Chapter 2 Soreness woke me, my body felt like I had slept on a rock all night. Opening my eyes and looking down I saw that I had. I was laying on the floor of what I almost seemed like a castle. Its floors and walls were made of worked stone but there were no windows. The only piece of furniture I could see was a wooden chair. Two hallways left the room, one of which, had a door at the end; I couldn't see down the other from the angle I was at. The previous night’s events raced through my head. I sat up and stretched my sore muscles. "What am I going to do now?" I said to myself. "Oh, your awake now are you?" A woman's voice said. I heard a chair scrape and woman stepped around the corner before walking over to stand in front of me. Like the woman in gray, her age was indeterminate, she looked young but her appearance showed signs of wisdom and maturity. Her pale skin was contrasted by the extreme darkness of her hair and clothing. She wore a full body black dress made of silk with a wide slit on the right side that went up to her hip and showed plenty of cleavage. "Are you hungry or thirsty?" Her voice had a rich playful lilt to it that almost seemed flirtatious. "Uh, sure." I said without taking my eyes off of her. She smiled and leaned forward at the hip, reaching down to caress my cheek. The motion caused her breasts to swing forward and nearly come out of her body suit. I tried not to stare but gulped back my embarrassment. "We, are going to have a lot of fun." she said chuckling to herself before standing and walking down the hallway towards the door at the end. Her hips swung seductively from side to side as she left. What is going on? Thoughts raced through my head but all I had were puzzle pieces that I couldn't put together. Who is this woman, who was the one in gray, where am I, who, what were those girls last night that tried to eat me, why is this happening to me. All I had were questions. Why is this happening to me, yesterday I was a normal college student and now I feel like I'm in an episode of Buffy the vampire slayer. The door opened and the woman in black came through the door carrying a tray of food. She walked slowly across the room, each step with her right leg literally bringing the entire leg out of the dress and she again bent forward in the same manner as she handed my down the tray of food. Just as before, her breasts were perilously close to falling out of her dress. I found myself waiting, holding my breath. I let it out saying "thank you" as I reached up for the food. She pulled up the single chair in the room and sat down. With her eyes fixed on mine she slow, deliberately, crossed her right leg over the left. The folds of the dress prevented me from seeing anything; but, from the amount of now exposed flesh of her leg and hip, it wasn't hard to conclude that she wore absolutely nothing under the dress. My blood was boiling, food was forgotten and right when I was on the verge of losing control of myself to some kind of primal urge she spoke, her question recalling me to the present. "I bet you have a bunch of questions." Her voice teased. "My name is Shade, my sister you met last night is Quake." She laughed deeply at the queer look on my face over the odd names. Her right leg slipped off the other and she leaned forward enough to cause her breasts to swing pendulously. “You”, She then poked me in the nose” “are special” she continued as she leaned back. “Or, Quake thinks so at least. I wish I had been there when you stumped her. She is always so, hmm” her voice trailed off thoughtfully “stalwart” She concluded. She laughed again, Out of us all she shows the least emotion but at heart she probably has the deepest emotions. Maybe that's why she is so hard to talk to. “How many of you are there?” I asked interrupting her reflections. She looked down at me with a wry smile, “Seven, there are seven of us, each beholden to a different element.” Her eyes burned holes into me as the confusion swam through my head. Every answer she gives me just confuses me further. “I thought there were only four; that is, if you’re talking about elemental elements.” I said feeling stupid as I talked. “Actually there are nine, elemental elements.” She smiled using my phrasing. “It’s broken down to three principles of magic. Each principle with three elements each. But, this isn't something you should be hearing from me.” “Why?” “Because I don't know if we’re going to let you go or kill you yet silly” I didn't know if it was the playful way she said it or what she said, but I couldn't suppress a shudder. “Shade!” A woman's voice came from the hallway. I was so enthralled by the charms of Shade that I was completely oblivious to the entrance of the newcomer. “What have you been doing to the poor guy?” she said indignantly “Tidal, I was just having a bit of fun.” Shade said briefly turning to look at her. Tidal had waist long dirty blond hair and wore a deep blue pair of padded pants. Over her equally blue shirt she had a metal brazier with linked shoulder guards. “What's your name?” she asked with a warm smile. “James, James Malachi” I said “Well James, why don't you come with me? Quake may love sleeping on a rock slab, but I can't imagine it being very comfortable for you.” “I am kind of sore from it.” I said as I started to get to my feet. Shade leaned down to pick up the tray so quickly that her breasts swung down and literally slapped me in the face. I lost my balance and fell backwards nearly hitting my head on the wall. She then stood looking down at me with a twinkle in her eyes said “no harm love, maybe later I can help to, relieve, those aches.” Then quietly laughing to herself, she turned and strode from the room. Tidal watched Shade stride from the room before turning her attention back to me. “I'm sorry, Shade tends to be a bit, flirtatious.” Understatement much?”” I muttered under my breath as I got to my feet. We left the room and headed down a series of labyrinthine tunnels. “So explain these elements to me please.” To my surprise I found myself utterly fascinated at the concept, more so than where I was or the werewolves. “Whelp, hmm, where to start. There are nine elements broken down into three principles. The principles are Spiritual, Ethereal and Physical. Spiritual governs the elements of Lightning, Shadow and Mind. Ethereal governs the elements of Fire, Ice and Life. Physical governs the elements of Water, Earth and Wind. I'm a user of Water mostly.” She held up a hand, palm upward, while we walked. Slowly at first but more and more rapidly tiny droplets of water seemed to condense out of the air and congeal forming a baseball sized globe of water. As it coalesced the air in the hallway became noticeably dryer. She played with the water, absentmindedly molding it into various shapes as we walked. “Each element has multiple dynamics as well. For example, Lightning is actually 2 sub elements. Light and electricity. They kind of go hand in hand but both are used in conjunction. There are aspects of it I don't understand myself, I'm a water girl not a lightning girl, Volt could tell you more. There is definitely an overlap between the various elements, but never within the same principle. It's not easy to explain. Water as an element would be better described as liquid, because I could do this with any liquid, even the blood in your body, but blood is a component of the Life element and the way water is shaped it can sometimes take on similarities to both Ice and Shadow forms. “ “So then, Water, Earth and Wind are basically manipulation liquid, solid and gaseous states of matter? I asked “Ya know, I'm starting to think Quake might have been right about you. I'll save the rest, Volt is going to want to talk to you. She will answer all of your questions.”
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