Page 4 of Bound By Earth (The Nature Hunters Academy 1)

“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 freakingneurotic?”

“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 believeyouare going to suffer right along withme.”

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 badrash.

“Yes!” Tara growled. “I can go.” She squeezed her eyes shut against the high-pitched squeal she knew was coming. Shelly didn’tdisappoint.

* * *

Jax watchedTara 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 stepsnonetheless.

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 herfamily.

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 fosterhome.

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’sfamily.

* * *

“I’m goingto 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 behindher.

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

“Stay here,” said Tara. “I’ve gotit.”

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

“You do realize thatJurassic Parkwasn’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 besafe.”

“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 toscream.

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 mymarshmallows.”

“Your phone doesn’t even get servicehere.”

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 aflourish.

“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 sleepin.

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

“Noproblem.”

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 shepassed.

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 toshake.

Jax feltthe 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. Asylph.

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 anet.

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 thenastiest.

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, onlycurious.

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 shakingground.

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