Elemental Ascension, page 24
“It...”
Everyone turned to face Reverie.
“What?” Deerbolt asked her. “It what?”
Reverie smiled. “It... I mean she... says... hello.”
Ash gulped. “Uhm... hello?” he said, and the Dragon snorted. “Reverie, do you know what the Dragon is saying?”
“My... baby... does,” she said.
Ash fought to a stance and staggered until he reached the others, feeling with his boots for rocks he could topple over. At first, the Dragon didn't move, but once Ash was back in the welcoming arms of Captain Deerbolt, she followed. His thirty steps, to her, were only four, and the ground shook with every bound.
“She hatched,” Sarronious said, “and bonded with Reverie's baby!”
“Aye,” Reverie said, beaming.
The Dragon lowered her snout and allowed Reverie to pat her scales. Stunned, Ash and the others moved cautiously away, but Kite remained by her side with his bow raised, and an arrow drawn.
“No need,” said his wife, resting her hand on the tip of the arrow to lower it. “She won't hurt us.”
“What of the flame?” Riley asked Ash.
“It burns, but it's weak.”
Reverie gave the Dragon a final pat, then turned to him. “It doesn't matter. Because when it goes go out, only she will remain to rule over us. There can be no future Dragons, though, but the Gods will remain imprisoned until her death.”
“I can't believe she's here, and she's real,” Kite said, blinking through tears. “And I can see her!”
“She's beautiful,” Deerbolt uttered. “But... how?”
The Dragon snorted and bowed her head, as if to prompt Reverie to tell the story because she couldn't. Behind her, a thin streak of smoke rose to the sky—the flame was about to go out for good, and Ash had not had to initiate it himself. Somehow, he still felt accomplished. This was something the Guard could never blame him for; they'd agreed to allow Kite and Reverie to try for this miracle—as far as Ash was concerned, it was their doing, and it was blissful, remembering how they'd banished him to keep the Dragonborn flame from falling victim to a Tetrad when it was the Guard themselves who did the deed. Rather than feeling angry or spiteful, Ash was calm.
“When Ash lit the crystals, the energy woke her from slumber.”
“You mean, all this time she's been sleeping?” Riley grumbled. The Dragon scraped her claws in the dirt, and he cringed, then held up his hands. “Sorry, sorry.”
“She sensed my baby was near, and accepted the offering of the innocent soul. But in order to hatch through such a tough, scaly shell, she had to use the crystal's energy. She didn't mean to destroy the temple.”
“We weren't overly attached to it,” Riley told her, hoping she'd forgive him.
Through Ash ran an extreme amount of adrenaline. He'd waited for ten years to be rid of his symptoms. Imminent death took the fun out of anything and everything he did. No matter where he went or who he met, in the back of his mind, he told himself none of it mattered. He'd be dead soon. Why waste time befriending, falling in love, earning and spending jewels, or travelling the Land, when at any moment, his body could fail him?
As his limbs shook and his chest tightened, Ash wondered if finally, the shock of seeing the Dragon would finish him off. He'd lost the key in the rubble somewhere. He didn't know if it would still work without the flame to power the Land's Alchemy, or if it was actually the key that had kept him going so far.
Ash shuddered and crumpled to his knees.
“Ash! Are you alright?”
Deerbolt caught his armpits, and eased him to the ground. His head pounded, and he could hear the drumming of his pulse in his ears. All colour drained from his waxy face.
“Our Alchemy is dead,” she replied, maintaining eye contact with the Dragon. “Without the key, his body has returned to its current Human state.”
Deerbolt realised it was no longer Reverie talking, but the Dragon. She clasped her hands together and knelt, begging her to save his life it if was at all within her ability.
“If Alchemy is dead,” she said, “then why is the curse still killing him? Please, you can stop this. Please,” she said, sobbing through her words. “I... love him.”
◆◆◆
Through Reverie, the Dragon explained the curse had been affecting Ash's physical presence on the Land, as well as his spiritual. Killing Alchemy could not undo the damage done to Ash's Human form beneath, which is all he was now the Dragon had taken over Alchemy's responsibilities.
