The Heroes of The Elemental Academies Book 3 The Tides of War

Chapter 2 Retrieval Mission

Seth

Several hours earlier

   When Seth finally returned to the normal world he always imagined he would be able to meet back with his friends he had in school. He always had this vision that he would hug his friends with tears in their eyes. Never did he imagine he would be going to New York. Manhattan no less! When they had first arrived Seth couldn't keep his eyes off the buildings towering over him. Matt and Michelle were just as interested which Seth couldn't blame them. They weren't used to any building that went higher than three floors. So as the group of three walked down the busy street filled with throngs of people going about their business, they chose to focus on what their mission was. In this city there was a person who had just awakened their powers and it was their job to retrieve said person.
   "First we need to get an exact location on where this person is in the city," Matt said loudly trying to speak over the sounds of thousands of people moving around them. The city had a lot going on. Venders and street merchants were loudly advertising their products while people rushed about around them many speaking in loud tones. The honking of car horns was nearly deafening to the three warriors as they stood looking nervously about. Seth sniffed the air and discovered a sour smell, a mixture between human sweat and car fuel, needless to say the city had them all feeling decidedly uncomfortable.  All three of them wore a mixture of loose fitting jeans and t-shirts to fit in as much as possible. Seth put his hands in the pockets of the navy blue hoodie he was wearing over his clothes.

   "Well how do we figure that out," he asked looking around him. Seth decided he was feeling quite uncomfortable in this city. He was used to the wide spaces of the Plaines, not these cramped cities.

   "Well for that we just have to follow our senses," Michelle said. When Seth tossed her a confused look she explained further.

   "We just have to send our senses out, a person who has just awakened their power won't be able to control it and we'll be able to feel it like a beacon." Matt sighed as Michelle finished explaining he was casting his eyes around as if we was searching for a potential enemy.

   "The only problem is that the demons can feel it too so that means we have to hurry to get there before anyone else can."

    "Remember, we can't afford to draw attention to ourselves in this world, so we can only use subtle attacks with our powers. Of course when it comes down to it if we have no other choice then we will turn it up a bit," Matt finished with a grim smile.

    "Alright Seth," Michelle started. "Since this is your first time on a retrieval mission we need to teach you how to sense awakened people. Close your eyes and picture your senses spreading out from yourself in every direction. Seth leaned back against the wall of a tall ten story office building out of the way of all the walkers out on the street and he closed his eyes and as Michelle had instructed he quickly pictured his senses spreading out from him.

   A weird sensation filled him like he had suddenly flipped upside down and his view went from blackness to a overview of everything around him. It was a strange feeling to say the least for him to be looking down at himself. next to him were Matt and Michelle but what caught his attention was that each of their bodies were surrounded by a thin cloak of white light. Seth pushed his senses further out and he was able to identify the humans around them by their pulsating auras of grey. As he pushed his senses even further out he began to feel a force pushing back against him. It was a tingly sensation at first with only a sense of pressure on his mind but as he tried to push passed it. That feeling quickly became painful, the pressure increasing many times. By this point though his view covered almost half of the giant metropolis that was Manhattan. Seth could see cars trucks intricate overpasses and roads jammed to the brim with vehicles. Near the middle of the city was a massive park taking up approximately a mile of land known as central park and passed it towards the east side of the city in a small cul de sac a house at the end of the street was pulsating with the same white light Seth and his friends were.