, “I’ve always wanted to say that.”

“Now be honest: who here is an Earth elemental?  Hm?” Riley asks.

As The Seekers waited for a response, Steven weaved through the trees that held their hostages.  He walked up to the smallest kid and said, “You know, I think they want to do this the hard way, what do you think Hil?” he asked.

Hillary winked at her lover, Steven.  “I don’t know, maybe we’re asking the wrong questions.  Who here is an Air elemental?”

Riley looked at the group of kids who stood before him.  The oldest of the bunch couldn’t have been much older than eighteen or nineteen, and the youngest was probably around ten.  None of them answered Hillary’s question, which made Riley impatient.  He approached the oldest boy, and stood close enough so their noses nearly touched.  As he glared into the boy’s eyes, he saw a fierce strength of character that wouldn’t back down.  Riley looked for any jewelry that would indicate the boy’s elementental path, which he found on the boy’s wrist.