deCIPHERED (Book 1)

~Chapter 34~

There I was, stuck in a pine tree, and I had even managed to land in it without a scratch. I began to climb down, hoping I could reach the bottom before Peridene or Bill found me.

Everyone was huddled around the trunk of the tree when I came down. "Michaela, are you okay?" Stella asked.

When my feet touched the grass, I nodded and calmly said, "Yeah, I'm fine. I landed without a scratch."

Stella gave me a quick smile, but then frowned when she saw Phoebe trying to heal Tristan's leg, which was burnt, bruised, and bleeding like mad. Phoebe was sobbing, while Tristan was unconscious.

"What happened to Tristan?" I gasped.

"Devon's anger mixed with his powers and accidentally got to Tristan's leg." Nathan replied, his voice cracking at the end of the sentence, as if being frightened was an understatement for him.

"Accidentally? Wait, then who was he trying to kill?" I asked fearfully.

"See for yourself." Stephanie mumbled. Stephanie pointed at a path of magenta and teal fire leading to the shack. Some of the teal fire had burned a handful of trees.

"Oh no...this can't be good." I whispered to myself as I ran around the fire, still following it to the shack.

Devon and Tiffany were having a fight with fireballs at the shack when I arrived. Devon looked pretty powerful with his teal fireballs in midair, but not nearly as powerful as Tiffany when she nearly burnt Devon's arm off using one of her magenta fireballs.

"You're a danger to everyone! I sure do envy your sister for not knowing who you are!" Devon shouted as he ducked under a magenta fireball.

"JUST SHUT UP ALREADY!! In case you haven't forgotten, we're trying to rescue Michaela and Stephanie's parents, and you're becoming a huge distraction, since you seem to only care about yourself!" Tiffany snapped.

"I'm selfish?! Tiffany, we all know you're only here because of Caramel. If it weren't for her, we wouldn't have to fight each other like cats and dogs right now!"

"HOW DARE YOU!!"

"You know it's true, Tiffany. So just admit it. Say, 'I am only here for my sister,' and we can finally put an end to this crap!"

"You actually think that by saying that, I might not hate you after today? Wow, Devon. I can't believe you would ever stoop so low, considering the fact that you're a Mindscaper."

"I CAN'T BELIEVE I EVER HAD A CRUSH ON YOU, TIFFANY!!!"

Tiffany stopped throwing fireballs at Devon for a minute or two. Devon looked outraged, but Tiffany looked...well, traumatized.

"Y-you did?" Tiffany stuttered.

"You heard me, Tiffany. I used to think there was no one out there like you. I used to think that there was no one as fearless as you, or as sophisticated as you. I thought you were the most kindhearted, loyal, and fair woman on the planet. But I was wrong about you. You're nothing but a freak, Tiffany. And that's all you'll ever be!" Devon growled.

Devon was walking away from the shack, but Tiffany grabbed his arm and stopped him. "Devon, w-where do you th-think you're g-going?" She trembled.

"I'm going back to the Dreamscaper Society. And don't even think about tagging along, because I don't like to travel with freaks." Devon replied coldly.

"Devon, you can't go back now! The doomsday device will be ready any minute now, and goodness knows what Stella will do to you when she finds out about this-"