“How are you feeling?” Mason asked. I tried to sit up, but when I did, a wave of nausea fell over me. “Nope.” He put his hand on my chest and gently pushed me back down. “You need your rest.” “I’ve gotten enough rest for a lifetime.” “I know, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need it.” I folded my arms. “Please?” “No, no I can’t. You know I-” “Please?” “Oh, fine.” He grabbed my arm. “But we are not leaving this room. We’re just going to let you stretch your legs.” “That is all I wanted.” He lifted me so I was sitting on my bed. “This is a bad idea.” I ignored him and lifted myself up, but fell. Luckily Mason caught me. “That’s enough stretching for you.” I rolled my eyes, but agreed. He laid me back down on the bed. “Now, please try to rest.” I rolled my eyes, but nodded. “Good. I’ll bring you some food.” He left, fiddling with his locket. He took a lot longer than I had anticipated. Eventually, I passed out. This dream was even worse than the last one. In this one I was right by Temynyon’s side, riding in a carriage being pulled by horses, but not live horses. Dead horses. Like the ones you’d see on minecraft, except, alive, and real. And these had blood stains on them. “I see you’re back.” I didn’t respond, I just sat, frozen with fear. I felt like screaming, but my lungs weren’t working. “Yes, m’lord.” I jumped. I looked behind me and saw a scrawny little boy, about the age of ten. He had dark, oily brown hair. His face was scarred and bruised, it kind of reminded me of Mason, like a younger version of him. “What news do you bring?” The boy twiddled his finger, wrapping a string around them. There was something he didn’t want to say, his face said it all. “Atlas, I can feel you holding back.” He looked down. “And get out of that ridiculous form, it is not fitting for a fire.” “Of course, m’lord.” He nodded, and in a puff of smoke, where the boy was standing, was an old man. He looked primp and proper in clothing, but his face and hair were untidy and filled with worry. It had the same scars as the boy’s, but deeper. Almost like the older he got, instead of fading, they became more visible. “News?” Temynyon asked, again. Even under the skull mask he was wearing, you could see his grin. It was a proud smile, but it was full of murder, and chaos. It was like looking at a war ground. “Well m’lord, I have good news and bad news.” “What is the good news?” His smile faded, he just stared at the fields. It was almost like he was deciding how this would look burnt up, with statues of him all over. “Well, we know where the water gem is.” “That is most promising.” “Yes m’lord. Yes. That is exactly what I-” “Now, the bad news.” He hesitated. “Well, m’lord, don't shoot the messenger, but…” “Yes?” He grabbed a piece of his robe and ran it through his fingers, not even looking up at his master. “The fire gem was stolen.” “What?” He yelled. “And a fire is living in the water village.” At that moment, Temynyon pulled on the reins, stopping the horses. Through the holes in the skull mask, you could see his eyes were closed. “Who is to blame for this?” “I’m sorry, M’lord?” “Who was in charge of finding the water gem while keeping the fire gem safe?” “Well, uh…” He was sweating. His words were short and fast, like he was a criminal admitting he just committed murder. “That was me, m’lord.” “Then, don’t you think you should take the punishment?” “M’lord, please-” Then he fell to the ground, for reasons I didn’t see until I looked down at his side. I woke up, screaming. Mason ran in, carrying an orange peel, looking around the room. “Jewel, are you okay?” After him, Willow, Calvin, then Elly all ran in. “Yeah.” I said, feeling dizzy. “What happened?” Calvin asked. “Are you…” He looked above my head, and so did everybody else. I looked up, trying to figure out what the heck they were acting like murdered somebody. What I saw hit me like a mallet. The marking above my bed, which was moving earlier, was glowing blue, and black, and on top of all that, was heating up the bed. If I hadn’t been tortured by a madman who had fire and mind control powers, and saw myself control water, (Which I hadn’t been able to do since) this would have been the weirdest thing I had ever seen. “That’s a…” Calvin couldn’t even finish his sentence. He looked like he was studying it, like it was an undiscovered animal. “What?” He looked memorized, like it was putting him in a trance, and frankly, from all the stuff that had happened to us lately, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. Suddenly, he shook his head. “No, there’s no way.” “What?” I asked. This was freaking me out. “That’s not possible.” “What?” He looked down at me, I think he forgot I was there. His face went pale. “Jewel, get out of bed.”
