Air: Elementalist Book 1 by Rebecca Wolf (an ebook reader txt) 📕

sounds way too official. Time to go on the offensive to throw him off balance. Act official! I reminded myself before throwing back my shoulders and looking down my nose in his direction.

“My thoughts exactly,” I replied in a tone I hoped conveyed complete contempt. “What exactly do you think you’re doing lighting farmland on fire? Don’t you know people are STARVING out there?!”

“I was performing a prescribed field fire and brush fire combined, as is required for this area,” he replied. “If you knew anything about farming, you would know that this process is helpful to both crop growth, and as a pest killer. The fact that you don’t know this just reiterates that you don’t belong here.” He appeared to scrutinize me for a moment. “This farm is privately owned, I know everyone who works here, and frankly, I don’t recognize you.”

Oops, I thought backpedaling mentally, but seriously, how was I to know that farmland was SUPPOSED to be set on FIRE?? And what kind of idiot would set one at night??

Do I bluff my way out or flee while I can? I thought frantically.

“You’re an air elementalist,” he said suddenly, as though just solving a puzzle. “How interesting,” he drawled, and his tone took on a velvety dangerous edge. He prowled closer, moving like a large jungle cat that had spotted it’s prey. “There aren’t many elementalist’s that I don’t know,” he continued. His advances made me panic, and I automatically tried to flee. I got about two feet up and five feet out before all the air whooshed away from me again, and heat seared my back.

What the HELL? I thought, both panicked and confused, I looked behind me and saw his eyes were glowing amber. “That was a warning” he said, “don’t try to leave until I’m done with you.” Oh my God, this was way worse than I originally thought. I should have realized.

“A fire elementalist? Seriously? Since when do fire elementals work for farmers?” The prickles of fear intensified as I tried not to think about what this might mean long-term.

“The farmers work the land for me, little Air dancer,” he said, amusement coloring his tone.

“Air dancer?! Oh, that’s rich, don’t demean my element, sparkles, you won’t like the results.” Anger replaced my fear, making me braver. Little Air dancer?? What did he think, I was a five-year-old at a dance recital? This right here was another reason I stayed far away from elementalists. The way they conducted themselves around others was just plain rude.

He started towards me again, and I realized with a sinking heart, that without enough air to push out I would have to leg it like a norm. I had better move while I still held some element of surprise. I might not be able to fly, but I was still a pretty fast runner. I turned without further warning and ran like my hair was on fire. Which for all I knew, in seconds it might be.

“Stupid hotheaded neanderthal,” I muttered caustically as I ran breathlessly, trying to stay ahead.

“I heard that,” he called, laughter filling his tone, “and it’s not nice to call yourself names.” A wall of fire appeared before me. I could tell from the clipped footfalls behind me that he was gaining, and fast. In desperation I turned, knowing I would not have time to do things the natural way by creating another whirlwind. I would have to Deoxygenate the area, and fast to have any hope of escape. I sighed. Deoxygenation took a lot of energy, probably because it went against the natural balance of things and was really less than ideal. I jerked hard at the air with my hands, willing it from his lungs.  The dirt from several inches around him pulled towards me as well, flying straight into my eyes. I blinked, tearing up, but I didn’t dare move my hands from their positions. I wiped my eyes as best I could with my shoulders, trying to clear the grit away.  Well, that wasn’t my smartest idea, I thought grimly, and it would be even stupider if the whole thing didn’t even end up working. My vision finally cleared enough that I was able to see the fire elementalist.  To my surprise, he was still gaining, and I began to have serious doubts in my abilities to stop him. Three feet within grabbing distance, to my relief, he faltered. He was close enough that I could probably have made out his features if I hadn’t blown grit into my own eyes earlier. I gave myself a mental slap. Idiot.

“You fight dirty,” he gritted out as he knelt, straining to breathe, his lips tinged blue.  I felt a wave of guilt as his eyes rolled back in his head, but it was slight as I pushed back off in flight, effectively sending oxygen his way again.

“Sayonara sparkles,” I called, reveling in my near miss. He stared after me unnervingly as he gulped down air. I rushed to put as much distance as fast as possible between us. What a creep, I thought uneasily. Somehow the fact that I found him attractive without even being able to fully make out his features made me feel even more on edge.

Elementalists had a complicated relationship with each other. Fire and earth elementalists were the more powerful and destructive houses, but they could only survive past the age of full development if they mated their counter element. Earth elementals dried out until they became mummified unless they mated a water elemental, and fire elementals disappeared, leaving nothing but a scorch mark without mating an air elemental. Usually this put the air and water elements in the seat of power, since they had the protection and backing of their house, but for me, a lone air elemental with no allegiances or family, it put me at a dangerous disadvantage.

“That’s the last time I try to be a good Samaritan,” I muttered. “I’ve definitely reached my quota of do-gooder stupidity for