27Capture
Wind-rider started moving towards the red tendrils and Jade followed after. She heard shouts and cries for help but they seemed so distant as she was using the power. Muted greys and sparks of colour was all that her eyesight offered her. She had to concentrate though because at every moment the wind wanted to take her away and it was hard following Wind-rider through the streets.
He seemed to have sped up and seemed more anxious but when she looked up she understood why. The tendrils had brightened and thickened to become what looked like writhing snakes. The whipped about in the air with little regard to what they touched or where they fell.
She was now sure it was the girl they sought because wherever a tendril touched a flammable object, it burst into flame. As the two rounded the corner they had to shield their eyes from the brightness of the spark coming from the fire girl. Not being able to stand it any longer, Jade let go of the power and gasped, trying to catch her breath.
That's when she saw the girl who was rolling on the ground in what looked like pain. Her mouth was open in a silent scream and tears hissed off of her face. Her red hair seemed to be aflame and her clothes looked as if they had been burned by fire. The tendrils of flame seemed to appear and vanish before Jade's eyes and several stalls surrounding her were burning. The people surrounding her had backed off, to afraid to act and were staring silently at the girl who seemed to be burning before their eyes.
The girl meanwhile was shaking violently and when she opened her eyes Jade saw only white and looking closer she saw a touch of red, making it look as if her eyes were bloodshot. Wind-rider pulled her back and whispered in her ear.
"I don't know what's wrong with her but we have to cool her down or get her out of here before she burns up the entire city or becomes a fully fledged avatar. Unfortunately to do that, we need to embrace the power. I can't control her alone because I'm not a Water Element. Will you help me?"
Surprised at how kind and concerned he was being, she nodded slowly, knowing what the cost would be. She would never be able to come here again as the Brotherhood would surely be notified of what took place here and easily be able to pick her out of a crowd with her white hair. That didn't matter now though, all she cared about was helping that girl. Jade hadn't been able to do anything before when the girl had been almost burned alive but now she could do something and anything that would help, she would do.
"Good, I need you to focus a cold air stream directly towards her. Never mind if there are ice crystals, just reach up into the sky and find cold where you can."
Leaving nothing to chance, she immediately drew upon the power and let her mind soar up towards the highest clouds, looking for air that was bitterly cold. Luckily it was getting towards winter and there were cool air currents available for her to use.
She felt Wind-rider, many miles off grabbing hold of a biting wind coming off the ocean. They both redirected the currents towards the body of the girl and hoped that this would end the fires burning around her. The reaction of the cold blasting air on her body was violent and harsh. At first the flames were fanned but then they guttered and slowly began to dwindle. Yelling into the wind that was now swirling around the square, Wind-rider pulled Jade over to a charred stall.
"I think this will do, just let go now." His eyes immediately snapped back to their original dark colour but she felt the familiar tug of the wind and had to slowly release the power bit by bit.
Off in the distance, noses sniffed the air and smelled burning and the scent. The scent was close and had passed by minutes before. Soon they would catch it and bring it home to master, yes soon they would.
Unaware of the danger they were in, Wind-rider and Jade ignored the looks and glares of the people surrounding them. Some began to jeer and shouted that they should call for the Brotherhood to exterminate them but others remained silent. Some knew what these two had done, saving their carts from being burnt and perhaps the entire city as the guards were still cleaning up the mess from the last fire on the beach. They probably would never have reached the square in time to do anything about the fires.
Others who were silent supporters or Elements themselves smiled shyly at the pair who had risked their lives by exposing themselves to save a few carts. No longer did anyone pay attention to the girl who was now whimpering and almost keening in pain. The tips of her hair had been singed and her eyes were slowly changing from the opaque they had been back to an almost yellow-amber hue. Gasping, she looked around at the crowd and saw the same two people she had seen when she had almost been killed, the girl that same girl had been staring at her and now here she was.
She didn't quite know what had happened but the burning had stopped and she once more had control over her power once more. It had exploded out of her body without warning and the shock to her system had been immense. The only way to relieve her pain was to create an outlet for the energy but when trying to direct a flame at the cobbled street, it had flared out of control. She hadn't had any control over what she had been doing.
Now it was all over and she believed that she had those two people to thank for it. Trying to stand she was able to push herself up on her elbow and then saw her scraped and bloodied hands. They were bright pink and she could see burns where the fire had touched her. Blinking, she found that odd because she had never been hurt by fire before. That's why she had taken such delight in creating a scene when the Brotherhood had tried to sacrifice her to the Flame. They didn't know that she was immune to the heat of fire but now she wasn't so sure.
