After a few barbs were thrown between Yelsa and Fran, Rep decided to simply ignore them and continue the conversation between Gorb and Zalan.

“What were you doing in Pludon?” Rep asked Gorb. “That is many weeks’ journey.”

“Yelsa is in search of an Elemental. We heard rumors of an Air Elemental living at the top of the mountain. The rumors were true, but…” Gorb shrugged his shoulders. Rep nodded, understanding the implication.

“But what?” Zalan asked.

“She failed the challenge!” Fran teased, pointing a finger.

“I paid you to assist me in getting the power! You left me on my own. If anything, it is the two of you that failed the challenge!” Yelsa protested.

“We have been over this,” Gorb sighed.

“No! Just because the two of you agree does not mean that these two men would agree! You were unreasonable!” Yelsa looked between Fran and Gorb with distaste, then turned her attention to Rep and Zalan to explain. “I paid them to help me gain an Elemental Power, but upon reaching the Elemental, they stepped back and left me to fend for myself!”

“Which is how it must be!” Fran cut in.

“You do not know that! I paid for a service that you refused to provide!” Yelsa snapped.

“We did not agree to assist you in gaining the power, only in finding the Elemental,” Fran said confidently.

“You certainly made that up only after the Elemental appeared!” Yelsa said.

Zalan stared in confusion, not really following who was in the right, but having a question nonetheless.

“Can’t she just… try the challenge again? Did yours have a time limit?” Zalan asked.

“Elementals do not give time limits,” Gorb answered confidently.

“Well…” Zalan began before Fran jumped in.

“When an Elemental’s challenge is issued, you may only attempt it once. Only once. When you choose to attempt it is up to you, as Elementals always grant challenges that do not expire,” she said.

“But I…” Zalan tried again, but Fran cut him off.

“But if you fail the challenge, then the Elemental does not grant you their power under any circumstances. You were deemed unworthy of the power and must find another Elemental to woo by completing its challenge,” Fran concluded.

Yelsa was frowning, her eyes fixed away from the people in the conversation in annoyance.

“You seem to have a lot of questions about Elementals for someone who just gained the power of one,” Fran pointed out.

“Rep didn’t tell me. Failing their challenge didn’t come up in any of the books I read about them, either. I just assumed,” Zalan said.

“He can read?” Gorb looked at Rep.

“Fastest reader I have ever seen!” Rep nodded. “He read three books in a single sitting!”

The four looked at Zalan, clearly amazed at the feat. His eyebrows furled, not having considered his reading speed to be even above-average before. He felt warm under their attention and quickly tried to move on.

“Should we be heading back to Oriton?” Zalan asked Rep.

“Can you stand?” Rep asked.

Zalan looked down at himself and shook his head to his own chagrin.

“Then we will camp here tonight,” Rep answered.

“We will join you,” Gorb said, already moving to unload supplies from his pack.

“We will?” Fran asked, surprised.

“Certainly. I believe Zalan has much to teach us,” Gorb said.

“I do?” Zalan asked, equally surprised.

“Tell me about the guild of your homeland. Or homeworld, as you put it,” Gorb said, piling more firewood into the dying fire.

“I uhhh… didn’t have a guild,” Zalan answered.

“Then where did you learn to fight?” Gorb asked.

“I didn’t?”

Gorb looked confused and glanced at Rep who nodded in corroboration with what Zalan was saying. Gorb’s face turned from confusion to curiosity.

“You traveled the desert without having undergone formal training?” Fran asked, relighting the fire once more with her Elemental Power.

“Well, yeah, I just got here a few days ago. I didn’t really have time to train. It doesn’t really make sense to train. I’m trying to get home,” Zalan said.

“How do you intend to do that if it is in another world?” Yelsa began offering food to everyone who had begun taking seats around the fire.

“An Artifact called the Homeseeker. Madam Hikma told me about it. Rep and I will go and get it after we heal up from this trip,” Zalan explained.

“How does the Homeseeker work?” Yelsa asked, burning with interest.

“Errr,” Zalan turned to Rep when he realized he’d forgotten the specifics.

“Anyone touching the Artifact after it is activated is sent to their home,” Rep relayed.

“Oh!” Yelsa began smiling. “An Artifact that takes you home? I have a new job for the two of you to make up for your failure! Let us go with them to get the Homeseeker!”

“I did not fail, but I recall the Elemental saying that you did,” Fran said, looking at her nails haughtily.

“I am not paying you for failing to hold your end of the agreement. However, I will double payment, only in the case we get the Homeseeker,” Yelsa said firmly.

Gorb and Fran perked up at the offer, looking to one another with an eyebrow raised. Gorb nodded slowly and Fran smiled at him in return.

“Very well, double the payment,” Fran reached out a hand which Yelsa eagerly shook.

“Looks like we will be travel companions once more,” Rep said to Gorb and Fran, seemingly pleased.

“Do you know them from somewhere else?” Zalan asked.

