Kass

It's pissing it down as we trudge through the forest. Lifeless trunks cast us all into shadow as we splash over their withered roots towards the wormhole. I keep to myself, hood pulled low. Nobody speaks; the tension yesterday evening was so thick, so solid, that hell, I probably could've smashed it. It didn't break by morning; in fact, it's only grown worse.

So none of us are in the mood to chat. Well. Except Eldred, of course.

'Come now, Sammi,' he chirps, swishing his raincoat from side to side. 'Chin up, eh? I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why he didn't come back.'

'Go away.' Footsteps squelch through the mud behind me, then Sammi appears by my side, her jaw rigid as she clenches her teeth. I glance sideways at her as she falls into step. At her bloodshot, downcast eyes.

Eldred sighs, but doesn't try to bother us again. Instead, his steps slow; I guess he's moving on to bug Rai now instead. The weird Futurist has been hovering behind us all morning, looking awkward and freakishly out of place.

'Is she okay?' Rai says in a hushed voice to Eldred. He thinks he's so subtle, but he can't whisper for shit. Idiot. His voice is carried on the wind.

'The heart wants what the heart wants, and lets nothing distract or dissuade it,' Eldred replies sadly. 'She'll be fine in a little while, I'm sure.'

I open my mouth to argue but on second thoughts, close it again. It's pointless trying to argue with Eldred, like pinning down the mist. Too much effort for too little gain.

We'd spent the whole evening locked up in Cotton's office with Colonel Văn. Our first mission would be taking place in South Amariland, in Coral Bay—where we need to destroy the first capsule. The Alpha-Capsule.

'The Lurrera tectonic plate, as shown here—' Văn projected a hologram of the world up from Cotton's brand-new office table, and zoomed in on Amariland's eastern coastline, '—moves directly into the Amarish plate and is slowly being forced underneath. This subduction causes friction to build up at areas known as hotspots, ultimately being released in a huge burst of energy. An earthquake,' he clarified.

'Now, the Alpha-Cap is connected via special cables to hundreds of different hotspots. We suspect the cables are also made from visinium but obviously we can't be sure. Hotspots for the Alpha-Cap are found along the Amarish eastern border all the way across the sea to west Caeltanica. When the capsule is activated, energy is released that causes a chain reaction, triggering the hotspots, and subsequently, earthquakes.'

Văn zoomed even further in, pointing to a spot directly off the coastline. 'Your job is to travel to Coral Bay, where we believe the capsule is buried in the ocean floor. One of our men will meet you there, and with his assistance, you need to destroy the alpha-cap.'

He made it sound so easy, I grumble to myself as I splatter through the mud. But he isn't the one who has to march into 'an active earthquake zone with high probability of tsunamis.'

Yeah. Thanks a lot, Văn.

'You just have to calm the weather; it's what you lot do, right?' The way he spoke. It was so clinical. Like we were just tools at his disposal. 'Then you should be able to use your powers to deactivate or destroy the capsule, but obviously, we haven't been able to test how. You're the only ones, in theory, able to do it. We assume it will require some sort of physical contact—Keller has a theory.'

'Yes,' Keller said, wringing his hands together—the man could hardly contain his excitement. 'My guess is that there must be a chemical link, or at least, a similarity, between yourselves and the capsules. We know visinium allows capsules to alter their environment, which really isn't so different to what you do. You disrupt and manipulate the bonds between chemical structures, sometimes even the atoms themselves. Perhaps that's all you need to do to the visinium; touch it, and manipulate it in the same way you would the wind, Sammi, or the ground, Kass.'

'But, in that case, surely only Kass will be able to destroy them?' Sammi frowned. 'I mean, from what you've told us, the capsules are solid. So, I won't be able to affect them—only Kass will.'

Keller scratched his nose. 'I suppose that's a good point. But, what then would be the point in ethereal Elementalists? I doubt the Ra would have designed ethereal Elementalists if they couldn't control capsules.'

That's assuming, I thought, that the Ra designed us to have any impact on the capsules whatsoever. We have no idea why the Ra created us.

'Of course,' Keller continued with a shrug. 'This is only one theory, albeit, the one Eldred and I deem the most likely. But still, just a theory.'

So, basically, we're going in blind. Great.

'Won't we get hurt, touching the capsule?' Rai asked. Cotton had spent the day catching him up, and apparently he'd driven her mad with questions. 'I thought you said people died by going near them? What if they're toxic?'

'What, like our air, our water, our soil. . ?' I interrupted, rolling my eyes. 'Everything's bloody toxic, Rai. Not everybody grew up in a cocoon like you.' Although why I was arguing, I didn't really know. Actually, I kind of agreed with him.

'I didn't grow up in a cocoon!'

Cotton raised her hand and we fell silent. 'Enough. Stop acting like children. Yes, of course there's a chance you might get hurt, but if we sit around doing nothing, we'll all end up getting hurt. If our theories are correct, then touching the capsules should pose a relatively small risk for you.'

'Small risk, my ass,' I muttered.

'Shut up, Kass,' Sammi snapped, jutting her chin in the air. 'I'm in.'

