Ha! I totally didn't expect this! Great plot twist! And clever character portrayals, as always, Story Weaver. It's amazing to read. 

PLEASE read the comment I sent you. It’s on the fifth page. 

Post

Jarnel was meeting with the first four Elementals when Aella brought him her news. Darius was not present; he had left for the Water kingdom as soon as Jarnel had told him where the Cordis actually was, saying that he needed to visit his family. A servant knocked on the door to Jarnel's study.

"Sir, Aella Adamos is here to see you again. I'm afrait that she's along, sir." Jarnel had given him orders to report immediately if the other group of Elementals returned.

Aella entered. "Jarnel..." She began, then stopped, no knowing how to continue. Jarnel stood up, biting his lower lip.

"What is it?" He asked. In a few brief sentences, Aella told him everything. Jarnel sat back down heavily.

"Captured by the Water kingdom." He said weakly. "The Elementals...and the Cordis...captured." He put his head in his hands.

Atheya and Galadriel exchanged nervous glances with Jakra.

"First I get Evryn killed, and now I send the rest of my Elementals to be captured." Jarnel continued. His voice was faint. "What did I do? Where did I go wrong?" He paused as a new thought occurred to him. "Oh no! Charity. Charity has been captured. She's only thirteen! What was I thinking, sending her along? But I thought she was in good hands with Venna and Arwin and everyone, and in the Air country! If the Air country isn't safe for her, where will be? But now the Water has the Cordis, and nowhere is safe--"

Jakra grabbed Jarnel by the shoulders and shook him. She looked deep into his eyes.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Her tone was intense, not angry, but sharp. "You are not the one to blame. None of us are, and desperate times call for desperate measures! I still regret--" Her voice
broke, but she recovered quickly. "I had an argument with Evryn and never got to apologize, but remorse won't solve anything. We can still do something, however small." She let go of Jarnel and turned to the others. "How could the Water king have gotten the information on where the Cordis is?"

"Darius." Cyraeus said with perfect conviction. "He must have been in the king's pay. You remember how quickly he left for the Water kingdom after we told him where the Coris actually was." Jakra nodded.

"Must have been." She took a deep breath. "What can we do?"

"It think--" Atheya hesitated. "I think we should go to the Water kingdom and try to at least free them. I don't know how we can do it, but we can try."

"I can't let you do that." Jarnel interrupted. "You would get captured as well."

"Not to sound morbid or anything," Aella said. "But if the Water king intends to invade Earth, we could all be captured. Think of what's at stake."

"Then we're all in agreement?" Galadriel asked. The Elementals nodded.

"Good." Jakra said. "Now, who can pilot an Airboat?"

~~~

The lieutenant walked through the impressive arched doorway into the kings throne room. As he passed them, the guards standing by the walls came to attention. He ignored them, also ignoring all of the court officials. He stopped just below the throne, bowing.

"Your majesty." He said. The king turned towards him, brushing his dark hair back from his face. He looked down at the lieutenant from behind his beak-like nose.

"Ah, lieutenant. I was expecting you. No bad news, I hope?"

"No bad news, your majesty. We put the Elementals in a group cell, individually chained, with guards at the door."

"Good, good." The king said, absentmindedly running his finger over the surface of the stone in his lap. The lieutenant glanced at at it. Although visually unimpressive, something about the Earth's Cordis attracted one's attention.

"However, your majesty," He said, turning his attention back to the king, "An Elemental, one of the two from this kingdom, has demanded--has requested," He corrected himself, "An audience with you."

"Has he, now? What does the Elemental wish to speak to me about?"

"It's a she, your majesty, and I believe she wishes to negotiate her release from prison." The king snorted.

"Pathetic. Very well, then, bring her in." The lieutenant bowed and left the throne room, the sound of his boots echoing off of the smooth stone floor. The king waited, druimming his fingers against the arm of the throne.

Wow again!  This is so good!  I am so excited for the next part!

OMG!!!!!!! i know that this is already happening, but i want to join so bad!!!!!!!!!!!!! @AW, I love your art!! @The Story Weaver, If you see this, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF I CAN JOIN EVEN THO ITS ALREADY STARDED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASEEEEEEEEE! IT LOOKS SO COOL!! I don't have to have  a big role, just some one in the story. it's ok if you say no. if you do, and you have another solo write, or a RP, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me. i would love to join.

Top!!

Part 6.

"What are you going to say?" Demi asked. The five Elementals were sitting around the edges of their prison sell. They each had a cuff on one wrist attatched to a ring in the stone wall. The guard had just left to inform his captain about Aura's request. Aura shrugged. She was sitting on a wooden bench with her injured foot propped up.

"I'll ask for liberty. Venna and I are technically citizens and can't be held without cause, and I'll ask about the rest of you too."

"Do you think they'll bring all of us to the throne room, or just the two of you?" Arwin asked. He glanced over at Venna. She was sitting very still with her head in her hands. The lump on the top of her head where she had been hit stuck up. There was dried blood in her hair. 

"I don't think Venna's going anywhere." Aura said.

"Then how will you get to the throne room with your injured foot?" Demi asked.

"I hadn't thought of that." Aura admitted. "I don't have a crutch. Someone will have to help me." She glanced around. Charity was curled up in one corner. Aura couldn't be sure, but she thought Char might be crying. Venna groaned softly.

"Would you help me?" Aura asked Arwin. He held up one hand.

"Absolutely not. My wife would kill me if I got that close to a pretty girl your age, and you look heavy." Aura chose not to be offended by his last comment.

"Demi?" She asked. Demi nodded.

"Sure, I'll help you." She said. 

"Thanks." Aura said, relieved.

