All is Fair in Love and War

A novel by Kristen Locke

Chapter One

Kelsey considered Max for a second with her head tilted to one side, then sighed.  “Okay then,” she said exasperatedly, frowning.  “I’ll do it but you’re going to get it if we get caught.”

“We won’t get caught,” Max assured her, seizing her hand and beginning to pull her down the stone corridor.  “It’ll be fun and that’s something you desperately need.”

Kelsey growled deep in her chest but Max ignored her.  He simply grinned to himself and continued to pull her by the hand towards the darkness at the end of the hallway.  They passed torches mounted on the wall until they ran out and they were plummeted into shadows.

“Max,” Kelsey said suggestively, still resisting his pull a little bit.  “A little light please before I trip over my own feet.”

In front, Max rolled his eyes with annoyance.  He was already giving off a faint glow but apparently that wasn’t enough for Kelsey.  He produced a small ball of flame in his palm and it lit up their surroundings nicely.

“Thank you,” Kelsey said in a stiff voice.

Again, Max rolled his eyes.  It was apparent that Kelsey wanted to show as little respect as possible.  Max thought that this was so typical of her.  A surge of anger burst in his chest suddenly and Kelsey whipped her hand out of his, swearing. 

“Damn it, Max, calm down!” she cried.  “You burned my hand!”

“Heal it then,” he snapped at her.  He felt angry that for years Kelsey had been rude to him because of their natural state.  Just because he was a fire spirit and she was a water spirit, doesn’t mean that they had no choice but to hate each other.

“What is your problem?” Kelsey snapped at him, the sound of her footsteps halting. 

Max turned to look at her, the flames from his hand lit up her face and upper body.  She was holding her right hand to her chest and was covering it with her left.  She was also wearing a livid expression on her face.  Max gritted his teeth and spat through them, “You are so selfish!”

“I’m selfish?” Kelsey cried, her eyebrows disappearing into her black fringe and her blue eyes were lit with surprise and anger.  “You’re the one that always wants to get me in trouble and when you get away, you shove it in my face!  You’re the one who jeopardized last weeks mission just so that you could take a few extra pictures.  All our missions are to you are joyrides.  All you think about is your own pleasure so don’t tell me I’m selfish.”

“We needed those pictures, Kelsey,” Max snapped.  “I thought that I had found another portal so I started taking those pictures for a reason.  And guess what, I was right!  I found another portal.  I don’t try to get you into trouble but you’re right, I don’t get you out of it either.  I’m usually a very resilient person but ever since we met, you’ve done nothing but whimper and whine.  I don’t see you risking your life for anyone else!”

Kelsey opened her mouth to say something but Max cut her off.

“Maybe if you went through everything I did, you might understand how I react to things.  But no!  You continue to assume and that’s why we aren’t friends.  You’ve never watched someone die before your very eyes, have you?” he demanded of her, the flame growing higher and brighter as his anger increased.  The memories of that fateful trip flooded into his mind.

“Well, no but--,”

“Well when you do, let me know because I’m sick of you treating me like some worthless animal who isn’t worthy of your attention.” Max spat.  “Do you have any idea how many attempts I’ve made to try and make friends with you?  Like tonight for example, I simply wanted you to relax and have some fun but you just had to go and shove my past into my face.”

“Max, I--,” Kelsey began again.  “I didn’t—I don’t know the story of your--,”

“Well that doesn’t make anything better!” Max shouted at her.  “If you didn’t know what you were talking about, you should have kept your mouth shut!”

He stood there breathing heavily for a few seconds, then said through his teeth, “You can find your own way back to your dormitory.”

Without another word, he turned on his heel and began marching back down to his destination that he would now be visiting alone.  He heard a few sniffles behind him but he didn’t turn around to comfort her because he knew that if he did, she would forget about it the very next day and go back to treating him like her servant.

Kelsey stood there, frozen to the ground, shocked.  She had made a lot of mistakes in her life but none of them were as big as this one.  No one had told her anything about why Max was the way he was now but she had simply assumed that he had come from the Lowers, like most of the fire spirits did.  For some reason, she did feel hurt from his outburst.

