Chapter 14
Destruction
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Leira’s POV
What we see as we skid around the corner was beyond belief.
The town was empty; everyone must have ran for cover when the first wave of stones hit, abandoning everything in their wake. The stone benches have huge chunks dug out of them, the stalls bright and colourful canvas awnings lay broken, the tattered strips quivering with each fresh assault. An occasional loud pang can be heard when stone meets metal, while the juice from the exploded fruit leak out, staining the ice.
At the center of it all this swirling chaos is Sofi.
She hovered inches from the ground, her short hair blows wildly around her face by a wind no one can feel. A white glow surrounds her floating form and with every twitch of her hand lightning would strike the ground in front of her, sending a shower of stone chips into the air. At her feet a figure lay cowering while another laid unmoving away to her left.
A stray bolt explodes to our left and we run for cover.
Under the cover of a badly damaged walkway, we huddled together so close our heads touched but we still have to shout to be heard.
“Did you know she could do that?” Ariel mind yells at me in panic.
“No! You’re the all seeing one, didn’t you?”
Ariel eyes just narrow stares at me till Griff’s shout brakes her focus.
"Who is that?" Pointing at the figure at Sofi’s feet.
“Aaron!” Ariel and I yell together.
"What can do we do? We can’t leave her like this." Griffin screams, worried eyes switch from me to Ariel and back again.
"I don't know! I don't know! One thing for sure we have to get Aaron out of there, fast! Suggestions?" The sound of another explosion drowned out my words.
"I got this!" Jared yelled before standing up.
Aaron went skidding across the ground and under a walkway, the other bodies scattered around quickly followed.
"Good job! Griff you see what you can do to fix them!" I ordered.
"No! I want to help here!" Stubbornly he refused to more.
"You will be helping, things will be so much worse for her if someone dies!" I reasoned.
Griff nods and ran off using bits of fallen rocks for cover.
“Do you really think this can be any worse?” Ariel’s pessimistic thoughts interrupted my plans.
“I wont go down without a fight. You might not believe that fate can be changed, but just watch me.” I love my sister, but sometimes it causes her to give up to fast.
"Right I have an idea. You two distract her; I'll be right back."
Ariel POV
‘Distract her? Distract her! How the hell are we supposed to distract a raging water elemental?’ My mind yells at Lei’s retreating back, but with no reply. Typical!
I look at Jared praying he has a better idea before doing the only thing I could think of…
I grabbing one of the fallen chunks from the ground I shoot up and throw the rock at her.
She had been single mindedly pelting the area around the injured Aaron, gouging bigger and bigger holes into the rock around where he now hid. That is until I hit her from behind her.
Turning her head slowly I am frozen in shock, where did my fun-loving friend go? In her place is this uncaring monster; her face is a void, dead of all trace of emotion. Her mouth always mobile with either speech or a smile lay blank, she had dark, bruise-like shadows under her eyes. Her eyes were the only exception, it was her eyes that held me frozen in place, the bright green depths had iced over filled with so much hatred, I can feel my soul shiver.
"Run!" I hurl Jared up and we dive to the side seconds before lightning struck our walkway cover.
Wedged between a fallen boulder and the rock face, Jarad pulls me in a tight hug for a second before he pushes me away and starts patting my body looking for injuries.
“I’m fine, really. I wasn’t hurt, honest.”
He strokes my cheek, pulling it back to show me the blood. Kissing the centre of his palm I placed it back on my cheek.
“I’m fine,” I whisper.
He pulled my face forward so our forehead touch then stares deep into my eyes he says, "Find cover! Stay safe…. I love you."
I almost missed the last part of his sentence over the roar of hailstones bombarding us. He started to stand up but I grabbed his arm, pulling him back down. Then I kissed him, it was a desperate kiss filled with as much passion as I could fit into such a short kiss.
“I love you too! Now stay safe and shut her down!”
He has a goofy smile on his face, but shock it off after a bolt struck in front of our hiding place.
He volts over the barrier running out into the open, as far away from me as he could without boxing himself in. As he turns to face her a rumble begins as all the fallen rubble and ice stones start to shake then float up until they were orbiting his body faster and faster forming a protective shield. He shoots one of the smaller chunks out at Sofi only to have it explode when it hits her charged shield.
Sofi returns volley by hurling a crackling bolt at Jared one of the large boulder flashes out to blocking the shot.
It goes on like this for a long time, each taking shots at the other, trying to find a weakness in the others shield.
There was still no sign of Leira. I screamed at her to hurry but got no reply and Jared was starting to tire. With every bolt thrown his shield was getting slower and slower to respond.
Jared POV
I can't keep this up much longer.
Where the hell is Lei!
Mother of all! That one came too close another one like that and I am a goner.
"Jared! Look out!" Ariel screams.
As the next bolt is thrown, I jump away to avoid it knowing my shield was going to fail.
This was the end. Gathering what remained of my shield I throw all my stones at her in a last ditch effect to stop her. They explode into a fine billowing mist, blocking my view.
Did I get her? My knee threatens to give out until I lock it back in place. Please, let it be over.
The mist clears revealing Sofi watching me from below her matted hair, a wicked grin twisted across her mouth. She watches me, like a Kassalik savoring the thought of toying with its prey, slowly her head swivels to where I left Ariel behind the tall rock. Involuntarily I step forward, my hand outstretched silently begging her not to. When I move her head snaps back to me, dimples appear, as her smile turns angelic. I relax to soon as with a flick of her wrist a massive bolt slammed into the stone face above her head. The rocks exploded and huge chunks began to rain down.
There was nowhere for her to run, no way she could escape this raining shower of death. She looks out at me through a tiny gap, and blows me a kiss then smiles as if she has accepted her crushing fate.
But I haven’t.
"Nooooooo!" The cry was ripped from my throat; there was no way I was going to lose her so soon. I had only just found her I wasn’t about to lose her now.
The rocks stopped inches from her outstretched arms. With the last of my strength I placed them as gently as I could around her, strengthening her protective wall.
This is what she had been waiting for, the end of my strength, and the end of me. I sank down upon the icy ground, my eyes drifting shut staring the last image I would take to my death: Ariel arm outstretched, tears flowing down her face, mouthing the words, ‘I love you’. She was beautiful and she was safe.
I didn’t bother watching death as she approached me,
I was content.