Disclaimer:
~Big thanks to Enemyoffun for making this universe to play in, and to all my beta readers for helping me hammer out some of the details in this chapter.
Author's Note: Here's chapter 6. Things take an interesting turn in this chapter, and chapter 7 is currently in the works. I hope you all enjoy this next part!
Please feel free to comment on this, as I always enjoy reading your comments and learning from them immensely.

Chapter 6

Marilyn and I sat across from the four elemental spirits, standing across from us on the other side of the purple bonfire. The four of them just stood there, as if waiting for something to happen or be said. Marilyn, on the other hand, looked like she was still trying to wrap everything around her head.

"Marilyn?" I prompted.

"Yeah?" she asked, in a bit of a stupor.

"What do you know about the four elemental spirits?"

"Just their legend."

"Legend?" the earth one stated. "We've passed into legend already?"

It then muttered, “This is going to take longer than I thought.”

"I guess so," the fire one answered. "A lot of time must've passed on the mortal plane for that to happen."

Marilyn nodded and acknowledged their response, "If what you are saying is true, then you have been away from Earth for at least several centuries."

"And what's the legend about?"

"Long ago," Marilyn started, "a young shamaness went into the forest near where her tribe lived. Like me, she went out to go on her spirit quest. She entered the spirit realm and wandered around aimlessly, like we did. However, she never encountered any spirits. After she left the spirit realm, she woke up in a different place from where she entered."

"Wait. How could she have done that if her body was still where she left it?"

"No one knows the answer to that. The most likely explanation was that someone moved her as she lay there in her altered state."

Marilyn continued the tale, "The shamaness tried to find her way home, but ended up getting lost in the strange woods. Every night she made camp she prayed to the gods to help her find her way home to her family and her tribe. At the time, she thought she would make a lousy shamaness, considering that she encountered no spirits within the realm. So, she resigned herself to help her family and tribe in any other way that she could.

"At the rise of the full moon, on the fourth night she had left the spirit realm, her prayers were answered. But, not by the gods. Instead, these four showed up to assist her."

"And so, we did," the water one commented.

"What happened next?" I asked.

"The shamaness, with the assistance of the four elementals, returned to her tribe. Apparently, they stuck by her and became her spirit companions. Her father, the tribe's shaman noticed something different about his daughter upon her return, and assumed that the spirits had given her a boon of some kind. He didn't decide to press the issue though.

"As time passed, the tribe fell under assault by other Unseen. The shamaness called upon her spirits to help defend her tribe from the attackers."

"Good times," the fire elemental mused, interrupting Marilyn's tale.

Marilyn kept continuing on, "With their help, they managed to survive and beat back their attackers. And then, for some strange reason, she left her tribe in search for something. The story never said what it was."

"Do you four know?" I asked the elementals.

"And if we do?" the earth one answered.

"Just curious, that's all," I replied.

"That is not for you to know, bird-dog," the fire elemental stated.

"Then why are you here?" Marilyn asked. "You four don't show up willy-nilly like this, if any of that legend is to be believed."

"Indeed," the air elemental answered.

"We sensed a disturbance within the spirit realm. A powerful one at that. Powerful enough, that these three insisted that I come along when I have more important things to take care of," the earth elemental explained.

"This disturbance must be destroyed!" the fire elemental vehemently interjected.

"Destroyed? Why?" Marilyn asked.

"It possesses great affinity for the spirits within the realm. Such power that we have not seen in a great length of time," the water elemental continued. "Such a being has the capability to either preserve the spirits or destroy them."

"Something that we must not let anyone being have under their control," the fire elemental added again.

"Well then," I started, "where is this being and are you here to request our help?"

"Maybe you can help. For the being we are searching for is sitting right next to you," it answered.

I whirled my head towards my friend, "Marilyn?"

She stuttered, "You can't be serious. I don't have that kind of power."

"Not yet," the water elemental interjected, "yet, you possess the raw potential for such a string of events to occur."

"Me? Impossible!"

