Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(19)
There were far fewer homes and no Spiral to be seen. I could have stood for hours taking it all in, noting the differences. Seeing the similarities.
Terralings flowed and ebbed on the narrow beaten paths around us. In several cases stepping so closely, I could have reached out and touched one of them. Maybe Raven saw my intent because he slapped my hand down. “Don’t interfere. I don’t want to mess up anything.”
I rubbed my hand. “Right. Let’s go then. Talan said to just walk forward.”
I took a step, half expecting the image to jump and move, but it didn’t. The step was like any other. I glanced at Raven. He shrugged and we stepped again, side by side.
The farther into the Rim we got, the more differences I saw. The houses were very rough, nothing more than huts really, and the clothing on the elementals was nearly medieval in style. The women wore skirts that brushed the ground and peasant blouses that hung off their shoulders; not one of them wore pants. The men were not actually wearing anything terribly different, with pants and long-sleeved tops, thick belts and tall boots here and there on those who did not go barefoot.
“Funny, I didn’t realize how much the humans had influenced our world,” I said.
“It isn’t that different than our current clothes,” Raven said, agreeing with me.
I snorted. “You see any women dressed like me?” I waved my hand at my Ender clothing.
Our conversation slammed to a stop when a Terraling women stepped into our path, nearly colliding with us. I skidded on my heels and stepped to the side to avoid walking into her. I wasn’t sure that touching her was even possible, but as Raven had reminded me, we didn’t want to influence anything.
“Piss on them all.” She snarled the words. Her long skirts were nicer than the other women’s I’d seen so far, thick and obviously well woven. The darkest of reds, the color of her dress brought out the red highlights in her dark brown hair. Her features, down to her dark brown eyes and full lips, were reminiscent of Cassava to the point they could have been sisters.
“Shit, that’s Viv.” I had to fight not to step away from her. Viv, the false mother goddess. The one who was causing so much trouble in our own time. I shouldn’t have been surprised to see her at the center of the problems in the past, too.
“You sure?” Raven stared after her. “She looks like—”
“I know who she looks like. Now hurry, she’s getting away.” I scrambled after Viv, and Raven was right there with me. Even in those few seconds, we were put far enough behind that we had to run to catch up to her.
And when I did, I placed myself to her right so I could hear what she was saying. “Idiots, they have no idea who they are playing with. This world will kneel at my feet.”
I kept half an eye on where we were going and the other half on Viv. I didn’t want to touch her. For all I knew, she would recognize me. I knew that wasn’t truly possible because in this reality, she hadn’t met me yet. But I wasn’t taking any chances either.
She strode to the end of the Rim, spun and snapped her fingers. Coils of pink rose around her arms, and then just like that, she was gone—just like Raven, Talan, and Pamela could do—and I stood there staring at the image. “What the hell?”
“Keep walking,” Raven said. “Maybe the images will follow her.”
He was right. I took a step and we were no longer at the edge of the Rim, but back in the center where four men stood talking in front of several small saplings of many kinds of trees. They looked to be brothers, so close as they were in both looks and build. Long brown hair, sand-colored eyes and strong jaws. There were hints of my own father in them and I wondered if we were related. I didn’t have long to mull over that thought. One of them wore the crown of the Rim, the crown that even now rested on Belladonna’s head in our time.
We approached them carefully, each step taken as though an explosion waited for us under our feet.
“Vivica is losing her mind to the madness of Spirit.” This from the king. “She thinks she should be queen. This is why the in-breeding between families is forbidden. Too much power in one elemental is dangerous not only for the world, but for the elemental’s mind.”
“Why don’t you just bed her to shut her up?” one of the others asked.
The king snorted. “You know I tried that, and even gave her a child. But that isn’t enough. She wants to rule. She is all that is wrong with those who carry Spirit no matter the amount in their blood.” He rubbed a hand over his face.
“Well, she’s gone now,” one of his brothers said. I wasn’t looking to see who spoke, though, I was far more interested in the king’s response. He looked down the length of the Rim to where Viv had stalked.
“Somehow, I doubt we’ve seen the end of her. Which is why we need to be prepared. Help me, brothers. Let us build a seat of power that will give us a place of protection from whatever she brings.”
They turned together toward the different saplings at their feet. The small trees began to sprout and grow, flowers and leaves bursting then falling off their limbs as they were forced through season after season at a rapid pace. The smell of green living things filled the air, the sweet call of spring blossoms, the harvest of autumn fruit, the bite of winter pine and the heat of a tree trunk and hot sap under the summer sun.
“The start of the Spiral,” Raven breathed, and we both took a step forward. I could not speak for Raven, but the desire to see the beginning of the first home I’d ever known was strong and I wanted to stay. Between one step and the next, though, the image in front of us shifted and we were no longer in the Rim.