Born of Water and Flames

Thailand

The words of Priestess Ae-cha circled repetitively in my head. Three other girls, all with elemental powers. One living in the house next to mine. I am surrounded by earth, trees, and flowers, and all manners of plants thriving in Fenzi. Yet I am terrified. How am I supposed to speed four people to the coast? I can barely use this power. And here I am expected to travel to Heaven. Heaven. A place people only see when they die, and some people die and are reborn without ever seeing Heaven. If I do not succeed in helping Shijie back to power, I will be one of those people. It will be a blow to my religious father if his daughter is sentenced to hell.

-A year ago-

"Papa, will we survive the drought?"

Papa looked at me, his expression sorrowful. "Oh, Apinya. There is no possible way on this Earth that we will. But Mama and our ancestors will watch us from Heaven, and they will help. They will save us. For Heaven is high above Earth."

"Yes Papa."

I was desperate. If our small farm didn't make any profit during the drought, well we were dangerously low on money. We would have to sell our farm, the Srisuk farm. That we had held for 10 generations. The farm that my mother had given birth to me and my brother on, and the farm that both of them had died in the days after his birth. So I found an old prayer to Shijie. And I prayed.

"She of the elements, save us from ruin. Let the earth produce our crop. Let the fire light our lamps. Let the wind calm. And let the water flow, and give us life. Give unto us what the gods in Heaven did not give you. Bless us, and keep us alive."