by Jason Letts
Fortst nodded firmly, and then ran for the study door. He kicked it in like it was nothing, turning to see the two intruders trying to build a fire with wood torn from the wall. One man rose to confront him, and Fortst swung his pipe at him with a smooth, powerful motion. When the pipe struck his head, it made a loud clanging noise but didn’t move him in the slightest.
Vern and Chucky ran in behind him, and they first saw spots of cloud poking through the holes in the hacked and clawed wall. Seeing the man who Fortst had tried to strike, they drew back. He looked big and mean. Naked except for a loincloth, his skin transformed in waves. Wood, metal, fur, plastic, rubber, leaves, glass, porcelain, stone, and so many other textures seemed to sweep over him as his skin changed its composition and appearance. His fists became iron mallets that he slammed down on Fortst’s shoulders, knocking him back between Vern and Chucky and down to the floor.
Watching from the hallway, the girls saw him grab Chucky and throw him up against the wall, smearing oil on it as he slid down. Vern jumped on him from behind, and his skin became like a shark’s, covered in microscopic needles. Vern yelped and slid down, his hands bloody and shredded.
Fortst had gotten up, and he showered blows down on his opponent in the hopes of finding a weak spot. The tube always landed on metal and had no effect. Dodging a blow and blocking the next with his weapon, he struggled to hold back the attack as the arm grew teeth like a razor-sharp saw. The arm pulled down, raining rust down on Fortst. He swung again for the man’s head, but the impact snapped the tube in half.
Behind them, the other man worked at creating a fire with the small wood chips. Rubbing his hands back and forth, he twisted a thin stick, trying to create enough heat for a flame to start. A fragile flame soon sprung up and ignited the splinters. He held the torch to the cloud wall and laughed as it started to eat its way through.
“Predictable. Now let’s burn them out,” he said to his companion, who sent an elbow to Fortst’s stomach.
“Ok,” he said, returning quickly to his friend and igniting his own wooden hand. He stood over Chucky and touched his flaming hand to the oily wall.
“Much obliged, friend,” the fiend laughed, putting out the fire on his hand by changing it to stone.
“Get out of here!” Vern yelled, and Chucky scuttled to his feet and through the door. He ran past the girls and down the stairs. The oil caught fire and spread against the wall. It followed the thin trail Chucky had left behind until it met with a metal tube. Fortst, giving his enemy a grim and nasty glare, wiped the burning oil onto the broken tube.
“Run, Vern!” Fortst said, and the battered student scampered between them for the door. The intruder sent a metallic fist down to strike him, but Fortst caught it with his bare hand. Holding him in place, Fortst struck him in the back with his flaming weapon, causing another howl of pain.
The fire spread quickly along the walls and the ceiling. Smoke raced out into the hall above Mira’s head.
“We have to get out of here!” Mary said.
Mira went to her parents’ doorway and put her hand against the mist, which felt warm instead of cool.
“Mom, Dad, you have to get out! There’s a fire!”
She didn’t think they could hear her, but she had to try anyway. The man with the changing skin did hear her, and he figured out exactly who she was. He shoved Fortst out of the way and made for the hallway, but Fortst grabbed his shoulder to hold him back. Though he didn’t inflict much pain, he pulled him back and threw him to the ground.
The impact of the heavy weight cracked the weakened floorboards, sending all three men crashing through to the living room below. Quickly, Mira grabbed a towel from her room and held it to the flames surrounding the gaping hole in the study. It caught fire, and she brought it back to the floor near the doorway.
“What are you doing? Mary asked.
“Better I get through to them than they do,” she said.
The fire ignited the wooden doorway and began to dissolve the mist. She watched anxiously until a small hole appeared.
“Mom, Dad, it’s me!”
She could see them coming closer and looking in the tiny space between the fire and the cloud.
“Mira!” Kevin gasped. “You have to get away. They’re after you!”
“I know, but the house is on fire. The coast is clear, let’s go!”
She could see her dad nodding, and soon the cloud wall disappeared completely. Though she felt overjoyed to see them, they had to get out immediately. The five of them ran down the stairs and then stopped dead.
The wreckage from the study above smoldered on the left side of the room. They could see Fortst’s body lying face down on the floor. A man with a body of stone lurched to his feet and stalked toward them. Vern and Chucky had seemingly gone, and Kevin’s power was useless for the heat.
“I suppose I might as well do something,” Roselyn said. She began to sing, and her simple and charming song slipped in under his tough exterior. It weighed heavily on his mind, making his movements slower and lazier. The threatening and dangerous look dropped from his face. His skin looked plush like a pillow.
