Finding Soul (on hold)

We Exploded, Literally

Sara

I handed out high fives to celebrate our victory. Jared and Keanu did a complex handshake that involved fist pumping, several yells, and a backflip for whatever reason. Their antics elicited laughter from all the kids. Barda started sitting up. We began to go get back into our seats.

A second after we turned our backs on Barda, an invisible force slammed us to the ground. I had been smushed over Griffin and Jared's backs. Ginger was trapped under Maddy. Kathryn and Amber had a nice cushion from the ground, formed by Charlie and Adam. Adhya was face down in a convenient patch of dirt.

"Jared, has anyone told you that you have sharp elbows?" I grunted. To his credit, Jared did try and unbend his elbows.

"Barda's Battle Rule Number One: Never turn you back on you opponent," Barda instructed as he brushed himself off. He showed no sign of tiredness.

"Point taken," Maddy mumbled. She flipped around like a hooked fish.

"Your teamwork is excellent, however your soul merge is quite weak. I'm sure when you took out the demon, adrenaline and instinct made it much more powerful. It only knocked the breath out of me," Barda continued. "Which is why I have squashed you. You have barely scratched the surface. This is the equivalent of lifting a feather for me."

"Please explain why we have to be crushed for this lecture!" Adhya snapped.

"Seriously! Sara's really heavy!" Jared added.

"Not the issue here!" I retorted. "Besides, who are you to call me heavy?"

That earned several laughs from our class. Jared grumbled and Griffin snorted with laughter. As well as he could, considering that my knee was in his gut.

"I'm getting to that. Teamwork is today's lesson, I want the entire class to work as a team," Barda explained, and then snapped. Abruptly, the entire class was facedown on the ground; struggling against the invisible force.

"With that said, your first assignment, break this hold. If you get out, don't forget about your comrades," Barda coached.

"What does this even have to do with combat?" Amber accused. Barda shook his head in disappointment, but offered no clarification.This earned him many shouts of protest.

Slowly, everyone began to move and think. People flopped, rolled and thrashed, trying to shake the focus. We shouted ideas around andI grumbled and tried to sit up. No dice, not that I was surprised. The force was still as strong as ever.

"Ginger can you try your wind spell?" Adam coughed. My knee was squarely in his stomach so him talking was quite a feat. Ginger nodded from under Maddy. Her eyes flashed white and a great wind whipped up. It felt as if it was coming from the earth.

I struggled against the barrier. I was able to sit up a hair. I reached for that piece of me that was my magic. I found it and dragged it up. Barda raised an eyebrow and put more pressure on me.

But to do that, he let up on the others. Ginger pushed harder and the wind roared back. Several others began to help with the wind. I felt a bit lighter, the power from below beginning to balance the force from above. Adam began muttering and the wind became monumentally stronger. Moisture closed around us, and I realized we were in the center of a storm cloud.

Amber closed her eyes and lighting danced around us before shooting up and attacking the barrier. Blue sparks flew as she gradually broke through.

Maddy snorted and pink crystals shot up, straining against the force. Suddenly Ginger's wind weakened. The crushing weight returned and I was flattened across Jared.

"Oh god," I cursed as the breath was squished out of me. Jared quickly sent a pulse of soothing energy through me. I relaxed, then an idea struck me.

I closed my eyes and imagined the purple energy pulsing through my friends. Opening my eyes, I sent that pulse of pure energy. Immediately Maddy's crystals rose up further, giving us more space to work. Ginger's wind returned full force. Adam and Amber's storm raged on, becoming a little concerning as it was so close to us.

Golden light began shimmering around Kathryn. It hummed loudly and began chipping away at the barrier. I sent another pulse of energy through them.

With a loud pop, Madi shot through the barrier. She landed on her rump and et out and indignant squeak. Suddenly, Ginger shot through the barrier as well, only her landing was much more graceful.

"Alright Tinies!" Charlie cheered. The rest of our class politely applauded. I returned to trying to give everyone energy, but we gave up out of exhaustion after realizing that no one else was going to get out of Barda's hold.

I felt something brush against my nose causing it to itch. Crap. I tried to hold in my oncoming sneeze, but I heard a girl near me sneeze.

"Bless you," I heard Jared say. I shifted myself towards the sneezer which caused Griffin to groan. In an attempt to keep from sneezing, I began talking.

"My name's Sara, who are you?"

She looked a bit confused before realizing I was talking to her, "I'm Kyla..." Kyla had dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes. Her voice remained calm even in the stupid situation.

"So, Kyla, do you have any ideas?" I suppressed the sneeze more as I felt something brush over my nose again.

"Yeah, but none of them could work witho-" I accidentally cut her off with a sneeze. It took me a few seconds to realize the following screams were caused by me, and I was on my butt a few feet from my earlier position. I noticed a scorch mark that was in the same place my head had been before.

"What the crap did you eat, Sara?" Amber yelled.

"Tell me you didn't try to see if you or Maddy could eat more peppers again," Adhya said with a sigh.

"I have no idea what the crap you two are talking about," I said, trying to shake off the killer sneeze.

"Sara, you just sneezed fire," Kathryn explained way too calmly. No emotion, no expression, nada.

"Yeah," Griffin said, "and you almost grilled Jared and I in the process."

Madi turned towards Griffin angrily, "It's, 'Jared and me!' Now will someone please give Charlie and me some help here?!"

"Of course," Keanu said, "just let us think-"

"BRAINS OVER BRAWN!" Maddy suddenly cried out. "Smol One, Barda took your grapes!"

A sudden wave of fury passed across Madi's face as she charged Barda. She managed to get ahold of his back which gave Ginger and me time to join her. I understood Maddy's plan almost right away, but I think she managed to slide this one past Barda. He soon became distracted trying to fend us off which caused him to lose concentration.

Maddy began roaring and the giant crystals responded. They shot up high enough for everyone to stand up. Everyone held their hands up and braced themselves against the barrier.
Kyla began muttering and strange symbols glowed across her hands. She pushed up and a cracking sound was heard.

Barda managed to throw off Madi and refocus on the barrier. The class began to crumple. Maddy shouted encouragement and summoned more crystals.

I charged at Barda and felt a sneeze coming. I dodged a swipe from his sword by ducking. I let Ginger use my back as a springboard and she leapt on Barda. As he swatted a Ginger, the sneeze became very insistent. I let loose and was thrown back against the barrier. Maddy began to yell and crystal ropes emerged and began to wrap around Barda.

That broke his concentration long enough for all of the powers to break his hold. Soon enough the entire class had him surrounded with their weapons drawn.

"Checkmate," Maddy said with a smile.

I rolled my eyes at her, "Checkmate? Really?"

"Just let her have her moment," Keanu said while obviously trying to hold back a laugh. I chuckled but let it slide this one time.
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A/N hey guys! So Mad_Eyed_Maddy and I worked on this chapter together! What do you think? Should we do this more? Let us know! Thanks for reading lovelies!