Disclaimer: No, we do not own any of Misty's works. We do own the Elementals, Phineas, all the Heralds and Companions except for Kyrith and random mentions of legends like Sunsinger, and all the ballads that go hand-in-hand with this fic. Fireblade has written these ballads and she will rip you to itty-bitty shreds if they are plagiarized, because she worked bloody hard!

All right then…I know it is Sena's turn to write a chapter, and I have written more chapters than I am supposed to, but I planned out the next chapter over my family vacation, to keep my writing skills sharp, and now I want to write it! I apologize, Sena…

(Sena: Tis verily alright! –grins-)

This chapter will start out slightly oddly. You'll see what I mean.

Chapter Eight: Luck, Gifts and Animosity

Someone picked up a mug and took a sip, setting it down slightly too-firmly, as if the drinker was nervous. Sinovan Olatel, whose father was on a Council seat, looked over his fellow Blue, and the one in question shifted. "My father told me about the newest Trainees," he said, breaking the ice, before anyone asked what this clandestine meeting was about. "According to him, there's going to be a war. One that could demolish Valdemar."

"Karse?" said an uneasy voice, from the opposite side of the table. Sinovan shook his head. "Not Karse," he said, "Father couldn't say much, but he did say the Monarch's Own was convinced it wasn't from a country we know about."

A silence fell, until another Blue Sinovan knew only vaguely as the heir to an estate in the North spoke up. "It'll be from the West or North," the speaker said, "If it's from the North, my holdings will be the first destroyed and looted."

"But how can we stop it?" said a dainty-looking girl, her voice almost panicky.

"I don't know," admitted Sinovan, "But the…Elementals—" his voice uttered the word with disdain— "Are supposedly our saviors."

He waited.

"If they appear when the war is about to begin," said the girl, slowly, "Then… without them, there might not be a war."

Sinovan smiled, chillingly. "That is the conclusion I have come to."

He waited as the other Blues and various highborns his age put two and two together. At last, the heir to the lands in the North said, "The Terilee is flooding. If one or two fell in…well, I'm sure an accident wouldn't point to any of us."

-0o0o0-

Triveni wandered through Companion's Field, walking alongside the Terilee as he thought over things. In accordance with Keahi's—and the rest of the group's—wishes, the Elementals were now taking classes just as the four of them, save for Weapons. But that was all right, since in Weapons you couldn't concentrate on anything but the sword, stave, or other training implement in your hands, or you'd get walloped.

Triveni rubbed a bruise on his arm ruefully as he mulled over that day's class. Keahi's temper hadn't dampened over the last few days, and a few choice remarks during warm-up by some of the Blues had Keahi striking harder than strictly necessary. Triveni had fumbled a block, and, well…

Well, his arm had gone numb, then had started hurting like hell, but it wasn't broken. And it was his left arm, so at least he could still use his good hand.

Tri stopped to look down at the Terilee, which had flooded its banks thanks to a prolonged rainfall in the North. This part of the river was particularly treacherous, with slippery footing and rocks beneath the surface. Swimmers had died in this section—not recently, but still, deaths.

A footstep behind him was the only warning he had before someone shoved him, hard and mercilessly. Tri fell forwards, too surprised to try and shift his weight to fall to the side rather than face-first, and toppled into the river.

A current brought him under within seconds, dragging him down to the bottom of the river, banging him against the sides of the rocks. Triveni winced, but allowed the current to carry him down, holding his breath patiently.

I suppose it was to be expected, that we would be attacked eventually, he thought, slightly bitterly, as he chanced a swimming-stroke and gained some measure of control, But they made a huge mistake.

Tri grinned underwater as he pushed off the bank and found a current taking him upwards. They threw the Water-oriented Trainee into the river. Hah. One would think they could tell us apart…

:Concentrate on the swimming, Triveni Randilyn!: came a sharp mindvoice, and Tri choked as he tried to gasp in surprise. He managed to regain control after tumbling head-over-heels through the current, swimming with sure strokes upwards.

The water he'd inhaled didn't seem to be doing any harm…

Tri put the thought out of his mind and tried to find a current to aid him upwards. There were none…

Well, there was one. But it was so small.

But it was drown or… well, drown, come to think of it, unless he used his powers…

Tentatively, Triveni Reached, as he had done for Elita, and somehow enhanced the current, making it stronger and bearing him to the surface. He took a deep breath before ducking underwater again, though this time staying close to the surface, as he worked his way to the bank.

Unfortunately, the bank was steep, and very slippery. Triveni clung to a rock, staring up at the bank morosely. Damn…

But wait…

He had lifted that water the other day with hardly a thought, shaping it and bringing it through the air with barely a breath of power. What if he shaped the water again, lifting himself onto the bank?

Worth a try, anyway…

Triveni closed his eyes, took a breath, and lifted.

And he was standing on the bank. Turning, Tri looked at the river, using his power to bring the water out of his clothes without even thinking—leaving himself completely dry-somehow vaguely disappointed at having to leave his element. But that was beside the point—he was fine, but—

His eyes widened in alarm as a thought occurred to him. Gods! The others!

-0o0o0-

Makani wandered through Companion's Field, aimlessly taking turns and twists in his meanderings. At last, he ended up at the Terilee, and turned to walk alongside it, staring absently at the swollen river.

The gray-eyed boy picked up a stone and threw it into the river, watching as the current dragged it forward before it sank out of sight. Picking up another one, Makani weighed it thoughtfully in his hand before throwing it with a flick of his wrist.

