Chapter 1

To say I am tired is the understatement of the world. This year has been the most eventful, trying, exhausting year of my life. And I would guess that the year I turned 25 was way more eventful than most anyone else's 25th year. I had a normal life, lived with my Granny who raised me, I worked at a great job with animals that I loved, and had the greatest best friend in the world. Then, a few months after turning 25, my Granny died. I find out I am not an only child, I am one of five children all born at the exact same time, what is that called um quintuplets. I can't even imagine having five kids at the same time. Oh, and I also get to do that someday. Isn't it all exciting? And on top of that, I can control the elements, well try and control the elements.

OK Kenna, try to calm down. Writing this down in your journal is supposed to help you deal with everything and stop yelling at everyone. Then why do I just get pissed off every time I try to write this stuff down? Kenna, you can do this, continue writing and maybe it will get better. Deep breathe in and, a few months ago, I woke up from a blackout after fighting to save my life and those I care about, to find that my brother Aidan had whisked me off to the top of nowhere and I mean nowhere. He did it to keep everyone safe, which I understand, because we have a crazy faction called the Restorers after us so they can destroy anyone like me and my family.

I already have this all written down, I need to move on. OK, so I woke up in the middle of nowhere, and I was out for three whole weeks. I can't even imagine being out for three weeks, it just seems crazy. But in that three-week span of time, Aidan moved everyone up to a remote cabin in the Rocky Mountains. So remote in fact that they have to be choppered in and out, another of Jake's, my wonderful protector, traits is he can fly and owns a chopper. But their party has grown from myself, Jake, Aidan, and Lexi, Kenna's best friend, to now include Julie, Aidan's ex-girlfriend slash baby momma, Mr. & Mrs. Clark Aidan's parents, Rick, the earth elemental I saved when we escaped from the Restorers, and three more elementals who were working for the Restorers. But in the three weeks I was out, they all managed to add on to their wonderful little cabin so that everyone has their own room and aren't trying to kill each other, except the three that were working for the Restorers. We don't fully trust them, so they are kinda in cells, but they are very nice cells. So, I guess they don't really live in a cabin anymore, but a pretty decent-sized house in the middle of nowhere with a dungeon-type area to hold people. They did a lot in the three weeks I was recovering. Alright I admit it, I was in a damn comma! The lords said I could escape but it would take its toll on her body and did it ever.

But I have been awake for a week now and they won't let me do anything! And I mean anything. Yes, my body was pretty weak when I woke up, but it isn't anymore. I am lucky I get to shower alone now and that took five days to allow. Lexi is always there just in case I fall or something! I am not a child, and if they remember correctly, I am the one who saved everybody's lives! I have also been ordered not to use my powers, like they could really stop me if she chose to use them, but they don't think my body can take it again. But I was told by the lords that I must use them to build up my body's tolerance, but no, Aidan and Jake aren't hearing any of it. So, the only time I get to practice is in my small little room when they give me five minutes of privacy.

I can promise them all I am not a porcelain doll! I can bathe myself, and wash my own clothes, fix my meals and eat them myself, go on a walk alone, chop some wood. I could do all this stuff if they could all just let me! Well, actually writing this all down does actually make me feel better, but I can't stay in my room another minute. It is 12:47 a.m. everyone is asleep. I have tried to play by their rules, but here comes rebellious Kenna, at least my room has a damn window, time to get some fresh air!

Ah, this is so much better. I can't believe I am an adult and having to resort to sneaking out of a window! It is so worth it though. I can't believe this is the first real alone time I have had in a week. I suppose I should be scared of being out in the woods at night with who knows what, and I bet that is what Aidan and Jake are counting on to keep me from doing what I just did, but I am not scared at all. All the sounds of nature are peaceful; besides, I am pretty sure I can stop a thousand pound grizzly in its tracks with my air power, so what is there to worry about? It is beautiful up here, but the beauty is lost on you when you can't have a moment to enjoy it! Come on Kenna, you are out in the fresh air all by yourself, are you really going to dwell on them babying you all week, really?

