AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was in an open temple on top of a pyramid. I blinked and looked down at my body. I had spotted paws again, and muscular jaguar legs. With a deep breath, I shook myself and started searching.
“Hurakan!” My voice echoed across the plaza below, ricocheting between the stone buildings. There was no answer. I bolted to the other side of the temple, calling for him. The sun was setting over the sea and the Empty felt exactly like that—deserted, abandoned.
“Hurakan!” I yelled again. “Could use a little help about now!”
I paced across the temple, scanning the jungle below. Maybe he was mad I hadn’t listened to his advice about the twins. Did he need me to tell him he’d been right about them not helping me? That I’d made a huge mistake?
His voice found me first. “I knew you’d show up.” Then he materialized in the same black panther form. Yeah, I sort of wanted to nuzzle the guy, but only because I was relieved to see that he was actually there.
“You didn’t tell me I was going to get lightning pounded into my leg!”
“No sense worrying you,” he
said. “Sometimes it’s better not to know what’s coming.”
Mm-hmm… So not comforting! I sat back on my haunches. The sun was setting and everything—the trees, the sky, the sea—looked tranquil, like they were all taking a deep breath. “I lost the jade.”
He nodded slowly but didn’t say anything. His eyes blazed a brilliant green.
I stood and walked closer. “So how am I here?”
“The ceremony the Sparkstriker is performing would have brought you to me.”
Ceremony? That was an interesting word choice. Me? I’d have used torture.
“What power is she going to find?” I asked.
“She isn’t going to find anything. The lightning bolt you chose, that chose you—that’s the source that will uncover the truth.” He stalked closer. “But you already know the answer, don’t you?”
“Er… pretty sure I wouldn’t be here if I knew the answer. Maybe I’m simply here to avoid the I’d-rather-die pain.”
“I want to show you something.”
We headed down to the shore and stood beneath a group of tall, leafy trees. The sand was white, soft, and warm. The sun was a ball of fire, lowering itself into the water slowly.
Hurakan said, “Close your eyes.”
“What? Why?”
He gave me a look.
I closed my eyes.
“What do you see?” he asked.
“Darkness.”
“Try again. Imagine yourself on the table, imagine the lightning coursing through your blood. Imagine the lightning as a part of you.”
I did what he asked. And as I did, my fingertips tingled like before. A terrible heat started to rise in me, so hot I imagined it was the surface of the sun. It raced through my blood. Like before, it felt too big to contain. I opened my eyes and whispered, “Fire.”
If a jungle cat could smile, it would look like the expression Hurakan gave me. “Ah,” he said. “The Son of Fire. Surprising.”
When someone tells you you’re the Son of Fire and it’s your dominant power, you sort of want to pump your fist/paw in the air and holler Awesome! So, yeah, I did. Total impulse. Then, “Wait. You said surprising. Why?”
“As the Sparkstriker told you, not all powers of the storm can be passed to you without killing you. I would have predicted wind or rain—something less moody.”
“What do you mean ‘less moody’?” I didn’t know elements had bad days.
