Taylon Neary, the Supplanter, stared hard into the giant ruby, gritting his teeth with effort but not getting so much as a puff of smoke. He gave himself a headache from how tense he was and eventually collapsed back into his chair, rubbing his temple and gasping for breath. Natasha made it look so easy. He just needed to feel the energy more – make it flow through him. It shouldn’t take that much effort. But when he reached down inside himself, searching for the passion that flowed to the surface so easily for his most prized chosen supplicant, there was nothing.

He glanced back at his bedchamber, the red silk sheets still disheveled from his most recent liaison with a willing supplicant. She had been the third heart disciple he had bed in the last two days, yet still, he had not felt even the slightest increase of passion or desire flow through him. He needed Natasha. No, he told himself. It only takes determination and willpower. He turned back to the ruby to try again.

“Give it up.”

Taylon turned quickly in his chair, appalled that anyone would walk into his private study unannounced. However, the sound of the voice let him know it was the only person bold enough to do so, and he couldn’t frighten the prince into proper protocol the way he did his many supplicants.

Prince Dantell looked at the man before him, presumably the leader of a religion that boasted tens of thousands of followers, and tried not to laugh. The Supplanter wore a red robe over a pair of black undershorts. It took a moment for the master to gather himself after the intrusion and close the robe, so Dantell got an image of a flat chest with a few whimsical hairs above a slightly protruding gut. Taylon was a northerner, but his skin was almost as pale as a Tallashite, and the silky red robe, made the somewhat pinkish skin even paler by comparison.

The prince was spared a prolonged exhibition as the Supplanter closed the long-sleeved garment and stood, allowing the robe to fall to his feet, coving all but his face, which was not smiling. “Do not interrupt my meditation.”

“Do not give me orders,” the prince responded. “Remember your place. I am heir to the throne.”

“And I am the savior of mankind!”

Dantell laughed in the puny man’s face. “Not yet.” Not ever, he thought. Natasha wasn’t the only one with doubts. “And when you are,” he continued, wanting very much to say IF instead of WHEN, “you will still be under the throne.”

Taylon was flushed with anger, but he knew he could do nothing against this man. At least, not yet, as the prince had so accurately put it. “Once I have the Elementals, I will . . .”

“You will still be under the throne,” Dantell repeated. “All mankind will bow to you, and you will bow to me.”

Taylon managed a grin. “I will bow to your father.”

Dantell shrugged, not wanting to play all his cards at once. “As you wish. But until then, please stop wasting your efforts on the natural elementals. I told you man can’t control them.”

“But a woman can?” Taylon echoed what the prince’s scholars had told him, and he, in turn, had told the Supplanter.

The prince smiled at him and quoted:

“To know the wind with heart on fire,

“Place hand on stone whet thy soul’s desire,

“Locked ever from man without a key,

“Only in Wisdom to set them free.”

The natural elementals were found fifty years ago in a deep cavern in the heart of Talla. No one knew what they were at first, but, like the divine religion, they came complete with a confusing set of verses. Unfortunately, unlike the divine religion, they did not come with the original ancient texts. Those writings, if they ever existed, were lost. It was quickly reasoned that these four gems, a ruby, a diamond, a pearl, and a sapphire, were the natural elements of fire, stone, water, and air. However, how to unlock these mysterious powers was still a mystery.

The verse Dantell quoted made some believe that with enough study and “wisdom,” they would eventually be able to unlock the source of the power. Most scholars thought it was madness and that what they were attempting was nothing less than magic. The scholars devoted to studying the elements were derisively called magicians, eventually shortened to mages.

It wasn’t until a woman proved that she could summon the wind with the power of her mind that some people started to believe there was merit. However, she chose to demonstrate her abilities on the top of a castle and blew herself into the air, over the wall, and down over 100 feet to her death. After that, some still believed, but most thought the venture too dangerous.

The existence of the stones was kept a secret from all but the elite, and most of them doubted their power. After the fatal accident, they were given even less publicity and locked away. But as the prince, Dantell had access and felt he had unlocked a secret no one else had seen. He had been a student of the stones for a long time and had been a colleague of the woman who had died. He had been on the rooftop that fateful evening as one of the many spectators. She had confided in him that she had once been in training in the Supplanter’s temple.

It wasn’t something she had been proud of, as her current scientific studies, even if they were bordering on the supernatural, ran opposed to religious faith, or so she thought. Dantell saw something different in the verse he had just quoted to the Supplanter: that one needed to KNOW the wind. As a disciple of the mind Elemental, her mind had been rigidly trained and cultivated. That was why she could work with the sapphire, a gem the color of the sky, and summon the power of the air.

