"Um, can you help? This harness is strangling my balls," he whined.
"Ancestors, Ez, you're so clumsy." I got Ez loose, and he staggered against the wall. I had to resist rolling my eyes again.
"Hey, I'm a fat kid. I don't do things like this."
"You're not fat, Ez, you're fluffy."
"Easy for you to say. You can't weigh more than a hundred pounds."
"Shut up."
I called another fireball into my hand as I observed the excavation site. There were footprints in the dirt, and a lot of tools, but I didn't see anything of value.
"They must've not found it yet," I reasoned.
"Do you hear that?" Ezekiel tilted his head. There was a trickling sound. I followed the source of the noise across the area until my boots splashed upon mud and water. The fireball in my hand displayed a river ten feet wide, and probably just as deep.
"It's an underground river," I said. "How fascinating."
I reached into my bag and pulled out a leather guidebook. I scribbled a few things down while Ezekiel groaned. "Ava, can we go? I don't want to get caught down here."
I snapped my guidebook shut. "Look. When you're navigating ruins, you're supposed to document everything. Otherwise, you could miss a crucial clue that's important later. I have to practice; otherwise, I'll never be—"
"A real explorer," Ezekiel echoed for me, like he'd done a million times. "I get it. Where is this thing, anyway?"
"Grandpa said the artifact would be down here." I followed my instincts and began navigating the river. Ezekiel nearly slipped into it, before I caught him.
"Grandpa's wrong about a lot of things," Ezekiel grumbled, but I ignored him. We moved ahead, leaving the excavation site behind us.
We walked for half a mile in silence. The walls of the cave narrowed. Eventually, the river ended, but not before I noticed a small slit in the cave wall near my feet. I'd fit through it, but not Ez.
I had a feeling there was something lying beyond. Ezekiel frowned when he noticed it. "You can't be serious."
"Where's your sense of adventure?" I asked. I had already dropped to my knees and began squeezing myself through the hole. "I won't be long."
Ezekiel danced nervously by the gap as I pushed myself through the claustrophobic space. For a moment, I did get stuck— momentary panic struck me, but I shoved it aside. Fear was a useless fucking emotion. It wouldn't get me what I wanted.
I finally slipped through. As I did, I was able to stand and light a fireball. I stood in a small circular area, and lying on the floor was exactly what we'd come here for.
I reached out and picked up a small gold sculpture in the shape of a person. It was as big as my hand, and depicted each of the five elements throughout. The face showed half the face of a man, and half of a woman. It was meant to be a carving of one of the Hawkei gods— a piece of the Great Spirit we worshiped alongside our ancestors.
After a quick inspection, I rendered it had to be authentic. A piece like this was invaluable. To the colonizers, such an item would sell for millions at auction, but to our tribe, it was priceless.
I wriggled out from underneath the gap, and Ezekiel sighed in relief. His smile brightened when I showed him the figurine.
"Finally. Let's head out." We turned to go, but as we did, the idol in my hand started to burn. I let out a gasp. Being Koigni, it shouldn't have hurt, but the statue was actually able to singe my skin. Both of our mouths dropped open as we realized the idol was glowing bright red. From the mouth of the idol streamed black smoke, which formed into a transparent man with a malicious grin.
Shit. The idol was a piece of Spirit Art. Grandpa had told me about these things. If a supernatural cared about their creation enough, they could actually seal a piece of their soul inside it, preserving their spirit forever within an item they treasured here on this earth. Usually, people who made Spirit Art were benevolent and kind beings, meant to help others.
But whoever had made this piece of Spirit Art was a fucking asshole, because this spirit was obviously not here to help. Dark magic like whips began gathering at his sides as the entity readied to attack. I saw fire flickering on the spirit's form— this man had been Koigni in his former life.
"Ava, run!" Ezekiel cried. He grabbed my wrist, but the dark entity lashed out, knocking him to the ground. His headlight went out, and I heard glass crack.
The spirit smacked me across the face. My helmet went flying off, and the light broke against the stone.
We were locked in darkness. I threw a fireball in the direction I thought the dark spirit might be. It sailed right through him. I saw with horror that the monster was advancing on Ezekiel, who was scampering backwards trying to get away from it. The evil spirit reached out its dark tendrils, wrapping them around Ezekiel's form and squeezing him tight. He gasped, pulling at the tendrils around his neck as they suffocated him, his feet kicking at the water of the river as he tried to escape.
When I saw that my brother was in danger, I didn't think. I reacted. I flung out my left hand, expecting flames to shoot out my fingers at the entity, though I knew it wouldn't do any good.
That's not what happened. A shiver ran from my core all the way out to the tips of my fingers as I felt my skin turn cold, not hot. I'd never experienced such a chilling feeling before. When I cast Fire, there was anger, passion, exhilaration— nearly on the bounds of being out of control.
This magic was different. It was calming. Cool. And had an ancient power within it that scared me.
The water in the river rose upward. The riverbed drained. Ezekiel gasped. The spirit just had time to look up before the wave crashed into him. The dark entity gave a wicked cry as the water smashed into his body, putting out the flames licking his form. There was a sizzling sound, and the spirit dissolved, leaving the idol silent and immobile on the ground. The water trickled back into the river, and I was left completely dumbfounded.
What did I just do?
Ezekiel shook, but it wasn't because of the entity. "Ava, you— you just used Water magic!"
I clambered to my feet. "No... it isn't possible."
"It has to be." Ezekiel got up, and his feet splashed on the stone. "I saw you do it. You're not just Koigni. You're Toaqua, too."
Denial flashed in my mind. I was a Fire caster, through and through. I had the fiery temperament for it. The ability to call upon Fire was as easy for me as breathing.
And yet... I'd told the river to protect Ezekiel without any effort whatsoever, and it'd obeyed.
I wouldn't accept it. It wasn't real. I couldn't have inherited my father's powers, too. This had to be a fluke.
I wouldn't have one more thing that made me more different than I already was.
"Ez, you can't tell Mama and Daddy about this," I said as he approached. "It has to stay between us."
His face fell. "If you're both Houses, it's important for them to know."
"No! I want to be Koigni— I want to be normal," I pleaded. "I'm already a fucking freak."
Ezekiel's eyes turned sad. "You're not a freak, Ava."
I let out a snort. Yeah, right. I'd been the weird kid at school. And weird was putting it lightly. People were afraid of me.