Destroyer (The Elemental Series #7)(42)

Raven grunted. "I'll bite. Are we headed to the Eyrie?"

Shazer shrugged and stretched his wings out wide. "Close enough to call it that. We're headed to the mountains near enough to the Eyrie that there is no way the Sylphs won't know we are there."

"Except there are no Sylphs there," I said.

"What?" Raven grabbed my arms and I turned my head.

"Talan didn't show you?"

The worry in his eyes softened me. Samara was still there. "There are no Sylphs left, none but Samara and her child."

Behind me, Raven stiffened.

"Talan showed me what was happening in the elemental families." I drew a slow breath before I went on, thinking about the Rim and the chaos there, and the Deep with Finley facing down the human warships. "The Sylphs have deserted the Eyrie, leaving Samara and her child alone."

Raven's hold on me loosened and I turned to him. "You going to leave?"

His blue eyes met mine. "You may not believe it, but I do care for her, and all my children."

My eyebrows shot up. "First, Samara is strong enough to take on anything that comes her way. She was an Ender before she was a queen. Secondly," I shook my head, "how many kids do you have?"

A breath slid from him. "You're right. She will be okay."

He went silent and I elbowed him hard in the belly. "How many kids, Raven?"

His eyes narrowed. "More than two."

More than two, that told me nothing. He could have ten. Ten little powerhouses running around the world causing havoc.

Awesome.





CHAPTER 15



"I think we should train while we fly to the Himalayas." Raven touched a hand to my shoulder. "We don't have much time and you need to learn everything you can, while you can."

He had a solid point. We were going after the false mother goddess who had four of the five stones of power. On her own, without the stones, she was strong enough to make the world of the elementals believe she was the mother goddess. She'd been strong enough to create visions for rites of passage for elementals, and to impersonate those I loved. I rubbed a hand over my face. "Okay, what have you got?"

"Have you gone through all your memories?" he asked.

I shrugged but didn't look back at him. The last memory I'd unveiled had been horrifying in its pain. "Does it matter what is false in my past and what is real? We know what Viv's up to. We know she's going to attempt to kill the original elementals. What does it matter if Cassava tangled up my memories?"



       
         
       
        

I looked to Peta when Raven didn't say anything. "What do you think, cat? Am I right?"

She nodded, her eyes bright as her fur ruffled in the wind that rushed around us. "I agree. Unless something comes up where a memory is directly tied to your past, I think it's a waste of time."

"Something else then," Raven said, and I think it was more to himself. "Okay, this is what I've got. You pick."

That was a surprise, but I stayed quiet and pondered. "There are things you can do with Spirit that no other elemental can do. Like Riding it."

"You say that like it's a proper name."

I twisted to look at him. He was not always easy to read, and I knew from our history, I needed to be careful when dealing with him.

"My daughter calls it that. Riding Spirit. It allows you to move from place to place, not unlike jumping the Veil. Only without the kickback of crushing your soul over time."

I couldn't resist thinking of Pamela. "You mean Pam?"

His face drained of color. "You …  how do you know?"

"She opened the Veil, and Rylee was there. The mother goddess told me to save her, so I did."

"Thank you." He spoke without hesitation.

I shrugged. "I always liked her."

He cleared his throat and looked away. "She's the best of me, Lark. The best of me and her mother."

I didn't doubt that. "On to the training. Pamela calls it Riding Spirit. I saw her do it, but I didn't understand how she can use so much Spirit for something that is, in its own way, frivolous." That was one of the first things I'd learned. Using Spirit created a toll on your own soul, one that I wasn't sure I wanted to see the cost of, considering how often I'd used it.

"And who told you not to use it, that it was dangerous?" Raven asked, his eyebrows high.

I closed my eyes as a memory slid through me. "Viv. Shit, she was the one who told me that Spirit shouldn't be used, that it would take up my soul. Is it not true then?"