"Not so. We have sensed your presence and followed you to this spot within our realm. And we will not let any harm befall those who live here."

"Nor do I wish harm on any spirits. I was taught to seek the spirits’ wisdom in times of need. To ask for your aid when I need it. Not to destroy or exploit you," Marilyn pleaded.

"You've had good instructors," the air elemental commented.

"Yet, you are still a threat," the earth elemental threw in.

"And threats must be neutralized," the fire elemental ended.

"Neutralized?" I shouted, getting to my feet. "You want to kill my friend? What kind of spirits are you?"

"One's that must act in accordance to balance," the water elemental answered.

"Still, just because someone has the potential to do harm, doesn't mean you kill them. For all you know, that potential could be turned into a powerful positive force," I countered.

"Very wise, for a bird-dog," the earth elemental commented.

"I'd wish you four would stop calling me that. It's really starting to get on my nerves," I replied through clenched teeth.

"Give us a reason to," the fire elemental scoffed.

"Really? Is it going to come down to that? An all-out brawl to prove to you that I'm not some kind of bird-dog?"

"Perhaps, perhaps not," the air elemental said.

I shook my head, and said to myself, "Ugh! Why does it seem that whenever I ask a direct question for answers, all I keep getting are riddles?"

The fire elemental suddenly began to glow brighter. "Enough of this pointless conversation. We need to end the threat before it has a chance to become one."

In what appeared to be his right hand, I saw him holding what could only be described as a fireball. He reached back and in the motions of throwing a pitch in a baseball game took aim right at Marilyn. I quickly lunged at her, managing to get her out of the line of fire.

"Run!" I yelled.

She didn't need to be told twice as we made a mad dash around the side of the house. The four elementals began heading in our direction at a brisk walk. I could see the fire elemental getting ready with another fireball, while the other elementals seemed to be making their own attacks against the two of us ready as well. The air elemental had an orb of charged electricity, while the other two elementals didn't have anything that I could tell would be giving away their own attacks.

I thought to myself, 'This couldn't get a whole lot worse. Wait, don't think that, you know it can.'

"Damn you, bird-dog!" the fire elemental shouted. "Now, you had to go and make this difficult on your friend and yourself!"

I looked over at Marilyn and asked, "Any ideas on how to defeat them?"

"You're asking me?" she fired back.

"Do you know of any other shaman we can ask right about now?"

"Good point."

I looked over at them and realized something big about if I was going to fight them head on. They were each made out of a primal element. Physical attacks would probably hurt me more than hurting them.

"Have any ideas? I'm thinking they would hurt me a lot more than I would hurt them in a straight up fight."

"I don't know. I only have defensive and healing magic. Shamans get their offensive magic from their spirit guides."

"Can you do anything else?" I asked.

Another fireball went hurtling past us. Soon it was quickly followed up by an electrical bolt and a large stream of water. I guess that was what the water elemental had up their sleeve. If sleeve was even an appropriate word for them.

"Uhm...," she stuttered. "Let me think, okay?"

This time, a small boulder and a few more fireballs went hurdling past the wall. I grabbed Marilyn and ran around to another part of the cabin to buy us some more time. I could hear their footsteps in the sand, and I knew we wouldn't be safe for very long.

"Marilyn, we don't have the time. So, you're going to have to think fast."

"I know, Mikaela!"

The two of us ran over and hid behind the wood pile, or as best as we could. I could peak through the gaps in the pile to keep an eye on the elementals' position. I had to buy time for Marilyn and me, if we were going to get through this in one piece.

I looked around for something that I could use to help us out of this situation. The wood in front of us looked like it was split by hand. Not manufactured off some assembly line. If that's the case, then there should be an ax or a sledgehammer around here somewhere.

I remember helping my stepfather splitting firewood for the winter months around here. It could be quite chilly at times, even though snow at this elevation was a rarity. I knew how to use those tools to split wood. But, using them as a weapon, that I wasn't too sure about.

A short distance away, I saw an ax sitting in a stump. Hopefully, it could prove useful in our defense against the elementals' assault.

