Earth

Note: all characters are over 18, as set out in the story.

*****

Master of Elements: Chapter 5 - Earth

"And the true order of going, or being led by another, to the things of love, is to begin from the beauties of Earth." Plato, Symposium

The concern I felt over the danger we were all in made me determined to speed up the search for the Mistress of Earth. Brigit and I had stopped going north when we reached Nairobi as I had the feeling the person I sought now lay to the west. So it was that we made our way to Kampala, the capital of Uganda. I thought we were getting closer, but finding our target was still a challenge. We were in a city of over one and half million people.

There was nothing we could do but start searching using the now tried and tested 'triangulation method' we had used in Sweden. In a city the size of this one it took us almost a week to narrow the search down but eventually it worked - at least up to a point. Brigit looked gloomily at the mass of buildings to which our efforts had brought us. "Not helpful ... a major hospital ... hundreds of people. We don't even know if she is a patient, visitor or a member of staff."

I sighed. She was right. "Let's wait until nightfall and try again to narrow things down further. There's a good chance that whether she works here or is visiting she will have moved."

That evening when we re-performed our check, our target had indeed changed location but unfortunately not in a way that was particularly helpful. On the edge of the hospital campus was long three-story accommodation block for trainee nurses and it seemed our girl was within, but she might have been on the moon for all it meant for us. Entrance was restricted to authorised personnel only and we didn't even so much as know the name of the person we were looking for.

"I suppose we could try lying in wait and seeing if we can detect her when she goes on shift sometime tomorrow," I said dubiously. We had very little to work with here.

It was then than we had a tremendous slice of luck - or at least that was what it seemed to be at the time. As things stood, Brigit and I were lurking here at 11pm in the evening staring at the nursing accommodation. We must have looked rather suspicious and I would have expected anyone who saw us to have at least challenged what we were doing. It was therefore surprising when we were suddenly hailed in a friendly fashion.

Looking round, we saw an impressive figure approaching. He was a tall African man, handsome, around forty years old and clad in a white coat that instantly identified him as a doctor. As he reached us, I could see his name badge: 'Dr K Okello'. I assumed he must been have working and had just got off shift. It was an easy assumption to make - he had a disarming charisma to him that put me instantly at ease.

"Hello, I saw you two round the hospital earlier in the day," he said. "Are you looking for someone in particular? I would be happy to help if it's important. " Okello gave a beaming smile that displayed perfect white teeth. I noticed Brigit smiled back and I felt a pang of jealousy regarding the admiring gaze she was giving the handsome doctor. Still, I couldn't blame her; I too felt this was a man I should trust.

I did wonder for a moment why this was. We had only just met and I suppose I should have been more suspicious but he seemed so open and friendly. His English, although accented, was excellent and I wondered if perhaps he had worked in the US or UK at some point. In any event, I didn't want to seem defensive in case Brigit and I came over as suspect, so I answered him openly.

"Yes, we could do some help. I'm looking for someone who works at the hospital." This seemed a safe guess on my part. "I think she lives here in this accommodation but I'm afraid I don't know her name. Me and my assistant", here I indicated Brigit, "have come out from London to try to locate someone who has been left an important legacy, but I only have the vaguest of details." It was the same cover story I had used in Brigit's case and that had worked out well enough, so it was worth a try.

"I see," said Dr Okello, "and what description do you have?" I told him - female, aged 18 to 22, very beautiful, brown skin and eyes. Okello laughed, "That would fit many of our trainee nurses. Why don't I let you into the building and we can look for this lady now. I will accompany you and that way we can all chaperone each other." He smiled at this, and Brigit and I chuckled at his little joking reference to the oddity of us entering the nurse's quarters at this time of night.

Again, in retrospect, I should have had my doubts. If he really wanted to help there were many more likely things he might have done, such as saying he would ask around the hospital or suggesting we came back tomorrow. However, Dr Okello was so charming that I took his offer at face value. I was keen to find the Mistress of Earth as soon as I could, and this felt like the perfect opportunity. Brigit seemed to have no more concerns than I did and was smiling happily at him.

