Couldn’t sleep

*POV* Cassy Iris Aleera

My anger I had been feeling slowly ebbed away as I watched my mother talking with Clay about some of the forest beasts he had fought. I sat beside him with Mink on my other side, she had been quiet since I had told her about what had happened.

Once we had eaten Mink and the cookie thief brought their bed rolls into my room while Clay set up on the living room floor. "What's your name anyways." I asked the cookie thief.

She gave me a smile. "I am Jamia." She told me. Mink must have been working her charm on her because the once shy girl seemed perfectly at ease.

I lay on my bed looking at the oak wood ceiling in the darkness when Mink whispered. "Hey Cassy, you awake?" I moved to lay on my side and answered Mink.

"Yeah. What is it?" She was laying on her back, but she turned to face me. "How do you plan to defeat the king? We don't even know where he is."

I sighed. "Not sure." Her words made me wonder, if I would just be chasing him all my life and never get anywhere, "why couldn't he just die in the spell? After what he did to Coral, he shouldn't be allowed to live."

I had no intention of playing the hero, but from what Monique was saying I was the only one who could stop him.

I was going to stop him. "I don't know… but it seems that he still has people who work for him, so we have to be careful." Mink rolled onto her side before sitting up. "I can't sleep." She voiced.

"I think I am going to write a note to Destiny, tell her we found you." She stood. "Can I come with you?" I asked, no longer feeling sleepy.

"Yeah sure." We left my room and entered the living room which was dark except for a fire that burned low in the hearth. Clay lay sprawled out on the floor with his blanket clenched in his fists.

He sucked in a breath when Mink whispered. "That fire you used earlier, can you show me?" I followed her to the door.

I wasn't sure if I could, I hadn't even tried to use the wind again since I had beat up Evan. "I am not sure."

Mink opened the door and waited for me to exit before she closed it behind us. "So I am guessing you haven't always had the power of fire?"

"It only showed up after the spell." We fell into step together and I glanced up at the star lit sky. "This is crazy." Mink said quietly. "If that spell gave you other elements then what was he planning, it couldn't have been his plan to give a water mage all four elements." That was my thoughts exactly.

"Maybe it had something to do with the baby. The earth mage was pregnant." Mink stopped.. then sighed. "This is all just really weird. With Coral's sudden birth to you having more than one element."

We stood a little ways away from my home on the grassy slope. As I stared at the road where the carriages and soldiers had been hours before I wondered what had happened to Mr. Caven.

The night air was almost calm. My attention flipped back to Mink as she scratched something into a small piece of paper that she had laying on her palm.

Once she was done she took a breath and whispered some quiet words. In front of her the air shifted and a small iridescent bird with wide outstretched wings formed. "Here take this." She told the bird before placing it in the bird's beak.

"What sudden birth are you talking about?" I asked as we both watched the bird take off then disappear into the wind.

"Coral.. Clay's sister. The queen. She had a baby right after the spell, even though she wasn't pregnant." My eyes widened. The queen?

"That's not normal." She scoffed. "You think.? The king is a messed up-." she stopped as Clay spoke behind us. "What are you guys doing up?"

I turned to look at him, his hair was messy and his eyes were sleepy. "We just couldn't sleep." I told him. He sighed.

"What were you saying about the king?" He asked Mink, she smiled. "nothing much… Did you know that Cassy can use all four elements?!"

Clay eyed me. "Did the spell do that to you?!" He asked. "I think so. Monique said that I am the only one that can defeat him." They both eyed me now. "Whose Monique?" Clay questioned.

Monique purred when the conversation turned to her. "She's well… Maybe if you saw her you would understand." She lifted her head at my words. "You sure you want me to show myself to them?" She asked me.

"Can you?!" A tingling sensation gathered at my back, in my peripheral vision I could see the white glow as I felt my mind go slightly numb like something important was missing.

Monique materialized her once smaller form was larger now reaching the height of My shoulder.

Clay and Mink watched in stunned silence as the great cat stretched then shakes like a rag doll almost losing her footing. "Oh man, I am hungry." Monique said excitedly. "Can I go hunt?" She asked me.

I nodded, not wanting to keep her starving. Monique sniffed Mink then Clay before she sprinted off towards the woods, her body turned into a white streak of pure power.

"Oh that was cool, and scary. You had that inside you!?" Mink came alive dancing on the balls of her feet.

"Yeah, she was a gift." I said, but Mink didn't seem to hear me. "Oh great!" I thought with a silent laugh.

"Are you okay?!" Clay asked. I nodded while pressing my lips in a thin line. I hope Monique hurries back, I can't stay quiet much longer.

"So about the fire can I see it!?" Mink turned back to me. I sighed. Not sure if I could do it again, it had only happened in a moment of anger. I lifted my hand and tried to focus on the fire, the warmth, the heat. But nothing came.