An Elemental Justice

An elemental Justice chp3

CHAPTER 3:

WOLVES

I'm running through a forest, racing against... myself? I stop to look at her properly, she is defiantly me. But something is wrong. I look weird. Not bad weird, but different. Like I'm seeing myself for the first time. I reach out towards her, stretching further. BANG. I gasp; waking up to find myself on the floor of the bed I had fallen asleep in. A dream. That's all it was, no identical me. I breathe a sigh of relief and get up to look at the clock on my wall. 2am. Perfect. "Stupid dream", I grumble. There was no way I could go back to sleep. Instead I take a shower, the hot water pounding on my back trying to wash away the images from my head. Why had they scared me so much? Why was it so terrifying to see myself? Am I that scary? I sigh and turn off the faucet. Quickly I dry off and get dressed into shorts and a singlet. The room was hot. In fact in was boiling. I open the window to let the cool night air in. I lean out of the window and catch sight of a forest behind the houses across the road. The earth element in me immediately intensifies. Making me long to go. Why not? Its still 2am, no one will know.

Carefully I climb out of my window and glance at the tree across from me. Too far too jump. I grin. Like that going to stop me. I concentrate on the tree. Calling it. Suddenly its branches reach out to me, wrap around me and lower me to the floor. Its times like these that I love using my powers. Without looking back I start running down the street, past the houses and around the corner. To the entrance of the forest. I breathe in, taking in the senses of everything around me.

I run my hand along tree bark and bush feeling the texture of the plant life. I walk me just enjoying my surroundings. For the first time, in a long time. I feel comfortable. Like nothing can never go wrong again. I walk on going deeper in losing track of time, the trees are growing larger, suddenly the trees thin out and I come to a clearing with a huge lake. "Wow" I whisper to myself. Without thinking I dive into the water. I take a look around to check out the surroundings. Nothing here that will eat me. Good. All there is fish and some rocks on the bottom. I take a breath and feel the familiar feeling of water running through my lungs. I push back up to the surface. The warm night air is still and suddenly I hear talking. It's too quiet to make out. I glance at he bushes around me not seeing the speaker anywhere. I listen trying to make out some words. But it's hopeless; I can't make out a word. Suddenly I hear movements to my right and I duck underneath the water, just in time. I can see the people distorted walking along the bank. One turns to look at the water and their eyes fall on me. They wouldn't be able to see me. Just a dark shape in the water. But what of they come here often and know that there shouldn't be anything causing a dark shape. Quickly I start to sink so they can't see anything. But as I sink, I can still make out the first person walking a little bit into the water. I freeze. What if they are like me and can breathe and see into water. Panic fills me and I swim to the other side in record time. They know I'm here anyway. I jump out of the water and start sprinting into the trees. I hear a surprised yell behind me. And then running footsteps. "Crap", I moan. I leap up into a tree just in time to see a huge wolf pounce where I had just been standing. The wolf wheels around and growls up at me. Where did this wolf come from and where did those two people go?

The wolf howls, and I hear more howls in the distance. Great, they're calling the pack. I think sarcastically. The wolf growls ay me again. I try to growl back. Immediately it stops and looks curiously up at me. Suddenly it starts making a weird noise, which I recognize as laughing. I'm watching it. Since when does a wolf laugh? Movement catches my eye and on instinct I shoot vines at it making them wind around it. I look closer at it now and recognize it as another wolf. Alarmed I jerk back and accidently throw the wolf into a tree. "Whoops", I whisper. The first wolf looks surprised and then growls again. "Jeez, I didn't know bipolar disorder existed in dogs to". I said to myself. More snarls. These wolves can't understand me can they?

I glance at the second wolf they I had thrown, it was getting back up. When it was on its paws it turned to me and gave a ferocious snarl. Something inside me flared up and I got angry. Did this wolf just threaten me? I jump down, vines catching me halfway and propelling me across to the wolf I slam into him causing the wolf to fly back a few steps. I steady myself and watch the wolfs eyes go confused and angry. He launches at me, fast. I feel the claws tear across my belly as I fly across the clearing and into a boulder. I gasp. Pain flaring through my body like fire. The wolf howls in victory and rush towards me. It's my turn to snarl. I jump to my feet and form a water whip. I swing the whip around and lash it onto the wolf. It yowls in pain as I bring it across him again. He stumbles back again and tries to leap at me but a tree jumps in his way making his crash head first into it. Immediately I command the tree branch to hit him again and again on the head until he is knocked out. I make the tree walk back to its original position. I cautiously approach the wolf, once I see he is out cold I snarl, "I will never lose to a mutt".

I turn around and freeze. A whole pack of wolves stand there including the first wolf. "Shit", I mumble moving backwards slowly. But the wolves don't move. It's as if they are in shock that I beat one of their members. Then the first wolfs head shoots up to look at me. I jerk back again except this time a pain flares across my stomach. Gently I lift my shirt to see long deep scratches across my belly, the bloody oozing steadily out of them.

"KIANA!!!" I hear my name called from behind. Just before I black out from loss of blood.