~~~

Nobody really knew how to pilot an Airship, so the trip to the Water kingdom took a long time. When they reached it, the sun was slanting its rays from its perch halfway between noon and evening, reflecting its light off of the ice and snow that covered the floating island. The castle, a tall, square building made of huge blocks of rock suppoirted by pillars, was almost directly underneath the boat.

Jakra sat down on a bench in the back with a sigh. She had been standing at the tiller for most of the day, trying to steer the boat in the right direction. Galadriel, Aella, and Atheya, who had been talking together quietly, stretched and looked around. Jakra turned to Cyreaeus.

"Where's the best place to land? What's the inside of the castle like?" He shrugged.

"I don't know. Before I joined the Elementals, I had never left my town."

"Historically," Aella put in, "Captives were kept in a prison underneath the castle."

"Underground again." Galadriel said with a shudder.

"Do we have a plan?" Jakra asked. A pause, as they considered.

"Of course, we should get the prisoners out from the dungeons." Galadriel said.

"How would we get down there?" Aella asked. Atheya stared up at the sky. Jakra shifted in her seat, looking around.

"Cyraeus, could you go inside and scout? You're water." She asked.

"I...suppose so." Cyraeus said hesitantly.

"Wait!" Atheya said. "What if Cyraeus pretended to have captured us?" There was a moment of silence.

"That might work." Aella said. "We have rope in the prow here, we could fake being tied up..."

"And when we reach the dungeons, we can untie ourselves and rescue the others!" Atheya finished. She blushed. "Oops, sorry for interupting."

"I think we could pull that off, but Cyraeus doesn't have a uniform." Galadriel pointed out. Aella nodded.

"Yes, but what if he was one of Darius's contacts? Pretended to be, I mean. I mean, we know that Darius is a spy, and spies know other spies, so..."

"Keep thinking about it." Jakra said. "I'll start trying to land the boat in that clearing.

~~~

The Water king watched as the Leutenant brought the two prisoners in. The Water girl had one foot bound up in dirty white bandages, and she leaned on the shoulder of an Earth girl. Both had manacles around their wrists, and the guards held the chains to which they were attatched. They stopped at the foot of the throne. The king noticed that the two girls did not bow. The leutenant stepped forward.

"The prisoners, your majesty." The king nodded. Aura's eyes flitted from his face down to the Cordis in his lap.

"What did you wish to ask me about?" The king asked.

Aura licked her lips, surprised that she felt nervous. The king had always been a far away figure for her, someone who didn't feel quite real. It was disconcerting to be speaking with him.

"Your majesty, I would like to ask for my release from prison. As you know, the other Water who you imprisoned and I are both citizens of your country and cannot be held withut crime." She stopped, wondering if she was babbling. The king nodded slowly.

"That is correct. I cannot lawfully confine you and the other Water girl in times of peace." Aura felt a rush of releaf. Now to ask about the others.

"In that case, your majesty--"

"However," the king interrupted, "This isn't a time of peace." Aura felt Demi stiffen. She glanced around, seeing the shock on the faces of the kings' ministers. Everyone else was as surprised as she was. 

"But...we aren't at war, your majesty." She said.

"We weren't at war." The king corrected her. "I believe that the capture of the Earth Cordis and a detatchment of Elementals counts as an act of war. Don't you agree?"

Aura was thunderstruck. She heard Demi gasp. She was trying to think of something to say, when a messanger ran across the hall, bowed, and whispered something in the kings ear. He smiled.

"Scratch that. The capture of the Earth Cordis and two detatchments of Elementals." A hard knot of dread settled into Aura's stomach. 

