Chasing Embers | 1

19 | W r e n

—

The Guard was advancing. Fast. With every foot of growing ice, more men raced towards us. Some of them blasted us with their powers, while others stuck to more hand to hand combat.
    
One man almost took my eye out with his blade. I sidestepped and grabbed his outstretched arm. He doubled over when I kneed his gut. I slammed him to the ground with my foot. His knife skittered to the side. I searched him with my mind and drew out some of the water in his body to make sure he would stay down.
    
The Guard kept coming. It seemed that they saw Ragan and Adara as bigger threats than me. They stood back to back as men closed in on them. Of course, I wasn't left to just stand there. Handfuls of men from the Guard would come my way, but I fended them off.
    
The girls off to my right seemed to be struggling. I had to do something. Ragan was crushing as much ice from the bridge as she could. As soon as it was destroyed, Hunter would replace it with a new layer. I could see Ragan tiring as she also fought off oncoming attackers. Adara zapped each man that came near her. Others around her learned from their colleagues' mistakes and remained at a farther distance.
    
An Arser threw fire at her after he struggled to cross the ice. I responded by whipping my arm through the air, water from the fountain behind them responding. The man was doused in cold water and steam rolled off his shoulders.
   
Shortly after, I heard a slight whistling noise. As it grew louder, my eyes widened. I ducked just as the blade sailed through the air where my head would have been, and my sudden action almost made me land on Ember. She was crouched behind me, digging through her bag.
    
"Whatever you're looking for, you better find it fast!" I yelled over the cries of battle and wind.
    
Ember gave me a slight nod, keeping her body positioned towards the bag. How could it take someone so long to look for one thing? Did she not realize the situation we were in? If we didn't get out of here, we would all be killed for being associated with her. I liked being associated with her, but I didn't want to die. I needed to do something to help my friends. I knew I couldn't melt the ice bridge,
that was past the extent of my powers.
    
A deafening crack of lightning made me look at my sister again, a brilliant idea forming.
    
"Ada!" I called. She didn't turn around as she struck the Guard down, but I knew she heard me. "Shake things up, Ada!" I yelled again, knowing she would understand.
    
I searched for the water that had been sloshing around my enemies' feet earlier. Unfortunately, Hunter had used a lot of it as a source for his ice. I really hated that guy.
    
Focusing once more on the fountain, I drew gallons of water from its spout. The water toppled over the edges and raced over the pavement, creeping towards the Guard. Their faces would be priceless when they figured out what was about to happen. The only tricky part was getting it over the ice without freezing.
    
I could feel the water running through my veins. It was cold. The liquid would never make it over the bridge as cold as it was. There had to be some way to make it warmer. I felt deeper, closing my eyes. I could feel how cold the current was. My fingers curled into my palm as I thought of warm, almost boiling water. I gritted my teeth, urging the water to heat.
    
Warmth suddenly enveloped me in a hug. I succeeded. Water rushed over the bridge, melting some of the ice and bringing it along. It swirled around the feet of the Guard and climbed up the fabric of their dark uniforms, well, only of those not from House Peros. They stayed dry, the water retreating from their feet. My part of the act would not affect them, but Adara's would.
    
When she saw the water reach their knees, her hands raised to the sky. Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed a brilliant bright purple. It was beautiful. Even some of the Guard took a second to look up. Lord Tanmos, lurking off to the side, did not seem mesmerized at all. In fact, he looked bored. I noticed his eyes were on Ember behind me, and I wondered how long he had been looking, what he was up to. Why hadn't he tried to reach her? Was he not the type of ruler who stood by his men's sides during a fight? The thoughts made me decide he was a coward.

Lightning, the loudest strike yet, crashed through the sky and barrelled towards him and his men. I turned away, kneeling next to Ember and shielding her with my back as the giant bolt hit the mass of water. Jagged purple sparks spread across the Guard in an instant. The mix of water and lightning caused the troops to go up in a jittery fit of chaos. Even those of the lightning House seemed to be getting a taste of their own medicine.
    
Most of the men of House Peros lay dead on the ground, their bodies charred and black. I swallowed the knot forming in my throat from the site of it all.
    
Ragan and Adara rushed over to us as the bodies began to stop shaking.
    
"Ember, hurry!" Ragan shouted.
    
The curly headed girl seemed to have been caught in a trance at the site of the spectacle. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts, and turned back to the bag.
    
A strange sense of fear overwhelmed me suddenly. I heard Adara gasp. She must have felt it too. It felt as though someone was wrapping their hand around my heart and squeezing. I didn't know what had come over me. Then, the smoothest, silkiest laugh filled the square. I had heard that laugh too many times today.
    
"You really think you can escape me? I have eyes everywhere, as you may have learned. There is nowhere you can run that I won't find you. I will admit, this was quite the show. I'm sure the Guard will enjoy another bout like this," Lord Tanmos snickered.
    
His smile suddenly disappeared. He stepped toward us gracefully, his cape climbing over fallen men. He looked like a dark king who had just won a battle.
    
He cleared his throat, an unnecessary action. "You may have given my soldiers a little tickle, but you have forgotten about something, little children." He paused, and I saw his fingers twitch. The fear in my chest spread through my entire body. "I control you."
    
Suddenly, Ragan lunged. I could feel the anger radiating off her. A knife had appeared in her hand. She jumped across the ice and slashed at the ruler's face, provoking a line of deep red to appear across his right cheek. The blood trickled down the side of his face. He blew out a harsh breath through his teeth, almost like the hiss of a snake. It fit him.
    
Ragan gave Lord Tanmos no time to react. She slammed the hilt of her knife into his stomach and grabbed the back of his ink black cape, pulling hard so that he fell to the ground.
    
Her boot pinned his chest to the pavement as she spit at him. "No one controls me, you bastard." Her voice was hoarse and filled with disgust.
    
Everything was suddenly silent. Neither of them moved. They glared into each other's eyes as if having some sort of silent conversation. Maybe they were. I watched the exchange in disarray. Ragan's knuckles turned white around the hilt of her knife, hanging dangerously over the lord. His brow was creased in concentration as he stared back at her. He seemed strangely unfazed that a street rat had him, royalty, pinned to the ground. He could have easily knocked her off, despite his scrawny form, but he didn't.
    
Ember shifted beside my leg. I took the risk of looking down, the fear having left my body since Ragan knocked Lord Tanmos down. In her hand, she cradled a smooth, blue rock. She looked up at me with her pretty green eyes. I stared down at her curiously but said nothing. That's what she had put our lives on the line for? A rock?
    
When she stood, the movement broke whatever connection there had been between Ragan and Lord Tanmos. Ragan snapped out of it first, spinning away from the lord and racing in our direction. Ember grabbed my forearm.
    
"We need to be linked," she said. Ada placed her hand on Ember's shoulder. I nodded and held my hand out to Ragan when she approached. Lord Tanmos was already advancing towards us, a look of realization splashed on his pale face.
    
"Let's hope this works."
    
Ember blew on the rock held out in her palm. It suddenly faded to dust, the blue powder floating through the air. It began to spread out around us, encasing us in a cloud of blue. I could hear the shouts of Lord Tanmos. I prayed he wouldn't reach us, that this would work, whatever it was.
    
All I remember seeing was my vision clouding with the bright blue powder, and then everything went black.