Elementally Bound: Part 13
----- Unique -----
But, Ember had to admit that she, herself, was also a torrent of emotions: extreme heat followed by gentle warmness and playfulness. And, the bitterness she felt when they had first met had gradually been replaced with something else. Ember looked upon this with worry and trepidation, but genuinely wanted it to blossom and wanted to pursue what it could potentially become. Now if she could only figure out if Valandra wanted it too…
The environment was, as Valandra had stated, very harsh and unforgiving. There was a small corridor created by two outlying cavernous walls that extended down into the heart of the desolation, with streams of sulfuric wastes and acidic rivers below. Even upon their griffons, high above the terrain, radiation could still be felt from the poisons below. The sensation was unsettling to her, caused Ember to shift irritably upon her mount. She winced at the brightness reflected from the yellow sulfur below and tried not to breathe in the atrocious fumes.
"Are we there yet?" She groaned. When Valandra either didn't hear her, or ignored her (Ember couldn't tell which), she raised her voice louder. "Ice queen! How much longer?" Her words echoed off the cavern walls.
Valandra cast a sharply annoyed and agitated look back. She pulled her griffon to match that of Ember's and spoke softly, even though it was obvious if she could have, she would have yelled at the woman. "Quiet, you fool! These caverns have ears!"
Just as the words left her mouth, an arrow found its way into her shoulder. Valandra cried out at the unexpected pain and stumbled over, causing her griffon to dive deep into the corridor. Ember screeched, as did the harpies hovering along various pores in the outlying walls. They'd heard Ember's disturbance, come out to fire arrows and rid themselves of the trespassers. Ember's eyes grew large as she narrowly avoided another arrow. She glanced down to where Valandra had plunged and without hesitation, she dove after.
The sulfur fumes and hazardous yellow gasses would have been overwhelming for an experienced rider; for one of Ember's inexperience, it was devastating. She quickly lost concentration of her mount, began choking and coughing as she spun a downward spiral.
Having caught control of herself, Valandra and her griffon had positioned themselves on a nearby rock jutting from the vile below. She readied their ascent, when to her horror, saw a tumbling Ember splash down into the pool of waste. Her mount of fire took the initial force and exploded on impact, leaving a crater in the thick liquid, which Ember quickly fell into and was covered by.
"Ember!" Valandra yelled, jumping from her mount. She poured her frost and ice onto the acidic surface, praying it would work.
Ember breached the surface, choking and vomiting bile, waved her arms desparately. The liquid quickly penetrated a fire barrier she'd managed to throw up before landing, burning and searing her flesh as it touched. She screamed, scrabbled to stay afloat, grasping in desperation.
Valandra grasped onto the woman's arm, lifted her onto the ice bridge she had created. Ember writhed in agony at the liquid which clung to her; Valandra quickly called upon wind to gust the remnants off. She laid both hands upon the woman, who had ceased choking or moving. A cleansing wave washed over them both, forcing the toxins from Ember. She sat up, shocked.
"You… You saved me?"
Valandra grumbled. "Let's not make a big deal of it," she said, the slightest smile worn. "We… have more pressing matters, at the moment," she said, gesturing to the large crack in the ice bridge. "The wave did more than just heal you; it also broke down my ice. We will be afloat any second. Can you… conjure…" A look back to Ember answered the question before she asked: Ember was in no shape to attempt another manifestation.
The crack expanded, moaned at the stress.
Valandra looked back to her mount formulating a plan. "There is a chance we can make it out of this, but it's going to take faith. Do you… Do you trust me, Ember?"
Ember was recalibrating, in a half-attempt to stand. "I… I mean, yeah. Um… Sure. Just, you know, don't get us killed. What… What do you have in mind?"
"This corridor ends abruptly ahead, with a drop. We can…"
The crack broke in two, sending both women and the large chuck of ice they stood on into the sulfuric pool below. Both fell back on their haunches; Valandra was the first to regain her footing on the ice. She hurried to Ember, without warning hoisted her up, wrapped her arms around the woman's waste.