Oh crap, maybe I am not as alone out here as I thought, someone is coming.

"Hold it Kenna, it is just me." Someone said from the shadows.

"Rick? What are you doing out here?"

"Could ask you the same question," Rick said as he stepped up where I could see him.

"I just needed some air, couldn't sleep." I said.

"Aha, and it has nothing to do with the two wardens in the house watching your every move."

"Maybe just a little." Rick brought a smile to my face, the first one in a while!

"Yeah kinda what I thought, come with me. There is a really nice spot not too far down this trail." He said as he held out his hand to me.

I took it and followed Rick along the trail and up around some boulders, then it opened onto a cliff with a great view of the entire valley. I can see the cabin and everything from up here. "This is great, but why do you know about this place?"

"You aren't the only one who can't sleep, Kenna," he said as he sat down and patted the spot next to him.

That's right. Rick's sister is still out there somewhere. "Oh I am sorry Rick, you haven't found your Emma yet?" I said as I took his suggestion.

"It isn't that I haven't found her, I really haven't been allowed to go look for her."

"What?"

"Yeah, the wardens keep a pretty tight rein on everything around here, and with Jake being the only one who knows how to fly that chopper, it makes it easy for them to do it."

"I am so sorry Rick, I didn't know. I have been so focused on what they were doing to me I didn't notice what they were doing to everyone else."

"It's OK Kenna, you went through a pretty big ordeal. I have never seen anyone do what you did that day. I can't even explain it."

"Don't worry, neither can I." I said in awe, "I just knew it had to be done."

"I think they are all worried that the next time will be the last time for you."

"But they are wrong Rick," I said heatedly, "I pushed myself the way I did to save us, and the only way my body will ever be able to handle that kind of power is if I get my body used to it."

"You mean conditioning like athletes do?" Rick said in understanding.

"Exactly! But they won't even let me try."

"How can they keep you from doing anything?" Rick questioned.

"Love, that is the only thing that stops me. I know they are doing it all out of love, but I can't take it. They are driving me insane, and to find out they are keeping you all here as well. We have to do something. This isn't right."

"What can we do, hike out of here on our own?"

"That is an option actually," I said to him with an eye roll, "but no, we will think of something. We need to find your sister before the Restorers do."

"I know she is safe, Kenna, they have been trying to find her for a while now and haven't been able to, but I would feel a lot better once I could have her with me."

"I understand Rick, what about the others? The three we brought with us here?"

"Two of them are with us. Aidan and Jake don't believe me about this. Heck, they don't really trust me either for that matter, but Dane the earth elemental is a good friend. They captured him about a year and a half ago. Well, we weren't friends before I was captured, but we have become good friends. He was helping them to stay alive long enough to try and get away. If he got away before me, he was going to find my sister for me and keep her safe."

"That is pretty great, to have someone else looking out for your sister too," I said.

"Yeah, Dane is a pretty good guy," Rick agreed. "Then there is Corrie, she is the water elemental. She is on our side too. She was captured about nine months ago, I think. She was helping them so she could get in deep enough to destroy them all. They killed her family; mom, dad and her little brother. She wants them all to pay. I would watch her with Julie though, it will take a lot before she lets go of her hate for her."

"That's good to know, but you said we had two with us. What about the fire elemental we took?"

"That is Luke. I don't know that he will ever be on our side. I am not entirely sure of his background, but rumor is the head guy Caedmon raised Luke."

"You mean the leader of the Restorers raised Luke?" I gasped.

"Yeah, that is what I heard while I was there. Luke devoutly believes that killing all like him is his duty, and once they are all wiped out, he will take his own life. Real crazy guy if you ask me."

"Just what we need here, I was wondering how we were keeping the three contained and why they aren't using their gifts. But Dane and Corrie won't use them and I would bet my life Aidan has been keeping Luke from burning the place to the ground."

