Fury and Flame | 3

8 | 1

F I N N

The dust was everywhere: in my eyes, my clothes, even inside my mouth, to my disgust. My body felt as if it had been run over by one of Imperium's armored vehicles. I half-wondered whether Arlo had seen the blast from where he stood perched high atop the cliffs.

     Minutes flew by. I lay there for quite some time, toeing the line between consciousness and unconsciousness. My ears still rang from the blast and I couldn't seem to open my eyes to see the damage done. Or what caused it.

      I was lucky I was fireproof, even without my power to summon the flames themselves. If I hadn't been resistant, I could have been burned to death.

      But Riley wasn't resistant.

     Through that realization, I found the strength to draw myself up to sit on the ground. My attention went first to the still-flaming heap of twisted steel and shattered glass. A downed Imperium plane. The smoke had long since cleared and now it smoldered on the place where several tents had once stood, having killed the soldiers following us.

I let out a shaky breath, searching for Riley's body amongst the blasted ground. It was nowhere in sight. My chest rose and fell in panic. She'd been in front of me when the plane hit, meaning she probably wasn't in danger of being burned alive, but rather had been thrown by the blast.

My legs felt impossibly weak, but I needed to rise. Sitting in the open like this would only last for so long before we were found. The plane crash had only bought us a bit of time. Ignoring the way the ground rumbled beneath my feet for now, I forced myself up.

Staggering about, I gained my balance and scoured the place for Riley. My terror grew when I couldn't see her. She couldn't be far. She was supposed to be here.

Then I saw her, half-covered in dust. Relief washed over me, especially as I saw that she was just coming to. Her arms moved, trying to push herself up. But she was in shock, and too weak.

I knelt beside her, noting the red coating the side of her face. "Can you hear me?" I asked, staring intently into her unfocused eyes. She was still in shock.

"What...the hell...was that?" She asked, trying to gain her bearings. Her Imperium mask—like mine—had been broken off during impact.

"One of the planes was shot down. It crushed some of the tents, but—" I glanced behind us, checking that the coast was clear— "We're bound to be seen. Can you get up?"

Her only response was a hand held up to me and I took it, helping her to her feet. I didn't miss how heavily she leaned against me, but we didn't dare stop ambling forward.

"If you're hurt badly enough, maybe we can make it back to our side—" But it was a feeble lie. Without our power, we were doomed. No amount of denial could cover up the fact that we would die right here, right now if my fire was gone.

"No," she interrupted, pushing stray hair from her eyes. "We need to find the weapon that's destroying our power. That's what..." She winced. "That's what Rong warned us about: a weapon made specifically for us. If we can take it out, maybe we'll have the power to get back. And help us win this war."

My gaze swept over the array of tents. "It's almost like...I can feel it pulling my power away. It has to be close—in one of these tents, even."

      "There." She pointed. "Look how many guards that one has."

      She was right. Four men with guns stood out front and the tent flaps were sealed closed. But if we snuck in through the back...

The next thing I knew, we were marching around the backs of the tents, trying to stay out of the common area, where a few military leaders were discussing battle plans in Romanian.

Out of some miracle, we made it to the back of our targeted tent. Looking both ways, I pulled out my knife and dragged it downward to create a slit big enough for both of us to fit through.

     The tent was devoid of soldiers. The only thing inside was a table supporting a large black box-like object. Nothing more.

      As soon as we stepped inside, I was hit with an emptiness so deep it nearly knocked the air from my lungs. Not a mental emptiness, but almost...physical. Like a piece of myself had been stripped away and I was forced to live with only the remainders. It was jarring, feeling as if I'd been slapped across the face.

     I crept closer, wariness in every step. The box seemed to glow from within—the only visible sign it was functioning to someone without enhanced power for it to steal. The rumbling in the air was never as strong as it was now—it was everywhere. Even in my mind.

     Riley weakly dropped to her knees, unscrewing a leg from the table to bludgeon the weapon with. I kept my gaze on the entrance, knowing if anyone found us here, we might be able to get away with it courtesy of the Imperium uniforms we wore. But once we began openly destroying the box...

     We had an unspoken plan: I would take care of the soldiers outside as Riley took care of the weapon. Hefting the rod of metal, she swung it for the box. Metal met metal and all hell broke loose.