Okello led us to the main entrance door and used his swipe card badge to unlock it. We three went in and paused in the entrance lobby. There were corridors to the left and right of us and stairs heading up the next floor. "How will you find the person you're looking for?" the doctor asked.

This was a difficult question to answer. How do you explain mystic minds links and supernatural feelings? All I said was: "By trial and error. Leave it to us." This didn't make much sense, but Okello seemed to accept it. I nodded to Brigit and we separated, going to opposite sides of the entrance hall. We concentrated for a moment, and then I said, "Upstairs?" She nodded.

Brigit and I headed for the stairs to the next floor and Dr Okello followed, although for the moment I had forgotten him in the excitement of the hunt. At the next landing we determined this was the right floor; there was no need to go right to the top. We headed left, past rows of doors onto accommodation rooms until suddenly Brigit and I both stopped. The feeling we had been following was behind us now. We took a few paces back and stopped before a door, no different to all the others - number 117. This was it.

It was here that a little common sense returned to me. What was I planning to do? Knock on a young woman's door at approaching midnight? Now we had some idea how to find her, it would be better to come back tomorrow.

But before I got a chance to voice any of that Dr Okello took the choice out of my hands. He reached forward and gripped the door handle. I was puzzled for a moment - surely it was likely to be locked? But then I saw that didn't matter. With super-human strength the doctor forced the lock and crashed the door open. I saw inside. I had naively assumed that these would be single rooms but in reality it was shared. Bunk beds occupied one side of the room and two young women had been asleep and were now sitting up staring at their wrecked door.

The slightly foggy confusion that had been affecting my mind ever since we met Dr Okello outside suddenly cleared as he directed his attention elsewhere and I knew the truth. I recalled that our enemy was a shape shifter and the legends had emphasised its cunning as much as its strength and power. Our minds had been played with and we had led the Creature directly to its intended victim. In all likelihood it would now kill all three of us.

In the seconds it took my and Brigit's shocked brains to absorb this, our enemy continued to act. The fake Dr Okello waved his hand toward the two young women in the bunk beds, and they instantly slumped back unconscious. I felt a wave of something pass through my own mind, a command to sleep, but the Creature had not directly its power at Brigit and me and perhaps my amulet and her ring also protected us, so we both stayed awake.

But even as my brain finally started to click into gear and consider that I should do something, our enemy had moved on to its endgame. The form of Dr Okello was shimmering and melting and something taller and stronger was taking its place - something with razor-sharp hook-like claws on its hands. I had a sudden recollection of the hideous sight of Gwydion Jones' corpse, ripped apart by claws such as those.

I realised it didn't even need to kill Brigit and me - the unconscious Mistress of Earth currently lying helpless on the top bunk would be enough. Stopping this thing needed me and all five of the elemental Mistresses together or it was game over. Absorbing these events had taken just seconds but still it seemed we would be too slow to act. Fortunately, Brigit recovered a little quicker than me, whether because she was younger or because her new sister was being threatened I couldn't say.

Acting on instinct she did something we had never practiced. It was improvised on the spot and showed her increasing mastery of her powers. Brigit realised that any flamethrower-like display of fire would have probably killed all of us and set light to the building. Instead, she projected a slim beam of energy, somewhat like a laser, directly at what had once seemed to be Dr Okello's head.

I sensed its raw power and heat - hundreds of degrees Celsius - and had the Creature been human it would have been killed instantly. That didn't happen, but Brigit certainly managed to hurt it. Our enemy gave an inhuman howl and half turned to face us, its shape still indeterminate. Finally getting my act together I threw everything I could into establishing a defensive barrier between it, us and the unconscious nurses, while Brigit hit it again with another of her heat rays.

