Totrium

Chapter Ten: An Aerial Advantage

Carnadine was picking herself up from the ground, groaning slightly. "So, you're using your magic now?" She wiped a cut from her lip, grinning. "Fully embracing your inhumanity, are we, Jacky?"

The mass of soldiers began closing in. Zuri held Adrian under the arm around his waist, getting him to stand up.

"How did you find me?" Jacques demanded.

"You created a not so conspicuous force field this morning, drawing quite a bit of attention to yourself. You're growing careless."

Adrian was barely clinging to consciousness now, feeling guilty for the deadweight he was giving Zuri. Andre was beside Jacques now; the batte axe readied in his hands.

"Oh, you want me to draw attention?" Jacques growled challengingly. "I'll draw attention." He made eye contact with Andre and nodded.

"I don't know what you're planning," Carnadine said, lifting the wet, stained mace, "but my ancestors have been hunting people like you for centuries. You think your magic is going to deter me now?"

To Adrian's surprise, Andre was falling back. The large man took the blond around the middle and easily lifted him over his shoulder as Zuri followed behind him.

"You don't know what I'm capable of," Jacques said darkly, glancing back at his team for a moment. "I suggest you stay away." He thrusted his hand into the sky before Carnadine could respond.

The air sizzled with energy and a second later, there was a deafening crack of thunder as a green lightning bolt struck the ground. Adrian could feel when it hit, the piercing sound along with the surge of energy filling his body with terror.

He glanced up to see the group of soldiers all on the ground, many of them wounded, some unmoving. Carnadine had been shoved out of the way, her heaving form appearing wracked but otherwise uninjured.

There was no time to put up camp. Andre grabbed the two donkeys, one by each rein, after quickly attaching Tulipe's lead rope to one of them.

"Please," Adrian begged in a weak voice, "my bag is in my tent. It has the journals."

Zuri rushed into one of the tents, snatching up the item and running after their teammates.

They were all full-on sprinting now, Adrian bouncing lightly on Andre's back, his head pounding, arm throbbing beyond belief, his vision slightly blurred.

There was a flash of light and Jacques appeared next to them, his eyes still pupilless and glowing. Without wasting time, he was surrounding them with the green forcefield, his hand resting on Andre's shoulder.

There was another flash and Adrian felt like his skin was being pulled off as all of them including the donkeys jolted forward possibly hundreds of feet in only a few seconds. His stomach lurched and he faintly heard Zuri saying, "Jacques, you have superspeed too? Since when?" before he passed out. 

ϟ ϟ ϟ 

Adrian's blue eyes slid open, and his head was immediately seized by a piercing headache. He was lying on his back on the ground. He barely registered the blanket underneath him. A terrible throb in his arm forced a groan out of his mouth.

"He's awake!" Zuri cried and the inventor was by Adrian's side, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Hey, stay down. You really shouldn't get up right now."

His eyes were closed again as his muscles relaxed back into the blanket. "Z-Zuri...it...my arm...h-hurts." There was sweat running down his face.

"I know, Buddy. The bone in your arm was fractured and we had to reset it, but hey, at least you weren't awake when we did that or when I was cleaning it. That would be a whole other level of pain."