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SIX

Wren

It seems like we’re flying with Viento for a long time, but being enclosed within his cape is disorienting. Hours or minutes could have passed when he finally slows and descends, not releasing us until our feet are firmly on solid ground.

Here there is no fog and I blink against the light. When my vision clears, my mouth drops open. “Where are we?”

Welcome to the Realm of Elementals. Viento spreads his arms wide and the forest around us ripples and changes.

It’s like we stepped onto a James Cameron set—after the CGI has been added. The colors around us are incredible. The greens are so bright they’re almost neon. We’re in a little clearing ringed by huge white oaks, their branches heavy with age—some so old that they almost touch the mossy forest floor. Their leaves glisten with health. Little squirrel faces peek down at us, chattering with curiosity. There’s a stream bisecting the clearing. The water that flows lazily within it is like liquid diamonds, sparkling in time to the music it makes as it rolls over rocks. Its bank is gentle and made of smooth pebbles that are amazing colors of violet and teal. The forest floor is carpeted in thick moss, the brilliant green of expensive emeralds.

“Wow! This is incredible,” Lily says as she turns in a full circle, taking in our surroundings.

“We’re in the Realm of Elementals,” I say, and continue to gawk.

Ruby is all business. Hands on their slim hips, they survey the clearing before turning to face Viento. “Is this Elemental realm safe for us?”

They are fierce , Viento begins.

I laugh a little. And then I repeat aloud the rest of what he says to me. “According to our Elemental nothing is completely safe on this island, but this clearing is where Viento’s allies are, and if they’re on his side that means they’re on our side.”

Ruby cocks their head to the side and studies Viento. “Explain this our side–their side thing.”

In my mind, Viento sighs. I will try , he says.

I cringe in anticipation of pain and blurt, “Don’t say anything that’s going to trip the spell!”

“What spell?” Lily asks.

I turn to my friends. “Viento’s under a spell that Celeste put on him and the other Elementals on campus a really long time ago—like literal centuries.”

“Wait, how old is Celeste?” Lily says, her eyes going big and round.

“Hundreds of years old,” I tell her. “She shipwrecked here in 1785.”

Ruby let out a long whistle. Then says, “What does the spell do?”

“It keeps the Elementals from telling us how to complete the ritual she disrupted back in 1785. If he tries to tell me too much, or do too much, it causes him pain.” I grimace. “A lot. I know because since he shared air with me I can feel that pain.” I look up at the Elemental at my side.

“But isn’t he in pain right now? He’s helping us,” asks Lily.

I shake my head. “No, his mission on campus is to watch over the students at the Academia de la Luna, specifically Aquarius moons. He’s still on that mission. We haven’t disenrolled from the Academia, so we’re students he’s watching over. But he has to walk a thin line. Like, he couldn’t take the book out of the fire because Celeste commanded that the book be destroyed.” I pause, remembering how Rottingham had whispered something to the book just before he threw it into the flames. Weird… “Anyway, Viento can help us, but only up to a point.”

“Understandable.” Ruby studies Viento. “Can he give us information on the Elementals?”

Yes. Viento’s voice is inside my head again.

“Okay, tell me what you can and I’ll relay it to Ruby and Lily.” Viento nods and as his words form in my mind I repeat them to my friends.

“A lot of the Elementals are okay with things the way they are now,” I say.

“Which means the way they’ve been since Celeste messed up a ritual,” Lily says.

“Yes.” I continue to explain as Viento speaks to me. “But there are other Elementals who feel that the way things are is too unnatural. It binds them to…” I pause and cringe as pain spikes through my mind and I put up a hand to stop Viento. “I’ve got this part. You don’t need to say it.” As the pain fades I continue the explanation without Viento’s input. “This is what I understand from what Sam and I learned from the book. The Elementals saved the people who shipwrecked off the island with Celeste, though her name was Selene then. They made a deal with Selene, who was an unmarried teenager then, and two other women, a young mother and an older woman, an elder. They would share the moon’s power with them in return for becoming corporeal and for being protected on this island.” I shrug. “You know, colonizers were colonizing, which must have been scary for magickal beings.”

Viento’s snort sounded in my mind accompanied by, Not all of us were frightened of change.

“Well, some of the Elementals were scared. Anyway, Selene-slash-Celeste screwed up the ritual on purpose so she could have all the power and that must have bound the Elementals to her and to this island. Right?” I look at Viento.

He nods slightly and I rub my temple where a spear of pain jabs me.

“His allies are the Elementals that want the ritual completed so they have the ability to leave the island, correct?” Ruby asks.

I nod before Viento can say anything that will cause us pain.

“But there are still Elementals on Celeste’s side,” Lily says.