Ash groaned and set off on his hands and knees across the rubble, occasionally slipping and smacking his nose or forehead on the stone.
“What are you doing?” Deerbolt said, following him.
She tugged his shirt collar, but he bat her away. With the last of his energy, he clawed at the dirt and debris, searching for his missing key. Sarronious ran to Deerbolt's side and held her.
“He's gone mad,” she said, nestled in the First Mate's shoulder. “Oh, Sarronious, I don't think I can watch him die.”
“You... won't... have... to,” Ash moaned, and stuck his hand between two sharp chunks of marble, which slashed at his wrists and drew blood.
Riley ran to Ash's aid, tripping a few times, but remained upright. He felt down the side of Ash's arm, taking the sting of every slash and nick from the shards of marble, and tickled the ground beneath.
“Got it!” Riley said, revealing the ornate key, still attached to the ribbon.
It was dirty and fraying now, but otherwise intact.
He handed it to Ash, who held the key in both hands. It was dull and scratchy to the touch—nothing at all like it had been when alive and bursting with energy.
“Reverie, what is he doing?”
The Dragon nudged Ash, flopping him onto his back so it could look him in the eye. Through unspoken words, they seemed to understand one another, and Reverie beamed in response to their telepathic communications.
She sang:
“Bless all who watch o'er the flame,
Where loyal guards are duly sworn,
For here they are re-birthed to new name,
So unto pledge their hearts to Dragonborn.”
The others in the group listened intently, then one man in the Guard joined in, followed by Sweets and Sarronious, Crane and Cage. Some were not in tune, and a few stammered or coughed between words, inhaling the dust from the temple's ruins. But, they persisted. Soon, everyone in their party was singing, including Deerbolt, Reverie, and Kite.
As if coaxed from a coma, the key flickered. The Dragon swayed along with the song, unable to sing itself. Deerbolt thought she saw her smile, though.
If Dragons can smile.
Ash strangled the key until his knuckles turned white. He willed the light to soak through his skin and into his bones. He willed it to save his life.
Unexpectedly, the Dragon slammed her foot down hard beside Ash, who jumped and threw the key into the air. She caught it delicately on her tongue, holding it in place with her front teeth, which were flat and straight like a Human's. Ash's eyesight was failing, but through a haze he saw her chomp down, hard. There was a sharp crack, and Ash felt the thud thud of two pieces hitting his chest.
She had destroyed it.
“NO!” Deerbolt cried, and threw herself at Ash, nuzzling his chest with her teary cheek.
The Dragon roared and stepped aside to reveal a young blonde woman, no older than Reverie, with sapphire eyes that twinkled like starlight. She stood still, surveying the scene, and tilted her head, curious.
“Who are you?” Deerbolt sniffled.
Reverie gasped. “She is a God,” she relayed. “The... God of Ascension.”
With Kite to steady her, Reverie walked to where Ash and Deerbolt were laid, overlooked by Sarronious who seemed so broad and mighty in comparison. She knelt and placed her cool hands on Ash's face. His eyes were closed and his breathing laboured—he didn't have long.
“Ash the Elemental, you have finally pledged your heart to Dragonborn,” Reverie said.
Deerbolt lifted her head and blinked, glaring up at the Dragon. Her chest heaved, and she squeezed Ash's hand tightly.
“I... I have never...” Ash struggled, wheezing, “pledged... my life... to... anything,” he said.
The God of Ascension seemed to float over the debris, but was beside them in the wink of the Dragon's eye. She said nothing and did nothing, only watched them.
Ash's eyelashes fluttered and his dry lips pursed as he struggled to say something else. Reverie leant to hear his whispers. She smiled.
“What did he say?” Deerbolt asked.
Ash coughed.
“He said... only to loving you.”
Deerbolt balled. Sarronious lifted her and hugged her close, begging the Dragon and the God of Ascension to ease Ash's suffering or end it now—take away his pain.
