Bound by Earth

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

One year after the accident.

“Was that Carol? Did you ask her? What’d she say?” Shelly said as she walked into Tara’s house—well, Carol’s house—as if she lived there herself.

“Why, yes, Shelly. You may come in. Thank you. Would you like some cucumber sandwiches and tea?” Tara asked in her best British accent.

“Oh, come on, you heifer. You wouldn’t eat cucumber sandwiches if they were the last food on earth. They aren’t a pissy food. You only eat pissy food. What the bloody hell did she say?” Shelly bounced up and down on the balls of her feet as if she were four instead of fourteen.

“What is pissy food, exactly, and why do you keep coming over?” Tara replied, ignoring the question.

“Because I’m a glutton for punishment,” Shelly said. “What’d she say, b***h?”

“Have you ever thought that maybe your parents dropped you on your head when you were a baby and that’s why you’re so freaking neurotic?”

“There’s no maybe about it. They did drop me on my head when I was like a month old or something. That’s old news. What isn’t old news is the answer that Carol just gave you when you asked her if you could go camping with my family this weekend, because if I have to suffer the wilderness then you better believe you are going to suffer right along with me.”

Tara had tried for the past year to get Shelly to go away. She’d been mean. She’d attempted to do the whole clingy friend thing, but that had just gotten weird because two clingy friends… Well, it’s just weird. She’d threatened Shelly with bodily harm and had even pushed the girl off the trampoline, causing Shelly to break her arm. Actually, that had been an accident, but she’d totally tried to make Shelly think it had been her plan all along. Still, Shelly was undeterred. The girl was like a bad rash.

“Yes!” Tara growled. “I can go.” She squeezed her eyes shut against the high-pitched squeal she knew was coming. Shelly didn’t disappoint.

Jax watched Tara walk away from the Smith family campsite. The girl—Shelly—was still hanging about, forcing Tara to be her friend. For this, Jax was grateful. Though Tara didn’t seem to recognize it, Shelly’s friendship was one of the few things keeping her going. Jax could plainly see it. Watching from a distance, he noticed the subtle things that bespoke of healing. Occasionally, Tara didn’t keep her eyes directed at the floor. Sometimes, her shoulders weren’t quite as tense. Every so often, she didn’t snap at Carol. These things were steps toward gaining her life back—small steps, but steps nonetheless.

And Shelly’s family seemed kind, which was another bonus. They’d almost adopted Tara as their own, going out of their way to include her in family outings. Tara thought it was only out of pity, but it wasn’t. The girl both resented and longed for these acts of kindness from Shelly and her family.

The love from the Smith family provided a practical benefit beyond merely making Tara feel better. They offered protection, though none of them even knew it. The phrase “protection from the elements” wasn’t merely a saying that described the shelter offered by the walls and roof of a house. No, there was an unseen, spiritual protection provided as well. A dark elemental generally couldn’t enter a home where a family had been living for any significant period of time. Jax didn’t fully understand it. He wasn’t sure anyone did, even the elemental kings and queens. Well … they probably did, since they understood the world at its elemental level. But certainly, no humans comprehended the mystery surrounding the protection offered by a home. Jax was certain about one thing, though. The more love in the home, the more hugs given, the more boo boos kissed, the more birthdays celebrated, the more prayers said before bedtime, the greater the protection. The Smith family’s house had that in spades, and so did Tara’s foster home.

Jax couldn’t watch over Tara every minute. He had his teaching job at the academy that kept him busy … oh, and there was the whole “hunting down and executing dark elementals” thing. Though he hated it, during those times when he couldn’t be in Buffalo watching over Tara, he simply had to trust in the protection spell he cast over her and the shelter offered by Carol and Shelly’s family.

“I’m going to go grab some sticks for the campfire,” Tara said as she emerged from the tent she would share with Shelly that night. Her friend was right behind her.

“Ugh,” said Shelly. “That’s going to be great for my skin, tromping through the wilderness collecting sticks.”

“Stay here,” said Tara. “I’ve got it.”

“No, no, I can’t let you wander off into the forest alone. You might get eaten by a velociraptor or something.”

“You do realize that Jurassic Park wasn’t based on true events, right?”

“Maybe, maybe not. You don’t know,” Shelly replied. “Who’s to say there isn’t some island out there in the middle of the ocean covered with dinosaurs running amuck? They might have evolved naturally, no crazy old scientist dude necessary. Nature finds a way, Tara. I’m coming with, just to be safe.”