With his royal authority, he had the stones discharged to him, where he promised to keep them safe and out of use so no one else would get hurt. Others still studied the “science” of the natural elements, always working to understand more of the verses, but Dantell knew everything he needed. He started his search for prospective Supplanters right away. There were always Supplanters rising to power, and they ruled like local politicians, gaining prestige and authority within the temple until one of them rose to supreme prominence.

Dantell looked for one he could control. He needed a weak man with ambition that outstripped his ability by leaps and bounds. Taylon was an easy choice. He only had a modest following when the prince had approached him several years ago, but as soon as Dantell introduced him to the informant he had in the Divine Temple, an informant who knew the location of all four of the human Elementals, Taylon’s influence grew dramatically. The prince had convinced the over-anxious man to sit on the information. He needed to build a following first. Specifically, he needed to gather together a cultivated group of women who had devoted themselves to the study and perfection of each human element: heart to manipulate fire, body to manipulate stone, soul to manipulate water, and mind to manipulate air. Since Taylon was just a puppet, he needed to find the true savior and wanted a large group to choose from.

And Dantell believed they had to be a woman. Taylon disagreed.

“The verse does not say anything about women being the only ones who can use the elements,” the Supplanter argued.

“Wisdom,” the prince replied. “You know that wisdom is female in all ancient writings. We don’t have access to those, so it is possible that the man who wrote these verses saw a feminine pronoun and interpreted it as wisdom. If you change Wisdom with Woman in the verse I quoted, it makes more sense why it is locked to man.”

“Man simply means mankind. You are reading too much into it,” Taylon argued.

“Am I. Can you manipulate the powers?” Dantell already knew the answer to that. “Can the women?”

“Not very well,” Taylon countered. “Natasha is the best, and she can barely hold a flame in her palm without burning herself.”

The prince smiled. He also felt he knew the answer to that but didn’t offer his opinion. As to why the other women struggled, he didn’t care. He wasn’t going to choose any of them. Dantell also felt only a woman could adequately wield the human Elementals. The Divine Verses spoke about wisdom too, but that theory would bring down the entire Supplanter religion. He wasn’t ready to do that yet. He still had uses for Taylon. Dantell planned to prop up this Supplanter as a false savior for a while, to bring the people of the north safely under his control, and then he could reveal the true savior. He knew it had to be a woman, but there was no reason it couldn’t be his wife, the queen. He just needed to get Natasha on board.

“If only I could have her power now, then I could prove you-”

“No,” the prince cut him off. “She must be saved for the ceremony.” She must be saved for me, he really thought. He had no desire to possess someone this pathetic man had spoiled. “Sleep with all the others, but if you diminish her passion in any way, you will regret it when the time comes to transfer the Elementals.”

“But am I not draining the other potential sacrifices?”

Dantell was constantly surprised at how idiotic this “Master” was. “Making love is a passionate affair,” the man said as if lecturing a 12-year-old. Though, as he said this, he wondered if there was any passion in this man’s lovemaking. Probably not. “It will not affect their cultivated powers of the mind, body, or spirit.”

Taylon turned away from the prince with a scowl. These two men had worked through this argument several times before and wouldn’t come to a resolution now. To ensure that, a sharp knock on the door to the study interrupted them. The Supplanter gave the prince a look as if to demonstrate the proper way to enter his room, but Dantell didn’t care. “Come in.”

One of the few men in the temple, a Tallashite, entered the room. He bowed in the presence of his master, and then seeing his prince, he bowed again. “My masters, the mercenaries have returned. They have the Elementals.”

The Supplanter smiled broadly. “It won’t be long now,” he said to the prince. He started after his retreating servant, but Dantell caught his arm.

“Are you going dressed like that?”

Color rose in the religious leader’s cheeks again, deep enough to show against the red of his sleeping robe. “Leave me as I prepare,” he ordered hastily.

The prince bowed mockingly. “As you wish, my master.” He hurried out of the room before the Supplanter could yell at him further.

Ethan led his troupe to the temple entrance long before sundown. Only a couple of hours after meeting the two new supplicants, they rounded another sharp bend in the trail and saw the temple before them, a massive structure partially carved out of the side of a mountain peak. Some of it was hewn from the stone, while the taller sections displayed skilled masonry. Ethan was willing to bet delvers had been involved with its construction. Behind and around the sides, snowy slopes rose to the east and north, giving it a natural wind block, with an open sky to the south and west, allowing natural sunlight to warm the building.

Though the temple was only a hundred yards away when they first saw it, the trail wound down and around several more peaks before they were standing at the door. A lookout must have been keeping watch because several women stood to greet them, each armed with a sword and shield. Most were northerners, but Ethan also noticed a few Tallashite women. They were all tall and strong, holding their weapons with confidence.

The mercenaries had agreed that Yori would be their spokesman, as he was the oldest. It also spared Ethan and Sera from thinking about what to say. They already knew that Yori, and likely all of the mercenaries sent on this mission, had not been to this temple before and had been hired remotely, but they couldn’t know for sure how much the others had known and whether certain people would be expected.

