Exile in the Water Kingdom (The Elemental Phases Book 3) (22 page)

“Sweetheart,
I’m telling
you, Gion cannot stay at the Water House.”

“You’re
not in charge of the Water Kingdom, Job.”  Ty’s voice shook, but she looked
right at him.  “You can’t tell me who I allow in my House.”

“I
know, but Nia and I talked about it and we have a plan.”  Job insisted.  “I’ll
allow Gion into the Earth Kingdom.  Alright?  That would solve everything.  He
won’t hurt Tess and I can watch him to make sure that he doesn’t harm anyone
else…”

“Nia’s
not in charge of the Water House, either. 
I
am.”  Ty interrupted. 
“Gion will stay right where he is.  With me.”

Job’s
eyebrows raised a fraction of an inch, which pretty much told Ty that he was
flabbergasted by her stubbornness.  For years, he and Nia had been pressing Ty
to take control of the Water House.  To be the queen.  And the first time she’d
ever exerted her power, it was to defy them.

“No
one is trying to usurp you position, Ty.”

“I
know.”  Job and Nia really did mean well.  They were used to taking charge,
because Ty always encouraged them to deal with the nuts-and-bolts of ruling the
Water Kingdom.  She never felt like the queen.  Nia was so much better at it. 
It was easy for Ty to just step back.  It wasn’t fair to Nia, though.  Her
cousin had her own responsibilities.

Ty
was always too weak.

And
now she was snapping at Job.

“Look,
you can
ask
Gion if he’d like to become an Earth Phase.”  Because she
loved Job, Ty softened her tone.  “I won’t hold him against his will or
anything.  I should warn you, though, he says he’s very content in the Water
Kingdom.  I don’t think he’ll want to leave.”

Job
regarded her thoughtfully, disregarding that suggestion.  “It’s good news that
you’re taking an interest in ruling.  I don’t agree with you, but at least
you’re making the decision.  You need to keep this up.  Nia can sit for the
Shadow House from now on, and you can be on the Council for the Water House. 
How’s that?”

Ty’s
eyes widened as she realized what Job up to.

He
and Nia both wanted Ty to sit for the Water House during the Council meetings. 
Nia had always done it, but now she was the Shadow Queen.  As long as Nia
continued to represent the Water Kingdom, Cross got stuck sitting for the
Shadow House.

Cross
hated dealing with the Council.

He
did it, but Cross’s puppy-dog pout of dismay at being trapped in endless
meetings clearly tugged at Job’s heartstrings.  If Ty sat for the Water House,
like she was supposed to, Cross would be off the hook.

The
idea of being at Council meeting scared the hell out of Ty, though.  Just the
thought of being surrounded by so many other Phases, most of whom hated her,
filled Ty with panic.  How had Job turned this around on her so fast?  “Yes,
but…”

“You
can do this, sweetheart.”  Job gave her an encouraging nod.  “I’m very proud of
you.  You’re still wrong about Gion, so I
will
talk to him about coming
to the Earth Kingdom.  But, still…”

Whatever
Job said next was lost by the invasion.

For
the first time in six hundred years, warriors filled the Agora.  Endless rows
of Air House soldiers jumped into Elemental’s free space.  With their black
uniforms and blond hair, they looked like an army of nightmarish death.

Ty’s
entire vision was filled with Parald’s men…

…And
they were all looking right back at her.

Water
is a perverse sort of element at the best of times

Charles
Dickens- ‘Mudfog and Other Sketches’

He
never carried a weapon, but then he didn’t really need to.  Elementals weren’t
supposed to use their powers against each other and Job’s
did
enjoy
following the rules.  However, Job’s massive energy didn’t have to touch anyone
to make a point.  The man could cause a tectonic event with an arch of his
brow.

The
entire Agora shook, knocking the Air Phases down like rows of dominoes.

Ty
fell into Brokk.  “Job!”

“Go.” 
He barked and the entire world descended into war.

Phases
started falling, limbs and blood scattering on the ground.  Glass crashed,
people ran, and everywhere there was the gleam of hate filled eyes.  Ty could
hear people shouting, other Phases in the Agora cried out in fury and fear,
screaming into their cellphones for the Reprisal, attacking the Air Phases,
steel swords clanging against each other.

The
chaos of it swirled the edge of her vision.  Ty’s heartbeat sped up, her
fingers going numb.

So,
much like the mob coming at her after the Fall.  Screaming and raging, pulling
at her, coming for her.

She
couldn’t breathe.

Throat
closing off.

Couldn’t
breathe.

Ty
fought against the panic threatening to pull her under and covered her ears
with her palms.  She didn’t remember much of that night, but whenever something
triggered her damaged recollections, they sent her into an anxiety attack.

No,
no, no, no, no.

“Ty!” 
Brokk grabbed her and maneuvered her against a building.

They
needed a clear spot and about three seconds of time to jump and that wasn’t
happening.  They were in serious trouble.  Somewhere in her, Ty knew that, but
she couldn’t calm down enough to start panicking about that happy news.

