Quara followed Elhar out into the narrow alley, all of them looking around frantically for any other soldiers. The dark elemental was the last one out of the bar, a small smile still on his face as he walked casually after them.
"We have to get out of the city." Analie said, her hand resting on her pistol's grip.
"There are tunnels le," Bannon said as he pointed to the wall looming over them.
He was cut off when an armored truck pulled up on one side of the alley, armed soldiers hanging off the sides.
"Move!" Bannon shouted, pushing the Princesses along as they fled down the narrow path single file.
The soldiers were already out of the truck and running after them, shouting words that Quara didn't bother listening to. Frightful tears welled up in her eyes as she ran after her sister; this had all gone so bad. Why hadn't she stayed home? If she could have just kept her mouth shut she and Analie would still be safe.
"Cut left." Bannon directed as they ran the last thirty feet before the alley hit a wide dirt road.
The whole group faltered when another military truck drove up right in front of them, cutting them off. There was nowhere to go.
"Keep going." Bannon shouted, leading the way now.
His arms were down by his sides as he chanted loudly, soldiers piling out the back of the transport with their guns ready. Flames appeared suddenly around Bannon's hands, growing into huge spheres as he lifted his arms up and pushed his palms out towards the soldiers. His element shot out at his will, still growing as it hit the handful of men and women who had managed to make it off the truck. The flames moved through the soldiers in an instant, sucking all the air from their lungs before slamming into the side of the truck. The large vehicle exploded backwards, bodies flying out in every direction as the wreckage skidded across the road, accompanied by the twisted sound of warping metal. The blast knocked the dead soldiers down onto their horribly burned faces, the group running over the corpses as they finally made it out of the alley. Quara tried not to look at their charred bodies but couldn't turn away, the soldier's lifeless bodies cracked and blackened. She had never seen Bannon use his element before; maybe her father had been right all these years, these people were dangerous. They turned left and took off down the edge of the empty road.
"Where do we go?" Quara panted, not having run so much since she was a young child.
The military answered the question for her as an armored helicopter flew into view, hovering slowly across the area. It easily spotted the only people on the street, dropping down until its four rotors were kicking up sand into their faces.
"Fire burn them!" Analie cursed as she tried to cover her face with an arm, seeing that Bannon was thinking the same thing she was.
Two more fireballs erupted from his hands up towards the helicopter. It tried to move out of the way but Bannon's attack was too fast, the flames bursting across the armor and knocking the helicopter down to just a few feet above the ground. Quara chased after Bannon and the rest of the group down another side street but she was falling to the back of the group. She tried to spur herself onward but her side was splitting with pain; she couldn't keep going. An explosion made her look back over her shoulder to see one of the rotors explode into shrapnel but the three remaining rotors kept the vehicle airborne.
"It's coming back." Quara warned as she watched the large guns mounted on the bottom aim at her.
She stared down the barrels as they started to spin, unable to look away as her right foot caught the uneven ground and sent her to her knees. Quara closed her eyes and pushed off of the sand, faltering back to her feet while the sight of the guns stayed in mind. Analie had turned around and was running back to her, the horror on her face confirming Quara's fears. She forced a smile to her younger sister, feeling her body shake as loud cracks of gunfire sounded off around her. Quara tried to breathe but the air wouldn't come, pain spreading out through her body as she fell back down to the sands. Analie was screaming but Quara couldn't make out what she was saying; she sounded so far away...
YOU ARE READING
Death of the Elements
Science FictionIt was dawn when soldiers came for them. The elementals had come to Loordania to live peacefully but instead but instead they were dragged out of their homes, forcibly relocated outside the city for the "public safety". Analie was born into Loordan...