Suddenly, her body snapped straight and her eyes paled as she just sat there, propped up by one elbow staring at her hand until the two strangers walked over to her and pulled her up. Seeing no reaction from the girl, Wind-rider and Jade attempted to pull her to her feet when they heard a loud hiss behind them. Turning slowly, they found themselves confronted with a group of hunch-backed men wearing dark red and black uniforms. Breathing heavily and snarling at her, they glared with their strangely coloured scarlet eyes. Their eyes flashed as one of them stepped forward and spoke in a low grating voice.
"You must come with us." They looked straight at Wind-rider who was staring back at them, his fact pale and drawn.
"I don't understand," he responded while looking more uncomfortable than Jade had ever seen him.
"You are the scent we were told to seek, we have found you and you must come with us." The other beast-men shifted at this comment and seemed to start coughing and hacking at this comment but judging by their reaction to this they must have been laughing.
"I'm sorry but that isn't possible." He pulled the red-haired girl to her feet and began moving through the crowd, hoping Jade would have the sense to follow him. He tried to put as many people as possible between himself and the abominations that had unfortunately found him, though he was confused as to how they obtained his scent.
"Stop where you are! You have committed crimes against Muare and for this you must be punished. You must come with us." The men began to move towards Wind-rider, pushing citizens out of their way and not caring about the glares they received from those surrounding them. They cared only for obtaining their prey and they would accomplish this until death or mortal wounds kept them from it and even then they would yearn for the hunt.
"Crimes, what crimes? I have been in Muare one day and already you accuse me of something I have not done." Not wishing to look back he shouted over his shoulder and waited for them to act, knowing that they would not permit themselves to let their prey just leave.
"You must come with us, you must be punished for your crimes." The men, now salivating caught up with Wind-rider, Jade and the redhead. Grabbing their arms, the men tried to muscle them out of the square while people who had been pushed aside either cheered that they were being arrested or loudly protested, claiming the pair had done nothing wrong. The disagreements among the citizens soon started a riot but the Feyakeen and their prisoners soon left that behind as Wind-rider allowed himself to be escorted from the scene.
But as soon as they had left the crowded area behind, he began struggling against the men who were holding his arms against his sides. The redhead still stunned from her burns and what had occurred in the square was dragged along, a dazed look on her face. Jade was staring at Wind-rider, waiting for him to tell her what to do, waiting for him to say something. She wished now that he had told her who or what the Feyakeen were, as she would have tried harder to escape them had she known what they were.
They seemed to be some cruel cross between a dog and a man but she had noticed that no one beside herself had seemed frightened or alarmed by the fact that these creatures or men existed. Their hairy bodies and bad breath, accompanied by their stooping postures and dog-like noses made them seem even more like a bad dream but Jade had to accept the fact that she was being taken somewhere by things that seemed less than human. Seeing that Wind-rider was also struggling against the Feyakeen, she tried to do so as well but was met with a smack to the back of her head. Glaring up at her captors she looked over to the redhead, wishing she'd start some sort of fire so they could get out of this mess. But the girl was staring into space, her legs refusing to walk and her hands limp against her body.
"Struggling won't help," one Feyakeen looked down at Wind-rider who was becoming extremely agitated by the whole situation. Having never encountered the Feyakeen directly before, Wind-rider didn't exactly know what to do but he did know that he didn't want another scene like the one in the square. They had been lucky that no one had yelled for the Brotherhood or had attacked them. Most of the people had seemed grateful, though he had seen some upset and scared faces in the crowd.
If things had gotten out of hand, he could have dealt with it but under no circumstances was he to ask for help from the Elements he knew had been in the crowd. As a rule, he was not allowed to expose anyone else, as it would compromise him or her and anyone they were close to. A person could only expose themselves to the unsuspecting citizens of Muare who had no idea that Elements lived among them. The people of Muare also didn't know that their town was the center for Element activity and had only recently discovered that Elements existed because of the creation of the Brotherhood a few years ago.
Some said that the Brotherhood had came out of the desert and began preaching their cleansing ways to the people of Muare. Others say they emerged from a volcano and were born in the depths of the earth. Marda and Nagaron had suspected these stories to be mere propaganda and then they discovered that members of the Brotherhood had first circulated the stories to promote their ideals and mythical proportions.
The Feyakeen dragged their prey and the other two prisoners along, constantly hitting or kicking them to keep them quiet. This was also a show put on for the people who immediately lined the streets after having heard that the Feyakeen had captured somebody.
It wasn't often that the dogmen were seen in daylight and most people found them hideous and cruel but the Brotherhood had promised that they were a necessary and productive part of their plan to keep Muare safe from dangerous criminals and thieves like Elements.
