“I suggest you run,” Amber said raising her arms even higher. She was trying to force a false bravado into her voice, and was faking confidence that she didn’t even begin to have. She had to stop herself from taking a big relief infused breath when it looked like he was going to take her seriously.
In fact, the guard didn’t even hesitate as he began backing away. He was afraid to turn his back to her and that made his movements graceless as he stumbled and tripped his way back towards the safety of the city’s walls. Amber’s arms had begun to shake and the fire had long since winked out before he was out of sight.
Amber’s panicked thoughts were racing through every potential horror that faced her. Would he come back with half the city’s guards? Would the town set the dogs on her? Would they hurt her father? She didn’t even know how far it was to the nearest village and her satchel was already weighing heavily on her.
She couldn’t decide what to do and she fought against the urge to just sit down and think things out. All of her carefully made preparations had failed her and this was no time for deep analytical thinking. This was a time for action and the only action that she knew for sure was wrong would be to stay still.
She’d waited too long to leave and she’d no doubt pay for that mistake with her life. But she was unwilling to admit defeat and she stiffened her spin and her resolve as she began to persistently put one foot in front of the other. If they were going to catch her she’d make it as much of a challenge as possible.
Life in the city had not prepared her for the rough terrain of the unyielding forest floor. Her shoes were thin and far more decorative than purposeful. With every step she took she felt as if each and every rock and twig in the forest were trying to stab her in the tender arch of her feet.
For a awhile she let her thoughts give in to pity and regrets. For awhile she wished that she’d never left the city, even daydreaming that she’d have been able to pass her test or that she could have ever been happy with a man like the guard who’d tried to force himself on her. Now that she was out of the city she couldn’t believe how she’d never even questioned the fact that she would have no say in choosing who to marry.
Her thoughts drifted from unwanted marriage to her sister Callie. Part of her wished that she’d runaway and gone with Callie all those years ago. She couldn’t bear to make this journey alone. She knew that other people were just stronger than her. Like the peddlers who traveled between all of the small cities and villages. Every day they faced the countless dangers of the elementals and many of them didn’t survive the trips.
Many of the young boys had wanted to go with the peddlers and see more of the world, but she’d never wanted to leave the city. She’d planned to marry and live in a life of bliss as she had one child after the next and took care of her husband and her home.
She was afraid of her strange magical powers. She’d been raised to believe that magic was evil and dangerous. That was why the testing ceremony had been established, to keep people safe. She had heard stories told by the traveling entertainers about how entire cities had been destroyed by just one person out of control wielding fire or earth magic. The thought of ever exercising that much power terrified her.
She’d been walking for hours when she heard the first crack of thunder and she gasped when the bright light tore across the sky. Although most elementals could come out during the day it was rare. They preferred night and Amber was alarmed when she realized that being struck by lightning was the least of her worries. The clouds were obscuring the sun and turning day into night far ahead of schedule.
She tried to run faster but she kept slipping and somewhere along the way she lost one of her shoes. Out of breath she paused, leaning back against a tree taking in short gasping breaths until she felt something moving. Her breath stilled in her mouth and her heart stopped beating for a moment.
The tree was alive. Amber whimpered as she realized that this was no ordinary tree but one of the many corporeal forms taken by earth elementals. She dashed away from the tree elemental realizing how impossible it would be to find cover in the forest when any of the trees could be an elemental in disguise.
She had to get out of the forest before one of the Tree Elementals slaughtered her. She hadn’t gone far before the lightning struck again and this time it was more than just a flash of light. One of the trees in front of her burst into flame and Amber screamed as the tree seemed to sever from its roots and began crashing around in the forest. The sound was deafening and the sight of fire in the midst of so much wood was terrifying.
She stared in disbelief as the tree morphed and shifted until it looked almost like a giant man with its hair and hands ending in bunches of leaves. The Tree Elemental’s eyes were empty dark sockets and its mouth was made from a knot in the wood. Its mouth was open wide open and making a terrible keening sound. Amber was a ball of nerves as she tried to keep moving and get out of its’ path without drawing attention to herself.
In spite of the rain the fire was already beginning to spread to other trees in the forest when the ground beneath Amber began to rumble. Her eyes grew big as she witnessed a colossal rock giant emerging from the ground. It was as if giant boulders and rocks had been slammed together into a monstrous beast.
It’s arms were massive and ended in beefy fingers that appeared to have been chiseled out of slate and shaped into a fist. It’s head was covered in a fine layer of moss that served almost as hair. The Rock Elemental’s eyes were two angrily glittering rubies. She tried to bend her body out of sight behind a tree but she had no way of knowing if she’d succeeded. Amber’s heart plummeted because she knew she’d never survive against such a creature and he was coming straight towards her.
Incendiary the Fire Elemental Series 