Page 17 of Elemental Hall: Nautica
Whatever the reason, it’s hard not to feel attracted to Orion, hard not to think about how easily we could both slip away off the path and find a quiet spot together where no one would interrupt us. I briefly find myself wondering what his lips wouldtaste like if I kiss him, and that thought is enough to make me take another step back from him.
“Is everything okay, Sera?” he asks. Is it just me, or is he staring at me a little too intently? No, I find that impossible to believe. I’m too ordinary-looking, too lowborn, too… me… to ever be of interest to someone like him.
“Fine,” I lie. “I’ll meet you in front of the library in an hour or so?”
If we drift back separately, it looks like we’re trying to avoid too much attention, which of coursegeneratesmore attention. Orion is determined that news of our great romance will continue to reach his parents.
“That should be plenty of time,” he says.
I’m not completely sure what he gets up to after we split up on our walks. That’s kind of the point. We both have time to ourselves, while simultaneously boosting the rumors that we’re a couple. From what I understand, he’s looking into the different plant species around the island and seeing how his talents affect them, or working on elemental control, or maybe just sitting there, enjoying the peace away from everyone else.
For today, at least, I have my own priorities. I’m getting a little better at navigating Nautica’s twists and turns, so I take a side path down to the bay where the seraphin would normally meet me. I haven’t seen it since the maelstrom it caused when I upset it with my confused emotions. I only hope that I’ll be able to find it again now.
I try to calm myself as I head down to the pool, try to think about anything other than Orion. Yet, it’s impossible not to focus on him, thoughts of those great muscles, the way he smells, coming to me unbidden. Even as I sit by the side of the bay, I know that the seraphin is not going to come to me like this.
Sighing, I get up and keep moving along Nautica’s coast. I can feel the ocean all around me. Most of the others here haveto work for their control over water, but it’s as natural to me as breathing. I can feel the ebb and flow of the tide, the swirling currents, the creatures that live down in the depths. I can feel the seraphin further out. It doesn’t seem hostile to me now, but it isn’t coming closer either. I think about trying to draw it forward with my magic, but such a creature as a seraphin isn’t going to allow me to simply control it like that. Its knowledge and power when it comes to water are too great.
I feel something else as I reach out to the ocean. I feel the shape of a human body being tossed about in it like a rag doll, the waves sweeping someone along, as helpless as any other piece of flotsam on the tide. I can feel them being swept toward a section of the coast a little to the north of me, and something about the chaotic movement tells me that they’re in trouble.
I start to run, heading along the path at speed, my lungs burning with the effort. I know the paths in this section of the island well enough to find my way to a broad, white sand beach strewn with strands of kelp.
There is a figure lying face-down on the sand, sprawled in unconsciousness. It’s a young man, maybe a year or so older than I am, with deep bronze skin and curling dark hair. He’s wearing dark clothes in gray and black, the symbol of a half-moon embroidered in silver thread.
The symbol of Umbrae.
Is this the enemy? One from the empire held apart from us only because of the raging, storm-tossed seas? The barrier of magic-fueled violence that threatens to sink any fleet trying to cross it?
I wonder if I should turn and run back inland, getting help from one of the elemental masters, but I only wonder for a moment. Whoever this is, he has just been washed up, still unconscious, maybe dying. I need to help him.
I flip him onto his back, and for a moment, I can only stare at him. His features are fine-boned and angular, with high cheekbones and an almost delicate face. He’s handsome, even lying there half-drowned. I push on his chest, trying to get the water out of his system. He splutters, coughing up seawater onto the sand.
His eyes flicker open and for a second, I’m kneeling over him with deep, dark eyes staring up at me. They seem to roil like dark clouds, and a second later, his hands are raised, lightning dancing on his fingers in an obvious threat.
He snaps something in a language I don’t know. I guess it must be the language of one of the kingdoms within Umbrae.
“I don’t understand,” I say.
“Where am I?” he asks, switching to my own tongue, accented only slightly. “Who are you? Are you with the Umbran military?”
“My name is Sera, and you’re on Nautica. And threatening me is kind of rude when I’ve helped you. You haven’t even told meyourname.”
He looks down at the lightning crackling from his fingers. It dissipates.
“I am Darius,” he says. He looks around in something like wonder. “Am I truly on Nautica? Did I make it?”
He sounds as though he can’t quite believe it.
“I need to get to whoever is in charge here,” he says. He starts to stand.
“Here, let me help you,” I offer.
“I don’t need anybody’s help, I—”
He makes it halfway to his feet before his legs start to give way beneath him. I catch him before he can fall.
“All right,” he admits. “Maybe I do needsomehelp.”
I support him as we walk together back in the direction of the space outside the library tower. I’m sure there will be elementalists there.