Jade, Wind-rider and the girl were pulled through puddles and up a set of steps that led to the stronghold of the Brotherhood. The building had originally been a winery but when it went out of business, the new faction of the Brotherhood bought it and fortified it to keep out all intruders. They kept what business they conducted inside a secret and spoke of their meetings to no one.
The two guards wearing red and gold uniforms, protecting a large door barely glanced at the Feyakeen. One did glare at the creature that was dragging Jade but the creature growled at the guard and stormed past him. The doors were opened by yet more guards who closed and barred the doors after the Feyakeen and their prisoners had passed through them.
All three of the prisoners were dragged down a long hall and dropped at the feet of a large chair where a stern looking man was sitting. A tattooed flame was visible on the backs of his wrinkled hands that were folded over long red robes. Frowning at the company that was lying before him, he leaned forward and barked at the trio on the floor.
"You have insulted the city of Muare and the Brotherhood by practicing such evils as that which were witnessed by the townsfolk and the Feyakeen! You shall be punished for such ills committed against the glory of the Flame."
Jade, Wind-rider and the girl, all three of whom were bleeding from the various blows dealt by their captors, only groaned in response to this accusation. Wind-rider stared up through blood-soaked hair at the man who he had heard stories about, the man who burned Elements alive. His mother, an Earth Element had told him horror stories about the man to keep him from misbehaving or sneaking out after dark.
Brother Favian, also known as the Dark Flame was a legend in Muare and known throughout the country for the atrocities he committed against women and children. He of course claimed that he was cleansing the world of the evils visited on it by Elements. Favian didn't call them Elements though, they were cursed peoples who had been given demon magick and if they weren't stopped, everyone would soon be corrupted by their evil ways.
"Who are you to charge us in such a untoward manner?" Wind-rider ignored the slight smile that his question brought to Favian's lips. He knew exactly who the man was and his reason for bringing them here but he was trying to stall for time in order to find a way out of this place.
Wondering if the stories were true about the building being warded so that Elements could not access their power, Wind-rider tried to call upon the wind and was met with a sudden pang in his head. Squeezing his eyes closed he tried to ignore the pain but guessed that Favian knew what he had done because when he opened his eyes again, the man had leaned back into his chair and looked as if he were about to laugh.
"I hope you find your accommodations pleasant for you have just proven yourself to be corrupt with demon magick and will be spending your next days in a cell." He stood up and then crouched so his face was level with Wind-rider's. "The pain only lasts a few days, or so I've been told. It's a pity you won't be punished more for trying your demon tricks in this hallowed place. Take them away!" He stood and six guards dressed in the same bright red came and each grabbed the arm of a prisoner and began muscling them towards the cellars when Jade cried out.
"You can't do this, you can't!" She struggled against the guards pulling her away from the imposing man who had spoken to them.
Favian turned toward Jade and his eyes mocked her complaint. "My dear, I may do as I wish with you because you have been deemed a danger to Muare and its citizens. I keep the city safe from people like you and in return, I may dispose of the corrupt in any way I wish."
"You have no right to do this to us!" She screeched and refused to move as the men dragged her along, frowning at her lack of cooperation.
"I do have the right because you are filth that needs to be cleansed from this earth. You no longer have any rights and so may not complain about your situation. You shall cooperate with the guards and go quietly to your cell or do I have to force you?" He smiled innocently at her but his eyes smouldered as he waited for her to obey.
Jade thought she saw fire in his eyes and almost gasped aloud. She suddenly felt as if her feet were burning or on fire but as soon as the feeling had appeared, it vanished. Not daring to look at the man again, she slowly picked herself up and allowed herself to be led by the guards towards another large door. Looking over at Wind-rider, she pleaded with her eyes for him to do something but he did not meet her gaze and his face was still contorted in pain from trying to access his power from inside the warded building.
"The other girl, bring her over here," Favian sat down again and waited for the guards to bring the girl with the flaming red hair back to him. When she was released in front of him she did not react and merely stared off into space. "You were sentenced to be sacrificed to the Flame earlier today but by using your demon magick you escaped, is this not true?" He sat back, waiting for an answer but she did not respond or even acknowledge that she had heard him speak.
Her hands were bright red and lied open on her lap, facing the ceiling as if expecting an offering of food or rain. Her clothes were draped over her thin frame and still smouldered in the places where they had been burned by the ribbons of fire that had shot out of her hands.
"Answer me!" He lifted the girl's face to meet his own and saw only emptiness in her eyes. Disgusted with what he saw he pushed her away and immediately dipped his hands in a bowl of water beside his chair, washing away the evils that were present on her skin. "She has left this body and no longer resides in it," he dried his hands on a cloth presented to him by an attendant standing near his chair. "Tomorrow she will be sacrificed to the Flame along with the other two. An example must be made of those who escape the judgement placed upon them!" He motioned for her to be taken away and then ordered his guards and attendant to leave him.
