Elemental Shadowed by Helen Scott

7

Griffin

“Please! I don’t want to be trapped with all those fuddy-duddies!” Tessa was pouting at me as she begged me to go with her to the old temple early.

My heart squeezed in my chest. The thought of being alone with her for hours was oh, so tempting.

I knew I shouldn’t, but really, what would be the harm? Everyone else had gone out to take care of something or another that they considered urgent enough to leave me alone with the woman we all had our eyes on, even our Earther, Kai, not that he’d ever admit to it. The queen had no need of us until we were scheduled to depart, and the only other thing we could do was train, which I didn’t think was a good idea considering what had happened last night.

The two of us had been so awkward after the kiss. It had taken every ounce of self-control not to take Tessa back to my room and show her what it meant to be a warrior from El Dorado.

“Fine,” I said with a sigh. “We can go, but only if you let me leave a note for the others.”

Tessa’s face broke into a wide grin as she nodded, and I felt my blood heat. She was stunning. Her mismatched eyes, her perfect lips, her soft skin, and a body with just enough curves that I couldn’t help but want to unwrap them like a birthday present. I had yet to find anything about her that turned me off. In fact, the more I discovered, the more she turned me on.

She turned and hurried to her room where I presumed she was putting on more appropriate footwear than what the queen had been keeping her in for dinners and whatnot. Not that I was complaining about what the queen was dressing her in because by the gods she looked more beautiful every night.

It was a few hours later when I finally got up the courage to ask her about the kiss. I didn’t necessarily want to, but I felt like the need to clear the air was an important one to address.

“Why did you kiss me when we were sparring?” I asked after we’d crossed the bridge to the last ring of land.

Tessa stumbled on her next step as I spoke and stopped moving, which made me turn around if I wanted to face her, and I definitely did for this conversation. Without missing a beat, I shifted so I was standing in front of her. As she watched me, her eyes seemed to hold all the mysteries of the universe.

“Because I wanted to.” The honesty was shining out of her like a beacon in the night, and I knew she was being as truthful with me as she could.

“What about Finn?” I asked, unsure whether it was just a passing thing or something more.

Being a warrior was my profession, was in the very fiber of my being, like it was for most people from El Dorado, but I had never been one to hide my emotions or deny them. Instead, I used them to fuel my training. I channeled everything I had into my practice, into paying attention to my body and what it was telling me. Right now it was screaming at me to claim the woman in front of me as my own. I would never force a woman though, and I’d never want to get stuck pining after a woman that didn’t want me.

“Finn… is Finn,” Tessa said with a shrug. Her brows were drawn together slightly and I got a sense that there was more to her sentiment than the shrug implied.

I frowned in response, which earned me a sigh from her.

“Finn and I were, are, a mess. I care about you both and I don’t want to choose. In fact, I won’t choose. I’m not ready to tie myself to one person. I don’t know that I ever will be, especially not with everything that’s going on. I don't know how to explain it without sounding selfish or greedy. Besides Finn seems to think I'm a fragile flower that needs protecting, but I'm stronger than he thinks.”

“That’s understandable, and I'm sure you're stronger than we all think, but remember that we saw you dying in front of our very eyes. Something like that leaves a mark,” I said, before turning and moving forward. My mind filled with the image of her in the healing pool before we took her to the outer ring, where we were now, and how frail she'd looked, not to mention the relief I'd felt when she and Finn came back to the beach.

We were quiet again until the mountain that housed the old temple came into view. It was the only mountain in Atlantis, so it was fairly obvious how to get to it, especially since there was a path going up the side. I hadn't been in the place before, and I was nervous to go in there without an escort but it seemed that I'd do just about anything for Tessa.

I paused and turned to Tessa once more, trying not to let her blue and brown eyes take me off track. “Why don’t you wait here while I check it out?”

“No, you need back up.” She planted her hands on her hips and gave me a steely-eyed glare, silently daring me to disagree with her.

After her comment about being stronger than Finn thought I knew this was going to be an uphill battle. Frustration burned within me at her lack of care for herself. “I’ll call you if I need backup. You’re too important to risk.”

“No, I’m coming with you.” Her voice had a cold fury riding in the middle, one that dared me to try and keep her here, but I wasn't going to take her up there and put her in danger.

“I don’t want to argue about this, dove, I’m just trying to keep you safe.”

“I can keep myself safe," she countered.

“Please, just do this for me. Consider it a favor and I’ll owe you one,” I added as I saw her softening.

“Fine, but you owe me,” she said as she stuck her hand out toward me.

“Agreed,” I replied, and we shook on it.