'What, you're okay with being fried, are you?'

'Yes, Kass, if destroying the capsule means I get fried, then yes, I'm okay with it.' She glared at me with such fury that I suddenly felt ashamed. 'My sister is dying. Children all over the world are dying, and we're never going to be relocated. We're never going to be saved. We've got to do something. What choice do we have?'

The dark tanks of death that surrounded my village. The bodies I'd seen strewn across the ground. My family, who I nurse in my heart all the time, every day, ever since. . .

Sammi was right. We haven't got a choice.

But it's a horrible feeling, knowing you're a weapon. That you have the power to kill. To destroy.

None of us knew where Musa had gone. The weight of his absence and the agony of Sammi's indecision were palpable: to stay until she could say goodbye to the boy she loved? Or to leave to save her sister?

Not that Cotton would have let her wait.

'Just remember. You're doing this for Nura.' I had no idea what to do when she broke down in our room this morning. Did I put my arm around her? Was that weird? I sat down beside her, handing her a tissue instead. 'Don't think about Musa, think about her. I'd give anything to be able to see Kitty again. You might not get another chance.'

A huge droplet of rain plops onto my forehead, a scalding burst that wrenches my mind back to the present.

'Different wormhole today, Sammi, Puffin!' Eldred calls out, as I scrub my forehead furiously. 'This way.' There aren't any connecting Wormholes in Coral Bay, so we're heading to one that Eldred can hack to go to the nearest town, Arenya.

'Puffin?' Rai's face lights up. Milky-white dew from the mist has settled in his hair, all glittering sapphires; he taps Eldred on the arm. 'I love puffins! I saw them in the zoo once back home, did you know that they—'

'He means me, dumbass.' Scowling, I march back through the mud towards them, shoving Rai out of the way with my shoulder as I pass. Sammi patters after me, throwing Rai a bewildered glance.

'You didn't actually think there were real puffins here, did you?' she asks, incredulous.

'Uh. . . No. . .'

His innocence, his sheer ignorance, only infuriates me more.

'Just ignore them, Rai,' Eldred says, in his calm voice. 'You've had a very different upbringing to them, that's all. It's an easy mistake to make.'

'Not if you have half a brain,' I shoot over my shoulder.

Rai smirks, although dots of pink spot his cheeks. 'What, and I suppose you do?' He laughs. 'Yeah, that must be why Eldred calls you a puffin then! 'Cause you're really smart.'

Something hot and red inside me snaps. I swivel around.

'Why don't you just shut up?'

Rai stops, the rain plastering his hair to his face. But his drone, Henry, soars from his shoulder right at my face—I swipe at it but Rai beats me to it, jumping between us. His smile, vanished.

'Don't touch him,' he hisses, dark-blue eyes flashing. 'You don't touch him, understand?'

'Or what?'

'Stop! Puff—I mean, Kassius, stop it now.' Eldred is suddenly there pulling on my shoulder, but I fling him off, everything inside me bubbling to the surface. I take a step closer, right up in Rai's face. My breath erupts in short, rapid bursts, condensing in the air, mingling with his.

'Well?' Rai stares at me, jaw set in defiance. 'What are you going to do?'

In one sharp motion, my fist rises. A recklessness, so strong, swells in my arms, my fists, my mind. . .

It's red. RAGE—

Hang on. Are my powers . . . this? If so, they're ugly.

I can rip apart the world. Tear it to pieces. I want it to break. To rip him to pieces. . .

Rai flinches.

The heat that rose so suddenly snuffs out in a second. Remorse floods through me—the image of Rai's chest, bare and bruised, springs to mind—as I see my hands raised towards a boy I hardly know.

'Hey, uh, I wasn't actually going to hit you.' I lower my hand and stuff it deep inside my cloak instead.

'I know.' Rai shrugs. He sounds casual but his glowing scarlet face kind of gives him away. 'I'm not scared of you. Hit me if it makes you feel better.'

'I don't want to.' Guilt wracks my chest with earnest now. 'I—'

Oh hell. What do I say?

'Are you okay?' Sammi lays a hand on his shoulder, throwing me a filthy glare.

Rai closes his eyes and shakes his head. But, not like he's saying "no"—he really shakes his head, like he's got fleas or something. It's so weird I can't help gaping in astonishment. Then he opens his eyes again, the broad, beaming smile back.

'Of course, I am.' He grins, easing his shoulder away from Sammi's touch. 'Why wouldn't I be? I can take a joke you know.'

He catches my eye for a fraction of a second, and despite what he says, I realise something has changed. His eyes are guarded with me now.

I turn away. Like I give a crap.

Eldred clears his throat. 'Well, this is awkward. Come on, little ones, the Wormhole's only ten minutes away. If we hurry, perhaps we can avoid being half-drowned by the time we get there.'

I wait for Eldred and Rai to take the lead, then follow behind in silence. Silence is safest. For me—and for them.

*

Arenya is boiling, the most intense heat I've ever felt in my life. It's so hot, the sulphurous rain from the forest starts evaporating off our skin and hair in waves. It looks like we were being steamed. The ground, that ageing loaf, is baked into a stale crust, and sand rolls over it in a thin dusting, drifting in the wind from dunes in the distance.

