Chapter Sixteen

“Taroc?” I followed him back to bed, then sat on the edge while he got under the blankets. “Are you all right?”

“I need some sleep,” Taroc said. “Tell your new friends to come back tomorrow, Ember. You know, at an appropriate time. Not in the middle of the night like a bunch of criminals. I can't fucking process this right now.”

“Oh.” I cleared my throat. “Uh. All right. Did you guys hear that?”

“We're not criminals,” Earth said.

“He said, ' like a bunch of criminals,'” Fire shot back. “Not that we are criminals. We're obviously not criminals. What? Do you have rocks for brains or something? Wait,” she said snidely, “you totally do.”

“Fuck off, Fire. You're a fucking bitch.”

“You're a stick in the mud. No, sorry. You're just mud.”

“You're both so angry,” Water whispered. “And he would need my element to make mud.”

“It's their temperaments,” I said. “They can't help it.”

“You see!” Air said. “I told you he would understand us.”

“Get the fuck out of here!” Taroc snarled. “Right fucking now!”

“Sheesh,” Fire huffed. “Tone it down, Tytra. Don't go all dragon on us. It won't do you any good. You know, because we're pure energy. You can't hurt us.”

“Speaking of which,” I interrupted. “How do I hurt Death?”

“Death isn't exactly an element,” Air said.

“Spirit and Death are more like the foundations of nature, right?” I asked.

“Sort of,” Fire said. “They're cousins to our magic. Death is stronger than us, but he also has weaknesses that we don't.”

“Especially now that he's bound himself to a physical body,” Air said.

Taroc sat up. “Go on.”

“Oh, now you want us to stay?” Fire asked in a sassy tone.

“Speak, woman!” Taroc snarled.

“Not a woman. And I don't respond to aggressive behavior.”

“Rather ironic,” Earth drawled.

“Is it irony, though?” Water asked. “That word has always confused me.”

“Me too,” I said.

“Oh, for fuck's sake,” Earth huffed. “Irony is when something the opposite of what is expected occurs. It is expected that Fire, with her aggressive nature, would do well when encountering similar behavior. But it is the opposite. Therefore, it is ironic.”

“Oh,” I said. “Yeah, I think I get it now.”

“I don't,” Water said.

“Because you're an idiot,” Fire said.

“Cease the fighting and answer my question!” Taroc roared.

“Death is pure energy,” Air said. “But he is also a powerful consciousness. When he bound himself to Aranren and, briefly, to Ember, he became akin to the soul in your body, Lord Taroc. Pure energy cannot be destroyed. It takes no damage and cannot be contained. A soul, however, can be damaged and contained.”

Taroc and I stared at each other as the implications of those words sank in.

“Dear Goddess,” Taroc finally whispered. “We can kill Death.”

“Not exactly,” Air said. “I said damage, not kill. Souls cannot be killed, but they can be tainted. Damaged. But what we need to focus on is the containment part. A soul is contained in a body. Death can now be contained as well.”

“And how will that help us?” I asked.

“We will teach you how to contain Death within a shell of our magic and then the Goddess will take him from this world.”

“The Goddess will take him?” Taroc asked. “So, this is her plan?”

“Partially.”

“Hold on,” I said. “The last time I encased the Corrupter in a shell of elements, I came close to killing him.”

“No, you didn't,” Fire drawled.

“But if I got good enough at it, as good as I'd need to be to trap Death, wouldn't that kill Aranren? He'd be encased in elemental clay.”

It went silent.

“I'm bound to Ara. Are you saying that Aranren and I have to die?”

“What?!” Taroc snarled.

“No, we're not saying that,” Air said.

Taroc sighed in relief, and I started to relax.

Then Fire added, “You don't have to die, but Aranren does.”

“What?!” I screeched. “No. No fucking way. No.”

“He is already prepared to die, Ember,” Air said gently.

“No,” I said again. “I promised him that I would get him free.”

“To die would be freedom,” Earth said.

“No, it fucking wouldn't,” I growled. “There must be another way.”

Silence came again.

“Perhaps,” Air said at last.

I let out my breath. “All right. I'll take that. What would we have to do?”

“It would be risky and complicated,” Air said. “You will have to train harder, Spark of the Goddess. Master every intricacy of the Elements. Only then will you be able to use our magic—combined with Spirit—to draw Death out of Aranren and into an elemental cage instead of caging him inside Aranren. Then, just as we planned, the Goddess can take him.”

“Why can't the Goddess take him now?” Taroc asked.

“Death is not one of her creations. She cannot simply snatch him away. There are rules that even gods must follow,” Earth said.

“I've heard that before,” I muttered.

“Let me guess—from Death?” Fire drawled. “His brilliance is that he hides his lies in truth. Fortunately for us, he is also arrogant, and that is why he makes mistakes.”

“Like leaving you alive,” Earth said. “Learn from his mistakes, Spark of the Goddess. Never leave your enemies alive. Not if you can help it.”

“I like you,” Taroc said.

The house trembled, just a light shaking, but Taroc and I braced ourselves and stared around in horror. Then I realized what was happening.

“He's laughing,” I said to Taroc.

The shaking stopped and Earth said, “I like you too, dragonling.”

“Did he just call me a baby dragon?” Taroc growled.

I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing as the house started to shake again.