The Gifted (ONC 2023)

Chapter 17 I Am the Fire

The air crackled with energy. The moment Tommy gave the signal, the deviants simultaneously charged at them from all sides. Toni didn't think there was no time for that now. He stepped in front of Aleks and raised his hands. A wall of flames raised before them, forcing charging enemies to stop or change direction at the last second.

"Try to keep them at a distance!" Regan roared, his hands moving frantically and raising forcefields protecting their group from different angles.

Several Rioters were slowly pacing on the other side of his flame wall, looking for a way in, but no one seemed to volunteer to go through and get burned. Toni raised his hands and manipulated the fire, so it advanced towards the deviants, pushing them back towards the walls. Toni hoped they could hold the opponents off or defeat them, but a huge man ran straight through the fire the next moment. Toni cursed and sent a stream of burning flames straight into the assailant's chest.

He didn't even slow down.

It seemed he was completely immune to heat. But Toni didn't have time for reflection because the next second, the man crashed at him at full speed. He was thrown off his feet and flew a few meters before he hit the ground with a painful groan.

"The hell was that?" he gasped when he could breathe. His ribs hurt when he moved, but he forced himself to get up.

The deviant that attacked him looked like some medieval knight in plate armour. The difference was that the thing seemed to grow out of his body and was made from heat-resistant alloy. Aleks fired three shots at him, but the bullets slid off the metal harmlessly. The man laughed with a deep voice sounding as if it came from a deep well.

"You think that your toy guns can harm me, girl?" he thundered, advancing at Aleks, and raised his hand that morphed into a giant war hammer. "How about I show you a real weapon?"

"Hey!" Come back here, you big, dumb oaf!" Toni sent another cascade of flames, but the deviant ignored him.

"Stephen!" Aleks called, backtracking toward the centre of the room, but she couldn't get further because she didn't want to endanger huddled civils.

"You have nowhere to run now. Face the wrath of Rioters!" The deviant raised his hammer, ready to swing.

"How about you face someone your own size?" Stephen jumped in front of Aleks just in time to grab the hammer's head.

The deviant froze, surprised by his raw strength.

"I'm not having a good day here, so I suggest you take a chance to leave this place and never come back. There will be no other warning." He punched Rioter straight in the chest, sending him crashing through the wall, making a new opening in the chamber. "Kids those days, no respect for elders."

Toni would cheer at the marvellous display of Stephen's gift, but there was no time for that. The chamber filled with a loud, high-pitched scream that rattled everyone deep to the bones. Toni covered his ears, but it didn't help. He still felt as if someone was drilling straight into his brain. Through teary eyes, he saw most people falling to their knees, covering their heads, but one woman was on her feet, her arms spread and mouth open wide.

He melted into the flames.

The horrible cacophony from the deviant's mouth became a distant sound as he sped through the chamber right towards her. The moment she felt the burn, the scream ended sharply and turned into a painful cry as she fell and rolled on the floor, trying to dose off the flames devouring her dress. Toni felt an urgent need to strike a gain to ensure the fire consuming the deviant would never die. They would burn through clothes, skin, muscles and bones, leaving only ashes in their wake.