Elemental Release

Chapter Fifteen

The sky should've been getting lighter, but instead, it grew angry and turbulent. Clouds blocked the sun, and a stiff wind nearly knocked me down. I repurposed the current, sending it back toward Theo in an aggressive move.

Even as I did it, I knew I couldn't beat him. I felt the presence of my mentor nearby, but I knew he wasn't here to step in and save me. I suddenly understood that this was a real-life test—for me.

Behind Theo, the tornado warning sirens blared, and I leaped into the air and soared further west, away from the city and away from Liz. The mountains bordered the western edge of the United Territories, and I wanted to have as few casualties as possible.

As I'd hoped, Theo followed me, landing between me and the city of Rhyss. Before he could lift his hand, I reached for and found the jet stream in the upper atmosphere. I brought it down, further darkening the sky.

Theo lingered about a hundred yards from me, but I could see the whites of his eyes and the smirk riding his lips.

I felt stormy inside, and I knew I wouldn't be able to divide the jet stream unless I calmed myself. Though I couldn't see Rusk, I heard his lessons in my head. I couldn't expect the air to obey me if I wasn't in complete control.

I exhaled away my fear, my frustration. I didn't have any more items on my list, and I thought of Gabby waiting for me to return to Tarpulin.

I ignored the escalating roar of wind as it tunneled around me. I needed to focus on and communicate with the jet stream. Lightning flashed, but I ignored the surge of electricity.

Airmaster Rusk landed next to me. "Listen," he whispered. Our robes whipped in the wind, and Theo leaned into currents he continued to send toward us. Rusk deflected all of them, creating a calm eye among the storm Theo was churning up.

I closed my eyes and listened. The jet stream flowed in violent rivers of air, with that calm center I'd felt on the cliffs outside Tarpulin.

Rusk cried out, and hurricane-force winds knocked me back. I searched for my mentor, but I couldn't find him. With my grip still on the jet stream, I managed to get back to my feet. Theo stood inches away, his dark eyes glinting with malice.

"You're not an Airmaster," he said, curling his lip in disgust. His tone and his words reminded me so much of Felix.

Whispers from the air floated through my mind. I divided them into manageable currents, which I flung at Theo. He easily deflected them, laughing as he did so.

"I've killed the real Airmaster," he said. "And I'm going to kill you. Release the jet stream."

I kept the jet stream between us, frantically searching for Rusk now. His absence pushed a knife into my heart, but surely Theo was lying. My mentor could read minds, he could do anything with air. No way Theo could do something Rusk couldn't anticipate and prevent.

Fueled by these hopeful thoughts, I pinched off pieces of the jet stream and launched them at Theo. Each one pushed him further from me, giving me some breathing room.

I sucked in the air, filling myself from top to bottom. The calm center of the jet stream felt peaceful, yet full of power. I was desperate to use that power to disable Theo, but I still couldn't quite make out the words the wind whispered.

He raised both arms into the air, bringing his hands together in a rotational pattern. I knew what he was doing, and I knew I couldn't weather the tornado he'd produce. I didn't breathe as I continued throwing pieces of the jet stream at Theo.

The storm grew; the winds howled as they battled one another.

I dropped to my knees, bringing my chin to my chest. I sent a current to find Airmaster Rusk and breathe for him if necessary. The air he loved and served should be able to help him now.

A terrible roar rent the air and I looked up in time to see Theo lower his arms, a massive swirling tornado standing like a sentinel next to him. His mouth moved, he folded his arms, and the tornado shot toward me.

I peeled off another layer of the jet stream and cast a bubble of protection around myself just as the tornado bore down on me. Crouched in the protection of the jet stream, and with only a thin, pulsing current from the center of it, I realized something.

The eye of the storm was the calmest. No matter what raged around the eye, it alone was serene—the way I needed to be. Despite the challenges and difficulties before me—in my relationships or my training, or battling an evil Airmaster—I could become the eye of the storm.

I could become like Airmaster Rusk.

With that realization, I finally heard the whisperings of the jet stream. Take the air, take the air, take all the air.

"The absence of air," I mused to myself. I stood up, expanding the protective bubble, and filled myself with air so I wouldn't need to breathe. I released the jet stream, sending it back to its place in the atmosphere. The stream tore through the raging tornado, rending it useless.

The roaring quieted; the sky brightened; I saw my mentor on the ground a few hundred feet to my left, being aided by the air he loved. My heart stuttered, but I trusted the currents I'd sent to serve him. If they could, they'd keep him alive.

Theo stood in front of me, his gaze full of nails and loathing.

I sent the air away. I whooshed it back to Rhyss, up into the sky, and over the mountains behind me. Their solid strength helped me straighten my own resolve.

"What are you going to do now?" Theo asked, sending me an air message he created. "I don't exactly need the air to breathe."

I didn't grace him with a response.

He took a menacing step forward, sending me another message. "Give it up, Gillman. You can't hurt me. The air serves me, and I can get it back in an instant." He continued moving toward me.

"You're wrong," I said. "The air doesn't serve us. We serve it."

Theo laughed, but I couldn't hear him. He threw his head back, pointing his face to the sky. I dropped to my knees, pulling the knife from my boot in one swift motion. In the next, I launched the knife toward his chin.

The sound of metal against bone happened silently as there was no air for the sound to travel through. Blood spewed from his throat and he clutched at the knife with both hands. He dropped to his knees and then fell face-forward onto the windswept earth.

I called the air back, asking it to fill the sky as it normally would, as I ran to my mentor. His chest lifted slightly, and a grateful breath escaped my lungs.

"Airmaster Rusk," I said, kneeling next to him. The air continued its work, entering his nose, expanding his chest, and coming out his mouth.

He opened his eyes, but had a hard time focusing on me. "Adam."

I picked him up, whistled for the air, and flew back to Rhyss as quickly as possible.