"Stay here," I told Marilyn. I headed over towards the stump, careful not to be easily seen from the direction of the cabin and the elementals pursuing us.

The stump was concealed from the cabin by a second pile of stacked split wood. However, there was a gap in between the two stacks that shielded us. I would have to move quickly in order to avoid be seen.

Glancing around the wood pile, I saw that the coast was clear. I dashed across quickly and reached the stump in no time at all. Grasping the handle of the ax, I managed to pull it out rather easily from the sump, with a little leverage from bracing my leg against the stump.

I did manage to grunt a little loudly, however, when I pulled the ax out of the stump. I cringed and hoped that I didn't make too much noise. I rushed to edge of the wood stacks and glanced around. No sign of the elementals.

I sighed deeply, and geared myself up for another mad dash across, back to Marilyn. Hopefully, she could do some kind of magic that could help me out. Maybe shield me against their attacks.

I took a quick peek from behind the stack and dashed across back to her, being careful with the ax.

"What are you going to do with that?" Marilyn asked me in a hushed tone.

"Try to defend us from them. Unless you have a better idea?"

"Do you think a weapon like that would be any good against elemental spirits?"

"Probably not. But, using a weapon from spirit realm against spirits? Seems like it would work to me."

Marilyn cocked her head. "Although logical, it's not a magical weapon by any means. And those kinds of weapons are definitely effective against spirits, especially within their realm."

"Then can you magic this up?"

"You think I can just give an ordinary object magical abilities?"

"Well, we're kind of running out of options here. Can you do anything to it or me to help us level the playing field against those four?"

Marilyn rolled her eyes and looked up, trying to rack her brains for anything that could help our current predicament.

"Uhm...," she started.

"Marilyn," I pressured sternly.

"There might be something."

"Something? What? What something could you do?"

"I remember reading something about shamans being able to bind spirits."

"Bind spirits? Trap them you mean?"

"Yes and no," she started to explain, before a ball of fire hit the wood pile next to us, causing it to burst into flame.

"Long story short," she quickly and frantically continued, "shamans can force spirits into something or submit them to our will. But, something's better than nothing, right?"

"Right," I replied. "Do you have something to force them into?"

"I think I can find something. At worst, I can force a spirit into a person. But, doing so is extremely dangerous."

"Then, that's our last resort."

She mused aloud, "Think there might be something in the cabin that I could use?"

"Probably. I mean, this ax was in that tree stump over yonder."

"Alright, I guess I'm going in there then."

I strengthened my grip around the ax shaft and I asked her, "How quickly can you bind them?"

She cocked her head slightly and replied, "Not sure, think you can you buy me some time?"

A bolt of electricity sizzled into the tree stump that had had the ax wedged in place.

"I guess I'm going to have to," I commented.

I peered around the woodpile to get an idea of where they were coming from. I saw them standing near the edge of the cabin, not really looking in our general direction. If even looking was the proper term to use for them. Their unusual forms didn't make normal descriptions work very well. I headed over to the other side of the pile, still using it to obscure their view of me.

I looked back at Marilyn and replied, "Don't take too long."

"I'll try not to."

Regripping the ax near its head with one hand, I went to the far side of the wood pile we hid behind, and scoped out where those elementals gathered. Gazing at the cabin, they still gathered at its edge. Waiting for us to come out of hiding, perhaps? It seemed like the most logical thing to do. After all, we did spend a good time hiding there, and they probably eliminated other potential places.

Rushing to the other side of the cabin, away from their position, I crouched low to try to avoid their gaze across the relatively open field. Making it to the other side of the cabin, I breathed a sigh of relief, believing that I escaped their notice. Peering around the corner, I tried to confirm that. However, a second after I looked, a sizzling bolt of lightning struck the side of the cabin near my position, scorching the wall black.

I thought to myself, 'I guess that's my last warning shot.'

"What are you going to do, bird-dog?" the fire elemental taunted. "Come and strike us with your claws?"

