Elementals

Chapter 14 - Wow that stuff hits hard

The sun pierced the cold, gray clouds in the sky, giving a brief moment of warmth over the city of the Rockefeller Single. Dominick dragged Aidan by the hand down the sidewalk as Sam followed behind the two boys. The streets were busy, people were standing in the middle of the road, blocking traffic and screaming at the top of their lungs.

"What's with them?" Aidan asked Dominick.

"They're tourists," Dominick answered, pulling Aidan further down the sidewalk. "they're stuck here since those guards closed the ports."

"I saw that." Aidan replied. "I thought all the tourists would already be gone before they would do that."

"How long have they been stuck here?" spoke Sam, walking closer to the group.

"A week now." Dominick responded as the three of them approached the wild crowd. The riot spilled onto the crosswalk, stopping them from walking any further. "Oh, great."

"A week, huh?" Aidan looked over the crowd, seeing the mad tourists shouting at a small group of guards. The guards were huddled around a white service truck. "Oh hey, it's one of those trucks they tried to use to distract us."

"Oh yeah." Sam looked at the truck as well. "Why did they even try to distract us if they weren't gonna do anything?"

"I still think they're playing something," Dominick dragged Aidan back towards him. "but we can't wait for them to do that something."

"Yeah, that's why we're here, at this damn sword."

The trio found themselves before the giant stone that held a single sword within it, the blade encrusted by a binding glow. The only thing between them and the tourist attraction was the tourists themselves. Taking matters into her own hands, Sam grabbed the two boys and hoisted them over her shoulders.

"Hey!" Aidan shouted at her as she placed her boot upon the wall next to them and began to walk up the wall. Calmly, she walked around the riot and placed the boys on the ground on the other side of the rowdy crowd.

"Alright, there we go." Sam said as stepped back onto the ground.

"Right, spider powers." Dominick reminded himself. "Okay, so, the Sword in the Stone." Dominick pulled a tattered pamphlet out of his pocket. "This blade has been here for a decade, along with the rock it's in."

"Is he readin' a tour guide?" Aidan asked Sam.

"He is." Sam responded.

"This sword, which has been likened to the mythical blade Excalibur, is said to have sealed away a great evil under the stone it now resides in. The battle of a hero ten years ago against an army of evil monsters that once threatened the east coast ended in this location as the hero placed the stone above the crevice where the monsters emerged." Dominick read the pamphlet.

"So, this sword was used to lock away some evil monsters? Seems like you would want to make sure this place is kept nice and clean." Sam observed. "Is that big gear like this?"

"These Bright Lite guys are responsible for keepin' this place sturdy to nothin' bad happens, huh?" Aidan walked closer to the stone, finding the iron fence around it. "This fence is in a better condition than the rest of this island."

"Is this why the town around here is so bad?" Sam wondered. "A bunch of criminals, absolutely destroyed infrastructure, is it because there's a powerful evil sealed in the very middle of it, making it so no one wants to live here?"

"That's what my dad tells me." Dominick answered. "So, we're here now. Now what, Aidan?"

"There's gotta be a reason why those Bright Lite guys wanted us distracted, and a reason why they upkeep these places. There's also the fact that their guards are blockin' off the ports around the island, trappin' everyone inside." Aidan was thinking aloud, putting together everything he had learned in the day's events. He leaned back on the fence, thinking to himself when a chill went down his spine. From the stone, he could catch the slightest scent of a deadly and horrible smell. He turned to look at the stone, peering at the small, small crack between it and the ground, a small gap that air escaped through. From there, he could sense it, the cold, inky grasp of Drew's power.