"You are probably right. Luke will kill us all if he ever gets the chance."

"Then we have to make sure he never gets that change, but I can't just give up on somebody, we can't just kill Luke."

"We may not have a choice in the end, Kenna. You can't reason with someone like him."

"There will be another way," I said vehemently, "but Aidan has to be exhausted having to keep us all safe from him all the time. As much as I hate it, I wish we had that serum the Restorers used on us. It would be very helpful in a situation like this."

Rick looked at me in shock, "I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Once you get used to your ability being a part of you, I can't imagine it being taken away."

"Your right."

Rick got up and looked down at me, "I'm gonna head back down, you coming?"

"I really need some alone time. I will be down soon. And Rick, we will figure out a way to get Emma, I promise."

"I know we will, Kenna. Don't be up here too long."

"Alright I won't." I sat thinking to myself after Rick left. Taken away, can the gift be taken away? I know Nereus said it would be like taking a part of my soul, but Luke isn't from a direct bloodline. Can it be taken from him without losing his soul? "Nereus? Can I talk to you?"

Right before my eyes, within a blink, he was here, standing not two feet from me. "I have told you child I am not at your beck and call."

"I asked nicely, you didn't have to come if you didn't want to." I said as I looked up at him and wrapped my hands around my knees.

"I wasn't far." Was all he said as he looked away from me.

Huh, something suspicions about that. "Why were you nearby?"

"Do you honestly think we are very far from you at any time?" He said with a shake of his head.

"That is kinda creepy." He just laughs. I like Nereus. I don't know why, but I trust him. He is a God or whatever they want to call themselves, but he is my family too. "I have a question and I don't want you to be angry with me about it."

He cautiously said, " Yes?"

"I know my powers cannot be taken from me, it would take a big chunk of my soul, but can they be taken from others?" I asked sheepishly.

"What do you mean, child?"

"Can someone not of the direct bloodline have their abilities taken from them without losing their soul? Or a big chunk of it."

He nodded his head in understanding, "You speak of the fire in the basement, do you not?"

I looked up quickly, "Hey how did you know that?"

"I told you we are never far from you." He said with a smile, the smile dropped from his face and he said, "He is not with you, he will fight against you at every turn. Who else would you want the powers taken from?"

"But can it be done?"

"The powers are not easily given up, and with all of the gifted the power is a part of them, but as the powers are diluted through generations, the power becomes less, so it is also a smaller part of the person."

"You mean taking it from me would pretty much destroy who I am, but if someone's gifts are far enough down the bloodline it may only take a small part of them to take their powers away?"

"Yes child, but it is very dangerous. You can never truly know how much a part of their gifts are, no matter what there is a risk."

"But how do you take them away? And if you do take them away and it really destroys them, can you give them back to restore them?"

"No child, once they are taken away they cannot be easily given back." He shook his head sadly.

"Is there any other way to protect ourselves from Luke?" I questioned.

"The powers can be shut off. They don't have to be taken away, but locked down so deeply in someone they can't reach them."

"You mean like you guys did to me when I was young?"

"Yes, but the only one who can turn it off for Luke is…"

I put my head in my hands, "Don't tell me, Luke being fire means Aedus is the only one who can turn it off."

"Of course I am." Holy shit, he just appeared, I swear one of these days they are going to give me a heart attack and then none of this will matter anymore anyway! But I have never really been able to see Aedus like I see Nereus. Aedus is like Nereus. They look similar, but where Nereus is water, Aedus seems to have living flames all over his body. I couldn't help it. I stuck my hand out to touch his arm and just as quickly got burned by my effort. "What do you think you are doing? No one touches me without my permission," Aedus said smugly.

"You burned me!" I said in shock.

The smug lift of his eyebrow really said all I needed to know about this LORD!

"Don't try to touch me and you will not be burned." Aedus said.

"But I thought I couldn't be burned."

