Rise of the Elementals by Rashad Freeman Page A

room and
Daviathan pressed his fingers against his lips. Gently lowering
Achima’s head, he stood up and pulled a bronze dagger from his bag.
Tarian did the same and they silently crept forward.
    The sound of things breaking and being
thrown around rattled on the other side of the wall. As they moved
closer the ruckus suddenly stopped. Daviathan froze and pointed at
a dark opening in the wall. Tarian nodded and they began to shuffle
stealthily across the sandy floor with their backs pressed flat
against the lumpy clay.
    Inching closer, Daviathan leaned forward and
peeked around the corner into the shadowy room. Tables and chairs
were sprawled all over the place. The windows had been shattered
and the giant oak table that sat in the center was broken in half
and partially reduced to splinters.
    Suddenly, there was a loud bang and a large
shaggy object exploded from the room and slid across the floor. It
looked like a cross between a wolf and a lion. Its body was covered
in black, spiked fur and a pair of razor sharp horns protruded from
its head. Its tail whipped about like a wild lizard as it gashed at
the air with bird like talons.
    “ Ravens!” Daviathan
screamed.
    He lunged at the animal, his bronze knife
slicing through the air. The raven was quicker and slid to the side
avoiding Daviathan’s blade. Tarian dove after it, but the raven
swatted him to the ground, scraping him across the chest with his
savage claws.
    Circling the raven, Daviathan glared into
its dark purple eyes. It snarled and growled, slowly mimicking
Daviathan as they stepped in unison around each other.
    Tightly squeezing the hilt of his knife
Daviathan clenched his teeth, waiting for an opening. The raven
snapped at him and slashed with his claws. Then with another growl
it turned and dove out of a window into the night.
    Daviathan gave chase, but the sleek animal
was quickly consumed by the darkness. He stared after it, narrowing
his eyes to focus.
    “ Daviathan!” Tarian called
from inside the hut.
    Whipping around, Daviathan darted back
inside. Tarian was leaning against the wall, his hand covering a
gash that ran from his chest to his stomach.
    “ I’ve found Abrax.” Tarian
grumbled.
    Daviathan looked at him; blood seeped
through his fingertips and down his hand.
    “ Age has made you slow my
friend.”
    He placed his hand over Tarian’s hand and
closed his eyes. A soft, yellow glow rose around the wound and then
vanished. When Daviathan moved his hand the wound had healed.
    Daviathan stepped away, noticing the limp
body that was laying at the edge of the room. He was a portly man
with thinning red hair. His throat had been torn out and a streak
of blood stained the floor where he had been dragged.
    “ He was in the room…the
room with the raven. We were only minutes too late.” Tarian said as
he dropped his head.
    Daviathan sighed. “Old friend, I hope your
journey was not in vain.”
    Kneeling down, he swept the fiery locks from
Abrax’s face and stared into his dim, gray eyes.
    “ I’ll need your help with
this.” Daviathan said stretching his hand up into the
air.
    Tarian knelt next to him. He placed one hand
on Abrax’s body and grabbed Daviathan’s with the other. Daviathan
did the same forming a circle.
    They both took a deep breath and flashes of
light started to pulse from their fingers. The pulses grew stronger
and stronger, lighting up the room like a torch. Abrax’s body began
to convulse, his head snapped backwards, his chest arched upwards.
Then with a flash their hands were thrown from his body and they
were flung backwards.
    Daviathan stumbled to his feet first.
Abrax’s lifeless corpse was still lying on the floor, but a
purplish glow surrounded him. Slowly, a mist wafted from his mouth
and rose into the air.
    It was a thick purple gas, shapeless, but
moving. As Daviathan watched, it morphed into an oblong figure then
stretched until the form of a man started to appear. Within
seconds, the gas resembled the