"Granna!" Mag burst into the room at the schoolhouse where she knew the grandmother would be.
"Mag? What are you doing here?" Granna stood up, shushing the whispers and giggles from the young kids she was teaching with a wave of her hand.
Nu and Ike appeared in the doorway behind Mag, and Granna must have known something was amiss from the ashen looks on their faces and the strange squirrel that still clung to Ike's shoulder. "Teaching them more of your lies?" Mag accused her, and Granna sighed.
"That's enough for today," she addressed the children sitting in a semi-circle on the floor around her. "If you'll move on to your respective elemental teachers, they can continue your lesson."
The kids clamboured to their feet and filed out of the room, talking amongst themselves as Nu and the others moved aside to let them pass.
After the room was cleared, Granna motioned for them to sit down. "Come, we need to talk."
Ike and Nu both moved to sit in front of the old woman as they had done a thousand times, but Mag put her arm out to block them. "No, we're not sitting down. It's about time you treat us as equals, not as little kids."
Nu had never seen Mag so upset before. Their earlier encounter with the stranger must have really shook her up, she thought. Ike seemed more intrigued with the situation, almost excited by the prospect of other villages and other people.
"Very well," Granna nodded, "as equals."
"Good." Mag stormed into the room and stood in front of the white-haired woman, leaning anxiously on her spear. "We met someone today. Someone new, from outside the village."
Granna's eyes widened. "You did?"
"Yes, We did." Mag answered, crossing her arms.
"I see. You must have a great deal of questions..."
Ike stepped forward, holding his arm out to encourage the squirrel onto it. "He claimed this was the Earth spirit."
"He also seemed way to keen on having us meet that friend of his," Mag added.
Granna looked at Nu, who avoided eye contact. She wasn't fond of the way her friends seemed to be ganging up on her grandmother, but she understood that they needed the truth.
"Very well," Granna said, "Everything that man said is true."
Nu looked at Mag who stood in shock. Ike looked at the squirrel, who had bounded off his arm and was sniffing around the room excitedly.
"There are many other villages of people just like us," Granna continued. "We keep to ourselves and deny each other's existence to protect our gifts, and we only keep in contact through the Air-Teacher."
"You," Nu clarified, and Granna nodded.
"We can send small messages back and forth over the winds, small whispers that can travel across great distances."
"But why keep it hidden?" Ike asked.
"Because we need to protect the Elemental Spirits and the Aether."
"The... Aether?" Nu asked. Something about that word sent a small chill down her spine.
Granna looked at Nu as if she wanted to explain, but Ike interrupted the moment.
"So this squirrel is actually the Earth Spirit?" Ike asked as the creature settled back on his shoulder.
"I can't tell for certain," Granna admitted, "but you can feel how strong its power is. Besides, it seems to like you, and as the village Prodigy you are its chosen one, Ike."
Ike looked at the squirrel, who in turn twitched its nose at him.
"You said you had to protect the spirits?" Mag stepped in closer, her tone still accusatory. "Protect them from who?"
"The Elemental Spirits carry with them a great power," Granna explained, "and power is always dangerous. If someone got their hands on even one of the Spirits, who knows what they could do."
Mag looked at the squirrel Ike was playing with, moving his finger and letting the squirrel chase it. "Great power...?"
"And," Granna added, "it is said that if all four spirits are gathered, the Aether Spirit will appear."
"What is Aether?" Nu asked, finally speaking up. "I've never heard you mention it before."
Granna smiled at Nu, stepping forward and cupping her granddaughter's face in her hands. "Aether is the fifth element. The Cosmos. The Realms. Life, death, and everything in between. Everything lives in the Aether." Granna stroked the birthmark on Nu's face tenderly. "It's a burden only one person in the world must carry."
"You mean..." Nu's heart sank as she realized what Granna was saying. "My affinity..."
The moment was interrupted by a loud crack of thunder outside the tent, followed by rushing footsteps and shouting. The squirrel clung to Ike's back as if frightened, and Mag rushed to the window to see what was happening.
"There's a fire..." Mag squinted slightly against the glare of the sun and the flames, and then her eyes widened. "We're under attack!"
Mag grabbed her spear and rushed outside. Ike moved to follow, but the squirrel chittered nervously and ran around his body.
"Hey!" Ike positioned his shoulder against the wooden table in the corner of the schoolroom, encouraging the upset creature onto it. "Stay." He commanded as he hurried outside.
Nu went to join him as another crack of thunder tore the air, but Granna grabbed her hand and pulled her back to stand in front of her.
"Listen to me, Nu," Granna said, her kind eyes uncharacteristically scared, "you have to get out of here."
"W-What?"
"Your affinity makes you a target," Granna tried to explain. "The Aether's connection to the realms of life and death is too dangerous to be used, but there are some who do not understand."
Another crack of thunder and more screaming outside prompted Nu to pull away. "I'll be okay, Granna," she said with a smile as she hurried away from her grandmother.