“All this time,” Kite said to the God, “you were trapped in there?” He pointed to Ash's key, and she tilted her head back the other way.
“Aye,” Reverie explained. “She missed her son, and vowed to free and rehabilitate him to lead his half-siblings by example to help the Land. But, he deceived her, and trapped her Alchemical soul in a key.” To what? Reverie asked, and the God replied through her, “A key without a lock has no purpose, and so is discarded. Therefore, my curse was never supposed to have been broken.”
She lowered her gaze. Deerbolt was now buried deep in Sarronious's neck, sobbing, so she didn't see what happened next. The God of Ascension stood above Ash. Using an incantation similar to that of an Elemental, she cast a curse. Her lips mouthed the words and the group strained to hear, but it was beyond their capabilities; as if they were unworthy of hearing such a melodic voice.
The Dragon snorted, and Reverie nodded. It was her job to translate.
“She says to tell you that to live upon this Land is, in itself, a curse. A Human existence is... difficult.” Reverie repeated, “Unforeseen by my son, I was given the opportunity to unlock Ash's Tetrad Alchemy, and so with the right amount of physical force,” she said, blinking at the Dragon, “I could finally be free.”
Ash couldn't move. He couldn't speak. All he could do was cough and grunt and wriggle his fingers, which he did to the best of his ability. Seeing his attempt to acknowledge this truth, the God of Ascension granted his wish. She called every fragment and particle of the shattered crystals to her in a cloud by raising both hands to the sky. Her eyes illuminated, reflecting in them the power of the key. She opened her mouth and appeared to scream without sound. Ash flinched, and Deerbolt turned to see what the fuss was about when Sarronious gasped at his reaction.
The crystals reformed. She guided them carefully to sit on Ash's body. The red rested on his groin, the blue at the base of his throat, and the green over his heart. She took hold of the white crystal and placed it carefully in her mouth until it had been absorbed. Together, they glowed.
Ash took his final breath.
“NO!” Deerbolt screeched. “NO!”
Reverie told the group, “In return for freeing her soul from her prison, she gives a piece of herself to Ash the Elemental.” She beamed.
Captain Deerbolt clasped her hands together, too amazed and grateful to speak. The crystals dissipated and sank through Ash's clothes. Suddenly, his eyes opened and he coughed, shaking his tousled hair.
“Wh-what was that? Where am I?”
“ASH!”
Deerbolt flung herself at him, kissing every inch of his filthy face until he pulled her away, laughing.
“Oh, I thought you were dead. I thought I'd lost you!”
“H-how am I here?”
His eyes then found the God of Ascension, and he swayed as if he was about to pass out.
Reverie assured him, “She's here to help you. She was imprisoned in your key, and the Dragon freed her. In return, she revived you.”
“I was dead?”
Sarronious grunted. “Only just.”
Deerbolt backhanded his chest. He smirked. And Ash smirked back.
When he turned to thank the God of Ascension for her kindness, she was gone.
Epilogue
Ash stood at the temple's ruins and tried to practise his Elemental incantations. No matter how hard he concentrated, he could no longer summon his Salamander Alchemy.
Deerbolt wrapped her arms around his waist from behind. “Struggling?”
Ash exhaled and chortled. “Strangely, I don't miss it.”
“Well, you lived for long enough without using it in Open Country. Can't be that different.”
Ash nodded. “Feels weird to be officially Human.”
“Good weird?”
“Aye,” he said, and turned to kiss her. “And now the God of Ascension is free and the flame still burns, there is potential for her to convince the God of Magic to bestow new eggs upon the Land. I hope they both banish Universal Energy to suffer as a Human.”
“Why, so you can kill him?”
“Without my Alchemy, it's the only thing I'm still any good at!”
From where they stood, they could see the entire island. The village nestled at the base of the hill and the temple's ruins halfway down. The Cerulean Grace in the distance, and tiny ant-like figures milling about the dock, loading and unloading supplies, and the stillness of their behaviour now the fighting had ceased as the Order was suddenly without their Alchemical influence. They couldn't see where the Dragon was through the trees, but they heard her growling and both were filled instantly with pride.
