Of Fire and Water - PART 4

Freyja was lying on her back once again, with the sea surrounding her. When she finally regained her consciousness, she tried realizing what happened:"I'm in the sea again? Have I ever moved in the first place?" Her spinning head confirmed that something extraordinary happened. She remembered an explosion, but the rest was blurry:"The fire mage! It all happened so fast! My powers were not enough to hold him down! Perhaps I was underestimating them. Him, not her."

Freyja tried hard to remember all the details she could manage and in doing so, she realized:"He could have killed me! Instead, he attacked the creature. And his actions were not as impulsive as were the girl's. He made a decision to let me go. And where's he now? Where's my creature? I cannot feel it anymore. What have I done? I'm at the starting point again, floating in the sea. The only difference is that now two lives were lost because of me!"

A tear escaped her eyes, and slid down her face only to be lost in the infinite sea: "Perhaps he saw something in me too?" she felt oddly excited by the thought, but only momentarily. She soon remembered she helped to bring the destruction of the fire mage, and her mind was racing full of doubts: "Is this how our people have been living for centuries? Bringing pain and misery to each other? But apart from weilding a different kind of magic, how exactly are the fire mages different from us?"

The water all around was motionless untill Freyja suddenly rotated around, to her chest, and started swimming towards the shore. She remembered that perhaps, the girl was still alive and they could talk. She wanted some answers desperately, and was prepared to even force them out if need be.

On the bay, which was now a weirdly-shaped crater almost as low as the water level, there lay Elektra. Her already dark skin was of an even darker shade as a result of the pain she endured. She was barely conscious, shifting between dreams and reality:"Is it over? Aias, what have you done? I was acting reckless, so why did you join in the madness? Did you willingly sacrifice yourself to save me? What happened to the water mage? Is she dead?" At that, she heard the sound of steps. "Aias?" she cried weakly, hoping against all odds that it was him.

Instead, she heard a womanly voice saying: "He's dead, and he took my creature with him into oblivion." Both remained in silence for a second, before Freyja asked:"Why did you attack me?"

Elektra bursted out laughing, which only made her more aware of the aching in her skin. She answered with:"Why? Both my parents were killed at the hands of the water mages! I won't suffer the same fate!"

Freya responded with a calm voice:"But that were my ancestor's fault, not mine. This is the first time I've ever visited the middle lands. You struck me first, and I responded. Is your hatred really so blinded by the past events? Are you prepared to die for what others have told you, without even understanding yourself?"

"Yes. And I'll take you with me. For Aias, that was killed because of you!!" was the answer that surprised Freyja. Elektra thought she was done for, and resorted to the last technique that a fire mage in a desperate situation uses. As Aias had done before her, she offered herself to the destructive power of fire.

But Freyja was no fool. She had already seen this technique, even if only momentarily. She knelt down to the fire mage, and positioned both her hands on Elektra's chest. She felt as if she put her hands into fire, but managed to hold still. Soon the pain subsided, and the blue glow started to spread from her hands and cover Elektra until there was not a single part of her body left free. Freyja took a step back, watching Elektra being consumed in a flash. Afterwards, the glow disappeared and it was all over.

Freyja wondered out loud:"So, Aias was the guy. And who was she?"

"Elektra." a familiar voice told her. She was surprised and immediately searched for the owner of the voice. When she saw him, her first thoughts were:"That's it, I'm dreaming!" But it all felt so very real that she did not believe her inner voice. She scanned him from head to foot and turned away as soon as she realized she was staring at a naked man. A second later she realized she was in no different state herself and this made her blush and cover her breasts with one hand and cross her legs in an attempt to hide her intimate parts.

Aias laughed and asked her:"So you're shy? Incredible, for such an extraordinary gifted mage!" Freyja felt her pride injured, but couldn't do anything against blushing some more, with red cheeks clearly visible against her pale skin. Aias took the initiative and told her:"I want to talk. A battle took place here and others are sure to come due to all the noise we produced. You seem kind of lost, so let me guide you."

"What if I turn you down?" Freyja asked, even though she didn't really consider this possibility. Her mind was too full of unanswered questions. Aias smiled and winked at her, saying: "Do you really think you can resist me in any way?"

With that, they started walking towards the end of the crater. Aias was looking at the desolation around and couldn't decide if he was proud of his destructive powers, or disgusted by the destruction he produced. He led her on a narrow path, and they both looked around for potential trouble. Freyja was still fighting her confused head:"Why am I trusting this man that should be dead? Why do I feel completely safe with him? Aias. What a strange name."

She stopped in her tracks, waiting for Aias to notice. When he did, he simply said:"Don't worry, I'm not leading you into a trap of some sorts. I have a hideout nearby, where we will be able to talk undisturbed." Freyja could not believe what she was hearing and couldn't hide it in her voice:"It's not that! I mean. Thanks for telling me. But. I'm Freya. It's a pleasure to meet you." Aias fell silent, not knowing how to respond. He took some time to look at the interesting girl and told her back:"The pleasure's all mine. Come, there's no time to waste."

The rest of the road they traveled in silence, each thinking of all the questions they had for the other.

TO BE CONTINUED

Word count: 1113