A Lightning Storm of Spark and Flame

Chapter 11

The first thing Phoebe notices upon entering the sitting room after Chase's departure is that Grandmother has moved. A trickle of unease causes her to remain silent instead of calling out as she'd normally do. Where could she have gone? Methodically, the young woman begins combing the downstairs portion of the house for the elder. The kitchen and training room are empty, but she strikes gold when she peeks into the study. Grandmother is seated behind the colossal desk with several jars lined up in front of her. From where she stands, Phoebe makes out a captured beam of sunshine in one, a blizzard in another, and a thunderstorm in a third. She's not exactly sure what's in the other four, but has a sneaking suspicion that it's nothing good. She takes a tentative step over the threshold, and a floorboard creaks softly underfoot. At the slight sound, Grandmother's gray eyes snap up and her hand moves too fast for the girl to track. Suddenly there's something flying right at her, and she barely has time to see it coming before it's smashing into pieces at her feet and releasing its contents. But instead of a storm, a molten orange substance erupts in a geyser that's so hot she can actually see the heat rolling off in waves to cloud the air. She screams as she throws herself to the side to avoid it. But it seems to follow her, Shifting its trajectory with no effort at all. Her power acts of its own volition this time, lifting Phoebe into the air on a gust of wind that hadn't been there a moment ago. The lava roars like some ancient beast and continues its relentless pursuit of her, The heat of even being near it enough to make the young woman feel dangerously lightheaded. Grandmother remains calmly in her chair, watching the events unfold with a serene smile on her face. Phoebe's eyes dart to the shelves across the room and lock on several trapped blizzards gleaming like diamonds amid Everything else. She can practically feel their bitter chill, promising salvation in the form of icy wind and blowing snow. She begins to aim herself for one, but then freezes as something else strikes her. The lava will follow her wherever she goes. If it melts even more bottles, she'd have much more than just liquid stone to contend with. The molten rock flows and Bubbles threateningly below her as if to reiterate this truth. There's no question what will happen to her if she falls. Wherever it touches, the floor disintegrates to expose the concrete foundation of the house. After a while, that too begins to melt, only adding to the lava's fatal arsenal. Breaths coming fast, Phoebe stares intensely at the bottles still lined up neatly in front of Grandmother on the desk. There's not a single blizzard among them. She could've sworn she'd seen one earlier, though. As if knowing what she's thinking, the old woman raises a hand from which the white jar glistens. "Looking for this, child?" she mocks. "Grandmother, please!" Phoebe pleads. "You don't have to do this!" The elder barks out a harsh laugh and resolutely tucks the precious snowstorm into her pocket. "You must understand, Dear. I am only seeking what belongs to me. I gave you this gift when you were young, but I want it back now. I'm sure you can understand; you do happen to possess the same ungrateful streak as your mother. is that truly too much to ask for?" Phoebe dodges another powerful geyser of lava before she can reply. "Yes, it is! It's a part of me! If you take it, I will die! I'm sorry, but I won't let you do that." As she meets the eyes that are so like her own, something occurs to her. Grandmother would typically be standing to face her, actively fighting instead of explaining herself while seated on the sidelines, but she's severely weakened at the moment. She's far too fragile to risk the meager power she might have left to face a fully strengthened, much younger opponent without backup. Another bottle sales passed the young girl's head and smashes against the wall behind her. She feels the change in the atmosphere instantly. Torrential rain begins to pound down brutally, striking like individual needles as the vicious clouds rise to hover near the ceiling like ghosts. the winds swirl furiously, picking up everything in their path and flinging it haphazardly about. Phoebe shrieks as she's snatched up along with it and spun blindingly fast. A twister, she realizes as she spreads her arms and tries to absorb the powerful storm. It begins to work until flying lava touches her outstretched hand. She gasps upon seeing that a great deal of it is also being carried by the same wins that are now buffeting her around. She screams as she's never screamed before, the agony incomparable to anything she'd ever experienced. Even the draining of her power had been a fraction more bearable than this. She refuses to look down as books and bottles are ripped off the shelves, which look as though their seconds away from being lifted into the air themselves. A sudden increase in heat makes her yelp and propel herself almost to the ceiling. The violent force of the storm had brought her perilously close to the waiting lava below. Where the rain strikes the surface, it turns to steam that quickly rises to blanket the roof like a miniature sky. Jars and other objects sore like missiles through the room, and Phoebe grits her teeth and tries again to pull the raging hurricane into herself. She closes her eyes for just a moment to focus, reaching her hands out and trying to locate the core of its strength. It fights her furiously, not wanting to give up control. Another scream is ripped free from her as she does her best to force it to give in. Grandmother's laughter rings around the room like sinister tinkling bells. She feels herself latch onto the strongest part of the storm just as glass shatters