She cursed at herself when she realized that she was silently crying.  How weak was she anyway?  She was going to cry because Max yelled at her?  In her defense, she was frightened by the look in Max’s eyes and how angry she had made him, but she thought she had a good case to back up her own annoyance.

Truth is, she didn’t.  She simply disliked Max because they were polar opposites by nature.  She was water.  He was fire.  She liked things tidy; he didn’t care about messes. 

The one thing they might have had in common was that they both held respect for each other but didn’t let the other one know that.  Kelsey was actually impressed by how Max had stayed behind and taken photos of that portal but for some reason, she couldn’t tell him that.  It was like she would be embarrassed if they were friends because no one, in the history of their culture, had seen water and fire spirit friends.

Kelsey silently wiped away her tears and turned to go back down the corridor in the dark.  She wasn’t as afraid now because she was too busy thinking about how Max had reacted.  Something she had said had set him off and made him burn her hand on accident.  She couldn’t figure it out.  She had simply asked for a light so that she didn’t trip and then her hand was on fire.

She couldn’t feel it now because she was too busy thinking and that drove out all the pain of her wound.  She didn’t even feel the need to heal it because it was like a little reminder that she could be a better person in Max’s eyes.

Why did that matter to her so much?

Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a distant agonizing yell.  She stopped in her tracks, her heart thumping wildly with fear, and turned back to the darkness.  She was standing in torchlight but the corridor behind her was pitch black.  Somewhere within its depths, another yell came.

Kelsey swallowed.  The yell was male and the only male down there was Max.  Kelsey’s breath was coming in gasps now.  She couldn’t deny that she wasn’t scared.

“Max?” she called into the gloom, her voice shaking a little.

There were more distant yells, more of them clustered together. 

Yep, definitely Max.

“Max?” she called a little louder.

Just barely, she could make out a few words as she strained her ears, “Get out of here, Kelsey!” he had shouted.

Kelsey straightened up, now stock still, and examined her options.  “I’m an idiot,” she hissed at herself.

Making herself move from the statue she had been, she brought her hands towards her neck and made the water that had been stored in two compartments strung across her back shoot out and circle her hands.  They were glowing softly and would be just enough to light her path towards Max.

As she turned and began to run with two strands of water circling her torso and shoulders, she began to smile.  She could redeem herself if Max was in trouble.  She could show him that she wasn’t some snotty water spirit. 

Her footsteps were muffled as she ran.  The light coming from the water wasn’t enough to even allow her to see the walls a few feet on either side of her.  But as she grew more excited and frightened, it glowed brighter.

“MAX!” she bellowed. 

“KELSEY!” His voice was much closer.  The words that followed were frightened and ran together.  “Go back!  Get out!  GO!”

Kelsey was about to stop with confusion, but she collided with something extremely hard.  All the breath left her in one big whoosh and she felt back onto her backside.  She felt a bruise rising on her forehead where her head had slammed into the wall-like object.  In her lack of concentration, the water she had previously had control over was spilled over the floor.

She looked up but the darkness was too complete.  It seemed to press on her eyes even as she opened them as far as they would go.  She grew more frightened still as she heard shuffles and a cruel chuckle.  Then she remembered that a sorcerer, which meant that she was in trouble, could only cast darkness like this.

She had never faced a sorcerer in her training at the Academy and she was at the top of her class.  Sorcerers had many, many more advantages that she didn’t and if a sorcerer had found their way into the dungeons of the Academy for the Specially Gifted, then it was her job to stop it.  That’s what a Guard did.

Kelsey struggled to her feet.  She still couldn’t concentrate enough to manipulate the water to come to her defense.  Her breathing was labored as she attempted to draw breath.  It was like the surrounding air was becoming substantial.  She felt faint with lack of oxygen.

Just as she thought her knees would buckle, she heard more shouting and the voice seemed to be like an oxygen supply.  “Kelsey, you idiot!  Don’t you do anything you’re told?” Max shouted from somewhere nearby.  For some reason, she couldn’t pinpoint the direction his voice was coming from.

Kelsey smiled deliriously.  “Not since I was twelve,” she slurred, swaying.

