Taming the Elements: Elwin Escari Chronicles: Volume 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

After Bain’s disappearance, he had assumed the worst. For over seven years he had felt the pain of regret for nothing. And now, his childhood friend had come to betray him? That had been Bain’s purpose all along. Anger took hold of Thirod.
    Taming Air to hold Bain, he shouted, “Guards!”
    As threads of Air formed around Bain to hold him, soft wisps of light merged with Bain and a lash of Air knocked the threads into pieces. Thirod continued shouting for the guards, sending more bindings of Air to hold Bain. Without a hint of concern on his face, Bain knocked each attack aside with his own thin lashes of Air.
    Bain tamed flight while countering Thirod’s attacks, his body lifting slowly into the air.
    Pulling more Air into his essence, Alcoa willed his body to move to the expanse between Bain and the balcony. He felt sweat drip down his face from the exertion, but he did not let up on his attacks. “GUARDS!”
    “You have made the wrong decision,” Bain said calmly.
    Bain smirked then became a blur of motion, moving faster than Thirod’s eyes could track. A rush of wind forced Thirod to turn toward the balcony. Bain hovered just outside, above the terrace. Behind him, the fireworks illuminated the darkness.
    Alcoa blinked several times to be sure it had actually happened. He had been sure he had felt a burst of Air, Earth, Fire, and Water released from Bain. Thirod wanted to reason out what had happened, but Bain didn’t give him the chance.
    “Verinda looks as lovely as ever,” Bain said. His smirk deepened into a smile that did not touch his eyes. “Your oldest boy looks more like you though.”
    Thirod felt a lump in his throat that tasted like bile. Verinda had taken the boys to the wharf to watch the display of fireworks over the ocean.
    “If you have harmed them …,” his voice shook.
    Bain raised a hand in a placating motion. “Do not fear. I have not harmed them. If I were to kill them, who would remain to watch your fall? Even after, I may yet them live.”
    Thirod began to tame Air, forming a lightning hurl in his mind. Before the power could reach his grasp, a force hit his essence like an avalanche and ripped his power from his grasp. The flow of Air sustaining his flight vanished, and he fell the few feet to the floor. His feet hit before he had time to adjust to the fall, and his knee collapsed with a crunch. He gritted his teeth against the pain, so he would not cry out.
    The pain in his knee throbbed, but that was not what held him on the floor looking up at Bain through wide eyes. Bain had taken his essence. Thirod had been filled with the power of Air and aware of Bain, and still the other man had handled him as he would a child new to his powers.
    Thirod met Bain’s eyes. The Frozen Plains had more compassion in its icy wasteland.
    “Before I take your life,” Bain said, “you will see your nation in ruins. Your allies will become mine. Verinda and your children will grovel at my feet and beg for mercy. I will break their wills to mine, then I will rebuild your kingdom in my image and destroy the plague in its midst. You will live in the dungeons beneath this castle, begging for death. Only then, will you die by my hands.”
    Alcoa blinked, and Bain was gone.
    It took several moments before Thirod tested his essence. His power was his own once more. He sat for a moment, watching the colorful display without letting his eyes focus on any of the images.
    How had Bain become so powerful? An artifact of power? What else?
    Thirod looked down at his knee. Even covered in trousers, he could see it swollen twice its normal size.
    “Guards.” His voice was not as loud this time. “Where are my guards?”
    Taming Air, he gingerly picked himself up to hover just above the floor. His leg dangled without use, but stabs of pain still traveled up his thigh at the motion as he moved toward the antechamber.
    The white hallway was well lit by lamp light. Red pools spattered the walls and floors. Four