A deep thud brought Tegen's head up: the circular and stone ceiling fitting the entire room started to descend—with nowhere to go, they were bound to be flattened.

A squawk and flash of red caught Tegen's eye as the scarlet macaw reappeared again; it flew through a doorway suddenly opening in a wall.

"Follow the bird! Go!" he yelled.

The Elementals ran toward the safety to find it a narrow hallway to where only one could pass through at a time. A resounding boom signaled the ceiling hitting the ground; it also shut off their lighting. Pica created a ball of light to float over her head, illuminating the hallway.

They entered another circular chamber with a green hill in the center of the room and a small sprouting at the crest. Flying to a niche in a wall, the scarlet macaw looked down at them; a wooden sign sat at the base of the hill. Another doorway was not in sight.

Tegen stepped up to the sign to read:

While time is beautiful and needed, it is also cruel and unjust.

Nature has many allies and oppositions,

But only has two phases

And one enemy.

Combine all to continue the cycle.

"What does that mean?" Pica asked after reading it for herself.

It clicked for Tegen. "In time, nature destroys itself to start again." He considered the tree sprouting. "We have to grow the tree, then kill it to move on."

"That seems cruel," Pica said.

"That is the way of nature," Kalisa said.

Tegen turned to face them. "Pica, Renuo, and I will grow the tree; Kalisa, Geryon, and Aeris will destroy it."

The Elementals separated into the two groups on opposite ends of the hill; Zelenia and Helian stood between them. Tegen nodded to Pica and Renuo on either side of him; Light took a steadying breath before she made a miniature sun and its rays shone on the budding. Renuo had to focus harder on making a small cloud appear and rain down on it lightly, as to not drown it. Tegen attached himself to the fragile life force of the sapling, willing it to accept the providers and grow quicker.

As soon as Tegen established connection with the sapling, it grew in astonishing quickness. Before long, the little sprouting became a fully developed tree with a wide trunk and branches full of lush leaves.

Bracing for the pain, Tegen looked at the other three and nodded for them to proceed.

Kalisa started first. Stretching her hands toward the tree, it jolted with surprise and shook as its flawless bark drained of color and turned gray—she was drawing the life out of it. Tegen ground his teeth as the tree had its life and energy stolen—through his connection with it, it felt like the same thing was happening to him.

A cooling hand landed on his back and the pain nearly disappeared. He jerked away from Zelenia—he could not abandon the tree to die alone; this test was to see how well he could establish connections with nature and keep its trust to where it would help him.

"No; I must suffer with the tree."

Once the fresh green leaves turned brown, dry, and withered, Geryon stepped up and waved a hand at the tree's roots where some dead leaves had fallen. A few tongues of flame lashed out of his hand and caught the leaves on fire. Aeris inhaled and blew out the breath with a hand directing the air toward the leaves; when the wind picked up the burning leaves, she flicked the hand up—the leaves trailed up the trunk and landed among the branches. In an instant, the canopy was ablaze; Geryon had his hands out to control the blaze.

Tegen fought against crying out at the searing pain of the flames devouring the tree—his soul. Water welled up in his eyes at the tree's life force screaming for mercy.

Before long, the tree they had just watched grow before their eyes was nothing but ash.

"That's so sad," Pica whispered; her shoulders were slumped as she looked at the destruction.

His heart was just as heavy; before he could speak, he sensed another presence of life—as fragile as the tree sapling before it grew into a tree. Tegen walked out into the ashes and brushed some away where he felt the pulse the strongest. He kept digging until he found a small seed.

Tegen smiled as his heart lifted—no matter the destruction, nature had a way of finding its way back.

He cleared off a circle before he scooped out some earth, laid the seed in its earthly bed, and buried it. The cycle was complete.

A squawk and a deep grinding noise gained attention; a door opened under the bird. The scarlet macaw launched into the air, then turned to fly through. Tegen did not need to tell the Elementals to follow the bird.

With some help from Pica's light again, they followed their winged-guide up some winding stairs. Coming into a large chamber, they had to stop: half of the room was the stone floor they stood on; the other half a black chasm. On the other end of the chamber were doorways; the scarlet macaw flew to a vine hanging down from the ceiling and waited.