Despite their immediate peril, Ember blushed at the icy touch and felt comforted by the woman's grasp.
"Hold on," Valandra howled. "We do this right or we die!"
The iceberg approached the brink of the sulfuric waterfall.
"What's the plan?" Ember cried.
Without hesitation, the ice went over the edge. Valandra leaped, bringing Ember along with her. Time suddenly froze; all movement ceased as the women jumped, holding onto each other tighter than they ever had before. Ember's heart stopped as she looked up at the ice queen who looked down at her. The two remained suspended for a lifetime…
Time resumed; both continued to plummet, and for a moment, Valandra wondered if her plan was flawed. In an answer, her griffon came, as commanded. It dove and swooped down to catch each woman within its talons. Both were jolted from the abrupt stop, ash falling from Ember's hair, a frosty breath exhaled by Valandra.
Ember cheered, while Valandra looked worried. "We're… We're still descending!"
"Well, use your wind power already!" Ember said, as if it had been completely already discussed and decided upon.
Valandra looked bewildered. Her plan hadn't incorporated the weight of both women, and she hadn't planned ahead. Yet, Ember, in her crazy impulsiveness, already had the solution. She couldn't help but smile as she began tracing the runes in the air. Winds abruptly burst upwards, the gale expanding the griffon's wings. The beast caught air and was quickly propelled upward, out from the desolate wastes and treacherous corridor, and onto the mesa of one of the surrounding walls. It landed ungracefully, flinging the women forward before it lost cohesion and fell apart. Both women tumbled until stopping in clouds of dust in front of a small hut.
Ember groaned for a minute, coughed for a bit, then looked around excitedly. "We're… We're alive!" she squealed, then remembering her previous mistake, lowered her voice. "You did it, miss ice queen!"
Valandra was barely on her feet when Ember flung herself bodily onto her. Her initial response was to repel the woman, yet, she was elated to have saved her, and looking down into Ember's reflective red eyes made her pull the woman closer and squeeze.
Ember melted into the woman, looking up expectantly. "See? I knew you loved me," she said, lost in the moment.
Valandra released her grasp, took a defiant step back. "I… do not," she said, folding her arms. "I simply… need you. That is all. You are… perhaps the… strangest opponent I have ever come to know!"
Valandra blushed. "You… You have done no such thing! Look, despite what happened," she paused to clear her throat, "on the island… and beneath the waterfall…" Her words faded as she took a step forward toward Ember. She looked the woman over, then sighed softly. "I… I don't know what this is," she whispered as she ran chilly fingers along Ember's shoulder.
Ember shivered, both from the icy touch and from the electricity it sent throughout her body. "Do you… like my form?" She almost moaned the words.
"Your… form?" Valandra brushed Ember's hair from her face, staring at the woman's features, before she closed her eyes, leaned forward and pressed her frosty lips to Ember's fiery lips.
Ember wrapped her arms around Valandra, pulling their bodies close, the touch sizzling steam from the opposite elementalists.
Valandra suddenly disconnected and pushed Ember away, covering her mouth. "What… What are you doing?" she said, alarmed.
"Wh-why are you pushing me away?" Ember looked amazingly perplexed and confused.
"Why are you… You're kissing me!" Valandra said, as if in shock.
"Wait… What? You… You kissed me!"
Valandra took another step back. "Why would I kiss you? You called me a bitch; cursed more things than I've heard Joko say! Then you… you seduce me?" The ice queen stormed out of the tent.
Ember blinked for a moment in confusion, then grew angry at the woman's reaction. She followed. "Wh- Why would you just push me away? You wanted to! What… What is it you want from me?"
"I want nothing from you, save your powers," Valandra snapped, in a purposeful attempt to convey anger.
"I don't believe you!" Ember said, grabbing the woman's arm.
Valandra was reluctantly spun around; she would have preferred the woman not see the frozen tear on her cheek.
