Dragonsoul

Chapter 56

The dance of colors springs forward, filling Clotho's vision. Threads of destiny spin around each other with unstoppable speed. Destinies are changed forever with one decision made. It is out of Fate's hands, they took charge of their own lives.

"Why is it so important to hear the story of your sister when the whole world is in danger from whatever is behind this snowstorm and the manipulation of trolls?" Leonie said, tired of stories and bits of advice.

Leonie wanted real answers, something that would help keep her family alive. She needed something that would allow them to prevail over the evil that kept closing in on them.

"Sister's part in this fate could prove to be far too great," Aqua said.

"What do you mean, Aqua? Is your sister the one we are fighting here? Is that what you and the other elementals have been hiding?" Toras asked.

"We do not know if she caused the snow. Parts of her powers are mixed with ours. To sense it, we can, but there is a stain." Aqua said.

"What does that even mean?" Amitola asked, for the first time, frustrated with her friend.

"You mean, it's her essence but tainted by evil? Does that mean you can't sense if she is the cause of all this or just another victim?" Toras asked.

"Yes, the whole truth we cannot know, and it breaks my heart that it is so," Aqua said.

"What can you tell us about your sister? Why don't we know about her?" Amitola asked.

Leonie sighed at the very idea of Aqua trying to explain everything in her strange language that Leonie often had trouble grasping. For a few sentences, it was alright, but the whole life story was something Leonie did not believe she could bear.

"What we know I'll show to thee, you can share with the powerful three," Aqua told Toras.

"Alright," Toras said, having an idea of what Aqua was about to do.

However, when Aqua transferred her watery essence into him, Toras could not help but gasp in shock as some water trickled out of his mouth.

Before Amitola could get overly worried, Aqua left Toras's essence as suddenly as she had entered it.

"Now, you know, I hope it helps you give evil the final blow," Aqua said, whirling away.

"What was that? It looked so cool but also so scary," Nald said excitedly the moment a greater power was gone, and he was released from his shyness.

"That was a memory transfer. Some elementals can do them easily with other beings, but some... well, some should never try it." Toras said, still disoriented.

He wiped away the excess water that seemed to come out as excess sweat while he gathered his thoughts about what he had learned and what it would mean for the future.

"What did she show you? Why didn't she show it to me?" Amitola asked.

"She showed me her memories of her sister and why they believe she might be in some way connected with this. I think she chose me because, as a Mage, my brain is more used to receiving and emitting magic. Thus, it was less likely it could damage my brain or erase some of the existing memories." Toras said.

"That could have happened?" Amitola asked worriedly.

"It hasn't happened for a long time. Still, it was worth the risk. This knowledge might come useful, though I am not sure I fully understand everything." Toras said.

"What did she show you? Was it something cool?" Nald asked.

Toras was unsure how to proceed. Thus, he looked in Amitola's direction, waiting for confirmation. The last thing he wanted to do was scare Nald or show any disrespect towards Amitola.

"That's alright, it sounds like something we all need to hear." Amitola finally said, not thrilled by the fact.

"First of all, we have all believed that there are only those elementals we are familiar with, Aqua, Flame, and Airy. The truth is that there are many more elementals. However, they are the ones in charge of their respective elements, I guess you could say." Toras said while everyone nodded their heads.

Though most of them, besides Rimar, were unaware of those matters, they felt it wise to nod their heads as if it was a confirmation of something they were always aware of. After all, showing ignorance about the way their world functioned did not seem to them to be the wisest thing to do.

"What I didn't know, and many have forgotten or were never aware of was the fact that there was one more elemental when it all started. As we all know, there are four elements, and a long time ago, there were four main elementals as well." Toras said.

"What happened?" Nald asked, immersed in the story.

"Adamina, the earth elemental, was as well respected as her family at first. However, as humans and magical beings developed their homes more of her precious land was covered with houses and other buildings. Many things that humans introduced to the soil in an attempt to increase the number of crops they had or to simply make their lives more comfortable didn't agree with the earth. It had a damaging effect.

"None of them paid any notice to the fact that they were poisoning the soil. As far as Adamina saw it, they did not care. That notion was further confirmed when they started taking down trees for no good reasons. As well as when they stopped asking for permission or helping relocate the living beings whose homes they destroyed.

"Aqua remembers a time when due reverence was shown to nature and permission was asked before taking anything. Yet my own existence though it has been long, doesn't go that far." Toras said.

"How old are you?" Nald asked.

"Nald, that is a rude thing to ask. One's age doesn't define who one is or how old one feels." Amitola said, gently chastising Nald.

"I am quite old, but I think the story might be more interesting than my age.

"Anyway, as disrespect to her domain, the earth, spread, Adamina became more and more disenchanted by the world above the ground. Thus, one day she decided to leave it all behind and move into the deepest recesses of the earth.

"Her family tried to stop her, of course, but she failed to listen to them. She just wanted to leave it all behind and rest.

"For you see, she could feel the pain that people inflicted on her domain. However, she could not do anything to stop it since elementals are not allowed to interfere in the lives of lower beings.

"Thus, it was believed she found the deepest place in the ground and went into hibernation. She did so with a hope that the future might be a better place once she awoke," Toras said.

"Is she awake now?" Leonie asked.

"As far as other elementals can tell, she is awake and is in some way connected with the force that has created this snow. They are not sure how or if she is a willing participant or trapped by a power greater than her." Toras said.

"Does that help us in any way?" Leonie wondered.

"Not as much as I would like to. However, it does mean that I would need to come up with a much stronger potion if an elemental is involved. Also, things are bound to get worse before they get better." Toras said.

"Surely, she wouldn't willingly do all this damage? I remember all the tales of mother earth and her warm embrace, and they probably refer to earth elementals. Someone that good must be incapable of creating the level of darkness we are facing." Amitola said.

"I wish that was true. Yet, even the kindest beings can do the most horrible things to protect what they love," Toras said, his eyes never straying from Amitola.

"I think the best thing to do now is rest and recover our energy. That way will be able to face whatever is hiding in the snowstorm," Rimar said, interrupting warm glances that were being exchanged.

Leonie and Nald were first to oblige, lying down close to the dragon's warm presence. Amitola and Rimar soon realized that they were far too exhausted to stay awake as well.

Recuperating was a priority, especially since evil was bound to rear it's ugly head soon enough.

Unknowing to them a presence lurked just outside the portal's reach. Waiting. Plotting. Looking for a way to win.