Why the Caged Wolf Howls

It was once said that each element had its own personification. Air’s was an eagle. Earth’s was a badger. Fire’s was a weasel. Water’s was a wolf.

Seerah stirred, half-lidded eyes still staring forward, focusing on the tree the clearing from her. She sighed through her nose, another sleepless night, another night spent in her stiff leather and chain mail mercenary’s armor. She stood, stretching stiff muscles and working kinks out of her neck before stooping to pick up her cloak and threw it over her shoulders, fastening the pins together. She picked up her pack and tossed it over her shoulder. Rubbing the temples of her forehead, she groaned out loud.

“Goddamnit!” she suddenly yelled. “Why me?! Why in the hell did you choose me?! I can’t handle this! I have enough problems with my family! I don’t need this! I don’t want to be some elemental!” She gritted her teeth together, taking short, rasping breaths. She hated being the Water elemental. Her siblings gave her enough problems, but then the physical changes were the breaking point. Her skin had paled to white, her hair had changed form inky black to such a light blue it was almost white, but her eyes were the worst. Her pupils had turned to x’s, resembling that of targets almost, while the rest of her eyes had turned a bright, icy clue.

She pulled up her hood and walked quickly towards the edge of the clearing, where she kicked away some fern branches, exposing a rabbit trail. Picking up her pace—hoping to walk off her fatigue—she moved though the path, leaving small patches of frost behind her. Water reacts with Air to form Ice. Being an elemental did have its quirks. One was that she could run far faster than any mortal could fathom. Now at a full sprint, she was only a blur, leaving a trail of frost behind her.

The forest soon started to thin to just scrubland. Seerah slowed to a stop, taking deep breaths, her breath condensing into a mist in front of her. You will always know when another elemental is near. The mist signaled she was getting closer to her opposite—Fire. She took another breath and dashed forward, following her senses. Her nerves screamed at her to turn back, but she couldn’t—not now. Not when she’s so close.

A sharp cry pierced the air around her, causing her to skid to a halt on the loose dirt. A large eagle alighted next to her. Upon landing, the eagle shifted into a boy, his white hair and slightly tanned skin signaling him as the Air elemental.

“Myrac, I’ve found Fire. He’s not Corrupted as far as I can tell,” Seerah stated, starting at a run again. Myrac caught up to her in only a couple of seconds. “He’s in a town up ahead,” Seerah continued. “It shouldn’t be too hard to find him; the population’s small.” Myrac nodded.

“And if you’re wrong?” he suddenly asked.

Seerah looked at him, blue eyes gazing into his solid purple. He broke the staring contest first. “I’m never wrong,” Seerah said shortly.

Shadow was Corruption. Corruption was Darkness, and Darkness was Death. Represented by the carrion crow, Darkness is associated with rot and unbalance, unlike the life and balance associated with the others. Its will is to throw the Balance out of place by Corrupting one of the Light elementals. For each generation of Light, there are two Corrupted Ones.

Soren walked through the forest, following the trail of slowly melting frost in front of him. Eyes like that of a black void—save for a white pinpoint pupil—glanced up. He wrapped her cadaverous fingers around a branch, causing it to shrivel and whither. Behind him a trail of shadow followed, leaving rot and decay amongst the leaves.

“I am back, sister,” he whispered. “Don’t think you can outrun Death. It’ll catch up with you sometime.” Jet black hair framed his starved-looking face.

“Have you found a trail?” asked a voice behind him. He turned to look at the girl behind him. She resembled him more than Seerah does, despite not being his twin like she was.

“Yes, Terima, I have. It’s only a couple minutes old. The ice hasn’t completely melted,” Soren stated. Terima nodded.

“We will follow as far as we can. She’s heading south. We’ll have to wait ‘til sundown before we can cross the scrublands,” Terima said. With that they took off. Where Seerah had left frost, they left rot and shadows.