Underestimated Affinities

by Matthew Scarcella

  Celestra and I expand our wings and fly off sideways in our chosen directions. The opposing leader must have the same idea of splitting up as we did, because he points his female companion, the one with earth and wood wings, off after Celestra.

  She flies off far enough to be separated from us, but within eyesight, as the female chases her. The leader turns around and comes after me, leaving Alexyo to deal with the other female, who is the single fire wielder, and their other male, who wields earth and ice. I head as far left as I can while maintaining a visual on Celestra.

  The ice and water wielder is on me within moments, throwing ice spikes at me as he advances. I pirouette out of the way of each spike, like a dancer performing a routine. I reach for the water in the gorge but think better of it. If he can control water and ice, then I’ll just be putting myself at a disadvantage by using my water affinity.

  I tap into the natural resources around me and summon up a gust of wind, directing it at my foe. He briefly struggles against the oncoming gust, then somersaults underneath it and resumes his advance.

  “Well, well, well. What do we have here? I’ve heard of you. The freak of Cinderfal in my presence. Hmph, not for long,” he spits at me in a drawling voice. With a menacing leer, he spreads his arms apart. I witness his affinity in action, as a thick sliver of ice grows longer the farther he separates his hands. Almost upon me, he grabs hold of the ice with both hands, brandishing a makeshift broadsword high above his head.

  The sword descends before him, striking the space where I was a moment ago. I know I can’t face that head on, so I bolt into the air and fly over to the gorge.

  I quickly scan the vicinity for anything that would be able to help me but see nothing. I notice Celestra in the distance, holding her own, but Alexyo looks a little overwhelmed. Still, he’ll be okay for a bit.

  Hovering over the center of the gorge, I draw up a wave of water and send it after their leader, who is well on my tail. I feel a tugging in both of my wings, and it finally kicks in that I should just listen to them instead of thinking about it first.

  The leader uses his giant ice blade and his water affinity to slice vertically through the wave. He emerges unscathed as I follow my intuition and head into the Waterfall of Makoro.

  As I fly through the rampaging water, I put my hands over my head. This time I utilize my water affinity to remain dry — I don’t want to be covered in water that another Zicarnum could use against me.

  I stumble into the smallest cavern I have ever seen. The light is subdued in here, but I can make out something strange against the back wall.

  “You can’t stay in there forever, freak!” he shouts over the roar of the waterfall. I ignore him and continue walking toward the peculiar spectacle inside the cavern. Residing in the back wall, just above my head, are a pair of three-pronged metal blades encased in a thin film of some watery substance. Each one’s middle blade is the longest of the three prongs.

  My wings hum with anticipation. I jump into the air, hovering before the blades. I place my palms upon the film, which resonates under my touch. In an instant, the film retracts into the base of the mountain, and the blades fall out of their holding cell.

  I nimbly grab one in either hand. They are deceptively light to the touch; I feel as if I’m holding air in each of my hands. I give them a spin, twirling them over by the handles, watching the blades revolve from above my hand to below, and then over and up again.

  “Yes,” I mumble to myself, “These will do.”

  I touch the ground lightly and collapse my wings as I walk to the front of the waterfall. I feel powerful. I need to defend my friends.

  The leader continues his taunting, but it doesn’t faze me. At the entrance to the waterfall, I take in the serenity of my affinities before me. The cascading waterfall and the warm, succulent breeze. I know I am capable of more than I give myself credit for; I stand resolute.

  CHAPTER X

  REVELATION

  Iemerge from the waterfall to the sound of my opponent cackling maniacally. His eyes are dilated by the sun, or maybe there’s just a hint of lunacy about him.

  “What do we have here? Toys? Hah, little boy, those won’t be of any assistance to you.” He flourishes his giant ice blade above his head and charges down at me.

  I rush upward to greet him and cross my swords in front of me. We clash under the tumultuous water pouring down from above, his ice blade stuck in the crossing where my swords meet. I give them a once over, and notice they haven’t sustained any damage whatsoever; not so much as a scratch on them.

