The Elementai

Chapter 1

They rushed to the ticking bomb. "Hurry up! Switch it off!" Lexa yelled to her partner and friend, Axel.
"I'm trying, it won't work! Which wire is it?" Axel shouted, no longer calm. Lexa pushed Axel out of the way, talking into her headpiece. "Commander, we got a 414. No, wait, 415."
"Which is it?" he asked patiently, his deep voice booming into her ear.
"Hey, hey, talk softer, sir," Lexa said.
"Lexa! The bomb!" Axel reminded her. She looked around the grey building. No sign of anyone jumping out with guns or lasers. That was good.
"Tell me, Axel, how many red wires?" Lexa asked quickly. Axel observed the bomb.
"Three. 2 minutes left!"
"It's a 312, Commander! What do we do?"
"Cut the blue wire." Lexa related the instructions to Axel, who obeyed and chopped the blue wire. "Now the red one. Third from the right, I'm guessing."
Lexa repeated Commander's words.
"Guessing?!"
Axel shook her head and shut her eyes as she cut the red wire. A second went by...two...three. The tension was unbearable, like five bowling balls hanging on by one little thread.
"Whew! We did it!" Lexa slapped high fives with her friend, only to turn and see about ten armed guards pointing their rifles straight at the two girls. "Aw, snap," Lexa muttered.
"Hands up," they said. Those buffoons, she thought. Where's their head villain? Her and Axel reviewed escape routes silently, holding their hands up in surrender. The sleazy building had two exits, blocked by more guards, and windows that were high up. It'd take too long to climb up there. By then, their heads would be shot off and kept as souvenirs. There were a few parked cars, which were great, but neither Lexa nor Axel could drive. Lexa noticed a large water tank not far behind the guards.
Bingo.
Slowly, almost imperceptibly, she twisted her hand. A gurgling sound came from behind them. Lexa grinned. "You might want to turn around," she said. Waves of water rushed at them. Before they could say "mamma mia," they were submerged in a pool of water.
Lexa and Axel raced out of the building as gunshots went off. She was pretty sure those guards shot each other, because they were all shooting blindly. Lexa allowed herself a small chuckle as they climbed into the XX-5, their advanced, state of the art machine. It was a cross between a spaceship, a hovercraft and an aeroplane. Axel was always at the controls. She was the pilot, after an unfortunate accident in the past that left the XX-5 basically shattered, Lexa was never allowed to drive again. Luckily they had Mechanics to fix it.

"Job well done, girls," Commander said in his apt commanding voice. His voice was so deep that Lexa sometimes wondered if it was even real. His beautifully dark skin contrasted against his grey eyes. He was a man of many secrets; no one knew much about him. "But next time," he looked at Lexa, "learn your codes properly."
"I forget to revise them this ONE time..." she started, but Axel nudged her. "Hey, it's not only me. Axel didn't know them either."
Axel gave her friend an annoyed look. Commander decided to continue with more pressing matters. "As Elementai, your powers have to be developed. We are going to make a few changes around here regarding the courses you take."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Lexa interrupted. "What changes?"
"For starters, everyone will take Philosophies."
"No way!"
"The rest will be announced officially tomorrow," Commander ignored her, "Dismissed."

Knock-knock. Knock-knock. BANG!
"Coming," Lexa mumbled irritably, forcing herself out of bed. She glanced at herself when she passed the only mirror in her cabin. A sleepy, golden-eyed girl stared back at her. Lexa's mid-length, layered black hair stood up all over the place, blue streaks showing here and there. That was the thing about Elementai; their hair had natural coloured streaks in them. When they got really old and wrinkly, the streaks would take over, so Lexa's hair would be blue with black streaks when she was an old granny. That's aging for ya!
She opened the door to see Axel tapping her foot impatiently. "What are you still doing in your nightsuit?" she demanded.
Lexa looked down at herself. "You mean my jammies? I think it's a good look for me."
"Get dressed! Commander's meeting is in five."
"Five what?" Lexa smirked at Axel's exasperated face. "Okay, okay, just give me two minutes," Lexa said, closing the door.

Ten minutes later, they hurried to the common room, a large, spacious building set smack dab in the middle of Elementai/Lupusi Camp. It was the main campus hangout. There were posters, arcade games, and even free fro-yo! At the end was a stage, with various instruments set on it. However, everyone's focus was on Commander. They were already seated, and Commander raised an eyebrow at seeing Lexa and Axel late. Lexa gave him an innocent smile before sitting down on a beanbag.
About fifteen seconds in, Lexa zoned out. She already knew all the stuff that he was telling them. The Elementai and Lupusi (who were blue furry wolves with sharp claws and teeth, morphing fully every crescent moon) had been in a war not long before, and now that it was over they had joined together to form this camp. The purpose was to train them to be useful in the future, which was why everything was divided into categories like Scientists, Mechanics, Planters, Healers, Philosophies, Research and more.
"You all have great power within you. You must tap into this power. To learn how, Philosophies is needed," Commander went on. "Which is why it is being made compulsory."
Murmurs went around the room, mostly disapproving ones. Lexa frowned. "No complaining. Our Philosophies group has made many amazing discoveries. We need more, as dark forces are getting worse. As we know, the Dakai helped cause the war, and betrayed all of us. Though the war is over, they are rising."
Lexa perked up. This was news to her. She glanced at Axel, who worriedly looked back. "Be careful," Commander finished. Afterwards, Lexa ran up to him, pushing her way through the crowd moving in the opposite direction. Sir! Sir, you said dark forces-"
"Don't worry about that just yet. Focus on Philosophies."
"But why? You're like obsessed with it, dude! I-I mean, sir," Lexa argued. He gave her a long, hard look, but she couldn't make out any emotion in his eyes. As usual. "Is there something on my face, sir?" Quit staring at me, she thought. His eyes were scary.
"Come with me, Lexa. I have something to tell you."