Elemental: Heat Rising

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

The Duel

The water made a smacking sound as it hit the wall behind Violet.

“How dare you,” she said, “Trying to hurt your guest.”

She moved her arm, shooting a sharp icicle towards Abril’s throat. Abril lifted her arm in defense as the icicle cut a deep gash into it.

Holly expected a scream or cry of pain but all Abril said was, “Holly, try to wake Oak.”

Violet and Abril clashed with ice and water as Holly began scooping the excess water of Abril’s attacks and dropped it on Oak’s face, trying to wake him.

“I know he’s breathing,” Holly thought, continuing to dump water over his forehead.

She turned to see Abril slammed against the wall by various spheres of ice, knocked unconscious.

    “No!” Holly cried.

    Violet turned. Holly could see the evil straight through her.

    “Guess it’s just you,” Violet said.

    Holly stood.

    “You’ll be an easy opponent. A beginner. Especially trained by Oak,” a smile began to roll across her face, “Now to strike you down just like I did Fatface.”

    “I’m not sure I’ll be so easily defeated,” Holly said, her temper rising.

    “Of course you can. I am an elite fighter and you… Well you’re nothing but a half-baked beginner that somehow was able to make others believe she was worth teaching,” Violet said, maliciously.

    “No. I’m not,” Holly demanded.

    “Then why aren’t you fighting? You aren’t going to help anybody in this war but yourself and you’re completely aware of it. You’re whole side of the war in failing.”

    Holly could feel her temperature rise as she swelled with anger.

    “The only side in this war whose failing,” Holly said, lifting her right arm into a fist, “is your’s!”

She punched into the air, creating a whirlwind that violently dove straight into Violet, pushing her through and out the wall of the tower.

Holly slowly unfolded her fist and looked at her hand, awestruck by what had happened.

Most of the fire in the castle was out but smoke still floated throughout the entire area. The clouds had opened into a downpour.

Holly looked through the shattered lesson room window at all the destruction. Half the castle was in ruins, including the entire right side where her room was.

She thought of the photograph of her lost family.

“It’s probably been incinerated,” she thought, but she longed to see it in her hands again.

She shook herself out of her trance, “Oak! Fatface!” she reminded herself.

She knelt down over Oak, who she could now see had burns and cuts all over his face and hands.

She hit him with a powerful gust of air. He still didn’t stir.

She turned and did the same on Abril using both air and pouring water onto her face but nothing would wake her.

“I’ve got to get help,” she said, turning to the door which was open to the hall. Holly stuck her head out of it to see the staircase, burnt, broken in parts and in others, completely gone.

Her only option was to jump.

    “If I can harness enough air currents I can glide off the tower instead of fall,” she thought, stepping to the edge of the tower where soldiers still fought, but Holly noticed most were lying on the ground, unmoving.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them and circling her hands until a strong enough current had wrapped around her before she closed her eyes once more and leaped.

Her body glided through the sky and steadily lost altitude.

She hit the ground forcefully and rolled across the grass before opening her eyes again.

She couldn’t help but wonder where Violet was.

She stood to see a group of North soldiers wielding swords and shields while others wielded strange chains with what looked like spiked balls at each end.

“Great,” she whispered to herself, before swiftly moving both her arms forward at the men, sending a massive wind towards them and pushing them back while some fell.

They quickly regained themselves and gathered around her, ready to attack, but Holly moved and stepped in rhythm, a new feeling of strength surged through her as she fought.

She curled her hands into fists and threw one at a soldier with a shield facing her, creating a force of wind that pushed at his shield, throwing him back onto the ground.

“Careful!” one yelled, “She’s an Elemental!”

Holly forcefully brought her foot into the air, sweeping the speaker of his feet.

The two soldiers wielding the strange weapons threw them at Holly. She ducked under one quickly but the other wrapped around her shoulder.

Needles extended from the spikes on the spheres and dove into her skin before emitting a powerful electrical shock into Holly.

She yelled with pain until the pulsing electricity ended and she collapsed to the ground.

Her entire vision went black.