  “What’s the matter?” I ask him, nodding toward his broadsword. “Performance issues?” I chuckle at my own witty euphemism.

  He scowls and tries to manipulate the torrential downpour of water, but I counteract his intentions. The opposing control of force results in the waterfall splitting above our heads, half of the water pouring behind him, and half behind me.

  I use the brief opportunity to see how well my friends are faring. Celestra is still holding her own. She’s managed to hold onto two vine whips that their earth and wood user must not be talented nor strong enough to manipulate. She’s holding the female at bay, using her impenetrable vines to slash through the muddy rocks thrown by her opponent.

  Alexyo seems to be alright as well, though perhaps a bit worn down. He must be alternating between hand-to-hand combat with the earth and ice wielder, and slinging fireballs from a distance. I look a bit to the right and notice the single fire wielder on the ground, either unconscious or dead. This is so… surreal. I haven’t seen a dead body before. I wish this wasn’t happening.

  A sudden drop in temperature around me brings me back to my own opponent. I look overhead and he’s begun turning some of the water behind my head into a sharp icicle.

  I grasp my blades more tightly in my hands.

  I tap into my wind affinity and gather a strong current behind my back, pushing me forward. While doing so, I move my hands out toward the side, which results in my blades tilting the broadsword away from me. Another second that seems like forever, and it’s over.

  I see the terror in his eyes as he realizes what’s happened. The force from the wind increased my velocity by a factor enough to allow me to overpower him. His own ice broadsword hits him directly in the face.

  His wings cease beating and collapse in on themselves. He falls into the gorge, defeated. Without the opposing force of our affinities, the Waterfall of Makoro resumes its normal course, raining cooling water down upon me.

  I look down and watch as the water surges onto his body, compelling it to submerge. The blood from his wound creates a change of color at the surface as it oxidizes, turning the gorge a variation of red as the waterfall’s pressure spreads across the surface. The ice broadsword melts before my eyes as a gut-wrenching feeling tears at my insides.

  I’ve just made my first official kill, and it’s mortifying, yet… strangely empowering.

  But my friends still need my attention, so I fly over in their direction, not knowing who to assist first. As I approach, Celestra notices me and nods to her left, in Alexyo’s direction.

  “Help him,” she yells. “I’m still good!”

  I pivot to my right and hasten toward Alexyo’s aid. “Alexyo,” I call. “I’ll be right there!”

  He’s locked in an earthen-hand fist fight with the enemy earth and ice wielder, and the two keep deflecting each other’s hits. They both jump back and attempt to make use of their other affinities, but their efforts are fruitless. Every particle of ice shot at Alexyo is immediately liquefied by his fireballs.

  I nimbly flip the blades in my hands, holding them downward by the handles. The motion distracts Alexyo, who stares at me for a second too long. Confused, he’s knocked to the ground as the enemy pummels his torso with strong rock-encrusted fists.

  I get there just in time. Heading directly toward the male, I raise my blades and cross them in front of me, making a deafening impact on his back. I fall
backward and watch the crimson blood pour out of his wounds and slide down his back, and onto Alexyo, forming a pool beneath the two.

  “Thanks,” Alexyo groans as he pushes the man off him. “Yuck, this is gross. You really did a number on him.” He nods to the fallen female. “Chick was easier to deal with. Where’d you get those cool blades?”

  “They were in some cavern behind the waterfall.”

  “Just sitting around? What the hell?”

  “No, they were behind some watery film type of substance. It receded into the cavern when I touched it.”

  He looks back and forth between me and the cavern entrance.

  “We should go help Celestra,” I say. “Talk later.”

  “I’ll be there in a second.” He nods. “Need to catch my breath.”

  “Okay,” I say, already taking off toward my other friend. Celestra is still fighting off in the distance, struggling against the earth and wood wielder.

