Free Elemental Dawn (Paranormal Public) by Maddy Edwards

of the wind.
    “And now we’ve invited the enemy
in,” I said into her ear.
    I saw her nod once. “Well,
darkness mages anyway.” She grinned. “We’re not all so bad.”
    I smiled so she knew I didn’t
mean her. Lisabelle had grown up separate from other darkness mages, because
even for darkness mages her family was weird. But now that the darkness mages
were following President Malle in droves, there was yet another wedge between
Lisabelle and others of her kind.
    I just hoped the wedge was big
enough. For all our sakes.
    “Will Lough be there?” Lisabelle
asked as we started to spiral downward.
    “I think so,” I said, feeling a
bit better at the thought of our red-cheeked friend. “He wouldn’t want to miss
being there for Lanca.”
    “Even though Lanca scares him?”
    “He hides it well,” I said. “He
hides several things well.”
    Lisabelle made a grunting noise,
but didn’t respond.
    As we got closer to the ground I
saw three dots racing along under us. The Quests had kept up. I had never seen
werewolves run so fast.
    We landed with a thud at the base
of a dead tree. The Quests had already gathered around and changed form.
    “We don’t have any of our stuff,”
said Sip sadly. “I really liked the outfit I had planned for the coronation.”
    “Yeah, shucks, who would be
grateful for just being alive when they had lost their outfits,” Lisabelle
drawled.
    “I’m very tired,” said Helen, no
longer even reacting to Lisabelle’s sarcasm. “Let’s get inside before something
else goes horribly wrong. I have never wanted a shower so badly in my life.”
    “Standing out here for a long
period of time is a terrible idea,” I observed, thinking of the Demon of
Knight. “How do we get inside?”
    “Here,” came a familiar voice.
    I was so shocked that at first I
didn’t react to seeing Princess Lanca float toward us, seemingly out of
nowhere.
    “Wow,” said Hyder. He quickly
dropped to both knees and pressed his hands to the ground. It was the position
of respect that a werewolf afforded an important vampire.
    Princess Lanca was now the most
important vampire of all.
    “Please,” said my friend, coming
toward us so that I could just make out the sadness in her eyes and the tight
lines around her mouth that hadn’t been there before. “I have not been crowned
yet.”
    Hyder was slow to get to his
feet, still staring at Lanca in wonder. It was safe to assume he hadn’t
realized how well his daughter and her friends knew the vampire princess. Hyder
had had several surprises since I showed up. He and his wife had had a quiet
and successful life up to now, but Sip’s friendship with the only elemental was
obviously going to change that.
    Helen took her husband’s hand and
held on tight. She was quieter, but she looked just as overwhelmed.
    “Forgive me,” said Hyder quietly,
“but is this the normal way in?”
    “Certainly not,” said Lanca. “The
normal way is being watched, as am I. The Rapiers are sadly confused if they
think that my becoming queen is going to turn me into a prisoner, but after
losing my father” - she swallowed hard and her eyes filled with tears, but she
forced herself to continue - “they are more afraid than ever. If something
happens to me . . . I don’t think a war could be avoided.”
    “You realize that it probably
can’t be avoided anyway?” Lisabelle asked.
    She got no answer.
    “Follow me,” Lanca said. Now that
I saw were she had come from I could see a giant, gaping hole in the ground.
She motioned for the Quests to go first.
    “Should you be out here alone?”
Sip asked Lanca.
    The vampire shrugged shoulders
that had become painfully thin. “I’d like to see them try. Besides, no one
knows I’m out here.” She gave a very thin, very Lisabelle smile and waited for
us to follow Sip’s parents into the black hole.
    I watched Sip and Lisabelle go
before me. When it was my turn I glanced nervously at my friend. She waited,
looking slightly