“Yes.” Then I realize what else this means. “Like the Fire Elementals who tried to burn me alive during my first Trial and the Water Elemental who almost drowned me during the second Trial.” I watch Viento and when he doesn’t disagree I know I’m on the right track. “The other three Elementals that oversee Taurus, Leo, and Scorpio Halls are also on Celeste’s side.” Again, Viento remains silent.

“So, what’s our plan?” Ruby asks.

I’m still watching Viento carefully as I continue. “We complete the ritual. That won’t just free all the Elementals. It’ll take away Celeste’s monopoly on controlling the moon’s power.”

“But wait,” Lily says as she steps closer to Viento and me. “What does that mean? We do have power, Ruby, me, even you. All four houses have power. What else is there?”

“I-I’m not sure.” The three of us turn to Viento. I brace myself.

All could be Moonstruck. All could have different levels of power based on Her gifts, the moon’s gifts, and not on which houses Celeste can control—

“Argh!” I cry out as Viento collapses to the ground and I clutch my head, pain making my vision tunnel. When it recedes Lily has her arm around me, murmuring soft, comforting words while she pats my back.

“We need another way to get information,” Ruby says as they look down at where Viento has collapsed to the ground and is just beginning to stir.

“We have it.” My voice sounds gravelly. “That’s why I had to get the book. But we have to wait for moonrise to read it.”

“And we stay here for the night?” Ruby asks.

Yes. We are safest here. Viento’s voice also sounds rough inside my mind as he stands.

“We’re safest here,” I repeat for Lily and Ruby.

Ruby snorts. “Saf est isn’t safe. I’ll set up a shelter and we should keep watch in shifts. Do either of you know how to light a fire without matches?”

“Um…” I mutter, and shrug.

Lily’s laughter bubbles around the clearing, making the leaves on the ancient oaks rustle in time with it. “Ruby, honey, do I look like I’ve done a lot of rubbing sticks together in the wilderness?”

I will call Fire , says Viento.

And I swear the snort in my mind echoes Ruby’s.

The day passes fast, mostly because Ruby is excellent at keeping us (meaning Lily and me) busy. Basically, we are their unskilled laborers. We do what they tell us and then watch in amazement as the fern fronds, long branches, and pine boughs we collect are turned into a crude but cozy lean-to shelter.

When the shelter is finally completed to Ruby’s standards we gather branches for the fire, but as they start to make a little pile of dried pine needles for kindling, Viento’s voice rings inside my head again.

“Ruby, Viento says all you need to do is set up the space for the fire. He’ll take care of everything else.” They give me and then Viento a dubious look, but Ruby does as he asks, creating a perfect cone of branches and sticks inside a circle of smooth stones they carried from the creek bank.

Ruby straightens and wipes their hands on their jeans before looking at the Air Elemental. “Your turn.”

A huff of his laughter brushes against me with the breeze. He lifts his arms and Fire, I ask for your aid sounds inside my mind. I remember the Fire Elementals combining and turning into a giant, scary dragon that tried to burn Lee and me alive—which looked a lot like the one that was closing on the campus before we got out of there—and take an automatic step closer to Viento.

With a sizzling sound that reminds me of striking a match, a Fire Elemental materializes before us. It isn’t anything like Viento and the other cloaked Elementals I’ve seen before. This being is a starburst in the form of a large bird about the size and shape of a peacock. She hovers near the triangle of firewood, wings outspread. She is absolutely beautiful. Her feathers shine like mini fires and are all the colors of flame—from the soft yellow of candlelight to the deep, glowing red of hot coals. Her tail feathers almost touch the ground and glow brilliant blues and greens. Her eyes are black and bottomless.

“You’re so pretty!” Lily gushes.

The Elemental’s head swivels in her direction. The bird opens her beak and, remembering the fire dragons, I almost hurl myself between the bird and Lily, but all that comes out of the bird’s mouth is a sweet, trilling noise, like a flute.

You need not worry , says Viento. She knows Lily is a Leo moon, a fire sign. She also likes her hair.

I jump at the sound of his voice in my mind but relay his words to Lily, who laughs and says, “That’s right; us fire signs stick together.” She holds up a long piece of her red hair. “It’s like some of your feathers, only mine doesn’t glow,” she says, laughing again.

The Elemental trills at Lily before circling the triangle of branches and the next time her beak opens a stream of yellow fire shoots out of it and into the wood, setting it ablaze perfectly.

Lily claps her hands and bounces up on her toes. “Oooh! That’s awesome! Thank you.”

Ruby and I also thank the Elemental, but she pretty much ignores us and circles Lily, chirping enthusiastically at her as she grins and waves goodbye to the bird just before she disappears with a pop!

“Oh, I love that little Elemental,” Lily says wistfully as she holds her hands near the fire, warming them.

That “little” Elemental could burn down the entire Academia. Viento sounds amused, but I make the executive decision not to share what he said with the others.