“I’ll be right back.” Before she could respond, I turned and booked it up the mountain. As I followed the path, I felt the air shift around me, moving like it was a living thing as I disturbed it. The sensation was uncomfortable, but it passed just as quickly as I had noticed it.

Rounding the corner of the path, I found the opening of the temple in front of me. My senses went on high alert as I edged into the chamber.

It was open to the elements, and from the plants and lichen growing just inside the door, it had been for a while. Large blue crystals hung from the ceiling, no, not the ceiling, from archways that sat just below. There were rows of stone benches under them that all seemed to be leading to the central area that Tessa had perfectly described.

A large statue took up the central spot, a woman reaching out to, or for, something, while four knights guarded her back. One thing was different though, there was no water flowing. The swords they were supposed to be looking down at weren't there, just the stone hilts that were grasped tightly in their hands.

It made me wonder what exactly Tessa had seen. I moved forward, wanting to make sure what I was seeing was correct, and when no water started flowing, I couldn't deny that I was a little disappointed.

When I turned around, I saw the entrance that Tessa must have come through to enter the chamber and moved toward it, hoping that maybe there was a secondary chamber with water running inside. The closer I got though, the more my steps felt like they were in quicksand.

Each movement became harder and harder until I was leaning into it like I was leaning into hurricane force winds. I knew magic was at play, that much was clear. What I didn't understand was why it was affecting me and not Tessa. Was it because she was the Key? Or did she have some Atlantean blood running through her veins? Either way, I knew I'd have to get her up here to be able to tell.

I gave up pushing toward the other entrance and turned back to the statues. As soon as I did, the wind, or the magic, pushing me away from the door stopped, and I could stand there normally.

There was something about the place that was so familiar, and it felt like it went beyond the fact that it was simply a temple. Each of the realms had a temple or a place of worship for whatever religion had manifested over the centuries.

We all prayed to different beings and things, but there was something about the temple on Atlantis that reminded me of the temple my mother used to take me to that was close to the home I grew up in.

Statues, windows, openings, it was all different, and yet it was all similar. What I didn't understand was why? Why did I feel this similarity, when nothing was the same as it would be at the temple I had gone to as a child? Was it just the feeling of peace I got when I was standing here? I shook my head. None of it mattered at this moment, and I could ponder the feeling later, but for right now I needed to go back and make sure Tessa was okay.

A bird cawed from just outside the opening and I took the hint, heading out into the bright light of day once more. As I left the temple, the sight before me stole my breath. I'd known Atlantis was an island in a realm that was mostly water, but seeing the horizon extend to nothing except the meeting of sky and sea was something else entirely, especially when my home had been without water since it broke away from the origin realm.

The only thing that had allowed us to survive was magic. Unlike my battle brothers, I could go weeks or months without water, as my people had when we'd first been separated, until we'd found a way to manipulate magic enough to manifest the small amount of water that we needed.

I knew I'd seen it somewhat recently when we'd brought Tessa here for the magic to be broken, but to be honest I'd been more focused on Tessa. Seeing it now without the worry of Tessa's death on my mind made it truly sink in that this was real, that all this water was actually there and usable for the people of Atlantis.

It was mind-boggling.

It was a long while before I could move again. My gaze and my mind were so thoroughly fixed on the ocean before me. When I did I took off at a run, worried about what had become of Tessa while I had been distracted. Part of me hated Atlantis, hated all they had that they took for granted, but that didn't mean I could neglect my duties, and protecting Tessa was top of that list.

While I didn't think anything would harm her while she was here, I didn't know that for sure. I mean she had been attacked at the queen's dinner for crying out loud. The only reason I thought she might be safer here was because no one knew where we were and if they were to attack she should have had plenty of notice since it's not like there are a bunch of people around.

When I got to the area where we had split up and she was nowhere to be found, I started to panic. I should have brought her with me, or at least closer than at the bottom of the mountain.

"Tessa!" I yelled her name spinning in a circle, hoping for her voice to sound in response.

When none came I wasn't surprised. Terror crawled up my spine, making me feel sick to my stomach as I wondered what could have happened to her. There was nothing I could do except search the surrounding area. I began to circle the trees that enclosed the pathway, expanding ever outward, calling for her over and over again until I started to wonder if I'd ever find her.

A splash of water sounded off to my left and I followed, instinct telling me that I needed to investigate. One thing that I knew I could rely on, no matter where I was or which realm I was in, was my instincts. I'd spent years honing them to the best of my ability.

I could fight blindfolded if needed, I could taste a multitude of poisons, anything that could threaten me, or us, and I was prepared to fight and fight well. If I didn't win then I'd give my life trying, that was one thing I was certain of. What I found in the water, though, was the one thing I could never have prepared for in my whole life.