Free eldritch files 07 - elemental blood by phaedra weldon Page B

past Levi and Prescott toward his Mustang, the fiery red color visible in the green foliage of the golf course. Flying to her would be faster, but there were too many witnesses. He wasn't about to expose himself, just in case there really was a Quest running, especially one that needed a Dragon's heart.
    Levi and Tas reached the car as he got in and started the engine. Levi jumped in front, while Tas climbed in the back.
    "What're you two doing?"
    "Following you," Levi said. "Something just set you on fire…no pun intended."
    Crwys made a face at him.
    "What's happening?" Tas asked as Crwys gunned the motor and tore out of the golf course as fast as he could—without breaking rules as much as possible.
    "It's Sam," Crwys said as he dodged through traffic. He was tuned in on her with his heart. "She's back. And she's in trouble."
    "Lethe?" Tas said.
    "Lethe?" Levi said, looking between the two of them. "Oh man…I was hoping Sam would kill that bitch."
    "So was I," Crwys said. His phone rang and Crwys fished it out of his jeans while driving one-handed and looked at the face. It was Kyle. He answered it. "You feel her too?"
    "Yeah, but there's more. Jack got a call in the link from Bastien. He's with her, and they're in trouble. Jack's already gone, I couldn't stop him."
    "Where is he going?"
    "The cabin at Gypsy Gardens. Arden's already called. Her coven can't get through the forest. Apparently…she said it's fighting her?"
    “What’s fighting her?”
    “The forest.”
    Oh. Wonderful. "Grab Papa Dumaine and meet us there. Where's Ivan and Dharma?"
    "With me." He hung up.
    "What's going on?" Levi said.
    "Something's happening at Gypsy Gardens." He tossed the phone to the floorboard. "Kyle and the others are on their way. And so are the Aces."
    "Uh oh."
    Crwys nodded to his partner. Yeah…uh oh.



TEN
    I sort of lost myself in the beginning of the fight. My mind filled with silent communications with my Elementals as the trees, bushes, grass, rocks, and even Mississippi mud attacked us. I'd never felt so vulnerable in a fight before. Not because I was overpowered, but because my mind couldn't wrap itself around the fact I was fighting the very Earth my mother had taught me to respect and to love. If she were here—
    And that was a sobering thought. If she were here.
    But she wasn't. And I was holding my own as I worked spells to defend and heal the Wolves as they warred on the trees. My Elementals fanned out as scouts to run through the melee and report back to me on who was in the most trouble. I pulled power from the ground at my feet, having kicked off my boots so I could stand barefoot on the grass and hope it didn't sprout eyes and teeth and attack me too. My memories of that fight in the cemetery in Savannah returned, and I thought of how Dags had stopped the fighting plants. The form the Fae had taken against us.
    I told Belenos to burn the trees as much as he could. But as one tree would light up, the water in the land would sprout below it and cool the flames. Coventina, my Gnome, chopped at trees and brought them down, but another tree would replace the fallen one. Zephyros, my Air Elemental, pulled the air around him and ripped bushes and plants from their roots, flinging them miles away. And again, more would replace them, making a never-ending spring of flora.
    Sionna, my Water Elemental, was in her own battle with whatever that mud creature was. It lunged at her, and she moved what water she could pull from the air as her weapon. But even that wasn't going well. We were outmatched and outnumbered, and too many of the Aces were tiring and wounded. I cast spell after spell at each of them, healing not just the Wolves but giving what I had to my Elementals as well.
    Coventina pushed roots to grow around the cabin, encasing it in a strong, heavy cage of wood and foliage. It didn't look like a cabin anymore, but like a huge ball of wooden twine, with me guarding the entrance against anything getting