“The wild Elementals don’t look like the four we’re used to seeing at the school,” says Ruby to Viento.

We take this form so that it is easier for students to accept us , says Viento, which I do share with Lily and Ruby.

“I’d be a lot more comfortable with the beautiful bird,” says Lily. Then she adds hastily, “No offense to you, though.”

Viento bows his head slightly in acknowledgment.

I turn to my Elemental. “What’s your natural form?”

Perhaps one day I shall show you.

“Did he tell you?” Lily asks.

“He says he might show me someday,” I say.

Ruby takes out the wicked-looking folding knife they, thankfully, always carry in their pocket, sits cross-legged by the cheerful fire, clears leaves from a long branch, and then starts whittling the end into a point. Viento watches them for a little while and then asks, What is the fierce one doing?

“Whatcha making, Ruby?” I ask.

“A spear. I’ll attempt to get us fish for dinner.”

“You’re my hero,” Lily tells Ruby as she sits beside them and kisses their cheek.

“I have protein bars and water in my backpack,” I say. (I’m not actually expecting a kiss, but a little adoration can’t hurt.)

Tell the fierce one to stand down. Let us see what Water gifts us with.

“Hey, uh, Ruby, Viento says to hang on. He’s going to…” My words trail away as Viento glides to the edge of the stream and lifts his arms. Ruby and Lily are already following him as he calls, Water, I ask for your aid!

I hurry after them as the crystal stream begins to swirl. A creature emerges from the center of the whirlpool as I reach the bank with Lily and Ruby. She’s vaguely humanoid in shape, naked and curvy. Her huge cerulean eyes are set on the sides of her head and she has gills on her neck, making her look eerily amphibian. Her skin is smooth, Caribbean turquoise, and translucent. Within her small body, silver fish dart around like living jewels. Her hair is made of cascading pink lotus blossoms and she’s wearing a thick necklace of shells that clatter together as she bobs in the waves.

The Elemental nods at Viento and then her attention focuses on Ruby, who bows deeply to her.

“Welcome, Water,” Ruby says.

The sound the Elemental makes is the music of water caressing river rock. It’s breathtakingly lovely and I think I could stare at her and listen to her forever.

Then she smiles at Ruby. Her teeth are sharklike daggers that glisten white and dangerous in the light reflected from the waves lapping around her body.

I remind myself hastily that a Water Elemental the size of a humpback whale almost drowned me and suppress a shiver.

The Elemental opens her hands, spreading webbed fingers with long, blue fingernails. She looks from Ruby down into the creek and, with a movement so fast it’s hard to follow, plunges her hands into the water and then tosses a huge fish onto the bank at Ruby’s feet. The fish’s sides are bright, brilliant red, its head is bluish-green, and its belly is black.

“Salmon! Yum!” I say as it flops about on the rocks.

Ruby barely glances at the fish. They walk to the edge of the creek, stopping as the water laps at their shoes, and bows deeply again. “Dōmo arigatō gozaimasu,” they say reverently.

The Water Elemental dips her head in acknowledgment before her body dissipates into the stream, which immediately returns to a lazy, shimmering ribbon of water.

“People tend to think Scorpio is a fire sign,” Lily says as Ruby efficiently cuts off the fish’s head and begins cleaning and filleting it on a rock near the creek.

“We are a water sign,” Ruby says without looking up.

“Your Elemental is beautiful,” Lily tells Ruby.

Ruby does look up then, smiling warmly at Lily. “As is your Fire Elemental, and as are you.”

Feeling like I’m intruding on their intimacy—and missing Lee—I go back to the campfire, which still burns perfectly, retrieve my backpack from inside our lean-to, and gingerly take out the blanket-wrapped book. It’s not hot anymore. It doesn’t even look singed. I sit near the fire and open it. The sun has begun to fade into the west, but the moon isn’t visible yet, so I don’t expect anything except the indecipherable silver writing that swims over each page.

You are sad.

Viento floats down to the mossy ground beside me. I lift one shoulder and keep my voice low. “I’m glad Ruby and Lily are with us, even though I probably shouldn’t be, but they’re so happy, so obviously in love, that it makes me miss Lee. Even though Lee isn’t mine anymore to miss.” I whisper the last sentence.

His long fingers brush the hair back from my face. His voice is gentle in my mind. Give him time.

“He believes Celeste. That’s obvious.”

For now, yes. But you have given him much to think of and he is not a fool. He will not forsake you so easily.

I look into his kind amber eyes. “Thank you for saying that.”

It is only the truth.

I continue to study him. What is it? he asks.

“You’re speaking to me a lot easier than when we first started talking,” I say. “I’m glad, but I’m also confused.”

I have not communicated with a human openly like this for a very long time. I’ve been out of practice, but the more we talk, the better I get at it.

