The Jade City

Chapter 4: The Graveyard, Part I

My heart was pounding. Hard. Cold sweat trickled down the back of my neck as goosebumps rose up on my arms, making the hairs stand on end. For once I actually got to use my powers, except I was too chicken to do so. I scrunched up my face in concentration, but all that came from my hands were little green sparks that couldn't do anything. The others didn't get much further than I did, as they were just as frightened. Even Cole was scared.

Morro, on the other hand, easily used his wind to pick up and throw the zombies several yards back. He had better start teaching us how to use our powers soon. Meanwhile I could barely breathe, but maybe that was because of how disgusting the air smelled. For the past fourteen years, all I'd done was worry about being poor. Even more surprising was Rumi. She was pretty good at fighting, especially for a girl raised in a palace all her life. Unlike me.

That's when a boulder smacked her on the head. I uttered a silent scream. Rumi fell, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Take her," someone said. The voice belonged to a woman, who looked nothing like her minions and was sitting on a throne that appeared out of nowhere. Her silvery hair went over her shoulders in curls. I noted how the moonlight bounced off her ivory skin in an otherworldly way, giving her a silvery glow. Her eyes were blood-red in color. She had thick and long eyelashes and dark eyebrows. Her teeth were sharp, even, and pearly white. Some might say she was beautiful, but the only thing that came to mind was how creepy she was. I felt my heart pick up speed.

They dragged Rumi down into the ground through an unseen passageway as I watched helplessly. Knowing that sitting there waiting for a miracle to happen was useless, I grabbed my bag and began to search for something that might be useful here. I flipped frantically through it, and saw exactly what I needed. A pair of Bowie knives. Thank goodness I packed some weapons.

Shaking, I stumbled over to the zombies, each hand clutching one of the knives. I glimpsed the others staring at me in amazement. The undead threw themselves over at me, and I soon found myself surrounded. A strong gust of wind knocked them off their feet. I turned to see Morro with air swirling around his hands. He was good. "I've got your back," he said and took out a katana from his belt. We stood back to back, ready to take them on.

"We should do the same," I heard Zane say to the others, "Our powers would be very helpful in combat." Soon, they were all in position for battle, and most of them had some sort of knife, except for Jay, who had a pair of nunchucks.

The woman waved her hand. "Kill," she hissed and sunk into the ground.

The seven of us readied for the fight. Ruby was still recovering, and hopefully, they wouldn't see her. We definitely couldn't take the risk of her being hurt. She was the heir, after all.

Morro leaped into the midst of the zombies. I gaped at him. Such recklessness... Less than a second later, all the zombies were blasted back. Zane crammed his cleaver back into his bag, closed his eyes for a second, and slashed his hand through the air in a solid sweeping motion. The zombies in front of him froze in place.

"How'd you do that?" Cole exclaimed in awe.

"Have faith in yourself!" Zane shouted, "Harness it, and it will work!"

"You know what, since we came here prepared to fight to the death, might as well do it right!" Kai said, mostly to himself. He shut his eyes tightly with his fists at his sides, and with a quick shake, they became glowing balls of fire. Then he grinned in the most Kai way possible and blasted himself into the air, lighting up an area that was at least several meters in diameter. Seconds later, several dozen zombies were struggling to stamp out his flames.

I tried to summon my energy balls, but it still wouldn't work. Only fifteen or so minutes later, Jay, Cole, and Nya were all using their powers. I stepped back, only to slip and fall to the ground. Just as I was about to get up, I found a blade cutting into my neck. Specks of blood dotted my shirt collar, staining it. Having gone numb, I couldn't even feel the pain. Barely breathing, I realized my hands and feet were pinned to the ground. The undead surrounded me and the others were nowhere to be seen. I was a goner. For sure.