Peter Hunter and the Minions of Mara

Chapter 23 - Boy Meets Deva

Peter ran to the railing and saw the evidence of the splash.

The asura laughed. "You look sad, little monkey," it mocked. "Want to join him?"

Peter saw the same dark wind start to spiral beneath his own feet. He felt himself start to lift off the ground, but he jumped back.

The asura moved Mr. Matthews' hands sideways through the air, sending a slice of dark wind at Peter. Peter dodged the attack.

"So you can move quickly," the asura growled. "But you can't dodge everything."

It made an unusual motion with Mr. Matthew's hand, jerking it upwards from the elbow. Peter wondered at it for a split second until he felt the changes in the wind from behind him.

He ducked quickly and avoided the hit.

"You need to leave this man," Peter tried to argue. "His sons need him. They don't deserve what you're doing to them."

"Are you really trying to appeal to my sympathy?" The asura laughed again. Then Mr. Matthews' face darkened. "I have none!"

The asura crossed Mr. Matthews' arms then uncrossed them. The movement sliced sharp streams of currents in Peter's direction. He leapt into the air, rotating above the attack in a sideways flip, and landed easily on the pavement.

He felt a surge of victorious adrenaline. He had flipped before, but he had never felt this rush, speed, or height. He realized suddenly that he could see the wind currents like he had on field day. He wondered if he could control them, too, just like the asura.

He imitated the same move with crossed arms and imagined gathering the wind currents like strings around his fingers. Then he whipped them out and streams of blue and white sliced through the air in crisscrossing arcs. The wind hit the asura and Mr. Matthews' body dropped to the ground, landing on a knee.

Peter then touched Mr. Matthews' head and – on instinct – said, "Be swept clean."

A massive gust of wind battered them from all sides and dark smoke exploded from Mr. Matthews, rendering him unconscious.

Then Peter watched in horror as the asura formed into a giant horse. It towered over him with glowing red eyes. It was made of smoke, but as it stomped on the pavement, it left a giant pothole with a series of cracks.

All of Peter's confidence was sucked out of him.

The horse-asura reared on its hind legs with a terrifying whinny. Before its hooves came crashing down, Peter stumbled backwards and landed on his rear. The horse lifted again and Peter rolled out of the way and onto his feet. Then he tore into a sprint.

He felt sudden changes in the currents behind him by his left shoulder. He spun to the right, just missing the giant teeth that almost snapped into him.

He turned sharply and ran underneath the horse-asura in the opposite direction, back to where he had started. He thought he could gain a few moments as the asura adjusted, but after a handful of steps, the asura materialized in front of him.

He stood stark still, staring into its eyes, full of hatred for hatred's sake. He resorted to the last thing he could think of as the creature grunted and picked at the ground.

If my deva is listening, he pleaded in his thoughts, if you're here, please help!

Suddenly, he was filled with a surge of energy and felt at one with the wind. In an instant, he knew the speed, the direction, and the formation of the air currents all around him. And he knew how to control them.