Resilient

Chapter 4 Amber

"Is it a window?" Amber whispered in Sky's ear.

"I didn't think of that," Sky admitted truthfully as she peered through the colored panes of glass, "Yes it is! I can see the campus grounds, it's still early enough that no ones outside yet!" She tried slamming her shoulder against the window. It didn't budge. But the moment she touched it the white section of the glass shone brighter.

"Whoa, Sky did you see that?" Amber asked in astonishment.

"No, what was it?"

"Touch the glass again, but this time look at the white section." Amber said, excited. Sky complied and her eyes grew wide as the white section glowed brighter than before.

"Do you think it shows our elements?" Sky asked, awestruck.

"Only one way to find out." Amber said with a mischievous smile playing on her lips. She touched the glass and found it oddly warm. Immediately the white section lit up, then the blue, then the white again. They began flashing back and forth, faster and faster, as if unable to decide. Amber closed her eyes and flew back into a memory of her looking in the mirror asking herself who she was.

The mirror glinted in the late afternoon sunlight, as Amber stared at her features. She had very light skin and freckles that covered her cheeks, her arms were less muscled than they were now and she had very delicate features. Her straight reddish-brown hair flew behind her face as if hit by a gentle breeze, even though there was no wind. But she wasn't focused on her features, she was focused on the color of her eyes. They were a deep ocean blue, but what surprised her was how deep the color blue was. It couldn't be described as a certain kind of color, but more of a soulful blue.    

Who am I? She repeatedly asked herself. I'm air and water, but which one is mine. She thought about how if someone looked at her eyes they immediately thought of a ocean paradise, but how her hair occasionally moved as if in wind even though there wasn't any. I'm both. She told herself. I'm both.

She then opened her eyes back into the present and saw that both the white and the blue panes were glowing brightly.

"Now I need you," she said through clenched teeth, "to open up."

The window exploded.

...

Amber gasped as multicolored glass pieces rained down on both of them. Instinctively Sky  covered Amber's head. When they were sure that the glass had stopped falling Sky looked at Amber in astonishment.

"How did you do that." She asked Amber.

"Truthfully I don't know, but the windows open now, so we can go." Just then all the alarms in the entire building went off. The door at the end of the corridor burst open and guards started filling in. Shouts rang throughout the hallway.

"Go Amber!" Shouted Sky.

"Not without you!" Amber cried out.

"Don't worry I'll be right behind you." Amber watched as Sky pried something off her ankle and throw it at the nearest guard clocking him on the head. While he was dazed she blasted him with wind knocking him into his nearest comrades. How Amber wished she could help Sky fight the guards, but with her unstable powers she had the same chances of hurting Sky as well as her targets.

"Go now A!" Sky hollered as she blasted another guard back. Amber quickly grabbed onto the window frame pulling herself up. She looked down and gulped.

"It's a lot further down than you made it seem." She said suddenly a loss for breath.

"Can you half control wind or not? Jump!" Sky shouted. Amber turned and saw that the guards were alarmingly close despite Sky's attempts to hold them back. She had no choice, and Sky was running out of energy. Amber held her breath, prayed silently, and jumped.

She gasped watching the ground rush up to meet her, and was beginning to think how she was a fool for jumping when a large gust of wind propelled her sideways over the fence and plopping her down outside of the campus.

Amber was breathing deeply and shocked that she actually did it when Sky landed next to her, scooped her up, set her on her feet and began running.

"We have...to...get out...of here." She gasped in between breaths.

"Where will we go?" Amber asked falling into pace with Sky.

"As far as...we can." Sky replied with a look at her sister. After running for awhile without stopping, Amber and Sky slowed into a jog so they could catch their breath. "I clearly didn't think this through."

"What do you mean?" Amber asked also panting for breath.

"I didn't bring any water."

"That's okay, you did what you had to do." Amber turned her soulful eyes on her sister. "Thank you for saving me."

Sky was about to reply when another voice cut through the air around them.

"Yes, indeed. Bravo, Bravo Skyler." Both girls gasped and went back to back to see their pursuers. Men were decked in red cloaks and hoods that covered their faces. Amber tried to find a way out but they were surrounded. She immediately identified the leader. He reached out and patted Sky on the cheek. She flinched but otherwise didn't move. "You're the one the CIA wanted to keep. I wonder why they wanted you so badly."

White hot anger boiled inside of Amber. She lashed out and struck the man who was touching Sky's cheek. "Don't touch my sister like that!" She yelled and hit him again. This time the man caught her wrists as she was drawing back to hit him once more.

"And you must be the sister that they wanted to give away." He said smiling gruesomely. "The weak one that no one wanted." Amber struggled to get out of his grasp but his grip was like iron clamps. "Now we will show you what people get when they disrespect us." His hands burst into flames. Amber watched and waited for the pain, but it never came. "What is wrong with you?" He asked, "Why won't you burn?"

He thrust her back into Skys arms. Who was watching, surprised. But broke out of her confusion when Amber landed in a heap on her arms. "Who are you."

"We are the Fire Raisers." They said in unison.

"What to do you want?" Amber questioned fearfully.

"I'm so glad you asked." The leader said quietly. "You." And with that he blew a golden dust onto their faces, and both girls slumped unconscious at the base of their feet.

The next time Amber woke up Sky and her had iron collars and chains around their necks that were pegged to flaming red wall. There was a boy next to her who looked to be some years older than her, he had the same chains around his neck. He looked at her and said, "Hi I'm Brock. Welcome to the Fire Raisers base. How old are you?"

Amber was only a little shocked by the question, which surprised her. "I'm twelve, my sister is thirteen."

"Why do they want you?"

"They don't want me," Amber grumbled, "They want my sister."