“We come requesting an audience with the Supplanter,” Yori said boldly. After walking over a narrow bridge, they now stood on a large flat ledge just in front of the temple on the west side. They were sheltered from the wind that whipped through the mountain passes, but the Yori had gotten used to shouting over gusts for the past several hours, and he kept the same tone of voice now.

“For what purpose?” The tallest and broadest of the women stepped forward, her voice almost as low and powerful as Yori’s.

“We bring the Elementals. Your master is expecting us.”

Most of the women relaxed a bit at this news and began whispering among themselves, but Britany, the spokeswoman, maintained a stern visage. Her eyes scanned the group before her, moving quickly over Ethan and Yori and equally fast over the two women they had picked up, recognizing their religious robes. She lingered on Sera, though, not expecting a woman warrior and noting that she was barely half the size of the women behind her. But she could see the sword, axe, and shield she carried. Still, that only made three warriors, and Britany knew that four had been sent out after the weapons.

“You have all four Elementals?”

“We will give our report to the Supplanter,” Yori replied.

Britany didn’t like this, but she understood. Turning for a moment, she gave a quick command to one of the Tallashite women, and the newly appointed messenger ran back to the temple entrance and disappeared inside. Britany returned to the men and women in front of her.

“And you two?” she asked toward the supplicant recruits.

The women pushed to the front, and Yori yielded, taking a step back. The women bowed low before the giant woman. “We are humble supplicants sent by our temple to serve your master.”

“What are your disciplines?”

The taller redhead stood up first. “I am a student of the mind.”

“And I am a student of life,” the blonde said as she stood.

“Very well.” Britany motioned to two other guards behind her, and they took the women by the hands and led them into the temple.

“Must we stand out here in the cold waiting?” Sera asked, pushing her way to the front and looking up at the tall woman blocking their entrance.

“I cannot let you into the temple carrying so many weapons. If you give them to us, I will allow you inside. They will be returned when you leave.”

Yori did not like this arrangement, but Sera quickly dropped her shield and handed it to one of the women before her, happy to get rid of the heavy guard. She gave them Larken’s sword as well.

“And the axe?” Britany prompted.

“It is one of the Elementals,” Sera replied. “No one will touch it until I deem it time to hand it over, and then only to the Supplanter. That time is not now.”

The two women had a brief staring contest, trying to see which one would flinch first. It was comical to think that Britany, who probably weighed twice as much as Sera, and who appeared to have arms as big around as Yori’s, would back down, but Sera’s resolve was backed by an Elemental pumping adrenaline through her body. Britany saw that resolve and agreed they shouldn’t handle the Elemental weapons without the Supplanter. “Very well,” the tall woman finally relented.

After that, Ethan and Yori handed over everything except the sword and spear. Ethan was glad to keep his enchanted blade but worried how long they would be able to pull off this charade. Someone in this temple would be able to tell that he and Sera were joined to their weapons. He didn’t know what kind of punishment they would face, but he feared the only way to remove the Elementals from them would cost them their lives. They would deal with that when they had to. They had already agreed not to hand over the weapons until they had all four, so they had time.

After the mundane weapons had been collected, Britany turned and led the group into the temple. Ethan took a moment to appreciate the structure from up close, having not been able to see the detail from a distance when they had first spotted it. The building consisted of clusters of round columns stacked close together and towering high into the sky. The outside walls were a collection of curved sections, each about ten feet in radius. Ethan was sure the inside was not made up of 20-foot circular rooms, but that was the illusion the design gave. The few columns rising above the central structure held small, round rooms, but the chambers in the middle had to be more open.

Ethan was proven right as they stepped into the foyer and then through to the main audience hall. The room was large, with a domed ceiling thirty feet above their heads. Thin columns stood about the room to support the roof and were decorated with intricate carvings of vines and berries. As childhood memories filled his mind, Ethan felt at home in the cavernous temple. He had spent long hours in mines and quarries, and the stone was comforting.

As Britany left them guarded by the remaining women and disappeared into a side corridor, Ethan spent time examining the carvings more closely. He was sure delvers had been involved as most of the work was so exquisite that it would have taken humans decades to complete. Sure enough, after several minutes of standing in the foyer, looking into the massive room, half a dozen of the small, pink humanoids scampered out of one passageway, across the floor, and down a different corridor.

“Where those . . .” Sera let the question hang in the air as she whispered into Ethan’s ear.

