Rise from the ashes (an elemental tale)

Tell Me Why??

He was just lying there, both hands behind his head and humming softly, oblivious to my murderous intent.

We finally made it to that ensemble of rocks we saw on the way down here, and now we're "resting". Blake is definitely relaxed, I, on the other hand, am not.

All I can think about is making sure he has no pulse or head,  for that matter. The bloodthirst lessened tremendously, but it's still there pulsing in the back of my mind.

A slither of my shadows wriggles its way to Blake's unprotected neck. Before it can wrap around it, something wraps itself around my ankle and pulls, hard.

I go rolling down the hill, arms flailing wildly, hoping to latch onto something solid. I'm so caught up in my movements that I forget to shout for help.

"BLAKE!" I shout at the top of my voice.

I hear the pounding footsteps of someone running downhill and try to brace myself against something on the roll down.

Within seconds, I'm caught up in someone arms, and my rolling momentum has come to a halt.

Blake manages to carry/run with me to the bottom of the hill before he gently places me down and collapses next to me.

"What happened there, sweetheart? You get into a tussle with a mushroom or something?" Blake asks, confused with the recent turn of events.

"No," I say, looking at my ankle questionably, "Something pulled my ankle, and I went soaring."

Frown lines marred Blake's normally smooth forehead, showing that he was thinking very deeply on the matter.

In the far distance, I hear the snap of a twig, and I'm instantly on high alert. Observing the trees very carefully, I let Blake know.

"Someone's in the forest." I tell him.

"Took them long enough," he muttered under his breath.

"I'm sorry, what?" I question, confused.

"I thought you knew doll. Someone's been following us since your house, I'm surprised you only picked that up now." He said very matter-of-factly.

"Wouldn't have hurt to just say so!" I whisper-shout.

"Well, now you know, so go deal with it. Go make use of your new ability." He says.

I raise my eyebrows, "Given that my 'new ability' almost killed you."

"Yes," he responded, "that's exactly why you'll go kill whoever is in that forest and not me."

I sighed but stood up nonetheless. The moment I did a rock, the size of my head, came flying towards me. I just barely managed to twist my body out of the way and ducked back down again.

"That's not how you're supposed to deal with it." Blake said.

I glared at him and tried peering into the forest again. There's no sign of anybody. This person must be really stealthy. Or they're concealing themselves with their shadows.

I close my eyes and let my shadows feel around the area, trying to pick up on shadow usage. I happened upon a strong shadow presence and immediately tore the shadows concealing the person apart.

I opened my eyes and pinpointed the intruders' hiding place. Zayne steps out of the bush, clapping his hands slowly.

"Well done, Phoenix, you found me. Or should I say I found you?" said Zayne.

Blake was up immediately and was in a fighting stance faster than I could blink.

"What do you want, Zayne?" I ask calmly.