“Fran, Rep and I are in the same guild,” Gorb said, “but even so we do not often cross paths.”

“Fran is in the same guild?” Zalan asked, mildly surprised.

“Yes, Journey House has no rules on siblings being in the same guild. In fact, it is encouraged. Part of why we joined,” Gorb answered.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Oh, that’s cool,” Zalan said, more surprised that a woman was in the guild than any other explanation, but quickly decided not to follow the line of questioning.

“Can you show me your lightning?” Fran asked, looking as though she were waiting for the right moment to ask the entire time.

“He has not yet located the muscle-feel,” Rep tempered expectations. Fran crossed her arms in disappointment.

“Actually, I think I figured it out. When the lightning hit us, it kind of flared up in my head. I think I just…” Zalan directed his hand at the fire and the four others leaned in. After a few seconds’ concentration a tiny blue spark jumped from Zalan’s finger to the firewood.

“Very fun!” Fran said, delighted. “That looks like it can be an immensely powerful tool at a higher level. Imagine that same attack at Level Five!” she nudged Gorb who looked much less excited about the show of power.

“I suppose,” Gorb said noncommittally, casting a tiny amount of air to keep the fire’s smoke away from his face.

Zalan stared in fascination at the use of power in such a simple way. The air power must have been like always having a fan with you wherever you went. He wondered what he could do to be useful like that with his own power. The way these Elemental Power users handled themselves seemed so impressive and compelling to him. It changed something in his outlook, like he finally gained some power over his life that he didn’t know he was missing. And they each overcame what was likely a difficult challenge in order to gain access to this power. They were kindred spirits in that regard. They faced down an Elemental and came out stronger. It inspired a question in him he wasn’t sure was appropriate to ask, but since the conversation seemed to have slowed, he offered it,

“We’ve all taken on an Elemental challenge, right? Is it okay to ask what your challenge was like?” Zalan asked.

Yelsa’s injured face scrunched and she looked away, but the others seemed to sit up straighter, excited to share a story of their own accomplishment against an otherworldly creature.

“You first,” Fran nodded to Zalan eagerly. “What was the Storm Elemental like?”

“It was cloudy. Like, it wore a robe made of storm clouds that had a bunch of electricity running through it…”

“Electricity?” Gorb cut him off.

“Oh, umm, lightning. Little bits of lightning ran through its clothes,” Zalan corrected himself.

“Your strange speech makes me believe that maybe you are of another world,” Fran smirked. Zalan couldn’t tell if she had made a compliment or insult. She nodded at him to continue his story.

“Well, its challenge was to let it have my blood. A lot of it. I mean, it didn’t give me the challenge until I had given so much blood that I couldn’t even stand. Then, it asked for even more,” Zalan said.

“Hold on,” Gorb said, confused. “The Elemental watched you give blood for several minutes and did not give you its challenge? It just floated there and stared?”

“No, it wasn’t even visible. It just ate away the blood that touched the floor,” Zalan said.

“You had no evidence of it actually being an Elemental and you continued the blood-letting regardless?” Gorb asked, stunned.

“Did you believe you would die?” Fran asked excitedly.

“I didn’t really think about it,” Zalan shrugged to which she smiled, impressed.

“I thought he would die,” Rep admitted in a small voice. “He was so determined to gain the power, I thought he would lose himself for nothing.”

“A good challenge, then. And a successful outcome,” Gorb said to Zalan. “You should be proud.”

“What about yours?” Zalan asked, appreciating the praise.

“I wanted to achieve the ability of flight,” Gorb began.

“As did I!” Yelsa interrupted.

“Yes, well, we can tell your story after mine,” Gorb continued unperturbed. “I asked Madam Hikma for her advice. Madam Hikma tried to offer me a mountain of books on Elementals! It would have cost the rest of my life just to read those tomes, without even the guarantee that they would have information I needed,” Gorb said, chuckling to himself. Rep and Zalan threw each other a knowing glance as Gorb continued.

“Rather than waste my time reading, I went to ask the merchants in town if they knew of Air Elementals, no matter the distance. It took weeks of interrogation and traveling to invalidate rumors, but I finally was told some worthwhile information. I asked Sir Rolcoth of the Journey House to guide me—”

“More like begged,” his sister smiled.

“I politely asked Sir Rolcoth to take me,” Gorb said firmly. “It was a three month journey to windy plains. When we arrived, I called upon the Elemental, but it did not appear. Sir Rolcoth suggested that we wait, letting the Elemental know we were patient enough to gain its strength. Three days we were on those windy plains with only one another for company. It was too loud to sleep and too powerful a wind to keep a good shelter up. I learned to overcome my instinct to shiver while up there. And by day four, Sir Rolcoth decided that we should go home. I refused.