“Do you like talking to humans?”

His cowled head nods. I do. You, Ruby, and Lily are so very young, but you’re also kind, empathetic, and rather interesting. It gets lonely on campus, especially as centuries of silence pass. I feel less lonely now.

“I’m really glad.” I smile at my Elemental friend.

As am I, Little Bird.

Ruby weaves green twigs into a kind of grill and shows us how to cook the fat, juicy pieces of salmon, and when the moon finally lifts into the darkening sky we’re completely stuffed and a little sleepy. After I wash my hands in the creek I sit by the fire and explain quickly to Ruby and Lily that the key to reading the book is moonlight, but that I’m not sure what I’ll find within the pages tonight because the moon is in a different phase from the last time I read it and with each phase the information changes.

Everyone, even Viento, peers down at the book in my lap as I open it. A piece of paper flutters from between the pages. I pick it up and my sight blurs with tears as I recognize Sam’s sprawling handwriting—the last note she will ever write to me: AS SOON AS YOU’RE ALONE, MEET ME AT THE COURTYARD. I FIGURED OUT THE BOOK. IT’S WAY WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT.

“Sam…” I whisper her name as my fingers trace the words. “I miss you so much.”

Lily squeezes my shoulder gently. “I miss her, too.”

“We haven’t properly mourned our Sam,” says Ruby. “But we will. We will.”

“Yes, when this is over. When we’ve fixed things. Then we’ll say goodbye.” I shove my grief into a little box that I bury deep in my heart and wipe my eyes with the back of my hand as I start slowly flipping through the pages.

At the last page I sigh in frustration and look up at my friends. “I was worried about this.”

“All it’s saying is stuff we already know about the Elementals.” Lily’s voice echoes my frustration.

“Yeah. Like I said, it changes every time I read it,” I say.

Viento moves restlessly, pacing around the clearing. Pain begins to build inside my head and I grimace as I rub my temples.

I am sorry.

“Don’t be. It isn’t your fault you can’t help us,” I tell my Elemental.

“The book is magick, correct?” Ruby asks.

“Yes. Obviously.” I manage not to roll my eyes.

Undeterred by my displaced irritation, they continue. “Have you tried asking it for what you need?”

Instantly Viento stops pacing and zips over to hover before me, staring down at me.

I clear my throat and speak directly to the book in my lap. “Could you please show me how to find what I need to complete the ritual?”

The silver writing explodes in color, swirling around the open page as it forms a picture. No, it’s not a picture. It’s some kind of design that—

“It’s a map!” Lily shouts, clapping her hands.

She’s right. It’s definitely a map of the interior of the island. “Is that us?” I touch three little x ’s beside the silver ribbon of a stream.

“Yes, and look here.” Ruby’s finger traces another line, this one in glistening red, that marks a path leading to the center of the map—a glowing full moon.

“That’s where we have to go,” I say, feeling the rightness of the words deep within me. “Quick! Do either of you have anything to write on? We need to copy this map before it disappears when the sun rises.”

“I didn’t bring a notebook,” Lily says. “You don’t have anything like that in your backpack?”

“No!” I run my hand through my hair as I try to think. “But if we can find something to write on I can probably use some charcoal from the fire to copy the map.”

Lily is looking around the clearing like she might find an Office Depot. “Would a big fern leaf help?”

Ruby snorts. “You can’t copy something so intricate with a hunk of charcoal on a fern. Here, do this.”

Before I can stop them, Ruby reaches down and rips the page from the book .

“Ruby! No!” I yelp, and jump to my feet as the book tumbles from my lap.

Ruby stares down at the blank piece of old paper in their hand. They glance up at me. “Gomen’nasai. I’m sorry.” They hand the page back to me.

The instant my fingers touch it the map reappears, glistening brightly in the moonlight. The strength of the maiden rings in my head as wind whips around us.

I start to shout a relieved yes! but then notice that sure, the map’s appeared, but there’s a lot less of it.

“Um, something’s happened to the map,” I say, interrupting Ruby and Lily’s high five.

“Some of it’s left.” Lily squints as she studies the piece of paper in my hand.

“But only some of it! The rest is gone.” I stifle a sigh of frustration and put on my positive face. “At least we have a starting point. Let’s get there”—I point at the flame icon that marks the end of what’s still visible of the map—“and see what happens.”

“I’m sorry I messed up the map,” says Ruby, their eyes not meeting mine.

“Hey, things have been appearing and disappearing from these pages since the first day Sam and I opened the book.” I smile at Ruby.

“Plus, it’s magick! It’ll be okay.” Lily hooks her arm through Ruby’s and bumps Viento with her shoulder. “Right?”

“Absolutely!” I say with way more enthusiasm than I feel.

Inside my head Viento snorts.