Rise of the Elementals Read Free Page B

Milicent had told of
the oncoming war. It was the same night that the visions of the
rebirth had come to her, the reincarnation of the fabled Proximas
along with the Centum. They were elementals unlike any other, far
more powerful than the entire race combined.
     
    She’d said dark days were ahead, that their
race would be tested. That the very portals they protected may very
well be their undoing. Lupercus feared he was seeing her prophecy
become reality.
    “ Brato, Eliana!” Lupercus
whispered urgently. “Where are the children?”
    “ Lupercus, what is it?”
Eliana asked as she made her way into the living room.
    Eliana was the perfect example of flawless,
elemental beauty. Her brown hair flowed like a river rushing to the
ocean. Her bronze skin was accented perfectly by the halo of light
that danced off the walls. She moved with the grace of a ballerina,
but with the certainty of an assassin.
    “ We need to move the
children. I don’t think Elisia is safe anymore.”
    “ Are you certain?” Eliana
asked, the smile fading from her face.
    Lupercus nodded grimly.
    “ Brato, bring the boys!
It’s time.” Eliana yelled.
    Emerging from the backroom was a tall,
bushy-haired man with a broad chest and deep hazel eyes. Like
Eliana there was a glow to his skin, but where she moved with grace
he hurled forward with determined purpose.
    “ Lupercus.”
    “ Brato.”
    They both nodded at one another.
    “ The boys are playing
Eliana. What could be this important?”
    “ I’m sorry old friend.”
Lupercus interjected. “The time we have all feared may be upon
us.
    “ Lupercus you
swore…”
    “ There will be time for
that later. We must move the boys now.”
    Brato paused for a minute and then
disappeared back into the room. When he returned, he was followed
by a tangled mess of wings and red hair. Standing not much higher
than his waist, was a trio of young boys that looked more like
dragons than humans.
    They were all roughly the same age. Their
eyes glowed like flashlights as they snapped and clawed at each
other with eagle-like talons. Their wings, enormous in relation to
their size, beat powerfully blowing chairs across the room.
    “ They…they have ascended
this early?” Lupercus asked in shock.
    “ Weeks ago. They’re just
starting to control it.”
    “ This is amazing!” Lupercus
elated.
    Suddenly the walls shook violently and
Lupercus was thrown backwards into a table. A chandelier swung and
then fell from the ceiling, shattering into millions of pieces.
    Eliana darted forward swooping all three
children into her arms. “Lupercus, where do we take them?” She
gasped.
    “ The council has a portal.
We will make for Earth.”
    “ Why not create one here?”
Eliana asked in confusion.
    “ It is feared that the
master portal has been taken. If that is the case the sister portal
is the only way out. Besides that, they are too young to travel
through one of our own. We must make it to the great hall. Follow
me!”
    Quickly scurrying to his feet, Lupercus tore
off into the courtyard with Brato and Eliana on his heels. The
looming pillars and clusters of Zaspar crumbled to the ground all
around them. Cracks shot through the onyx flooring, jarring the
ground apart like splinters of wood.
    Ahead of them a fire ravaged the walls as it
spread down the corridors. Screams and cries of panic echoed in the
distance.
    “ Lupercus, what is this?”
Eliana screamed as she pulled at her children’s hands.
    “ Spectrals!” Lupercus
responded grimly.
    “ In the city? That can’t
be!” Brato exclaimed.
    “ Eliana, hide here with the
children. Brato and I will clear a path and return for
you.”
    Eliana was lost in his words. She stared up
to the dimming ceiling as dying Zaspar disintegrated and fell to
the ground. It was their legacy, the very life blood of their
beautiful city. To see it all decaying into nothing was mind
numbing.
    “ Eliana!” Lupercus
yelled.
    She jolted from her trance and turned to
him.