~~~

Hi everyone-who-is-still-reading-this-solo-write!

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted! I'll try to be better about that in the future. I think I'll probably put another chunk up this weekend.

@NoOneKnows, I'm super sorry, but as I've said before, I'm no longer accepting characters. I have the remainder of the plot mapped out in my head, and I don't think I'd be able to put in any more characters. However, if I do another Solo Write, I'll put out an announcement a couple of weeks in advance, if that would help. :-)

Ohh, suspense!!  I can’t wait until the next part!

I love this so much!!  I can't wait for the next part!!

This is great Story Weaver! I love what you've done with my character and with everyone else's, and I can't wait to see where this goes!

Everything went smoothly until the second set of guards.

Aella had found a way to wrap the rope around their wrists so that it looked like they had been tied up, and with Cyraeus in the lead holding one end, the Elementals had been given admittance to the castle from the guards at the gate. The guards in the doorway were less obliging.

"Hey you there! What are you doing?" One of them asked Cyraeus when he tried to pass, leading the others in an absurd sort of parade.

"I'm...a friend of Dariu. I captured these Elementals in the forest, and I'm going to bring them down to the prisons. Would you direct me?" The Elementals had decided on what Cyraeus would say ahead of time.

Part Seven. 

The guard snorted. "I'm supposed to believe that?"

"Why else would I have them tied up?" The other four Elementals did their best to look dejected.

The guard's partner nudged him. "If he's captured more of the Elementals, the king will be thrilled. Shouldn't we let him in?"

The first guard frowned. "Maybe, but I don't trust him." He took a step through the archway and hollered for a messanger. A small, harried looking boy in a too-big uniform appeared. "Go tell the king that a friend of Darius has captured another group of Elementals." The first guard instructed him. The boy nodded, then ran off into the castle.

"I'll escort you down to the prison, and we'll get them locked up." The second guard told Cyraeus. He led the way past the first guard, who shot them a suspicious glance as they passed, but didn't try to interfere.

They found themselves in a spacious covered courtyard. They passed another set of guards, and walked down a corridor, through another archway, and down a set of stairs. After that, Cyraeus lost all sense of direction, as the guard led them through a seemingly endless maze of stairways and corridors. Galadriel shrank away from the damp stone walls as they got deeper underground.

They knew when they had arrived at the prison when they reached a stout wooden door.

Atheya had been thinking rapidly from her place at the back of the group. She realized that they should have made some signal to show when it was time to break free, but they hadn't reckoned on the door. The guard fumbled with his keychain, selecting a large copper key.

If they could knock out the guard and unlock the door, then they could get into the prison and hopefully free the other Elementals and escape--Atheya's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of running feet from behind them. Another messanger, this time a girl, ran up and addressed the guard.

"Sir, his majesty the king wants to see these Elementals in his throne-room at once." Jakra turned, shocked. No one had expected this. The guard turned towards the messenger, surprised.

"Are you sure?" He asked doubtfully. She nodded. "Very well," the guard said, "Tell his majesty that we will be there shortly." The messanger ran off, and the guard put the key ring back on his belt. "I wonder if he will want to see you too." He said to Cyraeus, then began leading the way back up towards the surface.

~~~

Demi watched as the king sent orders with another messanger for the Elementals to be summoned.

Aura's arm on her shoulder made a dead weight, but Demi hardly felt it. She looked up at the king, then to the doors, then at the guards that surrounded them. She wondered how many of the other Elementals had been captured. She had never met them, but she had assumed that they were doing useful things for Jarnel, not getting captured too. The king roused her from her thoughts by sending for another messanger.

"Fetch Darius." He instructed the messenger. "Tell him that the Water who captured the Elementals claims to be some friend of his."

Confused, Demi wondered who Darius was. She thought that the name sounded familiar, and faintly remembered Jarnel saying his name. Darius. Darius. She couldn't place him, but she had other things to worry about.

The doors to the throne room opened, and not to admit another messanger. She saw one of the guards escorting a Water who held a rope binding a Fire, two Air that she didn't recognize, and Aella. She bit her lip. The Water king smiled.

"It seems that I almost have a complete set of Elementals here. So good to see you all. As you can tell, you have been extremely helpful in supplying me with the Earth's Cordis." He held up the Cordis.

Demi wanted to scream that they hadn't helped the Water king at all, and that they had been captured. She was about to say something when the doors opened again, admitting a handsome dark haired Water.

"Ah, Darius." The king said. "Welcome. Come and--" He broke off. Darius had taken a step back and was staring in open astonishment at the other group of Elementals.