But hopelessness draped its heavy self over her fighting spirit. The Shadow Society controlled far more than she’d ever imagined. If they wanted the world to stay as it was now, what could she and a bunch of elementals do?
Ridley wiped her wet cheeks with the back of one hand. The breeze that had curled around her when she first landed here had vanished, leaving a strange stillness in its wake. She swallowed, sniffed, and peeled back the lid of the soup can. She thought of fire, and the resulting flames dancing across her palm quickly heated the can’s contents. She forced herself to eat. Then she summoned just enough energy to blow a few warm gusts of air around herself, partially drying her damp clothes and hair.
It wasn’t an accident.
She had to get back to Dad and the others. She had to tell them the truth about what had really wiped out most of the earth. She had to warn them that the Shadow Society might—if Archer had been lying about everything and was still loyal to them—know where their new home was.
But she was so tired. So, so tired. When last had she slept? It didn’t feel that long ago, but it must have been … days? When she’d been racing toward Lumina City to find Archer, it had seemed like she could keep going forever while in elemental form. Well, if not forever, then at least far longer than anyone could last in human form. But now, she doubted she had the energy to even become one of the elements, let alone remain that way for any decent length of time.
She lay down, right there on the road, with her backpack as a pillow and a clump of weeds cushioning her shoulder. Just for a little while, she thought. A storm will start up again soon. It won’t be long before it’s raining again. Then I’ll wake up. Then I’ll …
It didn’t start raining again. Ridley woke up to the sort of dim, gray light and cloud-obscured sky that meant it was impossible to tell what time of day it was. She had no idea how long she’d been asleep. A night, a day, a night and a day? It took a moment, and then the pain of Archer’s betrayal pierced her chest again, followed closely by the unbearable weight of the Cataclysm truth. Then the physical ache of a body forced to sleep on a solid surface quickly made itself known.
It wasn’t an accident.
She had to get back and tell everyone that they probably needed to find a new home. Archer didn’t know exactly where the mountainside building was, but Nathan had shared enough information that Archer could probably find it. Her pulse thrummed with renewed urgency, but she took the time to quickly eat a can of something pretending to be a fruit salad. She needed the energy if she was hoping to push her elemental form to its limits and return to the mountains as quickly as she had made it to Lumina City. She stood, wincing at the ache in her stiff joints. But the discomfort would be gone once she was …
Her thoughts slipped away like smoke on a breeze as something whispered at the edge of her mind. Something … Dad? She was about to change form and question the magic more closely when a gust of wind blew her hair away from her face. It vanished, and two human forms appeared out of thin air a few paces away.
Nathan. And Dad.
Ridley was hit by the overwhelming urge to run to her father, fall into his arms, and sob her heart out. But the expression on his face kept her feet rooted to the spot. “For the love of all that’s magical,” Dad said, striding toward Ridley. “You have got to stop racing off on your own and putting yourself in danger.” Up close, Ridley could see the relief mixed in with his frustration. He swept her into a hug.
“How did you find me?” she asked, her voice small.
“We headed for Lumina City and listened to the elements as we went. Well, Nathan listened,” Dad corrected as he released Ridley. “I suppose I was just a passenger.”
“A passenger I could have gone much faster without,” Nathan growled.
Ridley decided to ignore him. “You didn’t have to come after me, Dad. I was on my way back—”
“You should have taken someone with you. I know I can’t stop you from doing this sort of thing, but did you have to do it alone?”
“Oh, so I should have waited around until someone else decided they had time to come with me?” Ridley snapped, her tone harsher than she’d intended it to be. The tide of hurt she was trying to keep at bay battered against her defenses, leaking into her voice and curling her hands into fists. “People were a little preoccupied with other things, Dad. We had all just fled for our lives. Everyone else was busy with their own family and friends and—and people they care about.” She broke off as the ache in her chest intensified. Archer was someone she cared about. She hated how true that still was, despite all the lies he’d told her.
“Ugh, none of this is important right now,” she continued, blinking her tears away. “There are things I need to tell you. Archer is …” She took a deep breath. “He’s part of the Shadow Society. Or he was, but isn’t anymore. I don’t know. He says he’s changed and that he’s on our side now, that he’s lying to them and not to us, but who knows. So we probably need to move our entire community all over again, because he knows roughly where it is and it’s possible he’s told his father. Who is the director of the entire Shadow Society, by the way. And the Cataclysm …” She sucked in another deep breath. “The Cataclysm wasn’t an accident. The Shadow Society planned for it to happen. They messed with the conjurations the energy magicists were doing, while also doing their own conjurations that provoked the elements into reacting violently on a massive scale. It was all intentional.”
Dad and Nathan simply stared at her.
“Yeah,” Ridley said quietly, finally unclenching her hands at her sides. “It’s kind of a lot to take in.”
“The … it … what?” Dad stammered.
“That … actually …” Nathan frowned as he stared past Ridley, one hand rising to slowly scratch his chin. “Makes a lot of sense,” he finished. “All the things the public doesn’t know … the wild magic that isn’t actually deadly, and the arxium they spray into the atmosphere to keep the violent storms going … I always assumed it was the government—or the Shadow Society, or both—taking advantage of the Cataclysm after it happened. But they actually caused it in the first place.”
“This is unbelievable,” Dad murmured. His eyes glistened with unshed tears, and Ridley knew he was thinking of Mom. “What a waste,” he whispered. “What an utter waste of everything beautiful in the world.”
“I know,” Ridley said quietly.
“And … Alastair Davenport? He’s the director?” Dad shook his head. “I can’t believe it. We were … friends. Well, sort of. Not close friends, but more than acquaintances. You were Lilah’s friend. You were at their home all the time, and I just—it never crossed my mind that you might not be safe there. But he would have killed you if he’d known what you are.”
“I know,” Ridley repeated, even quieter now.
“We need to leave,” Nathan interrupted. “Warn everyone we might not be safe in the mountains. Then we can discuss all of this in detail and figure out if it changes any of our plans. It would be a lot quicker,” he added with a glare in Dad’s direction, “if we could fragment. Instead we have to take a non-elemental with us.”