The Gathering of Masters: The Bond Once Severed Book 1

44. Contemplating her Rescue

"Brother," the Elemental spoke in his mind.

"Air," Raja responded aloud, not wanting the intimacy of Mindspeak.

"Brother," Air said aloud, sounding wounded. "You should call us brother."

"I am not ready to do that again." Raja watched what could be pain cross the Elemental's perfect face. Then the Elemental's green eyes narrowed briefly. Raja felt the Air around him chill. Ah, he had made Air angry.

"Whether or not you are ready, you are our brother," Air retorted. The wind around the mountain picked up.

"Careful, Air. Diddero descends; do not make it too blustery," Raja cautioned as he watched Diddero rappelling down the mountain.

"We could not harm that Master if we wanted to." Air glanced down the mountain and frowned. "But we will be careful if you ask it of us."

"I ask it," Raja answered and sighed. "You are here to talk?"

"We are," Air agreed.

"I do not want to talk about it," Raja answered.

"But we must talk. You must forgive us."

"Forgive?" Raja was surprised. He had not expected this request. He had not expected Air to realize he had done anything wrong.

"We did not know our push would so hurt you. We felt the love and desire and thought a push would help." Air looked very young to Raja for a moment, though he had not outwardly changed.

"I know," Raja answered after a moment, choosing to speak the truth to Air and himself. "I am ashamed of myself. I am ashamed I allowed you to push me and that I lacked the strength to resist it."

"Oh." Air tilted his head and pursed his lips before smiling broadly. "Then you are not angry with us?"

"I am angry with you. But not only with you," Raja corrected. "I am angry that you dared to push me to do something I was not ready for instead of talking to me and helping me break through on my own. I am angry that you have endangered my relationship with Natalia and Lukas. I am angry that I was not ready without the push. I am angry that you were able to push without my noticing. And I am angry because the life I loved is slowly dissolving to nothing, and you have pushed it further into the ground before I could preserve any of it." The Air around him grew hot, and he felt his hair struggling to escape the binding.

"Brother, you should calm yourself," Air commanded gently. "Brother Fire will come soon if you do not."

With a start, Raja realized the increasing temperature around him was his doing. Raja began to call on the techniques that had calmed him for most of his life. The heat lessened, and his hair fell calmly around his face, loose from its binding but not crackling with Fire's charge.

"So, you are angry at yourself but block us and refuse to play?" Air began again.

"Yes," Raja answered with a sigh. "I am not ready to play with you yet."

"No? Because it would be faster to fly home than to climb."

"Yes, it would be faster. But I do not want to fly with you yet."

"Yet," there was hope in Air's voice as he repeated the word.

"Yet," Raja confirmed and attached his harness to the rope for his descent. Without looking back at Air, Raja jumped off the side of the ridge.

The extra lift he felt was exhilarating, and though he knew what it was, he did not block it. His feet touched the rock, and he pushed off again, allowing Air to lift him slightly further than he should have. It was a small thing but a step towards mending his relationship with the Elemental. Lukas had said it needed to be done. Raja could not hobble himself because of his pride. He would have to find a balance. They all would.