Eternal: Chapter Five, Part 1

Chapter Five: From the Ground Up

Mitchell returned a few days later having found both Kora and Mikael. I was excited to be able to see them again, having been close to them back at camp. They had been part of a small, close- knit group of elementals, the first to actively dissolve the boundaries their predecessors had created between the earth and water elementals. When I set to break those boundaries by means of a game, they asked questions and worked to mediate arguments that arose after; my shining examples, in a way.

That was years ago, though. I hadn’t seen any of them since I left—Jake since before I left, which was why I was hoping to save him until last.

Drei was still off at whatever it was he was doing. By this point, it was a well-guarded secret I wanted in on, merely lacking the time to pursue it—not to mention my personal promise to be patient. I set Mitchell to working with Caroline and Ian—when they had time—to flesh out the vague timeline I had been putting together. They were also supposed to brainstorm different methods of reaching people given our deadline. Valetta was still tracking down Jake; last I’d heard, she had already located Xenia. She promised to find him by the time I was done meeting with Mikael and Kora.

Kora was finishing her freshman year at college, but you wouldn’t have known it looking at her. She had highlighted her dark hair with thin strands of red brown and carried herself as though she was a graduating senior. She had grown up a lot since I had last seen her three years ago.

I watched her during the cloudy day, following at a safe distance. There wasn’t any point in interrupting her regular day when what I had to discuss with her had nothing to do with her college life or friends. Besides, it would likely take her a moment to remember me if she did at all. It had taken Caroline almost too long for comfort, and it had only been a year since I last saw her. Ian didn’t count.

She was quite the busy student, between studying, group meetings, organizational meetings, and what have you. The first few days presented little opportunity. The fourth day, a Saturday, was sunny—which kept me indoors during the day—and that night was some sorority event.

It wasn’t until Sunday night when she was even relatively alone. She walked around the beautiful campus with her boyfriend—at least that’s whom I guessed the lanky gentleman holding her hand was. Checking her watch casually, she kissed his cheek and bade him farewell. There was an explanation as well, but I wasn’t near enough to catch it and I didn’t feel like adding eavesdropping on top of what could be classified as stalking.

His blue gray eyes followed her a while before he continued down the path. Kora approached me where I was sitting on a bench near the quad, partially hidden behind flowering bushes. She stopped a couple yards away, crossing her arms and cocking her hip to the side.

“Why have you been following me for the last week?” she asked.

Meeting her large hazel eyes, I kept a straight face, deciding to take an un-Mitchell approach with her. “How have you been, Kora?” I asked, attempting to minimize the amount of spent on memory catch-up.

“Why do you know my name?” A trace of fear crossed over her features before it vanished under a cool façade.

“I’m guessing you knew I was following you because of your talents,” I said, realizing I was very possibly terrifying her as she clenched her jaw and clutched her arms more tightly. “You really have nothing to fear from me. We’ve met before.”

“I’m sure we haven’t,” she said. “I really think you should stop whatev—”

“Don’t you remember feathers? Or games? Maybe you remember Nick? Perhaps an ice sculpture with flowers you helped to make? Any of that ring a bell?”

It was somewhat entertaining to watch her huge eyes grow in realization and then narrow in skepticism. “You can’t be—”

I put a finger to my lips, silencing her as she studied me, even more confused. “You can’t use my name in public for the time being,” I said, standing. She was as tall as I was now, and it was strange since I remembered her only coming up to my shoulder. “Drei wants everyone to call me Leirba for now.”