"Haha, you cannot be burned by earth's fire, but I am not of earth, am I?" Aedus said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

OK, I like Nereus, but I am pretty sure I am not gonna like this guy. "Why are you here, Aedus?" I snipped at him.

His fire rose on his body as he said, "How dare you, I go anywhere I choose, no mortal is going to question me."

" OK then." I said, and I turned away from him and decided Nereus and I needed to have a conversation to ourselves, and since we can talk to each in our head that is the best way to go about this. "Nereus, can he hear this?"

"No. he cannot. I can keep him from our communication because our connection is water."

"Is he really my only option here?"

I saw Nereus smile as he said, "I am afraid so, but you must know, as arrogant as he seems, he loves his bloodline. I cannot say he loves you, but the fire that burns within you is his legacy and he will do whatever he needs to keep that from dying."

"Interesting, but he has a volatile temper?"

"Correct, be careful how far you try and push him, but don't let him walk over you or he will never respect you if you do."

"You guys are making my life way more complicated. You know that my life used to be so simple and then you all had to come along."

"We were always there, just hidden."

"Ya ya I know."

"You two do realize that I may not be able to hear what you are saying, but the silence is extremely telling, so I know you are talking about me." Aedus said.

"You are not wrong, brother, but for some reason she does not trust you," Nereus said to his brother as he turned from me to him.

"She has no reason not to trust me!" Aedus said, as if I had slighted him somehow.

"Yeah except you just burned me because I was curious and fascinated by you. Heck, yeah, that totally means I can trust you. Oh did I mention you all abandoned this family centuries ago to be persecuted by another section of my bloodline that didn't like that you gave Halaina's children powers." I practically shouted at Aedus.

"You better remember to whom you speak, child! I am Aedus, God of Fire and I could destroy you where you stand!" Aedus said as he seemed to puff himself up.

"Then do it! My life used to be so simple before you guys came back into it, destroy me. Then I don't have to fight this stupid war you all created!" I said as I took a step towards him.

"On that I believe I will leave you two. I don't need to see what happens when two fire elements' tempers flare." And with that Nereus was gone!

What the hell, "Thanks, just leave me alone with him!"

Nereus chuckled in my head, "You will be fine, maybe slightly burned when all is said and done, but you will be fine."

"Thanks!" I huffed.

"Nereus dotes on you, the savior of our line! How can someone with a temper like yours ever save our line?" Aedus said as he started to circle me.

"You mean with a temper like yours?" I shot back.

Aedus looked at me with loathing, "You are no match for me, so be very careful how you proceed."

"How I proceed? Are you serious? Well, I am now going to proceed right back down to my cabin and go to bed." I am not staying up here listening to this bloated head, egotistical, pain in my ass!

"You dare to walk away from me?" He said as I turned.

"Yeah I dare." With that I was enveloped in flames, I can't go in any direction. But surprisingly, he isn't burning me.

"Nereus is right, you have Halaina's spirit in you, and perhaps you will be the one to end this war." Aerus said as he reached out and stroked a piece of my hair.

"Are you serious?" I said in disgust and I jerked back.

"Be careful child, I do not do well with being questioned, but my fire burns within you, and your temper comes from me. I cannot look down on that part of you," he said with reason.

"So, you can look down on the other parts of me? Like earth, wind, and water?" I shot back.

"You are the most powerful on earth, but that does not mean you are the most powerful. Fate decreed that we would all share this blood line, and so we do, but do not ever believe that we all do it willingly." He said as he turned and walked a few steps away from me.

"Fate, but I thought you guys decided together to make this family what it is." I said in wonder.

He turned back to me with surprise. "That is a big misconception, fate decided that this family would come to be. When Halaina became pregnant, it created a huge conflict, war between the four of us. But the Fates would not let us destroy this world, and so we decided each of us would get a part of Halaina, a baby for each of us. We did not know there was going to be a fifth child. But because the four of us created these children, it would take one that is a part of the four to keep it going."