Fractured
memories of her near decapitation blinded her.  The Fire House pyres burning in
the distance.  The roar of the fountain.  Screaming for help.  Trying to reach
for someone.  So many people pulling at her.  Knowing that she was about to
die.

A
new piece of information stirred in her mind.

Something
ripping the mob away from her.

A…

…Tornado?

Brokk
shoved Ty to the ground, standing in front of her as the Air Phases fought to
get to her.  “Stay down!”  His duel swords swung like extensions of his arms. 
No one fought like the Wood Phases.  In battle, they were pure poetry.  Brokk’s
movements would have been beautiful, if it weren’t for the horrible sights that
they left in their wake.

Bodies
toppled around them and Ty squeezed her eyes shut.

Too
weak.

Always
too weak.

Stop!

She
had to stop her panic.

She
couldn’t give into weakness.

“Brokk?” 
The word was a whisper, but he heard it.  “Help Job.”  Not even Job could hold
off so many Air Phases forever.  Ty tried to focus.  “We have to help Job.”

Wood
Phases loved battle.  She could see the glow of it lighting Brokk’s eyes.  “We
have to get you out of here first.”  He snapped.  “Try and…”

The
Reprisal arrived in the Agora with warriors’ yells that echoed from one end of
the Elemental realm to the other.

Ty
staggered to her feet as Chason’s army jumped into the fight.  Literally.  So
many Reprisal soldiers that they might have even outnumbered the Air Phases
appeared in the middle of the battle.  Alerted to the invasion by all those
frantic calls, they arrived eager to kill as many Air Phases as possible.

For
some people, that might have been good news.  The Reprisal’s appearance meant
that the battle just got a whole lot fairer.  Unfortunately, the Reprisal hated
Ty, too.

Now,
there were two armies after her.

Brokk’s
eyes widened.  “Ty, stay behind me.”

Job
shoved his way towards her.  “Get out of here!”  He bellowed.

Reprisal
soldiers clashed with Air Phases.  Air Phases clashed with everyone.  Brokk’s
swords cut down anybody they could reach.  Job disappeared from view.

A
swell of men came from the side, knocking Ty to the ground.

Brokk
grabbed for her, missed, and then got attacked from behind.  He was swept under
by a wave of men and Ty lost sight of him.

“Brokk!” 
Oh God, if anything happened to him, she’d never forgive herself.  Ty tried to get
back up, searching for him.

Lansing,
of the Dust House got to her first.

Chason’s
second-in-command seized her arm, spinning Ty around.  His fingers bit into her
flesh.

Brokk
and Uriel had drilled self-defense into her head.  Instincts kicked in.  Ty
slammed her knee into Lansing’s groin, just the way the Wood Phases taught her.

“Bitch!” 
He doubled over, his grip loosening enough for Ty to struggle free.  Lansing
wasn’t done, though.  He kept coming.  Something must’ve happened, because he
seemed intent on killing her.  Most of the time, Reprisal soldiers just wanted
to capture her and maybe use her for bait to lure Parald out of the Air Kingdom.

Lansing
wanted her dead.  His sword slashed at her.

Ty
leapt back, avoiding the blade, and ran straight into Isaacs, of the Air House.

Oh,
shit!

Parald’s
top general grabbed Ty from behind, lifting her off the ground.

Lansing
continued advancing.

Caught
in a tug-of-war between the golden boys of Air House and the Reprisal was the
very worse place in the world.  Ty tried to struggle free of Isaacs’ hold. 
“Let me go!”

“Sorry,
kid.  The boss really wouldn’t like that.  Don’t worry, though.  Gion will save
you, again, by tonight.”

Lansing
lunged at them with sword.

Isaacs
hadn’t expected the Reprisal to try and stab Ty.  He swore viciously.

The
sword would have gone right through Ty’s chest, except Isaacs shifted her out
of range.  The Air Phase ignored every rule of warfare and twisted his back
towards the enemy.  Maybe he didn’t want to risk surviving and having to
explain to Parald why Ty had been shish-kabobed on his watch.  Or maybe he just
reacted automatically, remembering his period as her bodyguard.

Whatever
the reason, the blade missed Ty, sinking deep into Isaacs’ side.

If
he’d been human it would have killed him.

Isaacs
staggered, keeping Ty against his chest.  “Son-of-a-
BITCH!
”  Air powers
blasted out, a trick he could only have learned from watching Gion.  Lansing
slammed backwards into the side of the building.  Windows broke from the force
of the impact, the cascade of glass adding more jarring noises to the battle.

Isaacs
went after Lansing, brandishing his own sword.

He
dropped Ty, so her feet touched the ground, but he didn’t let go of her.  “Are
you fucking out of you mind, trying to kill this girl!”  Isaacs screamed at
Lansing.  “I thought you Reprisal assholes were supposed to be the good guys?!”

Ty’s
eyebrows shot up, sensing an opening.  “Isaacs, if you help me, I can get you
out of the Air House.”  She whispered fiercely.  “I’ll give you amnesty in the
Water Kingdom.”  It was the only thing Ty had to offer and, if there was even a
small chance that he’d bargain, she’d give it a shot.

