Free The Elementals by Annalynne Thorne Page A

"Remember this, flower child. I am protecting you, taking the place of the elements that have to exist."
                "So do you. Without you, there'd be no warmth, no sun." Terra insisted.
                "Without you, there'd be nothing at all." Bryan placed his hand on top of her hair, like an older brother would do to a favored sister. "Good luck. Keep them safe."
                "You're being a coward."
                "You're being stubborn." He laughed and before she could argue he was ducking out of the car.
                There was no real argument anyway. He was right, she was stubborn. She wasn't going to give in that easily, she wasn't done trying to convince him. They were far from done, and especially then, when she saw what it was doing to him.
                She would have never anticipated it when she met him. His demeanor was cold as ice. He hated them, but she was wrong, and she wondered if Marissa had known or seen it all before. It was like her to not say anything, to let things run their course.
                It was part of the great scheme of things, for irony to exist in their lives. He was mean because he was protecting them. He was giving his life to save three strangers with whom he had to team with. He had and was giving up everything.
                Terra wouldn't have it. She wouldn't let him do it. They were in it together, if one of them failed, they all did. They would endure. She would make sure of it, because no leader was going to abandon their troops in the battle field. It was bad enough that the war had begun without their knowledge...

Chapter Eight
A Complete Puzzle

    They fell into silence once more. It was that heavy blanket all over again, smothering them. It was like they were at the death bed of a loved one, no one wanting to speak, to disturb the peace someone was having, or to disturb the search someone was having for coping.

                In their silk bathrobes, Era's of baby blue, Terra's of green, and Marissa's of indigo, they sat at the table with their hot chocolate. It became a custom that whatever problem they had would be discussed at the kitchen table over a mutual preferred drink. However, their discussions began in silence, contemplating what the exact problem was, each of them brainstorming ways to solve it.
                "Is kidnapping out of the equation," Era pondered.
                "It's out." Terra finalized, then thought of the scars again, no doubt what Era was thinking about. "Let’s call that plan 'b’.” It was a daunting prospect, to not know if they had any boundaries. If kidnapping wasn't out of the equation, what wasn't?
                Marissa dabbed her watery eyes. "Don't we have to have a plan 'a', first?"
                "Lets not get into an intellectual discussion of planning tonight, we have more to worry about. We need to focus on Bryne." Terra finalized once again.
                "How? How can any of this end well? I….I always thought that….that he would want to be here. He….he…. does….doesn't he? He hates us." Marissa’s words garbled as she went on, then grabbed a tissue from the center of the table to blow her nose.
                Era rubbed her back comfortingly. "If we lose hope we lose the fight," Era told her.
                It was a domino effect. Lose hope, lose the fight, lose their lives, lose the world, lose the light, and lose everything. There would be nothing left for anyone else to fight for. It was not a quest to be handed off to anyone else. No, it had to be them.
                Marissa sniffled sadly. "Have you alerted the Kin?"
                "I called Aunt Gwen before I came home. She said that the Kin will keep an eye out, but to not expect any results." She picked at a splintered wood by her mug. "I thought having family within the elders was