Chronicles of the Unknowns: Intervention

Chapter 8

"For the past few years you and I have practiced together and we've watched how Ayana and Dziko fight. We've perfected our abilities in the sense of being able to control them, but what we haven't done is learn from each other," Ken said, having to project his voice over the wind whipping around us.

"I've learned quite a bit from Dziko, my natural opposite, but she has learned absolutely nothing from me. Do you know what Dziko does when she is backed into a corner?" Ken asked.

It was getting hard to breath and I felt my calves flexing as my feet tried to plant themselves to keep me upright.

"I'm waiting for an answer," he stated simply.

There was a sudden blast of wind that nearly shoved me onto my bottom, but Ken used his powers to blow me back up. The scary part of it all, was that you couldn't see which way the air was blowing. Air wasn't like fire, water or earth. One second you were standing, the next the air around you tossing you around like a rag doll and there was little you could do about it.How did he expect me to answer when he was making our surroundings to volatile?

I fought to keep myself in place, but I wasn't Dziko. She could shove her feet into the ground and keep herself upright. If she were here she'd push back with all of her might. Dziko was the type to punish her opponents for their mistakes. And thinking you could back her into a corner was definitely a mistake. She was the only one backing anyone into a corner, which was basically what Ken was doing now.

I figured Ken wanted me to push back like Dziko, but I wasn't sure how I could do that where we were. We weren't close to the beach anymore so there wasn't an available water supply. But I felt mightself getting lightheaded. It was like the wind was whirling around my head trying to suck the air straight from my lungs. My eyes started to burn so I closed them.

That's when it hit me. As my body went into defense mode, my powers had a mind of their own. Suddenly, without any warning, Ken seized in place. Without much will or effort on my part, my powers sensed out and gripped all of the blood in his body and forced him to stop. The wind slowed substantially and his body was very tense. His shoulder were held back and his head was locked in place.

After a few moments, I released him. He fell to his knees and I gasped to catch my breath.

"And just like that you've learned in a few moments, what it took me a few years to figure out. Pushing people around like that isn't really my style. You know that - I'm very evasive because I know the full brunt of my powers can be even more frightening that the rest of you. But I learned from Dziko not only how to do that, but to also break free when I feel like I'm trapped. And you've known it all along, but dislike seriously injuring people."

"I don't need you to tell me that I'm supposed to kill people and be happy with it," I snapped.

"I know you and I know Hunter. And have a feeling that's what Hunter has said but that's not what I'm saying at all. Here's what I am trying to get across. It's no coincidence that you were Marked by the Supreme and she tasked you with finding all of us. It's no coincidence that our of the four of us, only you possess the ability to control 2 elements which are both complete opposites of each other.

"I'm not saying your powers - or any of ours for the matter- are limitless. But compared to others, the limit is so high, so much farther than what anyone else could attain or hope to achieve, that it doesn't even matter. We should put a cap on ourselves. Maybe it's not the best battle tactic to control air like Dziko controls the earth. But what if I find myself in a situation where I have to? We still have a lot to learn from each other. And although I do think we balance each other out, we give each other strength as well."