“Delvers,” Ethan replied, guessing that growing up in Garaport along a river, she had never seen the gnomish race before. Delvers were at home in the stone and loved to hollow out passages or carve intricate patterns. They knew their place in the world, and in exchange for food and safety, they would work tirelessly for just about anyone. Some considered it slavery, but Ethan viewed it more like a partnership. The small creatures had no desire for gold or jewels unless they used them to decorate their creations. It made as much sense to pay them as it did to offer money to a songbird for singing. Delvers were definitely more intelligent than basic animals, but they had no language and only wore clothing because humans asked them to. They were happiest when working in a cave or mine, and letting them work with a purpose, seemed like the best way to preserve them.

It took another ten minutes before the Supplanter showed up, bringing over two dozen women with him. Ethan was not impressed. The religious leader seemed small, especially in this large room with the decorated columns and majestic domed ceilings. Even more, he appeared weak. He wore a dark blue robe tied with a single tog over his waist, revealing black trousers and a silky red shirt underneath. The robe had ancient symbols stitched in a similar red to his shirt, and he wore a black scarf around his neck. His attire singled him out as someone important, especially in front of the women, who were all dressed simply in gray, long-sleeved, hooded gowns.

Four women separated themselves from the crowd, standing directly behind the Supplanter, and Ethan quickly recognized Britany. There was another taller slip of a woman next to her, and one of them looked pregnant. Then there was . . . Ethan’s breath caught in his throat as he locked eyes with Natasha.

And she was staring back at him intently.

The two could sense the strength of their aura from 50 feet away and felt like their hearts would explode if they didn’t run across the expanse and embrace. Somehow, Ethan quelled that desire, and he saw Natasha turn her eyes to the floor, spending a few moments in meditation to gain her composer. The Supplanter was talking, but Ethan didn’t pay attention. The diminutive man and Yori were arguing about not having the fourth Elemental yet, but Ethan could catch up on that discussion later. Instead, he only waited for the impossibly beautiful woman across the hall to lift her eyes again.

When she did, Natasha smiled, and Ethan could feel the warmth of her heart as if he were sitting in front of his blacksmith forge. She had gained control of her passion, and Ethan struggled to do likewise. The woman looked at him as if he were some long-lost relative she hadn’t seen in a decade, and they were finally reunited. The minutes slipped by as he was lost in her eyes and didn’t know what was happening around him until Sera tugged at his arm.

“What’s wrong with you?”

“Huh, what?” Ethan stammered in response, looking down at his companion.

“You’re standing there like a zombie. Is everything alright?”

Looking into her concerned face broke the spell he had been under, and he shook the fog from his mind. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He now realized the meeting was over, and he had missed everything. “What happened?”

“We are being shown to our rooms now.”

Ethan looked up and saw several of the larger women, some of whom had greeted them outside, walk up and beckon for them to follow. The two supplicant recruits were led off in a different direction. As the crowd in the room dispersed, Ethan looked desperately for the Tallashite goddess he had locked eyes with, but as the Supplanter led the women out of the great hall, they all looked the same from behind.

As the three mercenaries followed their escorts, Ethan pulled Sera to the back of the group. “But what happened? I mean, what did they say about the weapons?”

Sera looked curiously at him, wondering what was wrong. “It went as we hoped. We won’t turn over the Elementals until we get paid, and the Supplanter won’t pay until he has all four. We keep the weapons, stay the night, and go out in the morning to get the last one.”

Ethan nodded, thankful he didn’t have to give up the sword.

“Now,” Sera continued, “will you tell me what happened to you back there?”

Ethan shook his head. “I don’t know. It was the Elemental, there are people here who are personifications of the power, and one of them saw into my heart, and my desire exploded. It paralyzed me.”

“Your desire?” Sera asked, concern edging her voice. “For one of the women?”

Was that jealousy in her voice? “I don’t know,” Ethan lied. “It was kind of like when I first used the sword, and the Elemental took control of my . . . my,” he struggled to find the right word, “. . . my everything.”

Sera nodded at this. “I also felt the presence of several of the women, especially the large one that greeted us outside. I felt it as a tightening of my skin, a tensing of my muscles, and a greater sense of awareness. I suppose it would have been a bit more jarring if that had happened to my heart.”

Ethan nodded emphatically, happy that Sera had reasoned away his paralyzing infatuation.

After descending a flight of stairs and walking much further into the mountain, they found three empty rooms. It was only a few hours past noon, but the party was looking forward to resting in a warm room on a soft bed. Their escort told them not to leave their rooms and that a guard would be posted in the hall. They would be summoned for dinner in three hours.

After that, the three parted ways and entered their quarters. Without examining the small room, Ethan walked quickly over to the bed and flopped onto it. Without Sera to distract him, he dared not close his eyes, or he would be consumed by the beautiful woman’s face again. And having just said goodbye to Sera, he realized the next three hours would be the only time he had been apart from her for the past four days. Already his heart ached to be near her again.

As his passion fought over the two women, Ethan drew his sword and stared at the red gem in the center. “Why don’t you leave me alone?”

The sword didn’t answer.