“Please … stay. I need to take a walk.” Tara could see Shelly saw the look in her eyes. Tara knew Shelly had come to recognize it. And she knew her friend wouldn’t object. Shelly was persistent, annoying, irritatingly loyal, and apparently paranoid about dinosaurs. Sometimes it looked like Shelly had no boundaries. But she did. The girl knew how far to push. But when Tara got to the point where she needed time alone, Shelly had learned to back off. Tara appreciated it, but it almost made the girl even more annoying. Stop being such a good friend! Tara sometimes wanted to scream.

Shelly nodded. “Okay, okay, risk getting eaten by a dinosaur. Don’t think I’m going to come running if you scream. I’ll just stay right here in my cozy little tent with my phone and my marshmallows.”

“Your phone doesn’t even get service here.”

Shelly rolled her eyes. “Regardless. I’ve already got a dozen books downloaded. I’ll be fine without you.” She ducked back into the tent and zipped it up with a flourish.

“Try not to read anything scary. I’m not spooning with you again,” Tara said, turning and walking away. “Going to gather some kindling,” she told Mr. Smith, who was putting up the tent he and Mrs. Smith would sleep in.

“Thanks, Tara. Don’t wander too far, okay?”

“No problem.”

Tara found a nearby trail leading into the woods. She followed it, absentmindedly picking up little sticks as she went. Almost without thinking, she began to hum, like she used to do as a small child … and something she hadn’t done since her parents’ death. A couple of squirrels chittered at her as she passed.

The wind picked up. Branches swayed and sighed overhead. Leaves fell from the trees and swirled about her. All of a sudden, Tara sensed something in the air around her. She couldn’t see it, but somehow she knew she was being watched. Tara froze, waiting to see if her watcher would be revealed. Nothing happened for several moments, then the ground began to shake.

Jax felt the elemental before he saw it. He spat on the ground. “Wind.” What the hell are they doing here? He stilled and scanned the horizon. He was certain the thing wouldn’t be able to see him, concealed as he was in the dense foliage along the trail. He opened himself up to the elements as much as he could. It wasn’t long before he saw the thing come into view, slipping out of the aether almost directly overhead. A sylph.

Dammit. Why did it have to be a sylph? Jax hated the sylph more than any other elemental creature. Not because they were among the nastiest of all the dark elementals—they were—but because they were hardest to kill. Sylphs appeared as miniature female humans, but they moved so fast the human eye could hardly track them. Jax would much prefer the test of strength provided by an earth golem any day than the continual sprinting and chasing it took to take down a wind elemental. Luckily, he had a secret weapon. How do you catch a butterfly? With a net.

Jax kept his eyes fixed on the sylph as he slowly moved his hand to the pouch on his belt. He could see the thing’s tiny wings beating, merely a shimmer on the wind from where he crouched. With the beast came the wind. It swirled about the creature, completely beholden to its will. The branches in the trees swayed. Jax could see the sylph search the ground, its beady red eyes narrowed. Even from where Jax watched from the foliage, he could make out the pointed teeth in the tiny sylph’s mouth. This one had long blonde hair that swirled about its head on the wind. In Jax’s opinion, the blonde ones were always the nastiest.

Could it be a complete coincidence this wind elemental showed up at the exact time Tara was camping with Shelly’s family? Sure. About the same chance as a pig not only flying but piloting a rocket into space, all the while listening to Norwegian death metal and flossing its teeth at the same time. Jax’s hand reached the weapon in his pouch about the same time Tara appeared around a bend in the trail. The sylph hissed, which Jax knew would sound only like the wind moaning through the trees to Tara. The thing flew down close, hovering a foot above and ahead of her. Jax watched as Tara paused, scanning the trees. She couldn’t see the elemental, but she hesitated, and Jax could tell she sensed something was there. Tara carried a bundle of sticks in her arms. She didn’t appear afraid, only curious.

Jax exhaled, weighing his options. He couldn’t reveal himself to Tara. But he couldn’t allow the sylph to harm her, either. The man had to do something fast. Jax let go of the net and grabbed a pair of yellow ear plugs from one of his pockets and quickly shoved them into his ears. Then he placed his palms against the ground and began chanting. Dammit. Where is Zuri when I need her? She’s so much better at this type of magic. Jax threw all of his power into the ground, causing it to vibrate. The quake didn’t exactly register a 6.0 on the Richter scale, but it was more than a tremor. Tara started and gasped, dropping her bundle when she felt the ground beneath her feet shake. She turned and sprinted back toward the campsite, her hands reaching out to the trees around her for support as her feet became unsteady on the shaking ground.