Leaning back in the chair he sighed and pulled off his large red cap, revealing red hair. Crushing his hat in his hands he ignored the few guards who supplicated themselves in front of him. Making them wait a suitable amount of time he finally addressed them and received news of the disturbance created by the appearance of the Feyakeen in the square.
Jade, Wind-rider and the redhead were dumped in separate cells and as they were locked in Jade watched through the bars on her door as the guards left. Gazing around in panic at her cell she saw a pile of dirty rags in one corner and a small hole for unmentionable business. There was no window and the gathering gloom of the place found its way into crevices in the walls and seemed to envelope the cell. Just when she began thinking she would never see the sky again she heard a hoarse voice calling her name.
"Jade…Jade."
Walking back the door of her cell, she pushed her face up to the cold metal and looked around for the strange voice that she was hearing.
"I'm here," she called out faintly, wondering if the voice would answer back.
"Are you, alright?" The voice suddenly coughed and diminished.
Blinking at this question she realized that the speaker was Wind-rider, though his voice sounded aged and weak. Wrapping her hands around the bars she shouted out to whatever cell he might be stuck in.
"I'm fine, but you don't sound very well."
"Yes well, I hadn't figured, on the building being warded. I warn against trying to use your power until we get out of here," he convulsed back into coughing and Jade winced, hearing him wheeze in a cell that must be close by.
"You mean if we get out of here." She pulled away from the door and leaned against the cold stone wall only to find that it was cold, and wet. Making a face, she moved away from the wall, and turned to see rivulets of water running down the stones. Sitting in the middle of her cell she curled up into a ball and closed her eyes, imagining the shores of Timbale and the wind whipping through her hair.
"We'll get out of here, just wait. We aren't meant to remain here long." After this prediction from Wind-rider he did not speak again and silence permeated the air. It seemed so heavy and dominating that Jade felt threatened by this absence of sound. Humming a fishing tune she tried to break away from this silence and laid down on the cold floor. She had no idea of whether it was day or night and so she just lied there until sleep took her.
Waking some time later, she heard the snap of a door unlocking and bolted upright. Thinking that this might be a rescue of some sort, she stood and waited for her door to swing open but then immediately sat again as she remembered what the man in red had said as she was being dragged away. If today was tomorrow then perhaps her cell was being opened to take her to be sacrificed.
When her door didn't open, she crept towards the tiny bar window and peered out into the dark. She saw a stooped figure bending in front of an open door across from the hall. He looked to be dragging something and Jade almost gasped aloud when she saw whom he was dragging from their cell. It was the girl from the square who had been brought in with them and now it seemed as if she was being taken away for some unknown purpose.
"You leave her alone, Brotherhood scum!" She watched the man drop his 'parcel' and quickly turn to see who was addressing him. When he saw that it was only a prisoner he ignored her and turned back to carrying the girl.
"The guards will come down here if you aren't quiet," he said quietly.
"Well if I do keep quiet, they'll never catch you will they?"
He turned and smirked at her, "That's the idea." He finally got the redhead in his arms and began to walk off. "We'll watch for you tomorrow. It's going to be a beautiful day," he grinned and walked off.
"Guards, guards! Somebody!" She kicked her door and yelled, hoping that someone would hear her.
Someone eventually made their way down to her cell and gruffly asked her to shut up and go to sleep. When she tried explaining what had happened the guard laughed and thought she was lying until he saw the open cell door. He then ran off, leaving Jade to wonder what was going on and left her alone and wondering what was going to happen.
No one came back and so Jade sat down against the wall of her cell and tried to think about the sky. Shivering and shaking, she realized that she didn't like being cooped up like this, in a cell with no window and only stones to comfort her. She desperately wanted to use her power and gain some comfort from it but she didn't dare, remembering what had happened to Wind-rider when he had tried to use it.
Huddled on the cold floor, she shut her eyes, trying not to think about tomorrow. In the morning they would be burned alive but that would probably take place outside, where she would be able to use the power. Silently laughing at this she wondered how any Element could possibly be 'sacrificed to the Flame' when the actual burning took place where an Element could access their powers. Perhaps the Brotherhood did not understand how an Elements powers worked and for this she was grateful. Tomorrow perhaps, she would not die but escape and live to do something about this Brotherhood that she knew so little about. A group that she now seemed to hate so very much.
Author's Note: Well, I haven't written anything for quite a while. I have been crazy busy with school so I have no idea when the next update will be so please be patient. Thanks!