Battle of the Elements
Chapter 16 Titania

I felt a cold piece of metal strike my head before everything went black.

I woke tied to a tree, the bark was wet with something that smelt foul and I was drenched in it. I felt Alex’s hand brush against mine as he was tied to the same tree I was.

I looked around. Two figures, dressed in black were standing in the middle of the scene around me. Four trees were planted around a large, glass box of water. Dane and Harrison were tied to one of the trees, they were soaked in the same liquid I was. Melanie and Jake were tied to the third tree, side by side.

I saw Bridgette tied to the fourth tree – she was the only one of us who wasn’t wet. She wasn’t unconscious but she wasn’t moving either. One of the two figures took his hood off to reveal his face – he had a chiselled jaw and dark eyes, his black hair was swept to the side. He smiled a smile that could certainly earn the name ‘lady killer’ and looked at me. He strode towards me. When he reached me, he held my jaw in his hand. His other hand brushed my cheek as he called to Bridgette, “You have new friends Bridgette. This one’s a cutie, shame we’re going to make her hate you.”

Bridgette didn’t answer.

I spat in his face, “Let go of me.”

His smile disappeared. He slapped me across the face, causing me to cry out as I felt the blood rush to my cheek. “Listen girly. Shut up and I won’t hit you again, got it? Good. I’m in charge here sweetie.”

“Let her go Christopher. It’s me you want.” Bridgette called lazily from her tree.

Christopher smiled and left me alone, instead, he walked toward Bridgette and grabbed her throat. Bridgette looked up from the floor, her eyes were fierce but she didn’t say anything or even try to break his grip. He smirked, “That’s right, I am here for you. You broke my heart dear Bridgette, now I will break you.”

“Christopher.” The second figure mumbled. Its black cloak was covering its eyes and nose but failed to cover the creepy smile that was spread across its face.

Christopher let go of Bridgette, leaving her taking gulps of air. And went to his partner’s side.

He waited a moment before speaking, “Hello. My name is Christopher. I’m afraid you know Bridgette. She seems to care for you. Which means she could have told you information.”

Bridgette’s face turned fierce, “You know I wouldn’t do that! You know I wouldn’t be that stupid!”

Christopher licked his teeth, “No, I don’t know that Bridgette. I thought I knew you enough to marry you until you left me for that emo kid.”

Bridgette smirked, “You insulted Shane. No one insults him. So I left you. You were too serious for me anyway.”

Christopher’s face contorted, “I loved you! You left me for the bastard traitor.”

“I left you for me. I had no intention of marrying you anyway. It was only fun, nothing more and you didn’t understand that.”

Christopher clenched his jaw and Bridgette gave a smug smile.

“Smile while you can. You only have a little time left to do it.”

Bridgette made her smile grow wider.

The cloaked figure spoke, “This isn’t about Christopher’s love life. We are following the orders given to us from our master. This is not personal.”

Bridgette mumbled something about a bull under her breath and rolled her eyes.

Christopher walked towards her.

The cloaked man kept talking, “She knows something no one else can know. So we must silence her.”

Melanie let out a scream as Christopher slammed his fist into Bridgette’s stomach. He untied her from the tree but there were still slivers of darkness wrapped around her wrist as he shoved her towards the glass box.

Jake yelled at the men, “You’re stupid ruler is wrong! What are you even fighting for! So what if she knows who your damn vessel is? She can protect them from you!”

The cloaked man glanced at Jake, “Our religion is not the stuff of nonsense. Our religion works towards one goal: To be free of magic’s control.”

The question left my mouth before I knew it was there, “What do you mean?”

The man looked at me, “magic controls us. It controls our weaknesses, our strength, even our relationships. Fire kills earth, fire and earth elementals don’t usually get along. Fire needs air to survive, fire and air are usually good friends. Water and earth are friends most of the time. No-one likes Black Magi. Magic controls us. Our ruler will save us.”

“Your ruler will turn us into slaves. All that don’t follow him will be killed.” Melanie spat.

The man’s smile disappeared, “Do not refer to my ruler as ‘him’! My ruler is not a ‘who’ but a what! My ruler is the monster that haunts the shadows, the inevitable darkness of night, and the unknown that everyone fears. My ruler is the power that can’t be controlled.”

“Dramatic.” Bridgette said with a smirk. She received a punch in the gut from Christopher.

Christopher looked at his partner, “Can we just dunk her now?”

The man nodded.

Christopher smiled as he shoved Bridgette into the box of water through the hole in the top. Bridgette struggled wildly.

Christopher walked away from Bridgette and walked towards us. He pulled out two rocks from his pocket and smashed them together. Sparks flew from the rocks. He smiled slightly, “This is flint. What we have wet you with is a flammable liquid made from magic. Bridgette has only so much power left. She can either save herself from the water or save you all from the fire.” He smiled slightly, “Let’s see just how nice she is.”

He smashed the rocks together once again, only closer to me this time. The sparks flew towards me and the tree behind me was alight with fire.

I looked to Bridgette and saw the glass of the box turning foggy – she was turning it to steam.

I saw her face turn pale as she saw the scene in front of her. She swam to the top of the box, pounding on the lid with desperation.

I heard Alex grunting as he pulled away from the burning tree. Christopher smirked as he went and lit up each tree that held people.

Melanie and Jake cried as the flames licked their skin. I felt the rope loosen as it burned around the tree. I pulled away from it, hearing the crackling of the fire and the scorching heat as it lightly roasted my back.

A blur of punches sounded from the cloaked man as Alex wrestled him to the ground silently. The man didn’t stand a chance. The hood lifted to reveal an old, wrinkled face with a scar covering his eyes, making him blind.

Alex pulled off the man and lunged at Christopher. Christopher grunted as a display of punches and kicks hit him in the groin and face. Christopher flicked his hands and a wave of darkness surrounded the two of them, covering them from sight. Dane broke free of his bonds and ran to Bridgette, pulling off the lid and scooping her out of the hot water. Two streaks of darkness slammed into him and he went flailing.

Four spikes of shadows reached out from the giant ball surrounding Alex and Christopher and reached into the water. They were going to stab Bridgette when Alex dove out of the blackness and slammed into the box. He climbed up the edges and dove into the water. I saw his face wince in pain as his skin hit the boiling water. He reached for Bridgette and pushed her away from the darkness’s reach. The darkness slammed into him. I screamed as the clear water turned red with blood. Alex strained, he took Bridgette – who was so weak she could barely move – and hauled her out of the water.

The darkness thinned to reveal Christopher’s body, pummelled to the ground in a heap of blood and broken bones.

I sat down on the blanket that Dane had set down on the floor, taking small bites of an apple while staring at the campfire. Dane sat next to me, I could feel his concern for me – I couldn’t tell if I liked it or not.

The others were asleep. Tired from the day of nearly being burnt to a crisp. I didn’t want to go back to the library yet – I didn’t want them to see me weak. Melanie and Jake were there though, they were going to stay there for a while, while I get this mission sorted out. I felt Danes hand on mine and looked at him. His face was serious, “I was worried today.”

I felt something move in my heart, “Sorry to worry you.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic.”

“I am.”

He paused for a moment, “I really like you Bridgette. You’re not like most people I know –you’re different.”

I smirked and leaned in close to his face, “Are you flirting with me?”

He let out a laugh, “This isn’t my usual flirting. I want you Bridgette, like, really want you. More than I want anything else.”

“I know the feeling.” I said, then, I let out the something I had been thinking ever since I met Dane, “Shut up and kiss me already. I’m getting tired of flirting.”

And our lips touched and I had never felt so many butterflies, fireworks and heart flutters in my life than at that one moment