Priscilla Sum

Part 32--I Am The Storm

I emerged from the jungle right next to the first dig site—but it was nearly unrecognizable. The massive ditch that so many people had excavated over the course of a couple years had been completely filled in and leveled in just a couple hours. I kept running, scanning whatever patches of sky I could see for any sign of my parents, and keeping the debris at bay with Auraea's wind powers.

The sprites surrounded me too, batting aside tree branches and nudging me out of the way when huge boulders rolled past me. One of my steps missed the ground and hit a massive pothole surrounded by rocks—but in that moment, I felt two wind-sprites like wind gusts press against my sides and lift my arms, and suddenly I was floating! My legs dangled in midair as the sprites all but carried me the remaining distance, setting me down on the outskirts of camp.

Half the tents were already torn to shreds and scattered over the main area. The RVs were gone, as well as the bank of generators. The only things left were the huge floodlights, still on somehow in the swirling storm.

"Priscilla!" someone screamed. I had been through so many surreal moments in the last hour that it felt weird to hear my own name. I turned and squinted through the monsoon to see Derrick slipping and sloshing his way toward me.

We caught each other by the shoulders.

"I was scared you didn't make it!" he yelled over the roar of the rain.

"Where is everybody else?" I hollered back.

"FRED and the dig team left as soon as the storm rolled in!" Derrick replied. "Silver is with Kayce and Jordyn on the boat. Alex is there too."

The rain beat down on me, pushing my hair low against my face. I reached up to push it back.

Derrick's expression changed as he noticed the large bracelet around my wrist. "What's that?"

The churning sea sent waves crashing over the side of the cliff we were standing on. If there really was a boat down there, I seriously doubted it would be there for long! "I'll tell you later!" I said. "What do you mean about a boat? I thought FRED would take everything with them!"

Derrick grinned, even as water streamed down his face. "Remember the one with engine I tried to repair? Well, Professor Silver convinced Stephanie and her group to leave it behind, and I guess Alex figured out how to fix it! Now come on, we've gotta go!"

He turned to pull on my shoulder, but I held him back. "Wait! Where's Tony?"

Derrick hesitated, a confused look on his face.

"Tony's right here!"

A bubble of dryness enveloped us, pushing sound away with a suddenness that left my ears ringing, like stepping into the eye of a hurricane. Derrick's line of sight shifted over my shoulder to the sound of the strange, guttural voice, and his expression morphed into one of panic. I turned to look.

Tony strode out of the forest toward us—but it wasn't the same guy who had gone into the temple with us. His clothes were trashed, his arms and face were all scuffed up, and his eyes had turned bloodshot, almost the same way he'd looked when I first tried to get the amulet away from him.

Derrick spluttered several times in an attempt to produce the words, "What... the..."

Tony's eyes focused on me, and his face split into the most terrifying smile I'd ever seen on a person, much less Tony.

I could feel the sprites tugging at me, even if Derrick was too shocked to do so.

It hit me in that awful moment as Tony shambled three steps closer.