"How do we get across?" Renuo asked as he peered over the edge.

The answer came to Tegen when he noticed the packed earth under the stone floor. "I can make a bridge."

"Alright then; do you have an idea on which door is the right one?" Helian asked.

He looked at each dark doorway: each was adorned with vines or carvings of branching trees around the doorframes. None of them stuck out from the other and none held the appearance of being traveled down before.

Tegen was drawn to the one on the left of the doorway directly opposite them. He did not have a reason why other than a tug on his soul that it was the right path.

He glanced at the scarlet macaw.

Trust yourself, it said in his head.

"That one." He pointed at the door and stepped up to the edge to make the bridge.

"Why that one?" Pica asked.

"It is a feeling."

"A feeling? We're going to rely on just your gut?" Renuo doubted. "What if it's the wrong path? What if it leads to a trap?"

Renuo's negativity did not bother him like it used to. "Just trust me."

He stomped to awaken the earth and form the bridge he had in his head. The compacted earth did as he pictured it, stretching far out over the chasm to the doorway of his choice.

The movement rumbled the chamber; Tegen looked around like the others for what was happening. Stone grinding against stone had him turning to see the back wall pushing toward them. The scarlet macaw squawked before it flew into the chosen doorway.

"Keep the bird in sight!" Tegen ordered before shoving Pica and Aeris ahead of him.

They hurried across the narrow earth-bridge—feeling it shudder under the weight of the back wall pushing atop it—and broke into a run when their feet touched stone again through the doorway. Pica immediately threw up a small sun to light their way and to reveal the scarlet macaw flying ahead. The obvious urgency of the bird and the fact that the surrounding walls shook kept them from slowing down.

Dirt and eventually rubble fell on them; Zelenia made a shield to protect them from the falling debris.

An ominous click sounded, like someone had stepped on a pressure plate; Tegen heard the sharp slicing of blades.

"Duck!"

Everyone did just as three blades swung head-level above them. They continued to run, trying to keep eyes on the bird and the floor for any more pressure plates. Even if they lost their winged-guide, Tegen was confident he could lead them out safely.

The red tail-feathers of the scarlet macaw were just visible ahead of them. It grew further ahead of them when Tegen had to catch Pica and Aeris from tumbling over into an empty chasm; he made another earth-bridge for them to cross. Stepping onto more pressure plates made poisoned darts shoot at them, spaces of the floor give way under foot, and even more blades swing at their necks.

The bird led them through more winding staircases and narrow hallways, some completely overgrown but steadily upward. At one point, they came into a chamber with three doorways; Pica, Aeris, and Tegen headed for the one in front of them.

"Not that one!" Helian yelled. "The bird went over here!"

Sure enough, when they quickly exited and joined the group of Elementals in the right hallway, the bird flew up ahead. Another click sounded as someone stepped onto a pressure plate and something heavy dropped onto the floor behind them. Glancing back, Tegen found an enormous stone ball rolling after them. They pushed themselves harder.

The Elementals crossed a wide aisle to duck into the adjoining hallway. Pica was ahead of Tegen when she stepped into a pressure plate and it seized her leg; she dropped with a cry of pain and fright.

Aeris skidded to a stop to help her when the hallway vibrated with something hitting the ground. Tegen entered the aisle to see a stone block filling the entire aisle sliding toward them and picking up speed. Geryon turned around in the hallway across from them before it was sealed off by stone; the doorway behind Tegen banged shut too.

Pica cried out at the sight of it and tried to wriggle free in panic. Aeris took off in a run at the block; she lowered her left shoulder when close and the impact was earsplittingly loud. Her collision halted its advance, but her feet slid as she strained to hold it back.

"Get Pica out!" she yelled.

Tegen considered the trap for a second before slamming a fist down near Pica's waist, cracking the stone floor. He punched some more until Light could wriggle free. Tegen helped lift her out, then they searched for an exit; the aisle walls were completely smooth. They were trapped, destined to be crushed against the end wall.

"There's no way out!" Pica yelled, her voice pitching in hysteria.

The stone block had pushed halfway. "Make one!" Aeris yelled.