Ember laced her fingers with Valandra's. "Look… You and I are connected! You don't have to hide from me anymore!" She pulled the icy hand to her warm cheek.
"I… I don’t know what has happened. Something with the suits? Something that damned rat did to us?" Valandra said in an attempt to convince herself.
"Is that a bad thing though? We are so very far from where we started…"
Valandra breathed heavily. "Yes… Yes it is. My mission… My mission was so clear; my purpose resolute. Until you…" She pulled her hands from the fire mage's.
"Your mission has changed, okay? Now we have us! We will have Demitra! We have a chance to be… to be happy!" Ember said in earnest. For the first time in a long while, she had a purpose, a goal, a lead on Demitra, and she felt something she'd missed ever since: hope.
"Demitra?" The ice queen sighed. "Our relationship; it was very different from what you seemed to have had with her. From what I've seen in your fantasies while you slumber (and I do not just refer to the lustfully pleasure-filled ones) you two truly… trusted each other."
Ember frowned, almost in tears. "You… You don't want this, do you?"
Valandra either misunderstood the question, or chose to interpret it differently on purpose. "To find her? I… I did. I expected to see her; to be my rescuer from that monster. After many nights had passed, I… I finally gave up. She didn't come."
Ember sniffed, wiped her nose, chose not to linger on their future as a couple. She sighed, then held up the gloves. "These were hers! I know she's close. We find her, and… and then she can save you. It's not too late!"
"I was like this once: naïve," she said, melancholily. She raised her hand to call forth her lightning-imbued mount, and did so unceremoniously and with little fanfare. "Look, let's just save this (whatever this is between us), until after we find Demitra. Dealing with the Djinn there will be… most unpleasant and we need to keep our wits about us. If we're not killed on sight, a battle of the mind would most likely be fought, as they enjoy their riddles."
Ember conjured forth her mount, this time with less effort than it took before; Ember was a quick learner of magic, especially that of fire. She boarded her beast. "You certainly do know a lot about these Djinn," she said, considering. "Why do they hate you?"
Valandra took in a breath. "They wish to see me dead due to the power I took from the Elder Air Djinn I absorbed; they undoubtedly want it back.
Ember face-palmed. "You stole it by killing one of their elders?"
"Not quite. I absorbed the Djinn into me and bound it there."
"Like you tried to do with me?"
"Yes, in a sense. But, you are a mortal being comprised of flesh and bone. The power needed to be extracted and converted (hence the suits and the need for Kievaa and her machine). The Djinn aren't like us. They are most likely kin to elementals, only much more advanced. The powers they possess: it is raw primal power. Their magic comes from something… ancient."
"Yeah, me too," Ember shrugged.
"Actually, yes. You are right. You too, and me too. Do you recall when you and I first met? I spoke to you of our uniqueness, and how there are very few with whom can hold onto such powers. You are one. You feel the dragon Primordus's power coursing through you, do you not? It is different than just simply using fire magic…"
Ember interrupted with a delighted grin. "Then we're special!"
Valandra groaned at the woman's ineptitude. "No, we're not special; simply unique. There are degrees of magic users, and various sources to which this magic is drawn. The raw elemental power we yield is… different than most. Like the Djinn, we tap into that raw power, and while such ancient powers usually counteract each other - like the fires of Primordus and the ice of Jormag clash - there are some of us which have the power to weave them, intermix them, make them complement each other. This is what I would have done with yours; as I have done with the Djinn. But…" Valandra frowned. "My mission has gone awry."
"See? So we are special! You're a special snowflake!" Ember joked.
Valandra shot a cold piercing look at the woman.
Ember cleared her throat. "Well, in any case, your mission's not failed; it has just changed! We can still combine our powers - even if they're not all within. Let me help! Me and Demitra, both! I'll use my fire, you use your lightning and cold, and Demitra will use her… mirrors? Illusions? Sands? (Actually, I'm not sure what.)" She slightly giggled.