The sylph shrieked, incensed as its quarry bolted. It made a motion toward the girl as if to follow, but then it turned toward Jax, its red eyes ablaze. He had to cover his ears with his hands to block out the sound coming from the tiny monster. Generally, wind elementals didn’t have many weapons that would hurt him. Sure, enough wind could lift his giant frame. But sylph were rarely that strong. Some of the giant cloud monsters were capable, but not the sylph. Instead, they used something even more terrifying. Their voices. The sylph could alter the atmosphere to create extremely high-powered, high-frequency soundwaves capable of incapacitating humans and other elementals alike. The sylph were living sonic weapons.

There was no sense hiding. The thing had already seen him. It swooped toward Jax, screaming as it came. Now, he got a great look at the tiny monster’s razor-like little teeth. They were beautiful—the sylph—until they weren’t. The creature’s mouth was wide open as it bellowed.

Jax fell from a crouch to his knees, hands pressed hard against the sides of his head. The sylph came closer, its deadly wail continuing. Jax fell forward, disorientated, or so he would have the little creature believe. He had to take his hands from his ears as he fell to all fours. The sylph knew she had him. She flew in close, producing a curved blade. It looked like merely a toy to Jax in the hands of the tiny monster. Still, given the proper enchantments, the blade might even pierce his rock-hard hide. And he would be powerless to defend himself, incapacitated as he was by the elemental’s persistent debilitating wail.

The sylph raised the knife. Jax smiled and turned his head just enough so the wind spirit could see the yellow plug in his ear. He didn’t have to do this. Zuri constantly chided him as childish for the way he toyed with his kills. But Jax couldn’t help himself. The dark elementals deserved the punishment they received. If he took a little too much pleasure in dishing out that punishment … well, he had reason to relish in their suffering. Jax grinned wider as he saw the realization dawn on the monster’s face. In a flash, it turned to flee, but too late. Jax threw his hand up, releasing the small net he’d been holding. It enveloped the sylph, tangling itself in its wings, immediately bringing the monster to the ground.

The net was a thing of beauty. Delicate gossamer strands of thin iron wire, intricately woven together to create a lightweight but exceptionally strong mesh trap. The sylph’s screams turned from sonic attacks to wails of pain as the iron burned into its skin. Iron, mined from deep underground, is the life force of the earth. Like all dark elementals—beings of death and destruction—the sylph couldn’t abide the element of iron, so closely associated with the life of Mother Gaia.

Jax rose and went to the creature thrashing on the ground. The danger averted, he removed the earplugs. The sylph’s wails were pitiful. It cried and whimpered, all of its power drained away by the leeching magic of the iron netting. Jax almost felt sorry for the creature. But he didn’t. Not at all. Damn flying banshee. He raised a boot and brought it straight down upon the sylph’s head, sighing a contented exhale with the resulting crunch of the monster’s little skull. One more down, thousands more to go.

“Oh, my gosh. Did you feel that earthquake?” asked Shelly as Tara burst from the woods and ran to the campsite.

“Uh, yeah,” she replied. “How could I have missed it? It almost knocked me down.”

“We’re packing up and going home. Dad’s afraid that might have been some kind of precursor to the big one. He doesn’t want a tree to fall on our tents in the middle of the night.”

Tara turned back toward the forest. She felt something, but she couldn’t accurately describe what it was. It was a feeling of peace, as if a light had been turned on somewhere. No, that wasn’t it. It was more like … a globe of darkness had been removed. “I don’t think that’s necessary,” she said. “Earthquakes aren’t exactly common. I’m sure it was a one-time thing.”

“Try telling him that. We were just about to come looking for you.”

“Chop, chop, girls,” said Mr. Smith as he hoisted an ice chest into the back of their family’s SUV. “Let’s get this car loaded pronto. We’re in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, after all. The next one might be the big one.”

“Dad, seriously, I think it’s fine. It’s Kentucky, not Los Angeles. We’re not going to get crushed by a falling tree.”

“You didn’t even want to come,” Tara said.

“But now I want s’mores,” Shelly whined.

“You can have s’mores in the fireplace at home,” said Mr. Smith. “Get in the car.”