Isaacs’
head whipped around to gape at Ty, but he still didn’t let her go.

“She’s
Gion’s whore.”  Lansing shouted.  “She can die with the rest of the Air Phase
trash.”  He came at them, again, and Isaacs turned to face him.

Blades
crashed, the two of them trying to slaughter each other, and Ty had the
horrible feeling that Lansing would win.  His eyes were glazed with a righteous
frenzy, his Reprisal training almost the equivalent of the Wood Phases’.

And
Isaacs was really hurt.

Of
the two men, one was trying to stab her and the other was trying to kidnap her,
so it was hard to pick a side.  Even if Isaacs wasn’t really on her team, at
least he didn’t plan to murder her, though.

Ty
stopped fighting Isaacs’ hold and threw in with Air House over the Reprisal.

Water
energy couldn’t do a lot offensively; especially not Ty’s limited powers.  But
she could slow the flow of blood leaking from Isaacs’ side.  Plasma contained a
lot of water.

Isaacs
sent her a glance, feeling Ty’s energy helping him, and then went back to
fighting Lansing.  He released her arm, so he could hold his broadsword with
both hands.  “Ty’s Parald’s Match, now, not Gion’s.”

“Like
that’s so much fucking better.  She can die for
both
of them, for all I
care.”  Lansing was a Dust Phase and, apparently, he was willing to cheat along
with everyone else.  A dust storm blew up, sending particles of sand and shards
of the broken glass into Isaacs’ eyes, blinding him.

“
Shit!
” 
Isaacs reared back, clutching his eyes.

Lansing
smirked.  His sword arched out, towards Isaacs’ neck.  For no reason at all, Ty
pulled her new frenemy away.  The blade missed Isaacs’ neck and hit his shoulder,
instead.  The impact knocked them both off balance.  Ty’s skull whacked against
the pavement as she fell.  It left her stunned and seeing dots.

Isaacs
wasn’t moving, at all.

“This
is all your fault!”  Lansing bellowed at her.  He kicked her and Ty rolled
sideways, her arms protectively covering her stomach.  “The Fall was all
because of you and now you’re fucking that bastard Gion!  Giving him amnesty!”

Ty
looked right at him, breathing hard.  “Gion, of the Water House is a better man
than you will ever be.”

His
eyes narrowed.

Lansing
was going to kill her.

An
odd calm came over Ty as her brain accepted the inevitable.  He was a trained
soldier and she was a scientist.  He was armed and she wasn’t.  He was on his feet
and she was on the ground.  He was really going to kill her, unless she did
something within the next heartbeat of time.

Panic
receded, leaving nothing but the absolute conviction that she wasn’t ready to
die.

Ty’s
mind went to Gion and
The
Blue Danube Waltz
.

No,
she wasn’t ready to die.

The
Water powers slid under Lansing’s boot, before Ty even consciously planned the
action.  It was such a small thing.  Ty really couldn’t do a lot.  But, even a
Water Phase child could have created that tiny square of ice, barely the size
of a playing card.  Ty froze the Water vapor beneath him and Lansing fell like
a stone.  His foot slipped out from under him, his eyes going wide in
astonishment.

Lansing
hacked the sword at her as he toppled, screaming out a furious stream of oaths.

Ty
scrambled backwards, narrowly avoiding a decapitation.  Gathering her energy,
again, she prepared to fight back as best she could.  Ty wasn’t ready to die
and she wasn’t going to make it easy for Lansing.

She
wasn’t
weak.

Before
Ty could give freezing Lansing’s lungs a try, a new contender entered the ring.

Raiden,
of the Radiation House.  A towering mountain of unstoppable craziness.

Ty’s
eyes traveled up the massive length of his Reprisal uniform, her dread reaching
new levels.  All the stories she’d heard about Raiden rushed back from her
memories.

Blessed. 
Cursed.  Prophet.  Assassin.

Insane.

Ice
tricks weren’t gonna cut it this time.

Raiden’s
own mother tried to behead him and he was somehow still walking around. 
Nothing that Ty could
possibly
do would even slow him down.  Ty stared
at Raiden’s impassive expression and knew that she could never,
ever
stop him from chopping her into tiny pieces.

Except,
Raiden didn’t seem eager to dice up her body and disguise himself in her peeled
off skin.  Instead, he stepped directly in front of Ty.  His blade swept
forward and blocked Lansing’s next assault.  Sparks flew as their swords
clanged together.

Raiden,
untouchable loner of the Reprisal and the Elemental voted most likely to
wind-up in a straitjacket according to most objective opinion polls,
had just protected Ty against one of his own.

Why?

Lansing’s
roar of outrage nearly broke her eardrums.  “What the fuck are you doing,
Raiden?!  You heard Chason!  She belongs to Gion.”

“Ty,
of the Water House is vital to our world.”  Raiden’s ruined voice sandpapered
over the words.  “I told you that.”  A massive hand grabbed her, pulling her to
her feet.  Raiden was one of the largest Phases in any House.  He topped Ty by
two feet of solid muscle.  “Let’s go, woman.”