  Celestra continues to utilize her vines, whipping them at her opponent. The woman has covered herself in nearby mud and hardens small parts of her body as the vines lash, creating small, impenetrable patches of skin. The woman dodges most of the strikes, and when one happens to land, it does no damage. I hear a wallop as another hit is reflected.

  I drop to the ground and focus my attention on the wind. It’s whispering to me; beckoning me to utilize its power.

  I summon gusts from different directions, weaving them in and out of each other to create a stronger current. I send this toward Celestra and her opponent and force them to converge on the woman.

  She’s knocked backward, confused about what happened. She turns her head in my direction and notices she’s outnumbered. Celestra lands a blow with one of her vines, latching it around the woman’s wrist. But the woman uses her own wood affinity to disintegrate the small portion of vine constricting her. She’s able to pull away and fend off the next whip from Celestra.

  I accelerate the speed at which I’m gathering wind and use it to block the path in front of her. I do the same behind her and to the sides, trapping her in a wind tunnel.

  I dig my heels into the ground and muster up some more strength, using more of my affinity than I ever have before. I send one more giant gust toward her and spin it around the others, creating a vortex.

  A few more seconds of doing this and I’ve managed to ensnare her in a makeshift cyclone. She’s spinning around uncontrollably, unable to escape the magnitude of wind encircling her.

  Maintaining my hold on my wind affinity, I jog over to stand beside Celestra, admiring my work.

  “Thanks,” she says as she sits down. “I needed a break. What a pain in the ass, this girl. Seriously.”

  “Why did you attack us?” I yell at her.

  She remains tight-lipped, revolving continuously in the vortex. I find myself able to summon up some more wind and incorporate it into the rancorous circling currents.

  Within mere seconds, the vortex increases in velocity, forming into a full-fledged miniature cyclone. Chunks of earth break off from the ground and rise into the humming winds. They rebound off the circumference of the cyclone, converging on the girl.

  “Are you doing that, moving the earth?” I ask Alexyo as he steps into place behind us.

  “Nope.” He beams. “That’s all you, man.”

  “Fascinating,” I murmur.

  I walk to the outskirts of the cyclone, deliberately taking my time. I relish the thought of being able to create something this powerful. I’ve done this; without any assistance.

  “Surprised?” Celestra speaks up, grabbing my attention. “It would seem that you’ve let years of brainwashing affect your thought process. You’ve clearly underestimated your affinities.”

  “Indeed,” I respond. To think that I’d let society’s beliefs convince me that wind and water, my only affinities, were not capable of doing much of anything besides sensing and healing.

  An agonizing scream breaks me out of my trance. The earth and wood wielder was just hit in the abdomen with a large chunk of rock. I turn to face my comrades. “Shall we bring her down?” I inquire.

  “I suppose so. It seems like she’s had enough,” Alexyo chuckles. Celestra nods in approval.

  I walk the remainder of the way toward the cyclone and press my left hand up against the outer wind wall. I release my hold on it and the gusts promptly disperse, leaving the girl to fall unceremoniously to the ground.

  “Why did you attack us?” I ask once more.

  The girl struggles to find her ground, falling on her face after her first two attempts to find footing. Still dazed, she props herself up by her elbows and then pushes herself into a more manageable sitting position, resting with her back to the cliff leading into the gorge.

  “Just kill me,” she groans.

  “Well, I’m up for that,” Alexyo laughs jubilantly, stepping up beside me. I wave him off for now. I don’t like resorting to violence anyway, as a matter of principle.

  “Why don’t you just tell us?” I ask her. “Your comrades are gone. You’re the only one left. You know we could spare you.”

  She cackles maniacally. “Like I’d want to be spared by you. Taken down by an invalid, really.”

  “Excuse me?” I ask her. “I’m not sick or disabled, as you should be well aware.”

  “It doesn’t matter.” She spits at my feet. “I won’t comply with your requests. Reject.” I roll my eyes at her.

  “That’s not even close to the worst thing I’ve been called in my life, lady.” I shrug, uncaring. “I’m going to ask you once again. Why did you attack us?”