“You look sleepy,” Jeana said, leading him outside through the broken glass door. Once they made it out to the grass, she tapped him on the forehead and sent him off to sleep.
“I sure wouldn’t trade places with your mother,” Jeana said, shaking her head.
Kevin and the girls attempted to drag Fortst outside, but his weight and size hindered them. They heaved and strained, until they heard a voice.
“There’s a fire!” Aoi said, running into the room and sizing up the situation. “Try the gym,” she admonished them, grabbing her teacher and carrying him through the front door by herself. The students outside had captured the second enemy who tried to escape after falling through the study room floor, and they gasped when they saw Fortst’s unconscious state. She set him down on the grass and went to get Jeana and her prisoner.
“Is he ok?” everyone asked.
He wasn’t breathing and a few of them felt tears come into their eyes. Mira knelt down and slapped him across the face.
“Get up!” she wept. “You saved us. You could at least be around to enjoy the glory.”
She shook him as hard as she could and pounded on his chest with her forearms. Too much time had passed, and Mira gave up and pulled away. Suddenly some life came to him, and he began coughing, weakly at first, but gradually with increasing vigor. He finally opened his eyes and drowsily looked around.
“Did you catch me sleeping on the job? Sorry about that.”
“No, no, you did fine,” Mira said, breaking down for joy with the other students. Jeana came around the side of the house and took her place by her husband’s side. Seeing them together, Mira finally let herself believe that everything would be ok.
“I was so worried that something would happen to you,” she said to them.
“Us? You shouldn’t have come. We thought you would be safe as long as you were with your group.”
“I was,” she said, gesturing to her peers spread out on the lawn. Mira hugged her parents warmly, glad to be able to touch them and feel that they were there. When Mira stepped away, she saw Chucky approaching her.
“I’m sorry about what’s happening to your house. It’s all my fault,” he said. The fire spread around the house and glowed through the windows. The roof looked like it would catch any minute.
“Let me see what I can do,” Kevin said.
“You can’t blame yourself, Chucky,” Mira said. “Just because they used your power against you doesn’t mean you did it.”
A sheet of white mist formed over the house. It grew dense and thick, sucking water from the air. The droplets became too much for the air to hold, and they dripped and rained down on the house. The mist crept in through broken windows and pumped water onto the shrinking flames. The smoke began to look more like steam.
“This is strange,” Kevin said. “The water isn’t
putting it out completely. What’s going on?”
“That’s because it’s burning the oil, not the wood. Water won’t put it out because it’s a different kind of fire. You’ll just have to wait for all of the oil to burn away and make sure it doesn’t spread to the wood,” Mira said.
“I guess that means Corey was wrong. Not all fire blends together perfectly,” Jeremy said.
“That’s true,” Mira said, “but our differences can be our strength. Where one of us fails, another will succeed, and in that way together we will meet every challenge that comes before us!”
Everyone cheered, and soon the last flames ran out of fuel and disappeared. The sound of running footsteps came from down the road, and everyone turned to see who approached. Two men and two women, the town guards, trotted onto the lawn. While one spoke, the others began to tie up the prisoners.
“We just finished rounding up the townsfolk, and we’re here to take these prisoners off your hands. Corey sends his orders for you to meet with him in the outpost at once.”
When the prisoner exchange had been completed, the weary warriors mustered what energy they had left to hurry down into town. Without the adrenaline rush to prop them up, they struggled to keep their eyes open with each step. They had no idea what time of night it was, but they all felt a dire urgency to sleep.
Natalie stood at the gate, confirming their identities and escorting them inside. The entire town, a few hundred people, occupied the outpost courtyard. Not one of them knew the nature of the emergency, and so confused and worried faces surrounded them as they worked their way through the crowd. Natalie called on someone, who escorted Fortst to the healer’s tent.
“No, I’m fine. Really. Just let me walk it off,” Fortst pleaded as the man dragged him to Nora, who already had a pair of shears in her hair.
The rest dropped down the far stairs below ground. Entering the office, they saw Corey standing in front of the conference room door. He looked strangely amused and satisfied despite the circumstances.
“How you all survived is a mystery I will never comprehend. You’ve done this town a service, but I would be careful not to tempt fate so recklessly next time. I think all of our graduates learned more training is in order before they are ready to meet our unpredictable enemies in battle.”
Leading Jeana, Mira, and the rest of the students, Kevin followed Corey into the underground room with the long table. He hadn’t seen Yannick since they had come to their agreement in that room, and he was shocked to find him standing there, infirmly, next to Corey.
“What is he doing here?” Kevin asked.
