Original Stories Fan Fiction / Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction ❯ The Elementalists ❯ Six - Beginning the Journey ( Chapter 6 )

“What kind of information?” Eryk asked suspiciously, seeming jealous that this man was well-known. Guren shook his head and smiled to himself.

 

“About what your enemy is capable of,” he replied. The entire group stilled, listening intently as they silently urged Guren to continue. He paused thoughtfully for a moment, then proceeded. “Well, since you won't kill me now that we are all acquainted with one another… We have found that the enemy can bend all of the elements. Not like you, as you can materialize the element you are able to bend. But she is very powerful, and has hidden powers as well as the ability to bend elements.”

 

“So she's a girl?” Candis asked, sitting on a nearby crate and resting her chin in her palm.

 

“From what our spies have heard and possibly seen, yes. Some of them are serving under her rule as of now, but they cannot yet say the exact location. Recently, the enemy has tightened her security and it's been harder for our spies to gain her trust. They know it is far to the west, on the coast, but they still can't pinpoint the exact location. Do you understand?”

 

The guys nodded, leaving the girls very befuddled. “Wait, we don't get it. What does that mean? If they didn't know the exact location, how are they serving her?” asked Chi, as innocent as ever.

 

Guren searched his mind for a way to explain this. “Well,” he started off, slowly and carefully choosing his words. “We sent them to the most suspicious places all along the west coast, and some of them were either captured or brought in to work for her. But they were taken in carriages, so they were not able to tell where they were at. In order to gain her trust and serve under her rule, they had to throw away all their equipment.”

 

“What a waste,” Chi replied. “But I still don't get how they don't know the exact location… Wouldn't they have told them?”

 

“No,” Feng answered without hesitation. “They obviously don't trust any of their servants. They have a very vague idea of where the headquarters are, but spies on the outside are unable to find it. Once brought inside, they have to get rid of their compasses along with all their other tools, so they can't give a precise location.”

 

“Wow, you're so smart, Feng!” Chi said, beaming. Feng rolled her eyes and chuckled softly to herself at the girl's lack of experience.

 

“Well, we do at least have an idea, regardless of how vague it is, of where they are, right? We can still find a way to work with just that.” Kai said firmly. Guren nodded in agreement.

 

“Yes, indeed we can. Tomorrow morning we will head West. It is too dangerous to attempt to pass through the rest of the village tonight… I'm sure you can feel all of that demon aura just waiting to catch us by surprise,” Guren added, rather eerily.

 

The girls shivered, partly from the cold and partly because they could, in fact, feel the demonic aura surrounding the entire village. They went back onto the empty street, seeeing but a few shop owners closing up, and headed to Percy's Inn.

 

 

The following morning, Guren woke the group up at half past dawn. “Why'd you… get us up… so early….” Kai mumbled, still half-asleep. She yawned and lazily stuffed her belongings back into her pack. She rubbed tiredly at her eyes and sat back down on the bed, very tempted to lie back down and sleep.

 

The rooms they had occupied for the night were very fancy. Guren insisted that they should sleep in the suites because the ministry had already paid for it. The two rooms had a small kitchen, sitting room, and two king-sized beds about two and a half feet away from each other. On the walls hung beautiful paintings, and scrolls that told ancient stories of the past.

 

Kai almost regretted having to leave the inn. She had slept enough to keep her going, but the rooms were so beautiful she almost wanted to live there. `Maybe I should just redecorate my house,' she thought, shaking her head at her random thoughts.

 

“Ready?” Guren asked, the other men behind him, also looking as if they were still asleep.

 

“We've been ready for two days, let's just go,” said Candis groggily as she put her pack on and walked sluggishly out of the inn.

 

The group had decided that they had enough supplies to last them until they reached the next village. Guren led them straight into the forest, only a little over an hour after dawn.

 

“I will take you to the Ministry first. There, you will get directions to where they think the hideout is,” explained Guren, getting straight to the point as he led the way through the dense thicket. “Keep your guard up and be ready for anything to pop out at you—this forest is full of demons.”

 

`No shit,' Kai thought sourly. `Does he think we're stupid?' replied Candis through the four's telepathic connection. Kai only shrugged in reply.

 

“When can we take a break?” she wondered aloud. When no one answered, her shoulders slumped and she sighed, wishing they could have left later. `Heh, we could have already been in the forest had it not been for this fool,' said Eryk.

 

Guren took a quick side glance at the group following him. `Obviously they're telepathic. Good thing I've got my thoughts blocked,' he said to himself, smirking.

 

Suddenly he caught a trace of demon scent in the air. He stopped abruptly, the group doing the same and cautiously looking around. `We know you're there, so just come out,' Guren thought. He did not say it aloud because he thought it would be a poor tactic.

 

Kai, however, thought the opposite. “Huh, well, if he can't show his face, it just means he's a silly coward. We wouldn't want to waste precious energy on such a simpleton—” The demon jumped out at the group, almost landing on Eryk, but he jumped out of the way in time.

 

“Nice tactic,” Florian commented, half-sarcastically and half-gratefully. “You've always been like that.” Kai smirked haughtily, turning around to see the demon face-to-face.

 

He was a water demon, his skin a sickly blue color and his ears pointier than an elf's. “You have a filthy mouth for a woman,” he said in a scratchy voice. “Master Rika always said you did, but now I see how filthy it really is.” He licked his lips, showing off his fangs. “I'll kill you all in a second!”

 

“You wish!” said Candis, charging the demon and releasing fire from her palms. But he anticipated her attack, and ducked to the ground as the fire flew over his head. He leaped forward, tackling Candis to the ground and trying to strangle her.

 

Eryk's spiritual energy grew very bright in that moment, as he stepped up and yanked the demon off of Candis. She coughed repeatedly, gasping for air. Chi rushed over to tend to her, as the others watched on.

 

“Since it won't take much to defeat you,” said Eryk, “I'll kill you with one blow!” He lifted his hand, concentrating his spirit energy into his fist, and punched the demon right at the heart. He let out a miserable cry of agony, disintegrating on the spot. He muttered afterward, “Pain in the ass.”

 

“Wow, I've never seen Eryk so worked up before,” Chi whispered to Kai. Kai grinned evilly, knowing why he got so upset.

 

“Well, he does have a soft spot for Candis. Deep, deep, deep down,” she whispered back, trying to hide her giggle.

 

Candis glared at the two whispering girls. “Shut up, you two,” she said, sitting up and rubbing her throat. “Damn demon. He caught me off guard.”