Tegen drew into himself, then punched at a wall; it exploded and a long tunnel burrowed into the earth. He and Pica hurried inside, then turned back for Aeris. Gravity had almost won for the woman and the block were now in sight of the hole—the end wall was just a few feet behind Aeris. With her eyes closed and face grimacing, she strained to hold back the stone.

"Aeris, come on!" Pica encouraged.

She opened her eyes to see them in the tunnel. When she tried to move, the shifting of her weight caused the block to push down on her, making her slide even closer to the wall.

Something changed in her. Determination replaced the despair on her face, Aeris' silver eyes flashed into hard metal, and the air cleared before she was suddenly thrown into them in a powerful gust of wind. All three of them fell to the ground as the stone block banged against the wall with a loud, finalizing thud.

They lay there panting, none harsher than Aeris at first. Remarkably, she recovered the quickest even though Air had done the most work. She rolled off the pile consisting of Light and Earth. Pica rose to her knees and looked Aeris over.

"Are you alright?" she panted.

"I think so. You?"

Pica gave a nervous chuckle. "Just scared. I wish I could get my breath back as quick as you." She looked over at him. "Tegen?"

He nodded as he got to his feet. After considering the blocked-off aisle through the hole, Tegen turned. "We must go."

"Go? The others will be searching for us; if we go searching for them, we could walk in circles around each other," Aeris stated. "No, we need to stay still."

Tegen turned to her. Since Zelenia nor Helian were there to settle their opposing elements, their spirits naturally found disagreement. Being around Aeris usually had him irritated, but he did not feel such now—achieving control over Earth must have done it. She, on the other hand, still looked wild with her element. With it unsettled, it made her temperamental.

Whenever she would gain control—or focus hard enough, as they just witnessed—Air would be a force to be reckoned with.

"We go," he said calmly.

"I say we stay."

Pica looked from one to the other, trying to decide on whom to side with.

Tegen crossed his arms. "We will not become lost—I know their scents; I can track them. Trust me that I will not lead us astray."

She was relenting—attaining Earth had not only strengthened his faith in himself, but it had also improved his persuasion. Aeris looked at Pica for her input.

"You should trust Tegen, Aeris." She smiled up at him. "I know I do."

Aeris sighed in defeat, then pushed herself up to her feet; Pica scrambled up with her. Air looked at Tegen. "I hope you know what you're doing."

He gave her a smile. "I do." Tegen turned to lead them out of the tunnel he had created. Pica created some light for them to see by.

With his connection to the earth, Tegen could feel each stone tunnel twisting and turning within the soil; he extended their tunnel to meet up with the nearest hallway. After breaking through the wall, he took a moment to see if he had set off a trap, then stepped through the hole to check both ends of the hallway. The walls were no longer shaking with warning. The two women emerged and waited for his direction; the salty scent of Renuo was faint, but it lingered down the left, so he led them that way.

Tegen led them up twisting staircases and safely through trap-riddled hallways following the aromas of the Sun, Moon, and Elementals. He was fond of the lavender surrounding Kalisa and the calming scent of soft incense paired with Zelenia, but the strong earthy smells of grasslands matching Helian empowered him. Once the sulfuric smell of ash grew strongest, Tegen knew they had found Geryon and the others. Directing a hand at the stone wall in front of them, it crumbled.

They stepped into the beginning chamber with the steps leading down in the center of the floor—their tunnel was perfectly set in one of the sealed doorways. Now, Tegen sensed other tunnels hidden behind the closed openings. The Sun, Moon, and Elementals gathered at the top of the stairs spun around with weapons drawn when the wall burst open. At the sight of the rest of their group, relief eased their tension.

Pica happily skipped toward them. The intense staring shared between Aeris and Geryon—assuring each other's well-being through locking eyes—confirmed Tegen's guess that something had transpired between them.

"Everything fine, Tegen?" Zelenia asked as he joined them.

Tegen nodded then, out of the corner of his eye, spotted red above the stairs leading up to the entrance; he looked up to the scarlet macaw resting on a vine.

Thank you for leading them to safety, he said to the bird.

My pleasure; now, do me great honor in destroying Fangril. The scarlet macaw squawked one more time before it flew down the stairs in the floor and disappeared from sight.