“If you must know, he followed that band of raiders all the way back here to warn us. Without him, I fear the events of this evening would have passed much more dreadfully. Yannick has managed to gather some crucial information while risking his life for you,” Corey said.
Yannick wobbled back and forth before propping his arm against the wall. The candles in the room illuminated the cuts on his face, his bloodshot eyes, and his torn clothing. He looked gaunt, starving, and ghoulish for want of a good bath.
“I couldn’t make it to the other side like you wanted, Mr. Ipswich. I couldn’t find the man who entered your home and tried to take the life of your daughter in the night. I couldn’t find Pyrenee, that faceless name pulling the strings. But I did find those grunts you met with tonight, and they said plenty when they thought no one was listening.
“Sneaking around them, I heard about their plot to kill Mira. Pyrenee put them up to it. It sounds like she’s sold her humanity for a sharp sword. She leads the Sunfighter’s army. So I don’t have to guess to know what horrible things she’s done to good people I knew. But that ain’t the end of it.
“You said Mira’s sister was kidnapped in a fire by a wild man. She’s still alive and they’re holding her captive. I heard it from their very mouths. To this day she rots in some putrid dungeon somewhere. But she’s precious to them, and they’d go to any lengths to keep her. They’re afraid you’re going to come for her, Mira. You’d better do just that.
“Now I’ve been square-dealing with you here and told you everything I heard accurately and honestly. But I can see how you might prefer a nice rosy lie, this truth is all thorns.”
The revelation that their long lost baby lived cut into Kevin and Jeana, shining a light on something they had never thought possible. They held each other and braced themselves for Mira’s reaction. Mira’s emotions waffled through curiosity, confusion, and outrage to despair, sympathy, and wonder. She couldn’t let herself believe what Yannick said. She nervously glanced at her fellow students out of embarrassment. What would they think of her now that they knew the sorrows of her family?
“What is he talking about? I don’t understand,” she said, sounding scared.
“He’s telling the truth,” Kevin said. “You are not an only child. You have a twin sister, Clara, but someone took her from us when you were only an infant. You two lay next to each other in a crib, identical even to us, and a man came into our home. A man without heart or conscience, he took your power and he took your sister from us. We always assumed she had been laid to rest, but somehow she’s done it. She’s survived!”
The feelings stirred so deeply within Mira that her eyeballs rolled up into her head and her hands shook. Her legs could no longer support her weight, and she hobbled into a chair. Gulping her breaths, she covered her straining face with her hands until her grief went to words.
“Is that all? Please, tell me if that’s all. How can mere words tear me apart like this? I had a power, but I was stripped of it and left to live as a hollow shell. I have a sister—something I prayed for every night—but she paid for my blissful ignorance by suffering cruelty and enslavement. And to top it all off, you never told me when someone came to kill me. I know you tried to protect me, Dad, but having it all rain down at once is too much to bear.”
“Mira, I’m sorry. I didn’t want this for you,” Kevin said, trailing off when he realized she couldn’t hear him. Her face was red, and she sobbed.
“I owe her everything,” she whimpered. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself. Taking her finger to the air, she traced, a face that looked a lot like hers but wasn’t. She wiped her red eyes and waited for the pain to pass, the anger to fade, and the thirst for revenge to disappear. She waited until she could stand up with courage and hope. And when she felt the urge to fight for her sister, she seized it.
She turned to her fellow students, the ones she had known since she first stepped out of her cloudy, insulated world so long ago. Even though everything looked so different after that day, she felt a bigger change in the world from the truths she had learned just now. There was someone out there for her, someone who made her journey a mission. Looking into the eyes of those she had become close to, Roselyn, Will, Vern, Aoi, Mary, Chucky, and Rowland, she could see that they knew what she wanted to say, and they wanted her to say it.
“We must make ourselves strong enough to stand up for our families and our friends, but now protecting them is not enough. Though I never knew it before, they’ve taken more than I ever thought I had. So right now, I’m going to make a promise to you. I stake my life on setting my sister free and making sure they can never torment anyone again. And we will succeed. ‘Cuz when our darkness falls on their evil plight, and the light has gone and it’s time to fight, we’ll bare our teeth and show our might, and they’ll know it’s us who set it right.”
The End of Book 1
Look for the exciting sequel: The Shadowing
***About the Author***
Jason Letts is an author and editor of young-adult and paranormal fiction. The books of his young-adult fantasy series, Powerless, are available now, and he and Amanda Hocking will release the first book in a new paranormal romance trilogy, entitled Inevitable, in January 2011. The story features an entrancing spirit from infinity who does her best to improve the life of a young man before a tragic accident will take his life. You c
an contact Jason via email at [email protected] or find out about him and his books at www.powerlessbooks.com.