Valandra raised an eyebrow. "Sands, you say? I've… I've been seeing and hearing it too. Demitra in a…"
"Waterfall of sand?" Ember interrupted.
"Yes," Valandra looked both surprised and relieved. "I worried it was a trap set by the Djinn to reclaim the power I procured. Scared, I believe you accused me of being? It is smart to use caution, and we're not in our top form after your bath and my…" she rubbed her shoulder for a moment, grimaced at it.
"You okay? You took an arrow to the shoulder and haven't event tried to heal yourself. We can stop here a bit longer, if you'd like." Ember offered concern cautiously. The ice queen had a habit of slapping her way. A quick look at her exposed shoulder revealed a black oozing liquid sustained in the wound.
"I'll be fine," she said nonchalantly as she commanded her griffon forward.
Ember was tired of the subterfuge and half-truths. "Hey! No! Tell me what's going on with your shoulder. What… what is that stuff?"
Valandra paused, but she didn't look at the woman. "It's Joko's magic. You saw me throw myself from the bone wall and the ice stalagmite I formed impale me, yes? Joko brought me back to his palace, and… fixed me." Her tone was ominous, more upset with having to recount the experience than the wound itself.
"I was impaled once. Demitra brought me back." She chuckled at the similarity. "Guess we're a bit more alike than…"
Without a word, Valandra's griffon flapped its wings and took to the skies. Ember's nose wrinkled at the woman's rudeness, but she reluctantly followed behind. The two said nothing more. Whether the silence stemmed from dangers like the harpies before, or simply because Valandra was upset, Ember couldn't tell; Valandra was a difficult read.
Their griffons finally landed upon a vista with open skies above. In the air sat the fortress, suspended above a lake of acidic sulfur. No visible way could be seen to reach it and Valandra had already started devising a way to ascend, when Ember pointed to an outlying landmass with an upright swirling portal of sand. It was a gateway to the floating sanctum ahead. A guard stood watch beside it; Valandra's concerns made real: a greater air Djinn.
"Friend of yours?" Ember teased.
Valandra was not in a playful mood. She scolded her companion, put out a final warning of caution, then began her approach, accepting little input from Ember. There was a seriousness in the woman's unblinking sapphires that chilled Ember, reminded her of the conviction the ice queen had when they first met.
The couple approached the guard, dismounted, and readied themselves for a fight.
The Djinn floated, without legs or feet on upon the winds of a localized tornado. Air swirled around him, creating a rhythmic dance on the rag fragments he wore. Debris snared by the wind was struck by lightning as it came in proximity, the arcs and bolts defending its master. His top arms were folded, while the bottom two rested comfortably at his hip and he only slightly turned his head to acknowledge the couple.
Valandra was puzzled at the being's inaction. She drew her weapon, shouted a slur in Elonian over the howling wind. Ember followed suite, pulling out her ice sword. While she'd seen Djinn during her time in Elona, she'd never fought them. If what Valandra said was right, it would be a gloriously hard-fought battle and her head began to smoke at the prospect.
The Djinn pivoted a bit, held up a hand and inspected talon-like nails. He seemed disinterested and disingenuous, despite the women's aggression. A ghostly sound came from him, speaking a in an ancient Elonian dialect, then he turned and slowly floated off.
Valandra blinked in bewilderment.
"What'd he say?" Ember asked.
Valandra shook her head. "Um… He said, 'Ahai, Thaljia Okht'."
"Right. And that means?"
Valandra approached the swirling sand portal. "Thaljia is Elonian. It is the name I took upon binding the Djinn within me; it means 'ice storm'. Before this, I was known as Valandra Dejarin." She paused, glanced back to Ember. "But, that's not the concern. What I do not understand is why he called me Okht. Okht means 'sister'." She said as she turned and entered the sand portal.
Ember blinked in shock, was completely at a loss for words. "Wait... you're a Dejarin? I know Dejarins!" she said, but Valandra was already gone. Ember took in a deep breath and stepped into the gateway of swirling sands.
To Be Continued...
