“I wanted to be everything—strength, stealth, speed, and agility. I thought if I trained hard enough, I would have it all one day.” Jason glanced at her and then turned his eyes forward once more. “I don’t suppose you know the feeling, since you have it all already.”
I know what you are.
Allyra walked to the edge of the cliff and sat down, the valley below hidden by a thick layer of early morning mist. She dangled her legs over the edge and Jason settled down next to her.
“How long have you known?” Allyra asked quietly, not looking at him.
“Since the Final Trial.”
“How?” she asked, trying to cast her mind back to find the mistake that might have given her secret away.
“We were fighting, and I called a column of Fire at you. You were quick but not quick enough. I know I got you, but there was no sign of it burning you. It was then that I knew. But I think I suspected it before then—you were too good. Too quick and too strong. I couldn’t quite believe it. And of course, a few days ago, I woke up in an igloo that could only have been built by someone Gifted in the Water Element—and since I know you’re not an Oceanic… Well, it confirmed my suspicions.”
Jason gave a small shake of his head. “An Elemental, the first one since the Betrayal,” he said. There was something strange in the tone of his voice—disbelief, reverence, or jealousy.
“So why didn’t you tell anyone?” Allyra asked. “I guess this information is worth something.”
“First, I kept it to myself, waiting for the perfect moment to maximize its value. Then…” Jason shrugged ambiguously.
He looked at her, his dark eyes alight. “Show me.”
She took a deep breath and stretched out her fingers, palm up. For the first time since the storm, she called on her Gift, allowing its power to fill her. A hardy dandelion plant was growing in the ground next to her and she fed her power into it. The plant grew until it flowered, bright yellow petals unfurling. Once the flower had fully opened, her Gift pulled the entire plant from the ground, its delicate roots dropping dark soil onto the palm of her hand as she used the Air Element to turn it in slow, lazy circles.
Jason flexed his fingers and Fire appeared in his hand. She shot him a quick smile, before turning her attention back to the twirling plant in her hand. She pulled Jason’s Fire to her hand and allowed it to surround the plant until it burned in a sphere around it, the yellow dandelion still visible through the flickering flame.
In a final effort, Allyra pulled moisture from the air, enough that it created a layer of Water around the flames. Fire burned within a crystal ball, the dandelion twirling within it.
“You’re amazing,” Jason whispered, his breath tickling her ear.
She lost her grip over her Gift, and the sphere exploded, splashing water over her hand, with the scorched dandelion plant falling to the ground.
Allyra grimaced. “I guess I could do with a little more practice.”
* * *
Sometime during their long drive up, probably while she was sleeping, Jason had bought supplies and continued to surprise her by turning out to be an excellent cook.
“I feel like I don’t know you at all,” she said with a grin, watching in mild disbelief as he expertly chopped up some carrots, the knife moving so fast it became a blur of silver.
“It turns out that when you’re alone a lot, you have to learn to cook if you want to eat well,” he’d said, shrugging carelessly and gracefully.
Pleasantly full after a delicious dinner, Allyra sat next to Jason on the couch, watching the fire burn, the flames chasing away the cool air. Her eyelids drooped.
“I believe you owe me some answers,” Jason said abruptly.
Allyra jolted awake. “Answers?”
“Something about a particular promise you made?”
Allyra took a deep breath. She had been hoping Jason would forget her promise to tell all. But a deal was a deal. “As you know, I met Alex Cairns in the Between. He didn’t tell me much about himself—I certainly didn’t know that he was the Elemental High Master. Or the fact that he lived more than a hundred and fifty years before me. Nonetheless, he saved my life.
“He saved me, kept me alive, and trained me. All so that he could send me back safely through the Gate. He never asked for anything in return, not until just before I left. Alex knew about my Gift for the past, and he asked me to use it to find out what really happened during the Betrayal. Why the Elemental High Master led all those Elementals into the Between and to their deaths.”
“And how does staying in The Five Finals help you keep that particular promise?”
“There are memories—memories of Alex seeped into the walls of the Great Colleges. Being in The Five Finals gives me access to them.”
Jason raised his eyebrows at her, clearly skeptical of her weak answer.
Allyra sighed. “Fine. You know that his body is hidden in the Tunnels—it’s how he survived the Betrayal. I intend to go back into the Between. I’m going to get some answers from him.”
Jason’s jaw tightened. “Do you hear yourself? Alex Cairns is a mass murderer, and you’re proposing to go back into the Between to him. This could all be some plan for him to get back into the world.”
“I owe him the opportunity to explain.”
“You’ve said that before. But I don’t think it holds up.”
Allyra shrugged.
“You are honestly the most stubborn, irrational, ridiculous person I’ve ever met,” Jason said sharply but without