below her. When she opens her eyes and looks down, Phoebe is met with the site of something green with a distinct pungent odor colliding with the lava. The reaction is instantaneous and breathtaking. Vapor starts to rise once more, but it is tinged a sickly yellowish color. Whatever it touches warps and actually melts away. Acid, she recognizes in horror. She creates a gust of wind to blow the rising cloud back down and continues to try to pull the twister into herself. She can tell the moment it shifts in her favor. The wonderful sensation of becoming the physical storm washes over her. She feels the lava and acid battering at her from below, trying to eat away at anything they can. The yellow cloud reaches Grandmother's desk, beginning to disintegrate it. "Move!" Phoebe Howells in spite of herself. She doesn't know why she's still trying to help the older woman. Instead of obeying, she simply remains seated, calmly watching the deadly vapor make a path right for her. Bracing herself, the young girl sends a concentrated burst of wind to fling the chair against the opposite wall. Grandmother doesn't appear to be phased at all, just Continuing to observe Phoebe at work with a vaguely curious expression. Trying one last time, she succeeds at last, bringing the howling storm fully under her manipulation. The swirling rain and roaring gusts calm slowly, dropping books and other objects to the lava below. But that's when she realizes her mistake. All too often, the bottles and jars of captured substances are among the things that are melted by the molten rock. The first thing to escape is a blizzard, icy and cold and fierce but doing little to calm the rage around them. In fact, The combined work of the lava and acid have steadily destroyed the study altogether. There is a sudden bright flash as a captured sunbeam rises into the air, singeing Phoebe's hair until she manages to push herself as far away as she can without losing complete control of the elements now battling themselves. Gradually, the realization dawns on her that the only thing she can likely do at this point is flee. With the way things are looking, there is no saving the house. The moment she accepts this, Phoebe squints down into the chaos in an attempt to relocate Grandmother. Her heart stops when she fails to spot her. Calling out in terror, she aims herself toward the still open door and soars out into the hallway. It doesn't take long before the floor is melted away by the acidic lava which seems determined to pursue her. As she calls out, a booming crack of thunder shakes the walls as more and more storms are released. This, however, only makes the young woman feel more powerful. With little more than a thought, she sends a downpour of rain, snow, and hail cascading into the lava in an attempt to cool it, but this only results in more steam hazing the air around her. In desperation, she finally decides to attempt to reach out with her power to locate the other woman. She sends out tendrils of her awareness, crawling like fingers that search for any other hint of magic. The moment they locate a second power source moving around frantically upstairs, she allows herself to be guided by her senses. Before she can even get near the staircase though, a thunderous crash reverberates through what's left of the house. "Grandmother!" Phoebe shrieks in alarm, but of course there's no answer. Instead, the impossible happens. The already stunningly strong chaos around her increases exponentially. She finds herself being crushed against the wall as Grandmother's favorite armchair is lifted effortlessly by the wind like a toy. She loses her grip on the storm in horror, but thankfully remains airborne. The older woman must have tipped over the bookshelf in her granddaughter's bedroom to add those bottles to the mix as well. Realizing she's not going to be able to save her guardian, the girl instead turns her full attention to escape. but the air is now clouded with acidic lava as well as flying furniture and pieces of debris as the house is torn apart. Trying to guide herself through that to find a door or window is as good as signing her own death certificate. Knowing what she's got to do, Phoebe thrusts a hand toward the ceiling overhead and shuts her eyes tight. A huge splintering crack momentarily drowns out all other noise, and the young woman reopens them just in time to see the biggest lightning bolt she's ever seen strike the floor and completely obliterate it. In fact, the massive fissure it produces continues straight down into the foundation. It makes the force she had used to destroy Grandmother's cane earlier seem insignificant in comparison. When she finally manages to free herself from the crushing pressure of the chair, she raises her arms and shoots straight up through the hole the lightning she'd summoned had blasted through the second story. She is pursued by the vicious storm, which has become almost like a monster in its own right, but she's too fast this time. She gasps as she takes in the fresh air, still rising higher and higher until she's above the height of the storm clouds and the only home she's ever known looks like nothing but a spec. From this vantage point, she watches with shellshocked tears gathering in her eyes as the structure collapses in on itself as the elements tear it to pieces from the inside. Finally, the ground itself seems to open up, taking the house and all its evil magic with it. For a moment, she can't quite figure out what to feel. She knows Grandmother had still been in there. She also knows that the elderly woman wouldn't have stopped trying to kill her granddaughter even if she had been rescued. By the time Phoebe's feet hit the ground gently, there's nothing left of her childhood home but a huge, yawning crater in the Earth. Somehow, she knows it will never heal.