"You mean if the fifth child had never been born, these abilities would have died with the first children?" I questioned.

"You know that is not the case. Look at your friends down in the home, only one of them is from your direct bloodline, the others are diluted."

"Then what do you mean?"

"Ignorance, but what should I expect from a mere human?" Yep, definitely don't like this guy! "The others have the gifts, but none as powerful as your direct line. No one can compare. And slowly the other lines will eventually fade, yours will forever remain strong."

"Why on earth would the fates want something like that?"

"We do not question the Fates, they do as they see fit. Our opinions do not matter. But I did not appear before you to give you a history lesson." He said smugly.

"Yeah, why are you here exactly? I didn't ask you to come?"

Man, if looks could kill, I would be dead. Well I bet his look can kill, but while he was talking he did let the fire around us die down at least. The last thing I need is for someone down in the cabin to see a fire up here and come running.

"I came because you have need of me," Aerus said.

"I do?" I said with fake surprise.

"Child, do not play coy with me, you will not like the results."

"Fine, can you do it? Can you turn off his fire?"

"Why should I? He is of me as well, maybe diluted, but of me. Why would I do something like that to him?"

"I don't know to help me, you came because I have need of you! The last thing we need is someone within our vicinity that has the power to burn us alive."

"He cannot hurt you."

I said, "Your right he can't hurt me or Aidan, but what about the others down there?"

"They are not my concern."

"Not your concern? Are you crazy, all of this is your concern?"

"They are not fire, I do not care what happens to them."

"But I do, and that should matter to you."

"I may care for the fire that burns within you, but I do not care about your feelings."

"See, that is why I like Nereus so much better, at least he actually tries to help me!" I said in frustration.

"WATER! You think water can help you in this? I AM THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN HELP YOU WITH THIS!" Aerus said as he stalked towards me.

I threw my hands up as I slowly backed away from him, "You aren't helping, you are wasting my time! Why don't you just remain in the shadows, you do way better there!"

"How dare you?" He said and stopped abruptly.

"No, how dare you, you all want me to do something, to win this war you all created, but you aren't willing to help with any of this. Just stand back and watch, well I am done with you, go stand and watch someone else!" I have never been so furious in my life! With that, I turned and jumped right off the cliff. I don't know why I did it, I just know I can. I fell for about ten feet then allowed myself to float. Floating helps. It is also a lot faster way to get back down to the cabin. I can't believe the nerve of this guy, an all-powerful God of Fire piece of shit! I will handle this on my own without your help ever. I DON'T EVER WANT YOUR HELP! Do you hear me, Aedus?

"I do, and believe me when I tell you this is not over child!" He roared in my head.

"Go away! You don't want to worry about these pathetic humans, so don't!"

"Remember who I am. Only once will I allow the disrespect you have shown me. The next time will have dire consequences." He seethed.

"You won't kill me, I have your precious flame within me."

"Oh, I don't need to kill you to get my point across," he said as he chuckled.

Oh shit my hand! Oh crap it hurts, there is a flame burning into my skin. I lost my concentration and fell down to the forest floor. Good thing I was only about five feet from it anyway. But my hand, there is no hiding that, at least he stopped burning me when I hit the ground, ass hole. It still burns though, and it looks like a brand of a flame. How cliché is that? Maybe getting out of my room tonight wasn't such a good idea.

"Kenna, hey Kenna, are you OK? I saw you fall." Rick ran up to me and questioned me.

Of course, Rick saw me fall, "I am fine, I just lost my concentration for a sec."

"Are you sure you're OK?" He asked again.

"I'm fine, really," I have to keep my hand out of his sight or he will be even more worried, "just stress, please don't tell the wardens."

There's that smile I was hoping for, "I won't, but we had better get back to bed before we wake them."

"You're right on that, I will just sneak back in through my window." Rick started to walk away but I said, "thank you, for tonight. It meant a lot to me."

"No problem, go get some sleep."

"Good night Rick."

"Night."