The Impact (Book II)

Sparring

The next morning we were out behind the house in a field cleared of trees. Most of the earth was charred from Zach's and Will's powers. The trees surrounding the field were scorched from Emily. Will and I stood before our children, who had collectively tired and bored faces. I always felt a little bad waking Cole, Emily, and Keith up at five in the morning to train in the morning when they had school, but Will insisted they train at least every other day instead of just on the weekends. He worried about them accidentally loosing control in front of humans. Pyrokinesis and psychic abilities were bound to get noticed by someone.

Keith was the most difficult to train, seeming to have neither Will's pyrokinesis or my electrokinesis. He reminded me of myself in my youth; flighty and gifted with evasive action. I would sometimes work with him after school to teach him my skills. He was dressed in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, sneakers on his feet. His hair was messy and he looked like he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

Emily had her hair tied back in a bun and was dressed in a tank top and capris. She also had sneakers on. She yawned, covering her mouth, and pushed a wisp of hair behind her ear. Fighting, like me, wasn't innate for her, but her power was terrifyingly strong. If only she had control over it.

Cole only had shorts on, sitting with his knees pulled into his chest. I didn't understand how he could see with his hair in his eyes, but he never seemed to have much of a problem sparring. He wasn't much of a fighter either but he was formidable nonetheless with the bizarre things he could do.

Zach, like Cole, only had on a pair of shorts and shoes. He seemed the most reluctant to be there. Maybe because I was present as I usually didn't watch their training; I made him nervous. He was the one born for fighting, like Will and my brother.

I stood beside Will with my arms across my chest, leaning my weight on my right hip. I flexed my bare feet in the ground, feeling the damp soil between my toes.

"Okay, Zach and Cole, you two will start. Whoever wins will fight Emily, then Keith." Will said, moving to the side as the boys stood. I sat beside Keith cross-legged, eyes on Zach and Cole.

The two got into a fighting stance and Will said, "Begin."

Zach shot toward Cole, who grabbed his arm and threw him over his shoulder. Zach yelled in surprise, the air whooshing out of his lungs as he landed flat on his back. Emily snickered, "You had that coming to ya, Zach!"

"Be wary of blindly charging an enemy, Zach," Will chastised.

Growling, he got to his feet and threw punches at Cole. Cole dodged each hit, stepping back, but not lifting a hand to block. His mouth was downturned and he made a show of yawning.

"That's not him," Keith whispered. I narrowed my eyes and saw "Cole's" outline shiver.

Cole's back hit the tree and Zach hit him in the face. The moment his fist met Cole's face, "Cole" disappeared. Zach swore and look around accusingly.

"I thought we agreed on no mind tricks, Cole!"

One of Cole's powers was that he could create illusions and make the people around him think he was there when he really wasn't. It was something he often liked to employ, especially to get out of chores.

Cole appeared behind him with his hand outstretched. Zach's ear twitched and he spun around, grabbing Cole's wrist and throwing him over his shoulder. He landed on his back with a grunt, rolling to the side when Zach stomped his foot where his head had been.

I knew Cole despised the training. He hated getting up early.

He grumbled irately as he got back to his feet. Zach grinned at him.