As she passed it, the squirrel jumped onto her back, making Nu squeak in surprise. "You want to help too?" she asked it as she stepped outside and into the chaos.
The Fire-Tenders were all gathered with anyone with a Water affinity, trying desperately to keep the flames down. The fire was spreading unbelievably quickly, though, despite their efforts, lighting even the ground itself on fire as if fueled by something. Nu could see Ike hurriedly trying to cover the flames to some degree of success, snuffing them out before they could reach the thatched roof of his house.
Mag was at the gate, fighting side-by-side with several of the Fire-Warriors and Earth-Hunters against the enemy's forces, who pushed in with spears and axes, using a spearhead formation to crash through the gate.
Nu squinted and covered her eyes to see the situation at the gate better. She caught glimpses of someone hanging back, watching the fighting, but she couldn't see make out any details.
Nu's father was trying to help direct the rescue efforts, telling everyone where to go and what to do. He would occasionally stop for a moment to blast a gust of air at the enemies to slow their approach and give the fighters a much needed respite.
She hurried up to him, and his eyes lit up to see her. "Nu! Are you alright?"
"I'm okay, Papa. What can I do?"
Another loud boom sounded, and Nu gasped as the flames suddenly grew rapidly, jumping from roof to roof faster than anyone could begin to stop it.
"Oh no..." Papa wiped the sweat from his brow. "Someone fighting must be an Air Prodigy. I can't keep up."
"An Air Prodigy?" Nu gasped. Air was the rarest of all the elemental affinities, and to be a prodigy on top of that was exceedingly rare. In the history of their village, there had only ever been one Air Prodigy before.
The squirrel chittered and barked nervously, clinging to Nu's shoulder. "Papa, what can I do?" Nu repeated.
"Nothing," he answered. "Just stay here with me and I'll keep you safe."
Nu wrung her hands and looked around at everyone struggling to do everything. All the water was evaporating at the heat of the fire, and though the Fire-Tenders and the few Air-Teachers tried they couldn't staunch the fast-spreading flames. The Earth-Carers were huddled around the young children from the school, carrying whatever they could use as weapons to form a last line of defense. Ike and a few Earth Affinities were hurriedly trying to smother the flames with rocks, but they were largely unsuccessful. The Fire-Warriors and the Earth-Hunters were trying hard against the enemy, loosing arrows and trying to drive them back with spears, but the enemy was gaining a great deal of headway and soon would break through.
Even when their world was crumbling, everyone had their place. Everyone except Nu.
Nu strained to see Mag, hoping she was okay, and spotted her on the outside of the gate, gripping her arm close to her body. Nu's heart sank to think her friend could be injured, might even die from her wounds...
The squirrel barked loudly in her ear, bringing her out of her thoughts, and it jumped down off of her and made a beeline towards Ike.
"Wait!" Nu looked to her Father concerned, but he was too busy concentrating his affinity to notice. Nu chased after the squirrel, hoping to keep it away from the flames Ike was being singed by. "Stop, it's too dangerous!"
The squirrel didn't stop until it reached Ike, jumping onto his shoulders and breaking the Earth Prodigy's concentration. "What the-"
"Ike, I'm sorry," Nu tried to explain, shielding her face from the flames. The heat here was nearly unbearable, threatening to swallow them all. "It just ran off."
Ike waved his arm dismissively. "No, it's fine. Get out of here, Nu. It's too dangerous."
Another loud bang sounded nearby, and the flames flared up suddenly. Nu screamed and blocked with her arm as the tongues of flame reached out for her. "Nu!" she heard Ike cry out.
"I'm fine," she said as the flames were beaten back, although her jacket's sleeve was burned right through, her skin red and painful underneath. "But Ike, we need your help. There's an Air Prodigy."
Ike's concentration broke again and he looked at Nu with his head slightly cocked. "A Prodigy?"
"Yes. Papa can't fight him. We need someone on the same level, and you're the only Prodigy we have since..." Nu trailed off, unable to speak her mother's name right now.
The squirrel barked nervously and clung to the young man's shoulder as Ike retreated from the flames, moving towards Nu. "Where?"
"At the gate."
Ike took off, and Nu could see a slight smile on his face. She followed his to the gate, where Mag was leaning against the Earthen wall trying to catch her breath. She was still holding her arm close to her side, and Nu could see blood dripping from her fingertips.
"Mag, you're...!" Nu exclaimed, and Ike went to check her wound.
"I'm fine," she said, turning her injured arm away from him. "Uncle Ten just wanted me to take a breather, that's all."
Nu surveyed the fighting and the fires that were spreading quickly. "We're losing."
No sooner than she said this, a cry echoed through the village, drowning out the screams of agony and death from the wall.
"Retreat! They've taken the gate!
"Retreat!"492Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGn8Ahx7gn4
