Chapter Eighteen

“Ember!” Ranor said in his booming, Tytra voice. “To me! Now!”

“Yes, sir, General sir!” I ran out of the arrival chamber and over to where the General waited with my lovers.

“Perfect timing.” Ranor slapped me on the shoulder as we headed into the vast, stone space where the Wraith Lords ate their meals.

It seemed bigger now that the people of Fress were gone. Especially the children. I'd gotten used to hearing their laughter and little voices. The weapons on the walls were more intimidating without them too. Something about a bunch of kids running around lightened the mood of any room.

I glanced around and saw Vex sitting with the other Tiger Ladrin—his little club. He nodded at me. I nodded back, not sure what that meant. He'd come to speak with me. That had to be a good sign.

“Is everyone here?” General Ranor looked around. “Good. We've had a new development.”

“Who's Ember talking to now?” someone shouted.

A bunch of lords laughed. But then they saw my face.

“Shit,” someone said. “Is it Death?”

“No,” Ranor answered for me. “The Elements have come to Ember and offered to assist him. It appears that they each have a consciousness that speaks on behalf of the magic.”

The room was silent for a few seconds and then some of the lords laughed.

“This is not a joke,” Ranor said. “I've spoken with them myself. They've explained a few things to us. Such as why our ward keeps out Death but not them.”

“Holy fuck,” Lord Jathalion stood up, his wings spreading. “Are you serious? The Elements have sentience? They're here?”

“Yes, bird boy, we're here,” Fire drawled.

Jath jerked back, wings fluttering, while all around the room the other lords had similar reactions. All but my lovers, Vex, and Ranor.

“Fire, please,” Air said. “This is our introduction to the lords. Be nice.”

“I am being nice. I could have called him feathers-for-brains.”

“A man with feathers for brains would not use the word 'sentience,'” Water said.

Jath's head swiveled as he tried to follow the sound of the voices.

Many of the other lords got to their feet and started speaking. I winced at the sudden cacophony.

“Calm down, everyone,” Ranor said. “They are not like Death.” He waited a minute, then shouted, “Wraith Lords, shut the fuck up and sit down!”

The Wraith Lords shut the fuck up and sat down.

“General, if I may?” Air asked.

“Please,” Ranor said, his annoyance still present.

“Wraith Lords, I am the Consciousness of Air. The consciousness of the element and the magic. Which, in our view, are aspects of the same thing. I am pure energy, and I, along with my companions, have been with you for your entire lives. You wouldn't live without me.”

“Or me,” Water added. “They are sixty percent me.”

“They are more me,” Earth said. “Carbon-based lifeforms. Not water.”

“Carbon is not Earth,” Water said.

“It is a key component! And it is the basis of all life on this planet.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Fire said. “They'd all just be bags of meat without the spark of Fire. I make their hearts pump and their brains work. Their atoms fire because of me!”

“All right, let's not argue about who is the most important to existence,” Air said. “I'm merely trying to show them that we are a part of them. We're on their side.”

“We couldn't betray you even did we wish to,” Earth added. “We are united on this planet.”

“Death is like you, and he betrayed us,” someone said.

“No,” Air said. “Death is like Spirit. It is pure energy, but not an element. Not exactly. And its consciousness has bound itself to a physical entity. This union has gone against the natural order and altered the rebel consciousness. We have watched this happen, helping all of you fight it when we could. But we've decided that we can remain silent no longer. So, we offered to train Lord Ember.”

“And we'd like your support,” Water quickly added.

The room went silent.

“I've given my approval,” Ranor said. “But I want this to be unanimous.”

“How do we know they are who they say they are?” Lord Veker asked.

Suddenly Veker was lifted off his bench.

“No!” I shouted, reaching a hand out to him. “Not him!”

Veker was a Ladrin, and he, in particular, didn't like heights. He howled like an animal as Air held him aloft, and wriggled wildly to get free.

“Put him down!” I summoned Air to combat the consciousness. Which was insane, really.

But as soon as I did, Air set the wolf down. Veker was snarling and furious, sweat beading on his brow. His eyes were wild and the other lords at his table were on their feet as well, having stood to help him.

“My apologies,” Air said. “It was how I proved to Lord Ember that I am the element. I forgot you are afraid of heights, Lord Veker.”

Veker's eyes went wide. “I'm not afraid!”

“No, of course not,” Air hurried to say. “I misspoke. You're wary of heights. A rational wariness since you don't possess Air Magic.”

Veker grimaced. “How do you know my name?”

“We know all of you, puppy,” Fire said. “Weren't you listening? We've been with you forever. And your parents before you. And their parents. Blah, blah, blah. We are eternal and that, in case you don't know, is a greater version of immortality. You cannot kill us.”

