Imbalance: Book 1

Chapter 10 (Earthen Ally)

Selva felt the warmth of the sun on his face, heard the voices of his companions, and his eyes slowly fluttered open, taking a bit to adjust to the brightness. He stretched, enjoying the feeling of being well rested. 
"It's about time. I was thinking you were going to sleep all day."
Turning his head to the source of the voice, he saw Farraige standing a few feet away from him, and he stood up, angling his eyes away from the glare of the sun.
"All day? How long was I asleep?" Selva asked, his voice filled with slight surprise. "And why did nobody bother to wake me up?"
"It's midday, so you were sleeping for about 17 hours. And Greni and Eisen decided that it would be better if you were allowed to rest." Farraige responded, her blue eyes seeming to ripple. "Aalto caught some fish as well, are you hungry? We're all eating now, actually."
"I'm fine, but thank you for the offer. I've never been too fond of fish." Selva said this, and detected movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned to look, and saw a rabbit disappearing into the bushes. Looking back at Farraige, he opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off.
"Go ahead. I don't mind. None of us had any luck catching anything besides fish, anyways." She smiled slightly, turning around and walking towards the rest of the group, sitting next to Eisen and Aalto, leaving Selva to his own devices. He turned around and followed where the rabbit had gone. Following the tracks, he stopped when he heard movement to his right. He drew his sword, closing his eyes and waiting for the right moment. Opening his eyes, he flung his sword, hearing a squeal as it met its mark. Moving to where he had struck, he removed his sword from the rabbit's body, sheathing it and picking up his quarry. He started walking back towards the camp, and felt an energy he had never felt before. His eyes narrowed, and he shook his head, smirking slightly, as he knew what was about to happen.