However, it wasn't either of us that forced it to retreat; left to our own strengths it would have killed us all. What made the difference was that the commotion that had started with the door being forced had attracted attention. Doors were opening up and down the corridor and people emerging to find out what was happening. Conscious that the opportunity for a quick unobserved kill had gone the Creature suddenly vanished as if into thin air. The only thing that remained was Dr Okello's swipe card - all the rest had been illusion. The real doctor's body was found the next day, hidden in undergrowth near where we had seemingly met him. The unfortunate Dr Okello had been ripped apart, leaving the authorities to wonder how a lion had found its way to central Kampala.

More by luck than judgement we had saved the Mistress of Earth, but now we had a new problem, namely a great mass of alarmed people milling about. It was going to be very hard to explain what we were doing here. However, in the midst of all the drama earlier I had noticed something - sensed it would be nearer the mark. When the fake Dr Okello had first appeared and presumably affected our minds, the diamond at the centre of my amulet had reacted. It had happened again when our enemy had stunned the nurses to sleep and a third time when it had vanished.

What had happened felt to me like some form of mind control. Perhaps I could make use of this too. Gripping the amulet on its chain around my neck for luck and comfort, I announced in as calm and confident a voice as I could manage: "It's alright everyone, nothing to worry about. Everything is under control and you can all go back to bed."

I wasn't sure how many of my listeners even spoke English, although the odds were good that most understood at least some, but to my amazement even my tone of voice seemed to have an impact. The babble of speech calmed and everyone was looking at me.

"Just forget it ever happened," I said hopefully, "and all go back to your rooms." To my astonishment they did, quietly drifting away.

"Impressive, Master," said Brigit quietly, sounding sincere.

"So was your heat ray thing," I said. "Without that she would be dead," I added, pointing to the still unconscious nurse, "And maybe us too. You did brilliantly and saved us all."

Brigit smiled, "No problem Master. You can thank me later properly - in bed. But what do we do with her? We can't leave her here and we can't just kidnap her."

"I'm going to try waking her - both of them in fact. If she's got family locally we'll take her there. That way we should avoid trouble with the local authorities."

Brigit and I looked properly at the girl we knew to be the Mistress of Earth for the first time. "Wow - she's certainly good looking enough," Brigit said. I agreed; the sleeping girl had smooth light-brown skin, full lips and a slender nose set on a face that was almost oval with a delicate bone structure that enhanced her natural beauty. From what I could see, which was not much, her figure promised to be excellent as well; even lying down it was obvious she was well-endowed in the breast department, D cups at least I thought.

Focussing my thoughts through the diamond I said, "Wake." I was less surprised this time when both women did. As our girl opened her eyes and looked at me I saw they were a most lovely lustrous brown. I also saw a glint of recognition there. She would instinctively know Brigit and me as people important to her life, even though we had never met before.

I turned to her flatmate, "Its ok, go back to sleep. Your friend needs to come with us. You know this is fine and will not worry about her." The other girl rolled on her side and closed her eyes. Mind control was certainly a wonderful power. I was going to need to remind myself not to abuse it. "What's your name?" I asked the Mistress of Earth.

"Jennifer Kitaka"

"Hi Jennifer, my name is Chris and this is Brigit. I think you already understand you can trust us." She nodded. "Do you have relatives near here?"

"Yes, my parents live in Kampala, only about 40 minutes away."

"Ok, you guide us and we'll take you there. You're not safe here at the moment, so you need to move. We'll come and see you tomorrow and explain more; when we do tell your parents that we are friends." She didn't argue or question anything. I was certain she was experiencing that feeling of recognition familiar to Brigit and me. It would be surprising and confusing for her, but also persuasive.

We took her to her parent's house, which proved to be in an upmarket and expensive part of town, where we explained that there had been an incident at the hospital. We were innocent bystanders but Jennifer had been involved and she had asked to be brought home, so we had helped out. It was a weak story, but they were more concerned with their daughter, so we left her there and made a hasty exit. Brigit and I had a lot to think about.