On the plus side, it's only lightly spitting. Nothing like the deluge we've just emerged from. On the down side, it absolutely stinks of rotting eggs. As soon as the rain hits the ground, it puffs up in a reddish, purplish steam that surrounds everything, choking us, leaving us staggering away from the Wormhole, clutching our noses.

'This is definitely my cue to leave, my young protégés.' Eldred gags, covering his face with his hat. 'Vile place. Not that I don't appreciate its, uh, majesty.'

I stare around at the burnt-orange ground . . . then back at Eldred. In disbelief.

'You're leaving us? Here?'

'Of course! I'd be no use to you whatsoever, I'm woefully ill-equipped.' He grins, flashing pearly white teeth at us. 'I'm a man of strategy, rather than action.'

Sammi's chewing on the ends of her hair, her brow furrowed. 'But what if something goes wrong?'

Eldred smiles. 'Nothing will go wrong. I believe in you. Just remember, keep going through Arenya until you reach Coral Bay, and when you get there, ask for André Labelle. He's our Labelle's younger brother. He'll be right behind you, ready to help if things go south.'

'One measly guy?' I say. 'Great. It's like you want us to fail.'

'On the contrary.' Eldred scrunches his eyes against a spray of sand that sweeps across his face. 'It shows how much we believe in you.'

I have to turn away. The belief shining in his eyes is so stark, it tears me. Inside. The way he looks at us, like some kind of proud father . . . I don't want to see it.

My breath catches and burns.

So rather than watch him leave, I fish for my inhaler. Only catching a glimpse of the Wormhole, as it flashes red in my peripheral view. If Eldred's gone, then he's gone—just focus on breathing, and nothing more.

Just breathing. Nothing more.

'So.' Rai's hanging from Henry's lower handlebars, swinging his feet against the ground, kicking up dust. 'What do we do now?'

Breathe in . . . count to ten. Breathe out . . . count to ten.

Sammi sighs, then sets her jaw, the mist curling through her hair. 'We do as Eldred said. If we can get to Arenya before sundown, we can lay low until curfew's over. Then—' Her expression hardens. 'We go to Coral Bay and destroy the capsule.'

*

The road to Arenya is long, slow and awkward. It's my fault, I admit it. I shouldn't have lost my temper with Rai before, but what can I do about it now? I can't exactly apologise. Not now.

He's not even walking with us. Pampered Prince Rai probably isn't used to using his legs. He flies his drone high above mine and Sammi's heads, sometimes way ahead of us, but always looping back for us to catch up.

Show off.

Sammi keeps shooting me these reproachful glances, but there's nothing to be gained by me saying sorry. So, she leads the way in silence, guided by the touch-pad Cotton gave us that she clutches in her hands.

The awkwardness is worse than the heat. The heat, if anything, is almost a pleasant change. I strip off my cloak, enjoying the feel of the sun on my skin. I can feel the prickle of it starting to burn, but, what the hell. Anything to make the silence more bearable.

We're the only ones in the world who can fix things: me, Sammi and Rai. And yet, we hardly have two words to say to each other.

'Hey, guys! I think I see something.'

I'm half-way through eating a sandwich, trying to shield it with my hand to stop myself swallowing a mouthful of dust. Chewing, I look up—Rai's standing on Henry's back, pointing at something in the distance.

Sammi squints, shading her eyes from the sun. 'What is it? Where?'

'Over there!'

Even on my tiptoes, I can't see anything. Just the glow of purple against the orange sun, through swirling mist and russet earth. Just the endlessness of nothingness.

'What, Rai? What is it?'

Sammi's still desperately trying to see, careering unsteadily on her tiptoes—Rai jumps down from Henry's back, landing with a thud and a cloud of sand beside her. She starts, then laughs, her eyes wide with surprise. I bite back an irritable comment. She's supposed to be on my side. Why's she now laughing with him?

'There's smoke, there, in the distance.' Rai takes Sammi's hand, gently guiding it to a speck in the sky; they look at each other, and smile. 'It could be coming from Arenya. Right?'

Sammi pulls back her hand and bends over the touch-pad, fingering the chain on her wrist. Her hair swings forwards, covering her face, and I have an overwhelming urge to tuck it behind her ear. Kitty's hair was always in her face too . . . I swallow. My chest constricts. My eyes blur.

Don't think. Don't think about her now. . .

Then I notice Rai looking at me funny. God, he's always watching me. I turn so all he can see is my back, determined to ignore him—he wouldn't understand. This has nothing to do with him.

'Right.' Finally, Sammi raises her head and grins. 'We're here, and Arenya's there.' She zooms in on our location on the screen, and points to Arenya, only a few miles away. 'Not too far to go—good job, guys. We're doing well.'

'Yeah,' I mutter, wiping sweat off my forehead. 'So well.'

'I reckon we'll get there in the next hour or so,' Rai says, swinging his leg back over Henry. A moment later, he's back in the air, sweeping through the sky with more energy than I can even begin to muster.

I look down and press on.

The sooner we get there, the sooner this whole charade can begin.