"That was amazing." Aalto said as he finished eating. "You sure know how to hunt, Selva."
Selva had brought the rabbit back to the clearing, skinned it, and cooked the meat, preferring to eat that instead of fish. Everyone had gotten some, and once it was gone, Selva made a declaration. 
"I need two of you to come into the forest with me. I sense an energy there. One that I have not sensed before."
"I feel that as well, Selva." Yujin added in. "I will join you. It is just the single aura, yes?"
"It is. But it's also an elementalist, so I would prefer to go in there prepared."
"May I accompany you as well?" Farraige asked, her eyes hopeful and curious. "I can feel the aura too, and I'm curious to see who it belongs to."
Selva nodded, acknowledging the request. "It is decided. The three of us will find the source of this unknown energy, and the three of you should be able to keep a lookout, correct?" Greni, Eisen and Aalto all nodded, affirming Selva's question. Without another word, Selva turned and dashed back into the woods, followed closely by Yujin and Farraige. They arrived at the spot where Selva had killed the rabbit, and he signaled for them to stop. The energy was there still, but Selva couldn't tell where it was coming from. Farraige began to look around, and Yujin stood still with her eyes closed, presumably trying to detect the source. Selva looked down and noticed that the dirt he walked on was different than it had been previously. It had been a bit solid and dry, but now it was freshly turned, like it had just been dug up. Taking note of this, he began to search around the area, carefully observing and looking for any differences. After a few more minutes of searching, Selva sighed, took his sword from its sheathe, and plunged it into the ground. The moment it pierced the dirt, every tree in the area disintegrated, becoming nothing but small particles. Selva looked around, and saw the source of the energy, and it was running straight towards him. He drew his sword from the ground, and the trees instantly reappeared, as if nothing had happened. He focused on his opponent, waiting for the right moment, and when the stranger was no less than three feet from him, Selva gestured towards the ground, and a giant root burst through the dirt and wrapped around the stranger, immobilizing him. Selva called out, and a moment later Farraige and Yujin were running to his aid. The two of them stopped, taking time to look at the stranger. He was glaring at Selva with eyes that looked like the dirt itself, and his yellow hanfu determined that he was from the Earth district. Returning the glare, Selva looked into the boy's eyes, sheathed his sword, and asked, "Who are you?" 
The boy struggled against his bindings, thrashing around and trying to escape. He looked at the three people standing in front of him, and redirected his gaze back to Selva. "Wouldn't you like to know," he spat, his voice filled with defiance and anger. "Let me down from here, I'm not telling you anything!" 
Selva's eyes gleamed, the blue and green becoming brighter, and he mockingly grinned at the boy. "Very well. Don't talk. That'll make this a lot easier." As the words left his mouth, he gestured towards the root, and it began to constrict, tightening itself around the boy, causing him to grunt in pain. After about half a minute, Selva lowered his hand, and the constrictions ceased. He took a step towards the boy and drew his sword, holding the tip of it up against the stranger's chin.
"I know where you're from, and we both know the history of our two districts, so if you value your life, you will tell me what I want to know." He lowered his sword and awaited a response. The boy, still fighting against the tendril wrapped around him, let out a sarcastic chuckle, and responded with, "Do it then. I'm not giving you anything you want. Kill me, and prove that the wood district harbors murderers."
Selva's eyes flashed with anger, and without a word, he gestured once more, and the root began to tighten even more. Leering at the stranger, he let the tendril constrict even more, watching the boy thrash against it. He heard a snap, and the boy let out a scream of agony. Once more, Selva motioned his hand, and the tightening paused, the only sound the whimpers of pain from the bound elementalist. 
"Selva! That's enough!" Yujin exclaimed, walking up to him and grabbing him by the arm. "He's the only one of his kind, and if he dies, there will be no elemental harmony, and the entire world will collapse." Selva turned to look at her, and she locked eyes with him, the two of them staring for a few moments. With a growl, Selva turned and motioned towards the ground again, and the root slithered back into the dirt, the boy that it had held dropping to the floor with a thud, his leg crushed. He laid on the ground, breathing heavily, clearly in immense pain, and Selva walked over and stood over him, looking down into his eyes with an expression that said he wasn't sorry at all. He said one word to the boy, just one. 
"Talk."
The boy looked into Selva's eyes, seeing the serious expression, and realizing that he would be better off cooperating. His gaze travelled down to his leg, and he saw the damage, tears filling his eyes. With a wince, he asked, "Well what do you want to know?"
"As I just asked, who are you?" Selva said this and gently rested his foot on the boy's broken leg, not putting too much pressure. "And if you defy me again, your pain will increase tenfold."
"My name is Doro. I'm from the Earth district, but they banished me."
"Why? You were banished for what reason?"
"Probably the same as you. For my powers. I'm an elementalist. People said I was dangerous." Doro said this, and saw Selva's expression harden, and realized he had made a mistake. He saw Selva raise his foot, and then his vision went white as a sharp pain shot up his leg. He wasn't even able to scream, the pain was too much. His vision returned, and he heard Selva's voice, filled with an angry tone.
"I was not banished for having powers. I was not banished for being dangerous. Don't assume that we're anything alike, because I can assure you we aren't." Removing his foot from Doro's leg, he felt the boy's energy decreasing, and watched as consciousness slipped away, the earth elementalist passing out. Frustrated, he turned and walked over to a nearby tree, sitting down against it and closing his eyes, breathing deeply. He heard a rustle, and he opened his eyes, looking towards the source of the noise, and saw a small goat laying on Doro's chest, nuzzling his face. He looked away, and noticed that Yujin was intently staring at the goat, her expression blank. She slowly took a step forward, one of her hands out in front of her, and the goat looked back at her. She took another step, slowly, and then she knelt down, her hand extended and her palm upwards. Standing up, the goat reluctantly trotted towards Yujin, stopping when it had reached her hand. It looked curiously into Yujin's eyes, and then it licked her palm, continuing towards her and allowing her to pick it up. She gently cradled the goat, her expression happy, and noticed both Farraige and Selva looking at her in surprise. Still holding the small animal, Yujin said "Oh, I forgot to mention, I'm very good with animals." She looked back at the goat in her arms, and heard Selva clear his throat. Looking back at him, she gave him a questioning expression, giving the ok for him to speak.
"That's great and all, but who's carrying him?" He asked this and nodded towards Doro, who was still passed out on the ground. Looking at Farraige, he saw her roll her eyes, and the same happened when he looked at Yujin. With a sigh of defeat, Selva stood up, making his way over to Doro. He picked up his limp body and hoisted him up onto his shoulders. Sighing once again, he said "Alright, let's head back."