(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 48

The rest of the group dashed through the dirt path with their weapons drawn. The trees surrounding them were rustling wildly, as if a typhoon was closing in on them. Spears dived towards them from the trees, only to be caught by a wall of pillars on each side of them; Rose with a wall of rock rising and falling where they walked, and a shield of ice carried by Jacob. While it did protect them for the time being, Dre knew that the both of them couldn't keep it up for long.

"How much farther is the cache?" Megumi asked Katherine, who in turn asked her brother.

"Too far," he said, looking at the tracking beacon on his wrist. "It's about a quarter of a mile away from us, but under the circumstances it might as well be a light-year."

Megumi looked over to Rose, who grimaced as she struggled to keep up the wall. "Dammit." She turned to Katherine. "Do you think that you can tell me where they are?"

"I should be able to. What are you planning?"

"Buying time. Are you with me?"

"As long as you haven't forgotten about after this is over."

"Of course not," she smiled before they both skidded to a halt and, with Katherine's guidance, Megumi began firing into the forest.

"Whatever you do, Ke'Undre, keep going!" Kimmy said as she turned to follow, sending arrows into the other side of the forest.

Almost on instinct, Dre began to slow to a stop, readying a ball of fira, until Kamatsu stood in front of him. "Keep going!" he called over Dre to the remaining group. Raising a hand, he created a large circle of wind, blocking the spears hurdling towards them.

"Out of the way," Dre snarled.

"So you can get killed? You can't just run off into the enemy's crossfire without some way of defending yourself." Silent, Dre raised his hand, displaying the firaball swirling in his hand. "And what good do you think that'll do? You'll do nothing but burn up the forest if you go all 'one-man army' on them. If you think you feel bad about having them die by their hands-" he pointed out to the forest, in the direction where Kimmy and Megumi ran to, "imagine if they died by your own."

Dre's snarl slowly disappeared from his face. "So now what do we do?"

"Fight." He turned to the forest. "You may as well come out now. I can keep this up as long as I need it."

For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. The spears still ricocheted off of the shield of wind, launching in all different directions. Then, the spears stopped, and one by one, figures walked out of the thicket of the forest. One by one, bodies crawled out of from behind the trees, each had a pale glow about them. Dre's eyes widened as he looked around him, wondering when this armada would cease.

"Well, well," Kamatsu said, his eyes darting about the surrounding southern Amian group. "I'm surprised that you actually decided to stop hiding in the darkness." He slid his sword from the scabbard; it sung with anticipation of tasting blood. Hundreds of them surrounded Kamatsu and Dre, each with spears on hand. "You poor, poor bastards."

The southern Amians marched forward. Each had the same sneer as the other, as if they were wolves cornering an injured prey. "I hope you're ready, Basura," Kamatsu said. "The only reason why they haven't advanced yet is because of this shield. Make your choice right now." He turned to Dre. "Would you fight and die like a warrior, or stay and die like trash." He didn't give Dre time to answer. The shield dropped, and Kamatsu ran opposite of Dre, roaring as he cut through their lines.

The front lines of the Southern Amians advanced; the lines behind them began chanting, pounding the blunt end of their spears in a quick rhythm.

This was it. It was time to show Kamatsu that he wasn't the same person from the first day they joined the academy. He gripped the handle of the sword tight before he charged forward.