Elemental

Chapter 3

Even before I hit the ground I almost pass out from lack of oxygen. But I still feel the impact like and echo in my bones. Dying doesn't hurt as bad as I thought it would is the last thought in my mind before everything goes black.

The first thing I realize when I open my eyes is that I can't breath. My heart beats faster and faster and my lungs beg for air until finally I can hold out no longer and I slip into the darkness again.

I wake up on the ground. My throat is dry and my eyes are gritty with dust. The sun shines in my face and I close my eyes against the light. Someone is shouting at me from miles away. Along with a ringing in my ears that makes me wants to curl into ball and lay there forever. The sun is still shining bright against my eyelids until a shadow appears over me and I feel someone shaking me gently. Someone saying over and over "June, be okay. You've got to be okay"
"Ethan?" I groan. I don't open my eyes but I recognize his voice. My own voice is scratchy and faint, but the pain is subsiding and the realization that I'm still alive gives me the strength to sit up, slowly, and pry my eyes open. Making sure to face away from the sun. Ethan's startling blue gaze looks back at me.
There are tears on his cheeks. I wonder what he was crying about. But before I have time to wonder anymore I am swept up it his embrace. We're still on the ground and I don't think I have the strength yet to stand, but he helps me to my feet, albeit shakily, and he supports me to a rocky overhang where the rest of the students are waiting. Well, the students that passed.
        Strange, astonished looks are thrown my way. I don't remember what happened, but I'm pretty sure what they're thinking about is my sudden fall from the sky. Or maybe just the fact that I passed is too extraordinary for their pathetic minds to comprehend. Actually, even I'm having a little trouble believing I survived that.
       I can't remember anything between the time I fell out of the sky and when I woke up on the ground. I just remember the sensation of not being able to breath. "Ethan?" I whisper. "What happened? After I fell?"
He looks around at the other people under the overhang, still gawking at me. Even the teachers are looking at me with surprise, and maybe... Fear? But I dismiss the thought. I probably hit my head when I fell. I'm just glad I didn't break every bone in my body... Actually I didn't break anything. How could I fall two stories out of the sky and come out mostly unharmed?
"June?" Ethan whispers concernedly. He'd been talking the whole time.
"What? Oh, yeah, I was just thinking... How am I not hurt? All I have is a sore throat!"
"I just told you June!" he shakes his head at me and i just grin sheepishly.
"Sorry, i'm just distracted"
"It's ok. We can talk later. The enforcers are telling everyone to keep quiet for now. Act like you have no idea what that was."
"Oh, well that's not going to be hard, seeing as I don't have any idea what 'that' was"
"Ssshhhh, later," he warned. Well, that was helpful. Thanks, Ethan. If we were alone I'd ask for more details, but I decide to assume he knows what to do and follow his advice. I can grill him about it later.
My fellow classmates and I are herded into a group by the enforcers. And the head mages lead us through a door that I didn't see earlier. Through the cliff and into a series of tunnels made of spotless steel. Fluorescent lights lined the corridors.
There were no exits in sight, except the door we entered through, which made me uneasy. I don't trust these people. Nobody in their right mind should trust people who send kids to their deaths.
.    After the first mage-a person who can manipulate the four elements, earth, air, water, and fire- was discovered, people went went crazy! Life was horrifically reminiscent of the Salem witch trials. Young mages were persecuted and the government, didn't know what to do. The teachers actually claim that our country was improved. But I'm pretty sure a society that pushes innocent children off cliffs is not at the top of it's game.
As we walk down the hall a teacher explains that this will be the training facility we'll live at for the next 3 years. I already knew that. I'm pretty sure everyone did. Eventually she started droning on about the rules. My attention drifted away as I was pretty sure I wasn't going to follow them anyways.
Instead I paid attention to Ethan, walking alongside me. His hair was covered in dust. His clothes were too. I hadn't noticed before. I decided to ask about it later. I focused on his face instead. On his eyes, a startling blue and his pale skin. Eventually he saw me looking at him and smiled reassuringly. His hand sought mine and gave it a quick squeeze before he let it drop to his side.
I had been so far away that I didn't realize when we reached a huge set of circular iron doors.