Free The Five Elements by Scott Marlowe Page B

slipped free. Aaron tried to cry out to her, but his mouth filled with water and he fell into a fit of choking instead. Unbalanced, he lost what footing he'd gained. Unable to see, hardly able to breathe, Aaron focused everything on holding fast to Shanna's hand. Sheer thought was not enough though. Their hands slipped further.
    "Don't let go of me!" she said again.
    The earth groaned, beckoning Shanna into its embrace as the water streaming past them tried to pull her away from him. Aaron wanted to shout out, yelling that the earth had taken enough and that it could not have her too. But he'd no strength left. Only their fingers touched now, and then not even that. His fingers slipped along hers. Then her hand was gone.
    "Shanna!"
    He knew she couldn’t hear him. She was gone, taken by the water's ferocity. He shouted anyways, sobbing her name until he was so drained of strength he could do nothing but hang in place while bits of rock and sheets of water continued to fall from above. Minutes—or hours—passed before Aaron lifted himself to safety. He made it only a short distance down the passage before he collapsed. He stayed there for a long time.

4. Raiders
    A ARON’S BODY WAS NUMB, HIS mind, listless. It took him some time to stand. Once he had, he shambled down the corridor from which he’d come with little purpose other than that he knew he couldn’t stay put any longer. He’d not made it far when he found the way blocked by newly fallen debris. There was no light, so he used his hands to feel the chunks of rock barring his way. With slowness born from indifference, he clambered over some of the debris, just to see if there was any hope of squeezing through. But it was blocked completely. Briefly, he wondered if Shanna's hearthmates had made it out or if they'd been caught in the collapse.
    Using outstretched hands to guide him, Aaron returned to the juncture. Without light, he'd no way of knowing how much of the floor remained. Just as he was thinking of trying to probe his way through the dark, hoping he didn't fall through the wreckage of the floor as Shanna had, it occurred to him that he did have light in the form of two of the alchemicals in his laboratory vest. Locating each of them was no problem at all in the dark since he always kept each in their own slotted pocket. Mixing them in the right proportions proved tricky, though. He had to sacrifice his vial of crystal vitriol so he could start with an empty container, but he managed to add just the right amount of each and, after a series of shakes, was greeted by a soft blue emanation. It was faint light to work by, but it was enough that he spied a narrow ledge where the floor was still intact. Water still flowed into the juncture and down the hole, though it was a trickle compared to what it had been before. Aaron held himself close to the wall, making it halfway across the ledge before he was able to jump the remainder of the way.
    Safe within the next passage, he didn't move right away. Instead, facing the chasm where the juncture's floor had been, he jammed one hand into his satchel to take hold of the wooden soldier. He raised his arm with every intention of sending it spinning into the gaping maw. But he couldn't do it. He was alive, which was a better fate and a far cry from all those others who had died. The figurine, if it was magical, had done its job. It had protected him. But at what price? To see everyone he cared about dead while he still lived? Not realizing his hand had drifted to his side, he raised the carving, this time ready to rid himself of it for sure. Still, he hesitated. If the soldier had truly kept him alive, he couldn't just throw it away. Then he remembered Shanna's face. That one instant of horror when she knew he could no longer hold onto her. Aaron tightened his fist around the soldier. In one quick motion, he hurled it into the darkness that had taken Shanna.
    He dropped the now empty satchel, turned around, and started