Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(27)

Her face, though, was not smooth like it had been before, but scarred and pitted from the blast that had hammered her when the curse rebounded. She’d thought she held the true five stones in her hands. She’d thought her curse was broken and she had attacked me. The curse Talan had put on her activated and she was blasted into what I’d hoped was tiny little pieces. But here she was, injured but still alive. She was obviously stronger than even he realized.

I wasn’t quite sure what she thought she could accomplish by bringing me into a vision like this. I folded my arms over my chest. “We can’t hurt each other, so you brought me here to talk? To have some girl time?”

I doubted that was the case, but it was as good a place as any to start. She smiled at me and the motion pulled at several of her scars, giving her a lopsided face.

I pointed at her with one finger. “You’re crooked, you might want to fix that.”

Her face flushed bright red and her image softened, and the scars smoothed away. I nodded. “That’s much easier to look at, thanks.”

I watched as she seemed to struggle with herself, her hands clenching and unclenching, her eyes narrowing further and further. “Can’t hurt me, can you?”

“She can’t, but I can.”

I spun around as something was yanked from my side. Not something.

The pouch with the stones.

Everything happened so fast. Cassava was there, her lips etched with a sneer, though her eyes didn’t have a drop of hatred in them. No. Her eyes were full of sorrow and pain.

And then the pouch with the stones was gone from my side and as I reached for it, the dream shattered.

I sat up, gasping, which sent Peta sprawling across the bed. She blinked up at me, her body tense. “What is it?”

My hand shot to my side, frantically feeling for the leather pouch. Nothing. I leapt out of the bed and searched the covers, my hands moving faster and faster. “The stones, Peta. The stones!”

But they were gone, the leather strap still dangling from my waist a testament to what I’d lost in a vision that should not have happened. I slowly went to my knees. “Mother goddess.” The words slipped out of me and a shudder rumbled through the earth.

Child of mine, granddaughter, not all is lost. The voice was the same as the one who’d called to me from the Eyrie. The same as the one who’d shown me the true mother goddess was not Viv, but someone far less tangible.

“The stones were taken.” I bent forward and put my head on the rock floor as if I could sink through and bury myself in the earth.

Your time to regain them will come. She must take the stones to where the power originates. It is the only way for her to take all their power. She must kill them and they are at her mercy as they languish in their oubliettes.

“They are your children. Can you not stop her?” The words were wrenched out of me.

No. Interference to that level is what has brought this on us. We must stand back and let you battle for us. You are our champion, Lark. You can stop her; you can save us all if you can find the hidden strength within, a way to blend all the elements. Find my children, they will show you the way.

The voice went silent.

Peta looked at me and I looked back.

“You heard the mother goddess?” I asked.

“Yes. Any idea on how to blend the elements?”

I shook my head. “No, but it probably has to do with working with the other Originals. Maybe combining our power against Viv?”

But while I sat there, I began to see a pattern in my mind. A course of action I needed to take if we were going to stop Viv. “Viv wants to kill the original elementals, Peta, that’s what the mother goddess said. But no one can possibly find them in time to save them from her. No one knows where they are except Vivica. The mother goddess herself has said I need to find them.”

I turned to stare at my familiar. Her green eyes stared back, wide and wondering. “And Viv now has the stones.”

My belly rolled with fear. “She has their power in hand, all she needs is the final stone and then she will be free of the curse. That’s why she hasn’t tried to kill them before.”

I was on my feet and running from the room. Maybe I should tell Talan… no. I skidded to a stop halfway to the main cavern. “Peta, which way is Raven, can you smell him?”

She leapt out in front of me and took off down a branch of tunnels leading in the opposite direction as the circular room. Left, left, and left. We curled down deeper into the rock until the ever-present sound of water faded to a distant rumble.

A doorway beckoned, and beyond it a single candle burned on a table beside a simple framed bed. Raven was asleep, fully dressed and wrapped in his black cloak. He looked younger than I’d seen him in years. I didn’t knock, just walked in and grabbed his arm, and gave him a shake. “Raven, is Cassava working with you and Talan?”

He sat up and took a swing at me. I blocked him easily and he slowly came around. “Your reflexes stink,” Peta muttered at him.

He cleared his throat as his eyes un-fogged from sleep. “What?”

“Is Cassava working with you and Talan?” I repeated the words slower this time.

Pushing himself to the edge of the bed, he shook his head. “She was. I’m not sure now. Spirit has warped her because it is not truly her element. Why do you ask? In the middle of the night, no less.” He rubbed a hand over his face, his eyes finally opening wide.