I tried, but I couldn’t. It’s not that I was weak like earlier, it actually felt like someone was holding me down, and when I looked up, something was holding me down. It was a black stripe that wrapped around me, and burned me. “Mason! Grab her other arm, we’ve got to get her out of there.” Mason nodded and grabbed my arm. They pulled as hard as they could, but it was like trying to break a three foot thick piece of steel. “It’s not working.” Mason said. Calvin took a step back. “There may be another way.” “Why didn’t you say that earlier?” I tried to ask, but the air was stolen from my lungs. He seemed to understand. “This has only happened once before. To Cove.” “Okay?” Willow asked. “Why does that matter?” “Because she was a full water.” “And Jewel isn't one.” Mason said, looking up at the ceiling. “What is it?” “Well,” Calvin pulled a rock out of his bag. “This should do it.” He dropped the rock so that it fell onto my lap. “Jewel, can you hear me?” I nodded. “Good. What I need you to do is imagine something you want. Something you love. Something that makes you want to come out of the dark fire.” “THAT’S DARK FIRE?” Mason yelled. Calvin nodded. “Come on, Jewel. You can do this. Think of the one thing that makes you stronger.” I closed my eyes and thought of the one thing that made me happiest. What was it? It was strange that I didn’t know. At first I thought of Elly, but that didn’t do anything. Something that made me want to come out of the dark fire. Fire. Fire! I smiled. I could feel my strength coming back. The stronger I became, the weaker the dark fire became, and the weaker the dark fire became, the happier the thought made me, which made me stronger. It was a big cycle, but one that worked. Not long after, I was able to pull myself out of the bed, but when I did, all the strength I had felt before left me. My knees buckled and if Mason hadn’t caught me I would’ve fallen face first onto the floor. “Thanks.” I said. “Of course.” He smiled. I felt my face go hot. That was the same face I imagined when I was trying to get out of the dark fire. But why? It’s not like I… “Are you okay?” He asked. “Yeah, fine. that was just…” I looked back at the bed which was now covered in ashes. “An experience.” “Yeah,” He chuckled. “You can say that again.” He awkwardly helped me back to my feet. Elly came up behind me, and forced me into a hug. That was a first. “Never do that to me again.” She said, “I will kill you.” I laughed. “No promises.” “What did you imagine?” Calvin asked behind me. “Huh?” I said, hoping if I played dumb I could change the subject. “You know? The thing you thought of to pull you out of the dark fire.” “Oh yeah, that. Well…” “About the dark fire; how could we see it?” Mason, thankfully interrupted. “That is a very good question.” Calvin said. “No one really knows when or why the dark fire decides to reveal itself, it-” “Wait!” James said, stepping forward. “Are you trying to tell us that the dark fire has a mind of its own?” “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m trying to say.” Calvin said, surprisingly calm. “No way.” I said. “But it’s an element, not-” “All of the elements have a mind of their own.” “WHAT?” we all yelled at once. “Well, yeah. How do you think every individual element gets a different U.P.? And one that matches what element they are?” “I don’t know.” James said. “Biology? Magic?” “You’re right about the magic. All the elements have a mind of their own that decides what power each of them has.” “How?” I asked. “There are only so many different things you can have, how can they come up with a new one for each person?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. There were only a few times where U.P.s were repeated, and that hasn’t happened since before the original guardians.” The conversation kind of just ended there. Mason, Elly, Calvin, and James all went upstairs while I went down to the training room. I thought about how elements could have powers. For earth, I imagined a satyr, for wind I imagined a bird, for fire I imagined a dragon, and for water I imagined. I don’t know why I imagined a wolf, it was just the first thing that came to mind. I didn’t notice Willow beside me until she laughed. “A satyr? Really?” “It was the first thing that came to mind-wait, how did you know? I thought you could only see memories if it was needed.” “Yeah,” She grabbed her shirt, “I’m pretty sure they made a mistake. Lately I’ve been seeing everyone’s memories.” “Whoa,” I said, “cool!” She laughed. “Thanks.” Just then, she tensed up. “Willow, are you okay?” “Oh, she’ll be fine.” I shot around, where a boy who had green eyes, bright red hair, and was glowing, was holding the earth gem. You know, somebody you’d typically find in an underground bunker while hiding from a sociopath who’s trying to kill you. He yelled, “Who are you, and what are you doing here?”