This time, the stone skipped three times, leaving a trail of ripples, before it sank. Makani grinned to himself and stooped again—

But—

:Chosen came Ciro's alarmed Mindcall, along with a startled neigh—

Makani looked across the Terilee to see his Companion galloping frantically forward—

And someone picked him up and threw him at the river. Makani soared through the air, his mind in shock, but—

Something inside him was alert, and reacted without consulting his brain. The something reached, and twisted, and—

Makani's mind began to work again as he found himself floating in the center of a small whirlwind above the river, seconds after he had been thrown. His mouth fell open as Ciro thundered across a half-swamped bridge, seemingly transformed from his regular easygoing self into a demon with hooves—a demon who with a battle-scream charged three fleeing Blues.

Makani jolted from his paralysis as four other Companions—none he recognized—charged out of the trees to help Ciro in herding them, surrounding the Blues with enraged white horseflesh. Nudging the whirlwind there and there…

Makani soon found himself on solid ground, and released the winds.

Triveni came sprinting up to him, his eyes wide and gasped in relief when he saw Makani. "'Kani!" he panted, stopping beside the Air-oriented Elemental, "Teth has the ones that tried to get me in the river. Where are the others?"

-0o0o0-

Keahi sat in Nitesh's rock garden, tossing pieces of gravel into the stream as Fen weeded.

That's right, weeded.

Keahi shook her head to herself, flicking a curl of red hair over her shoulder, and directed another sidelong glance at Fen, who was carefully teasing a strand of some creeping vine out of a bush, apparently to join the neat pile of vines he had to the side, still rooted at their base. Rolling her green eyes, Keahi sighed and looked Havenwards.

It wasn't raining here, merely a bit overcast, but the floods in the North were enough to flood the Terilee, and the little streams that laced Companion's Field. This one wasn't more than two or three feet wide and maybe a foot and a half deep when the weather was normal, but now it was two and a half feet deep and very fast.

Still, no risk of drowning, should she happen to fall in…

Keahi shook her head and attempted to skip a rock. She'd never been good at it, though, and the pebble fell to the bottom. Sighing, Keahi stood, with a yawn and a stretch. Turning to Fen, she saw him at last pull the weed from the ground. Keahi applauded sarcastically. "Wonderful, wonderful, the almighty Fen has pulled a weed," she said, "In Companion's Field where no one truly cares whether there are weeds or not."

Fen at last glanced up at her as he stood, brushing dirt and grass from the knees of his trews. "I care," he said, mildly, as he picked up the weed. "Could you burn this? If I leave it, it'll re-root and spread."

Keahi sighed and nodded, and Fen tossed the plant into the air. Keahi glanced at it, and it burst into flames, burning to a mere trickle of ash in the air.

A gasp in the bushes gave someone away, but at that point, several Blues leapt from behind the trees and in the bushes, converging on Fen and herself. Their intent was clear as one of them drew a knife, holding it backwards so he could rap their heads with the pommel.

Keahi and Fen instinctively went back-to-back as the Blues circled for a moment. Damn, he can't defend himself without destroying half the Field— Keahi thought, in the part of her mind that was coldly analytical, but the rest of her was angry. How dared they? First to mock them, then to attack? What the hells were they trying to do?

And fire burst into being, unstoppable—not touching any of the Blues, but surrounding the circle on both sides with columns of hot, blue flame. Keahi split the columns and split them again, hardly aware what she was doing, herding the Blues into a small group in front of her so she didn't have to control so much fire.

Nitesh and Edana burst into the garden, followed by five other Companions, surrounding the circle of fire.

Chosen! You can let go now!: said Edana into Keahi's mind.

Keahi did not respond.

Fen was the one who broke her paralysis—grabbing her shoulders, he whirled her around to face him and shook her, calling her name in a firm voice.

Keahi came back to herself, still enraged, but in control of herself by now. She released the fires reluctantly, turning back to face the terrified highborn Blues surrounded by Companions.

"Drop the knife," she said, her voice detached and filled with steely rage. The Blue let it fall. Before Keahi could say anything else, however, Fen interposed himself between her and the highborns. "Sit down, Keahi," he said, firmly, taking her shoulders again and pressing her down. Keahi blinked as the rage somehow leached away—and her knees turned to jelly. Instead of forcing her down, a rather surprised Fen found himself controlling Keahi's fall.

Keahi slowly arranged herself into a crosslegged position, her clenched fists in her lap. Opening her hands proved to be something of an effort, but once she managed to, she realized her fingernails had dug deep into her palms—so deeply, she had drawn blood in three places.

Luckily, Fen had turned to look at the Blues again, and Keahi wiped the blood on the grass before he could see it.

She realized, as she sat there and Fen glared at the Blues, and the Companions circled them, exactly what she had done—called fire out of nothing and burned the air around the Blues, holding a lot of flames for nearly a minute. As Keahi had never done something on this scale before, her powers were fairly well drained—like a rarely-used muscle suddenly used a lot in a short space of time—and her head felt odd.

Peacefully, as the Fire-oriented Trainee rarely did anything, Keahi fell backwards as darkness claimed her.

-0o0o0o0o0o0-

All right, Sena, it's your turn now! I promise not to write another chapter before you get to it!

Reviews are muchly loved!

And Myuu-Foxgirl, none of the Elementals will be lifebonded. Nope, nada, zip. Infatuation and love mix-ups, sure. But no lifebondings—they're Heralds, and those are special, but these are very special Heralds, and that much farther apart. No lifebondings even to each other! Sena and I decided it would make the story too confusing and would add unneeded plot points!

But there might be romance… -wink- Right, Sena? (The rest of you shall just have to wait. Muahaha.)

-Fireblade K'Chona and Senashenta