by Mazhar, S
Neriah took one look at Ella’s unmoving form at Kyran’s feet and in the blink of an eye, he had tore his way across the grounds towards Kyran. Chris ran after him and Scott threw himself past the doorway of the Hub, racing inside to send the distress signal and gather his Hunters.
A powerful blast shook the ground, sending Chris flying backwards. Flames shot up from the ground, encircling Kyran and Neriah, keeping them inside a ring. Several rocks lifted from the ground and flew into the fire. Wincing, Chris stood up, staring at the ring of flames.
Neriah didn’t seem to notice that he was trapped. His rage was such, all he could see was the boy before him. A twist of Neriah’s hand had propelled a thousand sharp shards of ice at Kyran – to rip him apart. Kyran held up his hands and the shards melted before reaching him. Neriah stopped in his tracks, eyeing the boy – another Elemental who could match his power. Neriah cast a single glance to the flames surrounding them before turning to glare murderously at Kyran.
“Learnt that at your father’s knee, boy?” he snarled.
“You can’t deny my father’s talent,” Kyran answered. “He managed to train me, despite having his powers locked by you.”
“Such a waste since you’re going to die at my hands today,” Neriah glowered.
Kyran chuckled. “Die? Yes,” he agreed, “but not at your hands and definitely not today.”
Kyran had to leap out of the way as Neriah threw icicles, sharper than swords, at him. He retaliated by sending out a stream of fire, which failed to hit the oldest Elemental as he deftly moved out of the way. They fought each other, their attacks escalating in ferocity with every jolt blocked and dodged.
***
A ball of light streaked through the sky, exploding into Aric’s mark, directly above the table. The Hunters turned to look upwards, staring in surprise at the distress signal. Aaron’s heart sunk – what had happened?
As one, the Hunters leapt to their feet, racing to the path behind the cottages to get to the Hub. Aaron ran after them. The Hunters had their guns in hand by the time they reached the clearing in front of the Hub. Aaron came to a shocked standstill, staring at the sight before him. A ring of fire encircled Kyran and Neriah, both locked in a furious battle. Behind them, Aaron spotted Scott running down the steps of the shattered Hub, racing to Chris’s side – who was trying his best to extinguish the flames. But no matter what Chris did, the fire continued to burn. The Hunters ran to Chris and Scott’s side. All of them tried to fight the fire, but nothing worked.
“Why can’t we get past this thing?” Zhi-Jiya cried.
“Look!” Julian pointed at something in the fire.
It was a stone lying in the flames. A little distance away there was another stone and further away another one, and another and another. The Hunters looked around and saw that the entire ring of fire was mapped out with rocks – the same ones used for the fights in the ring.
Realisation dawned on Aaron. Kyran had used the rocks to safeguard his fire. Nothing could get past the flames now.
Scott hurried to the front and raised a hand. Aaron remembered once seeing Scott lift the rocks that Skyler had put down. Being the Controller, it seemed Scott had the power to lift the rocks once another had placed them down. Scott pulled his hand up but the rocks remained in place.
“What–?” Scott raised both hands, but nothing happened. “What’s going on?” he cried. “I can’t lift them.” He looked at Kyran with wide, fearful eyes. “How’s he doing this?”
Aaron looked at Kyran too, watching as he ducked and dived, throwing Neriah’s jolts back at him. Neriah raised both arms and a wave of water towered behind him, seemingly formed from thin air. It grew until it was three times Neriah’s height. With a swipe of his hand, Neriah sent the wave at Kyran. The water bypassed Neriah’s form to crash over Kyran. For a blinding moment, Kyran disappeared from view, engulfed by the wave. Then a tremendous blast sent the water to all sides of the ring. It hit the wall of flames and Aaron thought the fire would finally be put out, but instead the water disappeared, leaving the fire burning. Kyran stood with his arms pushed out to either sides, dripping wet but that smirk was still on his face.
Neriah sent a stream of water which wrapped itself around Kyran, turning to ice as it raced up his body, attempting to encase him. Before it could reach his waist, Kyran closed his eyes and flames leapt up his body, evaporating the ice and water. Kyran straightened up, still aflame from head to foot. The flames disappeared, leaving Kyran untouched. Opening his poison-green eyes, Kyran smirked before pulling back a hand and sending out a long line of fire, which curled like a serpent before leaping at Neriah. The oldest Elemental pushed the attack aside by his own jolt of power. It hit the ground, singeing it.
It was then that Aaron and the others spotted the third person in the ring, lying on the ground. The long dark hair with streaks of electric blue gave away Ella’s identity, as she lay face forward, unmoving as the battle happened around her.
“Ella?” Aaron called. “Ella!”
“No!” Zhi-Jiya gasped, her eyes impossibly wide. “Ella!” she cried.
“She’s dead,” Scott said in a tight voice. “Kyran killed her.”
Aaron’s gasp got caught in his chest, sparking a sharp pain in his heart.
Every eye, filled with tears of rage and pain, turned from Ella’s body to Kyran, in time to see him dodge the five spear-shaped icicles Neriah was throwing at him. Kyran caught the sixth one and swung it around, turning with it and sliced it across Neriah’s front. Neriah jumped back, looking down at the cut in his clothes. He looked back up and raised a hand, aiming another strike at Kyran when he suddenly stopped, his violet eyes widening slowly.
A triumphant smile spread across Kyran’s face. He held up his hand, showing Neriah the chain with a strange purple gem dangling from it.
Neriah’s hand shot to his own chest. He raised both hands, the jolt working its way up past his knuckles, but before it could leave his fingertips, Kyran had turned and waved a hand, making a doorway in the wall of fire.
“NO!” Neriah raged and the jolt came thundering out of his hand, rushing as a tidal wave towards Kyran.
