Chapter Twenty-One

"Tell us more!" Diamond was bouncing while sitting on her bed in our dorm. Luna was sitting on a pillow and Blue was sitting on the floor. I offered her a cushion or something but she said she was fine on the ground.

"That's all there really is. He just asked me about the Nightmare Realm." I answered truthfully.

"Woah. A secret garden?! That's so cool!" Blue exclaimed while Luna nodded, excitement clear in her crimson eyes.

"I know! At first I had no idea what was going on but once I realized where I was standing I was...just...," I struggled to find the right word. "Amazed. Spellbound. It was beautiful."

"It sounds like it was." Luna answered. She looked at the clock, which read 4:53. "Well, it's almost time for dinner. C'mon, guys, we should probably go down."

"Okay, let's go!" Diamond leapt off her bed and skipped downstairs to the dining hall.

Caleb and Alex were running late. I wondered what was taking them so long. If they waited any longer, the Chinese food would get cold. For some reason, though, the scholae elementorum wasn't serving any duck. I shook my head, my thoughts drifting back to where Alex and Caleb were.

• • •

A few days later, it was Thursday. We were having a test in Non-Magical Folk, so apparently my brain decided to have a dream right then and there.

"Skye, Luna, Diamond, Wisteria, Alex and Caleb. Welcome!" Elliott was standing in the room he was always held captive in. There was only one thing different: the gray walls were tinted pale blue with frost.

"Elliott?" Luna asked.

"You've seen him too?" Caleb asked her.

Elliott decided to answer for Luna. "You've all had dreams with me in it. I'm sorry if you were doing something important, but now was the best time to have you here."

"Why?" Diamond cocked her head in question.

"Eagle isn't here right now, and he won't be back for a while. I called you here to tell you guys something important." Elliott stared off into space, his silvery blue eyes distant.

"Well?" Alex prompted.

"What?" Elliott snapped back into the dream reality.

"You were going to tell us something." Luna rolled her eyes impatiently.

"Oh. Right. Well, as you know, you all have to find me, and the Secrets of your elements. Only you have the power to find them and save magic as we know it. Oh, and all the people who have magic. Anyway, that's why you were chosen. To find the Secrets and save the world of magic.

"To do this, you're going to have to go on a journey. Find me first, because I have to go with you to find the Secret of Ice. I already have an idea of what it might be. I'm located in..."

"...Island off the coast..."

"...Eagle...hurry..."

"What?" I found that the dream was fading, but Elliott was still trying to talk. Suddenly, the dream became sharply focused again and we could understand Elliott.

"I said, 'I'm located in an island off the coast of California. Eagle is coming. Hurry and be careful.'" As the last words came out of Elliott's mouth, I woke up with Mr. Smiths hovering over me. I was laying on the floor, many kids fanning my face. I sat up, and Mr. Smiths sighed in relief.

"Thank the heavens you're okay. Imagine what would happen to me if you passed out in this room." The teacher stood up and walked back to his oak desk.

"Well thanks for caring about me," I mumbled under my breath so he couldn't hear me. This teacher was so annoying and boring.

Just after I finished my test, the bell rang and it was time for me to go to Secrets of Water Magic. When I realized this, I brightened and quickly got into the classroom. Maybe this was my hint as to what to look for.

"Hello, Mrs. Jones. What are we learning about today?" I asked, looking up at my six-foot-two teacher.

"Today," Mrs. Jones responded, "we are learning about the special abilities of the first users of Water Magic, Julius Elain and Amara Heath. They worked together to form almost everything we know about the water element today."

I was elated. Maybe she would be talking about the Secret of Water Magic today. "Great!" I took my seat. The class started as other kids poured in the door and the bell to start class rang.

Mrs. Jones started talking about Julius and Amara but I already knew most of the stuff. When I tuned in, she was talking about what made Water magic different from the rest.

"Water is the element of healing and change. The secret to mastering it is-" I leaned in closer-"to go with the flow." I slumped back down at my desk. Surely that wasn't the actual Secret of Water. But as Mrs. Jones went on, I got ideas on what I was supposed to look for.

"Amara and Julius realized water elementals were getting too powerful with easy excess to the knowledge and secrets of water. They decided to hide it in a burning flame, under the water." Mrs. Jones taught us while I was furiously using my pencil to take notes. "Now, I know that doesn't make sense, but that's what legend says. It also says that one day the Chosen One will find it, but that's been proven false."

I smirked. If only you know, Mrs. Jones, I thought. If only you knew.

• • •

School ended and I was sitting at the table I normally do in the free period after school, which I usually spent up in my dorm with Diamond. Only Ben wasn't there. I felt bad, but he wasn't part of the prophecy.

"Yeah, we learned about that in Secrets of Air a couple days ago." Alex was saying. He and Caleb already knew about what they were looking for, because they had covered it in class a few days earlier.

"And you didn't say anything?" Luna was glaring at them, but not too harshly.

"How were we supposed to know?" Caleb demanded. "We just had the dream earlier today."

"Calm down, guys." said Diamond. "It's fine."

"Hothead," Luna grumbled quietly so Caleb wouldn't hear her.

"Anyway," Blue said, "all we know is that it's kind of a riddle."

"Right." I agreed. "I have to find the eternal flame that burns under the water. What about you guys?" At this point, the task seemed impossible. How was fire supposed to burn underwater? Life didn't work like that.

"I have to find a raindrop in a volcano." Caleb looked slightly distressed.

"I have to find a cloud under the ground." Blue answered. She looked puzzled.

"A piece of sun in the network of tunnels and unused bunkers under my castle and all of Neria." Luna shrugged uncertainly.

"I have to look for a rock in the skies." Alex had a perplexed look on his face.

"And I have to find a chunk of broken night sky in the spirit world." Diamond sighed.

"Well." I said. "Come Christmas break, we should get to work." Everyone nodded in agreement.