'Now that wasn't a bad idea,' I thought. 'But, why would they suggest it? Something to ponder later, I guess, if I survive this ordeal.'

I hefted the ax again, and thought what I could do with it. One against four were bad odds, especially when they could launch such powerful attacks at me at will. If there was only a way to separate them.

Glancing over at the woodpile, I noticed that Marilyn gave me a look of eagerness mixed with desperation. I knew she wanted to get into the Mystic's cabin as soon as possible. But, I somehow needed to create a distraction, or both of us could end up dead.

I thought for a bit, and decided to use the ax to help us out. If it didn't work on them, at least I could use it to help open the cabin's door to help Marilyn get inside to find what she needs.

Collecting myself, I turned the corner and rushed the elementals' position, hoping to catch them off-guard. Hopefully, they would focus their attention on me, giving her an opening. It seemed like that I would have to play some football, where I'm the one rushing the quarterback and she's playing the role of the defender that goes unnoticed for the interception.

The elementals looked like they were caught off guard as I charge headlong at them, ready to bring down the ax on the first one I encountered. They tried to avoid me, but one got caught in my swing.

The fire elemental, the one who loved to make fun of my heritage at every opportunity he got, took the brunt of the ax head slicing into his arm. He yelled in pain, and I couldn't help but feel a little bit satisfied by the results.

The elemental grasped his arm and looked like he was in serious pain. The flames around the wound seemed to dim and that arm burned less brightly than the rest of his form.

He looked at me and seethed, "You will pay for that, you abomination of the Were!"

"I'm no abomination, Torchy."

"Torchy?!?!" he roared. "No one calls me Torchy!"

"Alright, I won't," I replied, stepping back a bit to face him. "I'll call you Flamey instead."

He roared even louder and raised his other arm at me. From it spewed forth large plumes of flame, in a fashion that reminded me of a flamethrower. I quickly jumped to the side, away from the woodpile, not wanting to harm Marilyn if she was still there. I felt the scorching heat just miss me, although I think my clothes became singed in places.

However, before I could get out of my crouch, I felt a gush of cold against my back. The water elemental must've taken a shot at me. Her attack felt like someone spraying me with water using a garden hose, at higher than full blast.

Whipping around, the water elemental looked poised to continue its watery assault on me. "Time for you to cool off," she taunted.

She raised her arm and fired another blast of water at me. I couldn't dodge fast enough and took a watery hit to my arm—luckily, not the one holding the ax.

It felt like someone sucker punched me in that arm. Shaking my dripping arm out, I turned to face the next opponent who entered into the current fray. I whirled my head back to check on the fire elemental, to make sure he didn’t do anything. I also kept my eyes open for that air elemental. If my guess was correct, he would be ready to shock me with his lightning. And I knew that electricity and water didn’t mix.

I quickly ran towards the water elemental, intending to keep her out of position. But, before I could get in range to take a swing with the ax, a rock wall sprung up in front of her. I skidded as quickly as I could and managed to just brace myself, and able to slow myself down enough so that I didn’t take a header into a rock wall.

Looking around, I saw that rock elemental taunting me. What was that guy thinking? That he was The Rock from professional wrestling?

‘Ugh,’ I thought, ‘that was a bad pun, even for me.’

I glanced over at the air elemental to my left and the water elemental to my right. The fire elemental was nursing his wound behind the air elemental. I still had the ax in my right hand, and I had no idea where Marilyn was at this moment. The tactical situation seemed to be quite grim.

I couldn’t quite figure a way out of this at the moment, not without being seriously injured or dying.

As I continued standing there, watching my opponents, I continued to cycle through my options, and wishing that I had something to help me out of this mess.

‘Wait a second,’ I thought, ‘maybe that fire elemental was right. Maybe I have to call out my inner beast in order to get out of this mess, and buy the necessary time for Marilyn to perform her ritual. If only I could remember how to do that.’