“So, Sir Rolcoth told me that he would be waiting in the nearby town where it was warm and lacked the constant wind. He also informed me that if I did not come down by the end of the week, he would presume I was dead. It was a decent assumption as I had forgotten the feeling of warmth and thought I would freeze in place in the cool winds. Only hours after Sir Rolcoth left the plains did the Elemental appear. It challenged me to a footrace across the massive plains. It told me it would go easy on me, but my limbs were tight. My arms were clasped so tightly that I believed they would never leave one another in fear of the cold winds finding new places to freeze my nerves.

“I simply decided not to race the Elemental at the time. I returned to the tavern, rested and warmed my bones, then returned at full strength.”

“And you beat an Elemental in a footrace?” Rep asked, amazed.

“Hardly!” Gorb cracked a smile. “The creature outstripped me the moment the race began. The wind was against me, keeping me far behind it the entire time as it drifted toward the finish line without any adverse effects from the winds it very-likely brought on the plains. And the plains were so large! I had to run for hours to reach the large tree it set for us as a finish point. And what did I find when I finally reached the end? The Elemental was waiting for me inches away from having crossed the tree! It wanted to see if I would persevere in impossible-looking odds!”

Zalan smiled at how Gorb beamed at the end of the story. He was clearly very proud of his challenge.

“Does it always give the same challenge?” Zalan asked, wondering whether he could get a second Elemental Power.

“No. I had heard of many challenges being given on those plains. It does not even appear to everyone to shows up! Some of the guildmates I told were left out on the plains for a week, deciding to give up after it did not appear. A very fickle Elemental, I believe,” Gorb said.

“You said yours always gave the same challenge of climbing the volcano, right Rep?” Zalan asked.

Rep nodded in the firelight, reminiscing.

“We went to see the Elemental, together, actually,” Rep indicated to Fran.

“Sir Kilile took the two of us!” Fran nodded.

“You said that you could not receive assistance to get the power!” Yelsa said, upset.

“Sir Kilile did not assist us once the Elemental gave the challenge,” Rep corrected. “It appeared at the base of the volcano and told us that the challenge was to see it at the top.”

“Nor did we help one another,” Fran said. “We went up separate sides of the volcano.”

“Truth be told, my side seemed easier once I heard there were lava flows on her end,” Rep admitted.

“They exploded from nowhere! I could not tell if the Elemental was messing with me or the volcano was naturally cracking open on my end!” Fran exclaimed.

“I had to sit on a precarious edge, waiting for a Flamestiker to pass me without noticing,” Rep remembered. “In fact, it looked my way, but a small cough of volcanic ash obscured its vision.”

“And I had to push a Flamestriker into the lava flow!” Fran said. “It had almost killed me with its explosive pointing, but I was able to trick it into running toward the lava then cutting its leg and letting its momentum carry it to its demise.”

“You killed one of those things on your own?” Zalan asked, amazed.

“And she was only Level Two!” Rep nodded.

“Level Three after that,” Fran smiled.

“We reached the top around the same time,” Rep recalled.

“And the Elemental granted us both its Element from its fiery robes. It even pointed us to an easy way back down,” Fran said.

Rep and Fran smiled to themselves, remembering the time they gained their powers fondly.

“So, no one else’s Elemental tried to kill them right after giving power,” Zalan determined. The others shrugged or smiled sympathetically in agreement.

“What about after it gave you power? I was a bit out of it, but I know my Elemental said not to lose the power it granted me. How do I make sure I don't lose mine?” Zalan asked them.

The Elemental-powered individuals looked between one another and shrugged.

“I believe they say that as a formality. Perhaps asking you not to waste your life? As far as I know, you cannot lose an Elemental Power after it has been granted,” Rep offered.

“Okay, just kind of weird it would bring it up like that, I guess,” Zalan shrugged.

Then, they looked at Yelsa. She had her bruised eyes glued to the floor, actively ignoring the looks.

“Yelsa?” Gorb asked.

“I will tell your tale if you do not,” Fran warned mischievously.

“No! You would just fill it with lies,” Yelsa said, sighing and looking up, the cuts on her face more prominent in the flamelight. “We saw an Air Elemental atop the mountain behind Pludon. It told me to withstand the blizzard of air it would send my way. I looked to my hired help for assistance, especially the one that already had control of the wind, but they had stepped away from the area. In my confusion, I was distracted and thrown off-balance enough to be dragged on the floor by the wind, headfirst. The Elemental quickly returned and deemed me unworthy.”

The story didn’t sound like it was over, but Yelsa was definitely done with her quick tale, her face having returned to pouting toward the ground.

“I am sorry to hear that your challenge went poorly,” Rep said, sounding sincere.

“Amazing that this man I did not pay has already given me kinder words than either of you two,” Yelsa said.

“You did not pay me to be nice,” Fran replied.

“I did not pay you to abandon me!” Yelsa snapped.

“We should rest,” Gorb said firmly, shutting them both down. “We will continue travel and learn more about the Homeseeker tomorrow. I will take first watch.”

With a snap of her fingers, Fran put out the fire so they could rest.