“You can't fight us either,” Earth said. “So stop baring your teeth. We are on your side—here with the Goddess's blessing.”

“The Goddess sent you?” Rath asked. “You didn't mention that before.”

“We told you she'd be taking Death after Ember captures him,” Fire huffed. “What did you think that meant?”

“She didn't send us,” Air clarified. “She approved of our decision to help. We needed to know that it wouldn't interfere with Ember's destiny. She believes it won't.”

The room went quiet.

Into that quiet strode a cocky, handsome, hilarious human.

Graysen Amerell—a man I had once considered adding to my lovers but then realized we were much better as friends—entered the dining hall with his wraith lord escort, Liam. Last time I checked, they were also lovers, but Gray wasn't the type of guy to commit. So, I wasn't surprised when they immediately split up and headed to separate tables.

Then Gray saw me and realized something was up. “Am I interrupting?”

To my surprise, General Ranor said, “Take a seat, you two. You have good timing. We were just discussing Lord Ember's new teachers—the Elements.”

“The Elements?” Gray eyed me where I stood with Ranor while he went to my usual table to sit with my lovers. “I thought he did that already?”

“Not with us, cutie,” Fire said.

Gray yipped and jerked his hips forward as if someone had pinched his ass. “What the fuck? What the fuck was that? Ember, you little shit! Did you just burn my ass?”

I couldn't help it. I was wound up so tightly with anxiety over Vex and the shit with the Elements, that I needed Gray's comedy badly. Laughter bubbled up my throat so violently that I doubled over with it.

“It wasn't him,” Fire said as a column of flames erupted in front of Gray, then condensed into a womanly figure. “It was me. You can call me Fire. Or hot stuff. Your choice. It's nice to speak with you at last, Graysen. I like you. You've got a good sense of humor. Too bad you're gay. And I'm not physical.”

Graysen gaped at the fire woman.

We all did. Even me. I stopped laughing instantly.

“Holy fuck!” Gray shouted. “What the fuck?! Holy fucking fuck! Is she real? You're not fucking with me, Ember?”

“She's real,” I said. “Graysen, meet Fire. Air, Water, and Earth are also present. They've offered to give me advanced training and help us defeat Death.”

“Not kill him, mind you,” Earth said. “That is not possible. But together, we should be able to contain him.”

“Contain Death?” Lord Finn asked. “How?”

“What is with you Makhans asking stupid questions?” The fire woman vanished, swirling upward into embers. “Pay attention! He just said that we're going to train Ember.”

“What that means,” Air interjected, “is that we will teach Ember how to better combine the Elements with Spirit and fuel himself with the union he's created with his lovers so that he can form an elemental cage around Death. The Goddess will then take custody of the cage and ensure the entity within never escapes.”

“How are you going to contain Death when he is everywhere?” another lord asked.

“Ember retains a thin bond to Aranren,” Air explained. “Aranren is bound to Death. Through these ties, Ember should be able to draw Death into Aranren completely. Then he will cage Death and remove him from Aranren.”

“Holy shit,” a few lords said.

Graysen sat down on the bench beside Rath. They were on the outer bench. This meant that they were facing away from the table so they could look at us. I grinned at him.

“Did an element just flirt with me?” Gray asked me.

“Yes, I think she did,” I said.

“Seriously? That's what you're focused on?” Nex, who had come in from Fress for the meeting and was seated on Rath's other side, asked. “Can we get back to caging Death? Are you sure a bunch of elements can hold it?”

“Elements hold everything, cinder-breath,” Fire said. “We make up everything.”

“Even Death?” Nex shot back.

“We are kin to Death. But not within him. If we were, we could have handled him without you,” Air said.

“Look, I know I screwed up when I gave Death a chance,” I said. “But there was a reason for that. The Goddess allowed it to happen because it was the only way for me to get close enough to him to learn the truth about Aranren. And even as I trained with Death, I had my doubts about him. I was wary. I don't feel that way about the Elements. We can trust them. I'm sure of it.”

“Well, shit,” Graysen said. “It's not like you have a better offer. Why reject help?”

“Because they could be working with Death,” Jath said.

Everyone looked at him.

“But I don't think they are,” he went on. “I have Air Magic in me, and it recognizes the Consciousness of Air. I feel the rightness of this. I say we let Ember train with them.”

I let out the breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding.

“See? I told you he wasn't an idiot,” Water said to Fire.

“Yes, we are deeply entwined in all of you,” Air said. “Look inside yourselves for the truth as Lord Jathalion has. It is there. And not just in the magic. You can feel us in your breath, bones, and flesh.”

The Wraith Lords went pensive, searching within themselves, and soon, expressions of surprise and then ease spread across their faces. One by one, the men gave their consent to my training.

“Well, there's the easy bit done,” Fire said.