Convergence

Chapter Fourteen: Middle of the War

In the eye of the storm, it was less violent than outside. The tornado didn't move, and Ella was in the center.

Was it on purpose? No. Ella's never tried to make a storm before, and it's not the first time she had. But she wasn't worried about it either. It gave her a good place to fight back.

When Nick was hit with a rock, she was thrown back as well, into the flat debris of shattered glass and exposed wires. And she was terrified.

This is what's born of terror for her. And she hated it.

"You could just give it up, you know." The warlock's voice echoed, meeting face to face with her in the circle.

"Give what up?" Ella clenched her fists, breathing heavily. She was trying to ignore the pain that ached her body.

"This." The warlock's hands lifted, motioning to the tornado. And, pointing behind her outside of the tornado. "And them."

"What?"

"You could give up your power. You could live forever in a world where no one would hunt you, or have you conduct tests to expand your limits."

"That'd never happen." Ella sighed. "Nick wouldn't let that happen."

"Nick is the one doing it." The warlock smiled wider. "They're no different than their father—in some respects, at least."

"I asked them to teach me." Ella emphasized, bringing a hand to her chest. "It was my decision, not theirs. And you're wrong, you know. They're nothing like their father."

"How do you know?" It laughed. "They're not even trying to find you. Have you noticed?"

"Stop playing games with me. I know you're just trying to make me angry."

"It's not working, is it?" The warlock turned, snapping its fingers—the direction of the tornado spun itself around. "Then, can we just cut to the—oh."

Ella had been tossed up into the tornado, spinning around in its wake. Up in the air, she flipped upside down and right side up—she thought she'd vomit—and came face to face with debris as she did so.

"Well, this'll be easy." The warlock shrugged, jumping up onto the wall of the tornado, following her.

"It's too strong!" Ella called, facing the warlock in the air. "You'll do so much worse if you keep going!"

"You think I care about destroying things like you do?" It cackled, fighting against the current itself.

Ella huffed, moving downwards into the wind. She tried to redirect it, and barely made a dent, but still moved the warlock off course. And then, to make it fair play, it tossed a brick at her. It hit her in the gut, but didn't cause much damage. She felt a little heavy afterwards, however.

So, in retaliation, she grouped a bunch of wood and stones together and pushed them towards the warlock, who moved out of the way quicker than she'd anticipated.

"Look, I don't have any hard feelings against you at all." The warlock rose higher above Ella. "Just something I have to do."

"None of this is something you have to do!" Ella yelled up. "We can just talk about this!"

"You're sorely mistaken if you think that's how things get solved in this world. Sure is a shame you had to learn the hard way."

-

"Ella!"

Nick screamed over the screeching wind, lashing against them harder than they'd ever felt before. The pain was slowly inching away, but none of it mattered without knowing she was safe.