Unfortunately, my thoughts were interrupted by a bolt of lightning produced by that air elemental. I quickly dove out of the way, but the smell of ozone permeated the air, making me realize that was a little too close for comfort. On the landing, however, the ax escaped my grip and slid on the ground for a few feet, directly in front one of the elementals, luckily some distance away from them.

I quickly dashed over to it, but a series of spires of rock sprung out of the ground and got in my way. I did my best to dodge the spires, but they did manage to knock me around quite a bit. I slid around on the ground for quite a bit, but I did manage to retrieve the ax. I guess I was lucky that the elemental ignored the ax as I retrieved it.

Changing direction, I quickly made a dash for the earth elemental. Swinging the ax similar to a baseball bat, bringing it down quickly into his torso. He took the hit and winced, however, given his hard skin I ended up letting go of the ax.

The elemental calmly removed the ax from his gut, but winced in pain. He then hefted the ax, and threw it clear into the mists. I could see something fall out of him, it reminded me of wet sand or mud. Given that he was an earth elemental that some kind of sense.

“Guess you do have claws,” he menacingly replied.

I gulped. Now, unarmed, my options became very limited. All I had now was my limited martial arts skills to fall back upon. And my hybrid form, if I could even use it here. The taunt from the fire elemental did make me question whether or not I could use it.

I rushed around to the back side of the cabin from where the elementals were, hoping to buy myself enough time. I quickly began to search within myself, to try to call the beast out again, to aid me in this battle. I could hear my inner wolf, but no more.

‘What the hell’s going on?’ I thought. ‘Shouldn’t I be able to call forth the beast?’

I heard a loud banging noise coming from the other side of the cabin. Crap! They’re going after Marilyn now. I looked around the cabin, to try to find the second door, while staying relatively out of sight. After what seemed like an eternity, I managed to find it and open the door.

I entered the cabin, and saw the basics of what should be in a cabin like this one. The cabin was very spartan in appearance; no decorations or personal touches could be seen. I guessed that since we didn’t know what could be in this cabin in the real world, we only assumed what would be in a cabin in this modern day, and it was here.

I headed into the kitchen to find a knife or a frying pan that I could use for a weapon. However, before I could get there, I saw Marilyn kneeling before a small altar, chanting something, with a small, ghostly white flame burning in front of her.

I had never seen that color flame before. It had me wondering how she was able to produce it, when another loud bang on the door snapped me back to the present situation. I rummaged around the drawers, looking for something to defend ourselves.

Finally, I managed to find a nice sharp butcher’s knife, just as I heard a loud crash coming from the other side of the cabin. I dashed out in front of Marilyn, right in the elementals’ path. They would have to get through me, in order to even lay a finger on my friend.

Wielding the knife, I yelled at them, “You want to get at her, you’ll have to go through me.”

“As you wish,” the fire elemental replied, “Bird-dog.”

I growled at that comment. These guys had gotten on my nerves for the last time.

However, before anyone could do anything, a bright flash of white light enveloped the room. I raised my arm to shield my eyes from the bright glare. Did this mean that Marilyn succeeded?

The light slowly faded away and standing right between the elementals and myself stood an interesting looking figure. They stood taller than all of us here in the room. She appeared human for the most part, however, there was something not human about them from what I could tell. She had long flowing black as midnight hair down to her hips. Dressed in an exquisite black dress that showed off just enough of her figure, yet still maintained an air of authority about her. Those eyes, a light pale blue that could just stare straight into your soul. She also gave off an aura of authority, grace, and wisdom.

With a fluttering motion, I found out what was not human about her. Large black, raven wings emerged from her back and gracefully hung at her side.

She stared coldly at the four elementals, and in a loud voice, cried out, “That is quite enough out of the four of you!”

The elementals backed down in her presence almost immediately after her making her intentions crystal clear. I lowered the knife and shifted position until I stood beside Marilyn, who seemed unaffected by the unexpected arrival of this person, whomever they may be.

“Not to seem ungrateful,” I started, “But, who are you?”

The woman looked at me, and replied in a soft, motherly tone, “I am Raven, Mikaela Vance.”