Cut From A Tattered Cloth

Chapter 3

Eijiro kicked off the ground, head pointing down at the groundcar. Closing his eyes he reached out, using his cloth magic to feel for the girl. He sensed the coarse leather seats she was sitting on, then the cushion of her booster chair and finally the thick polyester of her seatbelt. He yanked one hand back, magic ripping through the restraints, then Pulled on her poly-cotton dress to pop her out of the vehicle. She screamed, hands flailing and she flew towards him.

Eijiro's arms closed around her waist as he used his magic to rip up the bottom of his cloak. Five impromptu coils sprang to life. He joined them with the ones he had in his pockets and looped them around the trusses overhead. The groundcar crashed into the Zoel.

The little girl whimpered in his arms. He looked down at her, her chestnut hair in tangles and tears streaming down her face. She clung to Eijiro in shock, and he silently cursed her for accidentally saving his life.

"Come on," he grunted, "let's find your parents."

He swung himself up, coils untying from the trusses to wrap around the side railings of the bridge. The little girl continued to clutch at his cloak long after his feet touched the ground. He shrugged her off and pushed her towards her frantic parents, his attention shifting to the scene before him.

It was mayhem, at least ten times worse than what Eijiro had imagined under the bridge. People ran screaming in all directions, groundcars and hoverports flying through the air as trees exploded from the ground.

Eijiro's mouth fell open. Trees?

Zaram had killed off natural magic centuries ago, and with it everyone who had the ability to control it. As a result, all plants were a rarity. Yet here they were – springing out of the road fully grown. While they were lush and green, they looked stiff. Tense. As if each tree and shrub knew it didn't belong there. Ironwood trees punched into the Hover Zone, coconut trunks flipped groundcars. And through it all weeds, thorns, and brambles crawled over the pavement, winding up the support braces of the bridge.

In the middle of it all was a girl surrounded by police cruisers hovering around her in a circle. Each vehicle had two stun rifles mounted in front.

"This is the CCPD," a voice said through a megaphone. "We have you surrounded. Stand down. I repeat, stand down."

Eijiro understood their panic, but still. The number of stun rifles was excessive. True, they wouldn't kill her. But getting hit by a hailstorm of stun pellets would hurt like hell. She would be comatose for weeks.

The girl's dark eyes went wide, and she kept shaking her head. Eijiro's heart went out to her. She looked fourteen or fifteen; her thick hair hung in a low bun that was coming out. Wearing only a faded t-shirt and worn jeans, her arms pulled tight around her hunched shoulders.

"Final warning," came the officer's voice. "If you do not comply we will be forced to shoot."

Again, the girl shook her head. "Ka'ilo," she said, "Ka'ilo o le gagan--"

Eijiroʻs eyebrows shot up, understanding dawning on him.

That poor girl, he thought.

"You have been warned," came the irritated reply of the bullhorn.

Stun rifles leveled at her. Eijiro saw the girl flinch, then a wall of banyan trees exploded in front of her. Their trunks bent towards her in a protective cocoon as the vines whipped towards the officers, knocking the rifles out of their hands and taking a few of them out of their vehicles. Eijiro ran to help, but every officer that was knocked out of a cruiser had another pair of vines put them back in it.

Eijiro stopped, confused. Was this girl saving her attackers?

The bullhorn clicked. "Fire!"

"Wait!!"