Lunae opened her eyes to see the shock on Shardoe’s face. She had to admit she was amused.
“You know you can’t win,” Shardoe said. Walking closer to her. Lunae got up and stared at him.
“I think differently. You reek of desperation, I think you have underestimated us,” she said. Shardoe was desperate too.
“You’re right, you should join me, together we can rule this empire!” Shardoe said. This was exactly where Lunae wanted him. Begging for the scraps.
“You mean the empire you destroyed! The people you have changed, all for what? Because you couldn’t become king!” Lunae said, hitting a nerve. Lunae could tell that Shardoe was holding back from attacking. He started to laugh.
“You think I did all of this because I couldn’t become king! You have a lot to learn, young one. You’ll see the water will betray you. It doesn’t care about your wants or who you love. It takes it all away. The water abandons every Master at the end, before they turn against it. Except for me, I was too smart for it, and now I control it!” Shardoe said, Lunae looked at him not with anger but of pity.
“Not for long,” she said. Shardoe had enough of this; the game was getting boring. He yelled for the priests to attack as he shot a water blade towards Lunae’s head. She deflected it with water and a swish of her hand. This shocked Shardoe. He then tried to pull her water, but he was having a harder time. Lunae could feel it, and yet it seemed so far away. She started pulling his water, and he started to groan, all the while still trying to pull from her. Then Lunae did something she didn’t even expect. She made the vines from the tree come and tie him up. He yelled for his priests, but she quickly covered his mouth with vines.
***
Fulch was fighting one of the priests with water blades, and the others were fighting with their magic. The priests didn’t know how to take the elements, fighting them. Linth was throwing fireballs at one priest, and the priest was having a hard time keeping up with the water wall. Then they heard Shardoe, and all ran out to rescue him. Everyone followed. The priests surrounded Shardoe and started pulling everyone’s water. Frayusha charged them and shot out ice, which broke the vines. She pulled out her knife and went for the kill. Except that Shardoe pulled one of his priests into the blade and grabbed Frayusha. He then put a knife to her throat.
“Everyone stop, or the girl dies!” Shardoe yelled out. Lunae put her hands up, and the rest followed.
“Now, Lunae be a good girl and grab the fulcrum of acquiescence for me,” Shardoe said. Lunae didn’t see another choice, so she bent down and put her hands on the roots of the trees. She prayed for guidance all the while. Chindra came to comfort her.
“Grab his necklace,” she said. Lunae knew what she had to do. She came out of her meditative sleep and watched as the tree opened up to reveal a black bag. She grabbed it and got up. Shardoe had his hand out while they were walking backwards. Lunae placed the bag in his hands.
“Thank you, now enjoy the time you have left,” Shardoe said. Lunae then rushed to Frayusha and hugged her.
“I’ll save you, I promise,” Lunae said as the priests pulled her off of her. Then they ran off. Lunae turned towards everyone, who all seemed curious about why the theatrics.
“What did you take?” Linth asked, Lunae smiled, and pulled out the necklace. It was a glass jar of blood and water. Fulch looked at it intently and was frustrated about why she did that.
“Return,” the water said. Then they both understood, they took back control over the water, and once they returned it, the water would be free.
“We will get her back, right?” Linth said. Lunae nodded
“We have to leave, the Rhudonians are on the hunt,” Lunae said. They all started running, and soon they could hear the rumbling of the hoard. Lunae yelled for everyone to keep going, but Fulch didn’t listen. Lunae and Fulch stood their ground and watched as the hoard came over the hill. Lunae grabbed Fulch’s hand and raised her hand to the sky.
“Make a wall,” she said to Fulch, he did and the sky turned grey, then green. It started to rain, but soon started turning into a tornado.
“Push the wall!” Lunae yelled out, and Fulch did. The wall pushed a lot of them back, but it wasn’t enough. Then the tornado came down on top of the rest, and they all went flying.
“Time to run!” Lunae said, and they did. They made it back to the others and ran until they couldn’t anymore. They slowed down and started to notice that the ground was blooming grass.
“What have you done?” Tanla asked. Lunae smiled, and Fulch smiled as well. Linth and Tanla were very interested.
“I’ve brought back water to the planet,” Lunae said. Fulch saw the disgust in Tanla’s eyes, but he saw the hope in Linths.
“What are we going to do now that he has the fulcrum of acquiescence?” Linth asked, Lunae stopped walking, and they all followed.
“We fight, but now we have the water on our side, and the temple is safe. We’ll go back and find a way to defeat his curses,” Lunae said. Fulch looked at her and actually believed her. They walked on in silence, not knowing what the future was going to hold.