  She looks me up and down, then looks at Celestra with a menacing glare. Taking in Alexyo’s confident stature, she takes a backward swan dive into the gorge behind her.

  “Stop her!” Celestra shouts, running forward with Alexyo.

  She hits the water with a loud splash, and I grin surreptitiously at her stupidity. I walk over to the cliff’s edge and sit down, dangling my legs over the threshold.

  Alexyo and Celestra are already in the air above searching for her, but I just stretch my arms toward the gorge and utilize my right wing.

  I let out a deep sigh as it feels relieving to be able to fully explore my strengths. Finally, I think. It is so strange to think about life before this moment. Thinking that I was weak, unable to accomplish anything on my own. I feel as if some burden has just lifted off my shoulders. I want to explore so many new things.

  A splash as Alexyo dives into the water brings me back to the present task at hand. Shutting my eyes, I concentrate on the body of water below me. I take in the serenity of the still water and find her straightaway from the disturbances in the ripples relayed to me.

  I form one of my bubbles around her and bring her up to the surface, concentrating harder as she struggles to escape the water prison. As we break the surface tension, I harden the atmosphere surrounding her and maintain the circular shape of her enclosure.

  Celestra hovers in midair before the girl. She grins at me before once again focusing her attention on the opponent.

  Alexyo flies out of the water and into the air beside Cel, noticeably shocked, but he goes along with it. My friends haven’t seen me do this before either.

  I push myself off the edge of the cliff and hover in the air opposite my friends. I try to reason with the earth and wood wielder one more time.

  “Well, now are you going to tell us why you attacked us?” I ask her.

  She spends a few moments testing the barrier ensnaring her; prodding at it with her wings, throwing punches at it. The barrier expands and retracts effortlessly along with her movements.

  “Fuck you,” she mouths at me. My water prison is semi-permeable due to its elemental makeup, but she’s not able to break through it.

  “Well,” I say to her. “You can’t blame me. We’ve given you plenty of opportunities to talk. You’re the ones that attacked us without due cause.” I drop my head to the right, scrutinizing every l
ast detail of her predicament. I don’t know another way out of this.

  “Alexyo,” I call out to my best friend, waiting in the wings. “Have at it.”

  “It’s about time,” he says, punching his closed right fist into his open left hand.

  I dilute the area directly in front of Alexyo, drawing back the water, molecule by molecule, until a small hole forms on the surface. The girl tries to use it as an opportunity, but she’s barely able to fit her hand through the opening, let alone her entire body.

  She’s greeted with a trail of fire gradually burning her fingers until she withdraws them back to her body. Alexyo amps up the power and sends a scouring wave of roaring fire into the opening.

  The blast makes contact and its force reverberates outward, weakening the integrity of my bubble. I bring more water up from the gorge and reinforce its stability. Then, working in tandem with Alexyo, I slowly expand the opening as he aims more precisely, directing the initial fire stream into a steady beam.

  The change in usage of our affinities seems to work better for the task at hand; once Alexyo’s beam breaches the bubble, it hits its mark and branches out toward the enclosing walls, engulfing its target. After several moments, we’re met with a bloodcurdling scream as the girl’s flesh begins to burn.

  She struggles against the encroaching flames, punching and kicking at my bubble, trying to perceive any sort of weakness she can. But her efforts are fruitless. Some of the flames rebound off her body into the atmosphere, and therefore I need to maintain a constant stream of water from the gorge in order to keep the bubble in shape.

  I watch the flames licking her body, turning her skin from bronze to red. The feathers on her wings flake off before disintegrating. Her screaming turns into an agonizing groan from the pain radiating across every cell of her being.

  Taking in the scene before me in its entirety, I realize two things. Firstly, Celestra was right, and I have been underestimating my affinities. Secondly, I do not like doing this. I am not a cruel person, but what Aislynn was talking about is finally starting to sink in. I’ll do whatever I must in order to protect my friends and family.