The Elementals | Book 1. The Cliffs of Immensi

Chapter 15

"Would you mind if I asked you just one more favor?" Concord asked Marco and Lynda's friend, Elaine, who had flown the plane that took him to Moraindia.

"Eh... I don't know about that. I don't just go around transporting people for free. Marco and Lynda paid me to bring you here." Elaine pushed a stray strand of curly hair behind her ear.
Concord gave a sigh. Andrea groaned. Omar shrugged.

Cascade smiled. "I've got this." She winked back at the others. Then she stepped forward. "What would convince you to take us?" she asked Elaine, making her voice slightly higher so that she was less intimidating. Cascade was a tall girl, much taller than most. Her voice wasn't particularly high. It was quite low, in fact. It often made her a scarier figure than she intended to be.

"Maybe if you, I don't know, paid me a little?" Elaine nodded towards Cascade's pocket.

"How much would be your minimum?"

"How about... seven hundred suns? It's less than most people have to pay. Plus, I don't know you."

Cascade switched tactics, as was her plan. Her smile faded. She looked straight into Elaine's eyes.

Elaine's head swam as Cascade's eyes swirled and shifted and glowed. It made her feel a little light-headed.

Cascade switched back to her regular voice. "There is an evil overlord trying to take over the world. And the entire world will end if we don't get on that plane."

Elaine would normally have laughed off such a futile attempt to convince her, but there was something in Cascade's eyes that let her know that Cascade wasn't lying. But she was still hesitant.

"If you don't fly us there, we will be forced to take your plane and fly there ourselves. There are four of us and only one of you." She pointed towards the plane. "And I'm sure I can figure out how it works," Cascade added, a grim expression on her face.

This made up Elaine's mind. She certainly didn't want to have a bunch of strangers flying her plane. Why she couldn't think of any other alternatives other than the two that Cascade had suggested, she wasn't sure. "Okay, okay. Calm down. I'll fly you there." Elaine gave a deep sigh and opened the door of the plane. She beckoned them in. They all smiled and climbed aboard.

Inside the plane, Andrea turned to Cascade. "Do we even have seven hundred suns?" she whispered.

"No. I doubt we even have seventy suns if we put all of our money together," Cascade replied.

Andrea laughed. "But I'm sure that was not the most diplomatic way to handle that situation, Cascade."

Cascade turned to Andrea and raised an eyebrow. "As diplomatic as I am," Cascade replied, straightfaced, "sometimes a different tactic is needed."

"And where'd you learn this tactic from?"

"From you. Turns out it's quite useful for situations such as this. I probably wouldn't have been able to find a diplomatic solution to that problem. Even I'm not diplomatic enough for that." Cascade let her smile break through.

A grin spread across Andrea's face. "Sounds like I've been a bad influence ever since we've become friends."

"No. You've been a good influence. I've enjoyed using some of your tactics."

"Like the one you just used?"

"Just like the one I just used."

They both laughed at that, then sat together in companionable silence, thinking about all of the bad, or rather, good, influences Andrea had had on Cascade.