Powerless in a New World

Chapter 3

The group was nearing the base along the beach. The battalion of soldiers gripped their weapons, which consisted of either a long, wooden spear or a wooden trunk with spiked vines wrapped around the end. Their most powerful weapon, of course, was their florakinesis, their ability to control any plant life around them.

Mychal hid in a bush and looked ahead at the open beach. She saw the skyscrapers peeking out of the water and the little camp on the beach. Rusty was right, there were more Aqualites. The Aqualite that Mychal cut with the glass shard had a long, white bandage around his arm, which was hidden by a long, black sleeve. At least seven Aqualites were surrounding the perimeter, each with a trident in their hands and metallic armour - that resembled the kind a knight would wear - replaced their usual attire of black robes. One more Aqualite, which wasn't a guard, was sitting on the beach with Mychal's backpack by his side while reading one of the books he found in it.

The Aqualite that Mychal had cut was kneeling beside an oval protruding from the ground. He was working on some kind of circuit board, clearly trying to fix something. Finally, he closed it up and flicked a few switches and pressed a few buttons. The shiny oval rumbled for a moment before a blue light flickered within it, but not until it went out.

"That's the portal machine," Mychal said to the queen.

"So you were telling the truth, nihil," the queen said. "Though it's clear their kind are unable to get it working how they want it." The great leader stood up and looked among her soldiers, obedient men and women that will do whatever she said in a heartbeat. "Enough sitting around. Let's show them true strength."

The queen walked from the forest and slowly approached the guards. Her army charged past her to attack them. With the element of surprise, the Florites were able to establish a clear lead. One Florite immediately slammed their wooden trunk against one Aqualite, removing chunks of armour at a time. Once enough armour was removed, they were impaled by another's spear. A second Aqualite had their helmet simply ripped off and was clubbed by the wooden trunk. One Florite was impaled by a trident, but their wounds healed quickly once it was pulled out. It was like a cut plant regrowing itself.

In the midst of the battle on the beach, Mychal ran in and grabbed her bag and the one book that was left on the sandy ground. She then ran back to the edge of the forest to watch the rest of the fight while covering her eyes at the violent parts.

Growing desperate, the surviving Aqualites ran to the water and met with other guards that exited the water to back them up. Together, they all raised their hands. Behind them, a huge tidal wave stretched high above the ground. They pushed their hands forward, causing the wave to rush toward the army of Florites.

To counter this attack, the Florites squatted and let roots from their feet dig deep into the earth to keep them grounded. While some of them weren't quick enough and was blasted away by the extreme force of the wave, most of them stood their ground and were ready to keep fighting.

Meanwhile, Mychal was able to figure out what was happening as soon as the wave started to rise. Bookbag tight in her hands, she ran down the border between the beach and the forest to avoid being caught up in the wave. While she managed to avoid it, she was still in the splash zone, so her shoes ended up being soaked, making walking annoying and uncomfortable.

"Enough play time," said the queen as she took a deep breath in, and then out, releasing a purple pheromone that spread to each Aqualite still on the beach. Upon breathing in this pheromone, the Aqualites choked and collapsed on the ground shortly before they died to the toxins.

The queen looked at half of her army and ordered them to enter their underwater city and hunt down each and every Aqualite. The other half stayed with her. Mychal walked over in her squeaky shoes.