“Kai, she is engaged to be married." Blaze poked her finger into the man's chest. "This means she isn't available.”
Here icy words seemed more than just a warning. I felt a hint of jealousy in
her tone.
I forced myself to snap out of the spell I had fallen under from his touch.
“Thank you, Kai. I'm glad to meet you, too.” Remembering the rest of the Fire
elementals were staring at me, I quickly turned and said, “And I'm glad to meet
each of you, as well.”
Once again, Blaze cut my introduction short by taking my hand and leading
me out of the room. In a stern voice, she called over her shoulder, “Everyone
will be able to get to know Mara, tonight. She will be staying for the
celebration.”
The group buzzed with murmurs of approval.
Blaze dragged me from the warmth of the Fire elementals' room, and a cool breeze blasted me. She led me up a seemingly endless staircase with Kai in tow.
As we climbed, I began to count the steps in my head, hoping to distract myself
from the tempting Fire elemental beside me.
One hundred forty. Two hundred seventy-six. Why am I not tired yet? Fourhundred eighteen. Oh, it looks like we’re at the top. Five hundred and ninety-nine.
The last step led to the most magnificent blue sky I had ever seen in my life.
Hundreds of colored birds were flying and diving around each other. My eyes fixed on a large white cloud, where a blue bird nestled in the bits of fluff.
When I made eye contact with the azure blue-eyed bird, it winked and began
to fly towards me. When it reached the halfway point, it began to spin. As it turned, the cerulean bird began to transform into a young woman.
Breeze landed before me and gave me a big hug. “Mara, I'm so glad you are
here!”
I held the Air elemental tighter. I wanted to soak in the love she emitted.
As we released our hug, she took my hand and called out to the sky,
“Everyone, come welcome, Mara.”
This welcome was much different from the other elementals I had met. The
brightly colored birds formed the words, Welcome and Greetings in the air before they landed and took their human forms. All of them had blue eyes, but their hair
color ranged from white, highlighted with bright colors, to a deep purple with red streaks.
“Thank you, everyone, for the warm welcome,” I said with a smile.
I was instantly swept into the arms of an Air elemental and hugged. One-by-
one, they wrapped me in a tender embrace before I was passed to the next
individual. I was filled with not only a feeling of love and family but a sense of knowing. The tingle in the air murmured secrets. I didn't understand the meaning
of the words, but I wasn’t afraid or nervous.
“Enough, Mara will see everyone, tonight.” Blaze rolled her eyes, obviously
annoyed by the display of affection. Cutting my introductions short, she curtly said, “Breeze, meet us later.” Then, she led me away from the Air elementals towards the top of a large tree.
The branches of the trees softly swayed in a zephyr. However, when we
reached the edge of the platform, one of the leaves began shaking frantically.
“Pick me up,” it called.
I looked to Blaze for approval. She nodded.