The whole corridor was suddenly lit up like a beacon.  She saw several things at once as she tried to stay upright.  Max was being held in a full nelson by someone in a long cloak and hood covering their face and then, in front of her, she saw a tall figure also in a cloak striding towards her.  The face was bare of any facial hair but pure white locks cascaded down the man’s back.  His eyes were the darkest shades of blue that they almost looked black.  The man was wearing a sneer on his face.

“Kelsey, is it?” he smirked.

Kelsey was still trying to breathe right.  She nodded heavily and swayed a little.  Over by the wall, Max struggled with his captive, who chuckled.

“What are you and young Max here doing down here?” he asked, glancing at Max and then looked back at Kelsey with a politely interested look.

“Don’t tell him, Kelsey!” Max panted.

“Don’t worry,” the man crooned softly.  “It’ll just be our secret.”

Kelsey swayed again as a blanket of warmth circled her.  It was like Max was making her warm on accident.  She closed her eyes as Max shouted her name again.  Kelsey thought that there was something wrong with what the stranger said. 

“Don’t worry,” the stranger said again.  “I’ll just be between us.  What were you doing down here?” he asked again.

Kelsey opened her mouth.  “We were looking for a portal,” she admitted.  She didn’t know what made her say it but it felt like the right thing to say. 

“KELSEY!” Max bellowed angrily.  “Keep your mouth shut!”

Kelsey still had her eyes closed.  She smiled to herself.  She felt so peaceful that she didn’t even recognize Max’s voice anymore.  She began to hum.  Maybe it was because of this stranger that she felt so at home.  She giggled.

“It’s all right, Kelsey,” the man soothed.  “Please tell me about this portal.”

Kelsey giggled again.  “Max found a portal last week that would lead to the human world.” She said, her voice nearly a sigh.  “He wanted to bring me with him because he said I needed some fun.” She laughed, her eyes still closed.

“Really?” the man said, an amusing edge coming into his voice now.  “Is that what Max thought?  You needed some fun?  Well, that’s not so.”

Kelsey opened up her eyes, looking at the man with polite curiosity.  “What isn’t so?” she asked.

“Max lied to you about that portal, Kelsey,” the man said softly, looking apologetic.  “That portal leads to the Underworld.”

Kelsey gasped and looked at Max, who looked appalled.  “Max, how could you?” she demanded.

“Kelsey,” Max gasped, becoming still in his captive’s hold.  “That isn’t true.  You can’t believe a word he says.” Max’s dark brown eyes were wide.

“Kelsey,” the stranger said gently.  Kelsey immediately looked at him, smiling as he said her name.  His voice reminded her of dripping honey.  “You can trust me.  I tell nothing but the truth.  I am here to protect you from him.” He looked at Max.

“Why do I need protection from Max?” Kelsey whispered, moving closer to the stranger so that she was at his side, looking up into his mysterious blue eyes.

“Why do you think he hates you so much?” the stranger asked.  “He needs you out of the way.”

“Why?”

“DON’T LISTEN TO HIM, KELSEY!” Max bellowed, his eyes burning with wild fire.

“He doesn’t like the truth,” the stranger stated quietly, looking coldly at Max.  “He wants you dead.”

“What?” Kelsey gasped, looking from the stranger to Max with disbelief.

Max seemed to have gone limp and Kelsey took that as confirmation.  Tears swelled in her eyes and spilled onto her cheeks.  She turned her face away from the stranger and from Max.  She felt hurt and foolish that she didn’t see it sooner.

“Kelsey,” Max moaned in such a way that made Kelsey snap her head in his direction to look at him.  His entire form was slumped forward and his head was bobbing slightly as he attempted to lift it to look at her.  “Why would I want you dead if I--,”

“Silence, peasant!” the stranger hissed.

But Max kept going, his brown eyes finder her blue ones.  “Why would I want you dead,” he repeated, his eyes glowing red with the flames building inside him.  “If I love you?”

Everything began to change as soon as those words had left Max’s mouth.  Something whooshed over them, causing the air to freeze rapidly.  Kelsey was driven to her knees.  Every time she drew breath, ice crystals cut her throat, making her spit blood onto the stone floor beneath her.

And then, she had a blinding flash of heat and then everything went pitch black…and cold.