Kyran leapt through the doorway and the wave crashed onto the walls of fire, but failed to put the flames out once again. The moment Kyran stepped out of the ring, the Hunters reacted, throwing everything from bullets, blades and jolts of power at him. Kyran raced out of the way, ducking and diving. A flick of his wrist and lines of fire erupted behind him, stopping those chasing him in their tracks. Neriah followed Kyran out of the ring, just in time to see Kyran run to the edge of the cliff and, without a moment’s pause, throw himself over it.
Aaron and the Hunters ran over to the edge of the cliff, staring in shock at Kyran who was surely falling to his death. They watched as Kyran waved a hand and a familiar bike floated upwards from the ground. Still in mid-air, Kyran mounted his trusted Lexi moments before hitting the ground and taking off, zipping over the rocky ground.
Neriah reached them and jumped off the cliff too.
“Neriah!” Scott yelled after him.
As he fell, Neriah formed a pool of water that expanded outwards. It was deep enough to take his fall. The Hunters shared a look before rearing back and throwing themselves over the edge, following their leader. Aaron was about to do the same when his dad grabbed his arm.
“No!” he commanded.
Aaron pulled himself away and turned, running back along the path, behind a handful of Hunters. Chris watched him before leaping over the edge, after Neriah and the rest of the Hunters.
***
Kyran swerved to avoid the jutting rocks, racing his way forward, staying a step ahead of the thunderous wave that Neriah had sent after him. He turned a corner and found himself next to the orchard. Kyran sped his way through it as the water chased him, sweeping the baskets of fruit away.
Kyran drove out of the orchard and towards the lake. The wave spilt over the bank and flooded the lake, scattering t
he fruit to float on the surface. Kyran changed direction, heading for the Gate – the one and only exit from the city. His way was blocked by a few Hunters who had ran back through the forest and not over the edge of the cliff after him. They raised their guns and shot at Kyran, who was forced to manoeuvre out of the way by tilting the entire bike onto its side. As he dragged across the ground, Kyran sent a single jolt of fire at the Hunters, forcing them to cease attack and leap out of the way.
Kyran came to a stop and straightened his bike. He looked down both sides of the street, at the Hunters and mages who had gathered with weapons in hand. Even Mary and her kitchen staff had come out of the Stove. Drake and Kate stood to one side, staring at him. Kyran was completely surrounded. His gaze found Aaron, seeing him standing in front of Jason’s cottage, staring at him with shock.
Kyran smirked and looked ahead, at the firmly closed Gate. Without warning, a great blast of fire erupted, lining both sides of the street. The mages cried out, leaping out of the way. Aaron ducked as the cottage behind him lit up in flames. Kyran bolted forward on his bike, racing towards the Gate, which was sliding slowly open.
The Gate suddenly stopped and started to ice over. Throwing a look behind him, Kyran saw Neriah had caught up with him. The leader of the the mages was ignoring the towering flames devastating the city, focusing on stopping him instead. Raising his hand, Kyran threw a ball of fire behind him to stop Neriah, and blew a cloud of fire at the doorway, melting the ice mere seconds before he drove through it.
Neriah and the Hunters followed Kyran out the Gate. Aaron picked himself up and raced after them, ignoring his mum’s cry for him to stop. The Hunters were chasing Kyran along the brick road, firing bullet after bullet at him. Kyran ducked and dived, but he couldn’t avoid the attack forever. Two bullets caught him, one in the shoulder blade and one in his side. They didn’t slow him down. He kept going, turning into the forest to race towards the portal.
Kyran drove towards the glowing portal. He raised a hand upwards, just as he passed through it, and touched the tip of the inverted V. As soon as the end of Kyran’s bike disappeared through the portal, the entire mark lit up in flames. It hovered in the air for a moment, a blazing version of Aric’s mark, before it fell to the ground, reduced to nothing but ash. Neriah came to a stop before it. The Hunters gathered around him, panting and sweating, looking unnerved at what they had witnessed. Aaron came to stop next to them. Not a moment after, his mum caught up with him. They all stared at the remains of the portal with wide eyes.
“He’s gone,” Neriah whispered, his voice tinged with fear. “He’s gone. He’s taken it.”
“Taken what?” Chris asked by his side. “That stone? The one you wore around your neck?”
Neriah shook his head. “That wasn’t a stone,” he said, turning to look at him. “That was the key,” he breathed. “The key to unlock Hadrian’s powers.”
***
“Neriah, what happened?” Mary asked, running over to him the moment the Elemental walked back through the Gate with the Hunters following in after him.
Everyone had gathered around him, their eyes on Neriah. The fire Kyran had started had been put out, thankfully before too much damage was done. Aaron noted Sam standing at the fence, watching them with narrowed eyes.
Neriah raised his head and looked around at the people of Salvador. “The Scorcher got what he came for,” he said, addressing them. His fingers traced the cut in his clothes. “He took the key that will unlock Hadrian’s powers.”
Fear spiked through the crowd. They turned to look at each other in panic.
“It seems the Scorcher’s purpose to infiltrate Salvador was to acquire the key,” Neriah continued. “My frequent visits to Salvador made it the perfect place to wait for me.” He closed his eyes, shaking his head in self-recrimination. “How he came to learn about the key, I don’t know,” Neriah continued, “but the time is not to solve puzzles, but to act.”
Scott stepped forward. “What do you need us to do?” he asked.
Neriah took a weary step towards him and reached out to pat his shoulder. “Alert the rest,” he said. “It’s time to gather our forces. Get every Hunter here. Pull the Lurkers together. We need to be prepared.”
“Prepared for what?” Aaron couldn’t stop himself from asking.
Neriah turned to him, his violet eyes darkening. “For Hadrian’s return.”
Look out for Book Two, Playing With Fire, in the Power of Four Series by SF Mazhar