“Let's hope there can be peace now,” said Deerbolt.
“Kite and Reverie are staying here, then, in case there isn't?” Ash asked.
“They want to be near the Dragon.”
“Did you offer them passage?”
“Of course I did! I'm glad they're not returning with us. The mainland will be chaotic. Nobody will understand why their Alchemy is gone, and there will be fighting against the Order.”
“Looks like your crew resolved that for us,” he said, gesturing downhill toward the dock. “Being blessed by the God of Ascension, Riley offered me the leadership of the Guard,” he told her, smirking, then immediately added, “but I rejected them.”
“Why?”
“The offer stands,” he assured her, “but I think I should be where I can best serve people. Right now, that's the mainland—a lot of confused, lost ex-Alchemists, and a crumbling government. I'm going to miss our new friends, I admit.”
“Me too. When the child is born, she'll want to be close to her rider—she's going to have an amazing, world-changing life, that kid, and witness it all from the clouds.” She inhaled deeply, imagining the experience.
“She?”
“Didn't Reverie tell you?” she asked, surprised.
Ash scowled. “Nobody tells me anything.”
“They're having a girl, and they're going to name her after me.” She smiled from ear to ear. “Her name will be Artemis.”
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Iwould like to dedicate this book to my son, OFS, who I am hoping will love reading magical adventures like this when he grows up as much as I enjoy creating them. But this book is also dedicated to my family and my bookworm friends, who are the solid support system I couldn't live without. I'd specifically like to thank SM for being the first to volunteer to BETA read this novel and for helping me with the title. But I owe her sister EM an apology. I'm sorry this wasn't another Arriette Monroe story (you can hate me if you want, though I'm sure you've enjoyed Elemental Ascension just as much).
A lot of research went into this book, and I loved attending psychic events, reading about Tarot, and even trying my hand at interpreting a deck of my own. I purchased The Light Seer's Tarot because the artwork spoke to me—it is colourful and feminine, multifaceted and simply beautiful. If you'd like to check that out, you can visit www.lightseerstarot.com.
I must thank DC for checking this research against her own experience and knowledge of the cards, and for attending festivals with me to gather information from speakers including spiritual leaders, mediums, and authors. Because of her, I also purchased my own deck of The Mythic Tarot cards by Juliet Sharman-Burke, which came with a hardback guidebook and a cloth. This helped me to learn the positions of the Celtic cross traditional spread, which Ash's reading also follows in Elemental Ascension.
I appreciate everyone reads and interprets tarot cards in their own way—we all see and understand the images and their stories individually. Whilst I have done my best to read as many books on tarot and how to read them as possible—in particular the major arcana for the purpose of this novel—I would like to apologise in advance to anyone who would have read Ash's spread differently.
I love writing about magic and I absolutely adore world-building. Since creating the Arriette Monroe stories, which I combined in Finding Pandora: The Complete Collection, I've had a real taste for the creative freedom high fantasy allows, and the depth of the complex sub-plots that always enrich young adult and teen fiction. Between writing that, my post-apocalyptic adventure, Aeon Infinitum: Run For Your Life, and my visionary & metaphysical duology, Noah Finn & the Art of Suicide and Noah Finn & the Art of Conception, it is safe to say I adore writing (and reading) speculative fiction.
While writing this novel, I learned so much about myself. This truly is a blessing, and something I know fellow writers will appreciate; when we write about spirituality, we look inward—though we don't always understand what we find, it allows us to both grow and glow.
Bless all who watch o'er our flames.
Rachael x
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I'm an Amazon international #1 bestselling author from Bradford, UK, and the founder of Curious Cat Books, offering professional author services in the UK.
As a speculative fiction author, I believe in entertaining my readers by offering a temporary escape from reality. Whilst I aspire to write fun, addictive adventures with characters my readers can relate to, I need to write meaningful and emotive stories alongside them to explore the depths of what it is to be human—in doing so, I can encourage people to also look within.
