Death of the Elements

CHAPTER 35

Cirella stood up and brushed the dust and debris from her golden dress. She frowned at the singed edges, the fine silk turning to ash at her touch. There was no trace of her ships or soldiers to be seen; nothing around her but blackened sand with more filling the air around her, hiding the full effects of Jazun's attack. It only took a thought to send it down where it belonged, clearing a large circle surrounding her. Her scowl turned to a smile as she looked up to the rising sun, the warmth of the new day welcoming on her skin. Everything had come to fruition just like she planned; the planet was hers. Cirella found herself nearly skipping across the blackened sand past where her army had made their last stand. They had been a worthwhile sacrifice to eliminate Jazun once and for all.

As the rest of the sand began to settle she could make out untouched buildings off in the distance, seeing exactly how much of her planet the fowl elemental had erased from this vulgar world. A laugh escaped through her lips, for all his talk he had hardly had the energy to wipe out all the soldiers. That impressive light show nearly had her worried for a moment but he couldn't have killed more than a few hundred thousand people. There were still millions more to fall into her service.

The smile stayed on her face as Cirella continued on across the wasteland, heading in the direction that Princess Vorza had fled. Let her run. She didn't need to catch the deposed heir; that child was no threat to her now. No one was. Cirella laughed again, her voice carrying across the emptiness. This had all been so easy and for his attempts to stop her Jazun had ended up helping her. With the Loordanian army gone she was free to hire her own and their allegiance would belong to her. Soon she would have a force with far superior ships and weaponry and no elemental would be safe from her reach. A loud laugh overtook her own, Cirella stopping in her tracks.

"No." She whispered.

It couldn't be. It couldn't be him. The laughter grew, Cirella's eyes darting back and forth as she tried to locate the source. She wouldn't believe it; he was dead. It had to be someone else. His distinctive voice carried through her reasoning; taunting her even in victory.

She saw it sticking up through the sand. His hand; his tattooed hand. She followed his broken fingers up to a mangled arm that was dangling limply from his shoulder. His wings were gone and most of the rest of his body was torn away, his bones sticking out through countless wounds. The skin from his face looked like it had been burned off, revealing him as the hideous monster he was. The dark elemental was broken and barely alive but the sight of him still sent fear racing through her. He was somehow grinning through his countless injuries, Jazun baring his bloody teeth to her as he laughed.

"Long time no see." He snickered.

He was making fun of her; he was lying defeated in the dirt and he still had the nerve to speak to her like that. Cirella stepped on the exposed bone of his leg, her bare foot pressing down hard. She could see the pain on his face but he kept his smile.

Anger came rushing back through her, Cirella holding her hand up to him. She had no reason to fear him. He was dying right in front of her but she would finish it first. She would get to kill him herself. The energy gathered in her hand, Cirella grinning back at him now.

"Goodbye Jazun."

He laughed even harder in the face of death, his mouth ripping down the side of his cheek.

"What, the fun's over already?" He joked.

Cirella stopped and released her energy. This was too good for him. She owed him much more. He needed to be broken.

"Oh we're going to have lots more fun."

***

Analie dragged herself to her feet, the pain fading away as the ship began to heal them. She looked around to the other three souls that had made it off the planet, sadness written on their faces. Regent Torno was slumped over in one of the seats, silently staring at his feet while Mireen sat on the floor, crying into her crossed arms. Ahead of them Neee was in the pilot's chair, taking them through the atmosphere into the safety of space. As soon as they were free of Loordania's hold he stopped the ship and got up, still hobbling slightly as he moved to one of the walls. The Diaelee reached up and touched it, bringing up a screen that showed the view outside. She stumbled over to him, leaning on his shoulder as they both stared out at their home.

From out here it seemed so peaceful, the sand colored world acting if nothing was wrong. Would she ever see it again?

"There!" Neee exclaimed.

Once he pointed it out it was all she could see, a small black spot in the middle of Loordania.

"Jazun." She whispered.

Amazing. His power was visible all the way out here.

"Did, did he do it?" Mireen asked. "Did he win?"

"I don't know."

"We have to go back. We have to see!"

A bright pillar of white light flashed up through the middle of the dark spot, Analie's breath catching in her throat. All of them knowing what that meant. Cirella had won. And Jazun...

Their small group hung silently onto their losses as the light faded.

"I wish he was here." Mireen said in an even softer tone.

"He was a good man." Torno said standing behind them.

Neee and Mireen gave the former Regent the same strange look that Analie was, the Regent flashing a smile at their gaze.

"Well maybe not." He sniggered. "But he was there for me, for us. None of us would be here without him."

They turned back to the screen, silent contemplation resuming hold of them. Their moment of lightheartedness made the quiet seem even heavier, Analie falling back into her own dark thoughts. There was little joy in the fact she was still alive. She had let her people down and had lost everything in doing so. What would have happened if she had never gone off with Quara in search of Bannon? Would her sister still be alive? Would Bannon? The feeling in the air matched her own emotions; they had all lost everything, the four of them united by their singularity.

"Where do we go?" Mireen finally asked, the teenager unrecognizable from the girl who had lived peacefully in the upstairs of a bar just a few days earlier.

"Far away." Analie answered certainly.

She gave Loordania one last look before taking a seat behind Neee as they left their home behind and headed out into the unfamiliar void.