*****

While Brigit and I were finding the Mistress of Earth, Freya and Matsu were having troubles of their own. Freya afterward admitted to me that she made a serious mistake, from which she and Matsu were fortunate to escape without disaster befalling them and our mission. In obeying my order to make their way to Greece, where I suspected we would find the Mistress of Aether, they should have travelled separately to minimise the chance of detection. Instead they booked tickets on the same flight.

It was while they were over the Indian Ocean that the attack happened. The form it took was logical, using the most readily available elements. Fortunately for us, that also proved an error by our enemy. Admittedly, earth was not going to be much use to attack an aircraft at 36,000 feet but had the elemental power of fire been used to cause a meteor to strike the plane everyone on board would have died.

Instead, what occurred was that the aircrew saw to their surprise that a storm that was not predicted in any of the forecasts was suddenly brewing and certain to engulf the plane. It had come out of nowhere and yet seemed certain to be of great ferocity and they could neither fly over nor round it. The pilots were seriously alarmed but displayed the calmest demeanour possible as the captain went on the intercom to warn passengers that they should strap themselves in as there was likely to be 'some turbulence'.

Freya and Matsu looked at each other, neither thinking this was likely to be a coincidence. They reached their minds out ahead of the aircraft into the oncoming storm. What they found was conclusive. This was no natural event; air currents and water clouds had been forced to move to create this typhoon. And there was no question but that the plane was in deadly danger.

But when they looked back at each other the blonde Swede and the dark haired Chinese girl smiled. They could have been made for this crisis. They were being attacked by their own elements, air and water. With a small nod from Freya both girls pushed their minds out toward the storm once more but now their thoughts were commanding. Freya diverted the air currents away, easing the airliners path, while Matsu caused the clouds to disperse.

Their task was made all the easier by the fact they were returning things to how they should have been had not the weather been diverted from its natural path. This is not to say it didn't require some effort of will, but it was easily within their ability. To the amazement of the pilots in their cabin the threatening storm that should not have been there dissipated as easily as it had formed in the first place. It was all rather inexplicable.

Their task complete and confident that no such attempt could be made again for a long while, Freya and Matsu sat back in their seats relieved. But not for long, as for a third time they exchanged a wordless glance. Unleashing their powers had had the same effect it always did; they felt excited, alive and full of energy - an energy that needed to be worked off.

Matsu smiled and said, "I'm going to the ladies room. Give it two minutes then join me." In the event Freya gave her less than half that before following - it was all the waiting she could stand. A couple more minutes later and anyone who could have seen through the locked toilet door would have found the blonde Swede and the dark haired Chinese girl standing clasped in a passionate embrace, kissing deeply, tongues in each other's mouths and a hand each in the other's panties.

As they stroked and caressed each other's pussies with increasingly fervent need, their passion built until with a shudder both came almost simultaneously and they sank down still entwined, feeling the waves of pleasure still pulsing through their minds and bodies - only to be interrupted by a voice asking through the door, "If you've finished whatever it is you're doing in their do you mind coming out. Some of us want to use the bathroom!"

*****

"Why did that thing vanish Chris?" Brigit asked me. "It could have easily slaughtered everyone in the building." We were in our hotel room, getting prepared to return to Jennifer's family home the day after the attack on us.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that. The business with the earth elementals in Sweden happened when we were alone with no witnesses; likewise, the incident Freya and Matsu have just told us about on the plane. In that case there were many others present but had it crashed it would have been blamed on freak weather. I think that so long as we are alive the enemy wants to keep its existence a secret. If we fall then it will openly declare itself. That seems to have been the pattern on the past occasions."

"Ok, then another question: How did it vanish and where did it go?"

"I am beginning to think this is where the power of aether comes in and specifically the diamond on my amulet. It seemed the mysterious 'aether' relates to non-physical things such as thought. As you saw I was able to use it to control the actions of those people at the hospital. I also suspect that it allows access to other dimensions outside our own familiar four of space and time. And that's where our enemy went, into some place we can't detect with our senses."