Subject 15

CHAPTER 32 - Raven

I watched Seth prepare for flight for just a moment, and I felt something deep in my stomach. It felt a lot like dread. I knew what he would think about this when I told him... when I showed him what I could do.

"There she is!" roared a soldier, aiming his rifle at me. "Freeze!"

I held up my hands, not saying anything, looking directly at the group of soldiers. I quickly counted them, pairing each of them to make it easy to track them. There were five pairs directly in front of me, two to the left, and three more coming in behind the first group.

I couldn't take them all. I would just have to stall them as long as I could before meeting Seth in the Old Faction.

"Down on the ground!" roared a soldier.

I slowly went to my knees, keeping my eyes on the soldiers in front of me, planning my attack. I kept my toes flat on the ground, ready to spring up at just the right moment.

A soldier slowly approached me, his rifle aimed at my head. When the tip of the rifle was about to touch my forehead, the soldier brought up the butt of the weapon to strike me on the temple.

He didn't get that far.

I pounced up, grabbing the soldier and twisting him in front of me, his rifle aimed at the other soldiers. His finger twitched, and a blast from the plasma-ion rifle struck his pair in the chest, sending him to the ground with a grunt.

"Open fire!" roared a soldier. A hail of fire peppered the soldier I was holding, nearly breaking through his armor and hitting me. I quickly, desperately, dug in my pocket, my mind on autopilot, supporting the meat shield while searching for–

Found it.

I quickly pulled out the small, black stone I kept in my pocket, the light making it shine. I scrapped the stone against the metal of the soldier's rifle, and a single spark emitted from the friction.

It was enough.

Instantly, a wall of fire erupted from the spark, creating a half-circle around me and moving toward the soldiers. The flames burned hot and bright, but it did nothing to block the plasma fire. I pushed the wall farther, closer to the soldiers, until finally I heard the call for, "Retreat! Fall back!"

I gritted my teeth, quickly rolling toward the exit that Seth had left moments ago. Two balls of flame jumped into my hand, boosting me on the way out. More built up the faster I ran toward the door, and by the time I reached the exit, it was enough to get me airborne.

I turned toward the Old Faction, leaving twin trails of white smoke behind me as I flew toward Seth, toward our home.

Towards explaining to him what I had done.