by Justin Parks
Chapter 18
Spring Heel Jack
The next day the four met up and set out to their destination. There was an obvious tension in the air, which seemed to be coming from Sky and Saga, but Jin had no idea why. “So how are we supposed to find a kami that has never been seen and one we know nothing about?” Jin asked, as they reached the group of atlas gates.
“Well . . .” Saga and Sky began at once. They both glared at each other. Saga crossed his arms and turned away. “All the attacks happened at night, so that explains why no one has seen it. Also, I have a theory that it’s most likely multiple kami,” Sky explained, as the group passed through one of the gates.
Saga shook his head. “No, the people that have gone missing were traveling alone or in a small group, so it’s most likely a single stronger kami,” Saga explained.
“We won’t know till we get there, so what are we going to do once we get there?” Liz asked.
“Well, I think we should stick together,” Sky began.
“No,” Saga said cutting him off. “We were supposed to divide into two teams so we should,” he said.
“But if one team is attacked, shouldn’t we send out a signal to the other team? I can send up a signal, but can any of you send up one?” Sky asked.
“Recently, I’ve learned how to fire magick,” Jin explained.
“Really? When did you lean that?” Liz asked.
“What do you think I’ve been doing the last few weeks?” Jin replied in a cocky tone.
“Anyway,” Saga said irritated, “then I guess I’ll partner up with Jin and you go with Liz.”
“Fine, we should reach the stretch of road around dusk. If we don’t see anything then, we’ll split up once we reach the halfway point,” Sky explained, followed by a moment of silence.
The group was able to reach the stretch of road by dusk, just as Sky had predicted. The stretch of road was long and empty. At first glance it didn’t seem that suspicious. There were thick woods on either side of the path. The four began to walk as the sun sank down under the horizon. They looked around, but it had become too dark to see that well, and the area was almost completely silent. Something wasn’t right and everyone could sense it.
“It seems pretty quiet to me,” Jin said, looking around. He turned back to the group to see that Liz was missing. “Wait!? Where’s Liz?” Jin said in shock. The other two took notice. They all began to look around, but she was gone.
The silence was soon broken by a distant scream coming from above. The three looked to the sky. It was too dark to make out anything. Sky held out his palm, creating a large round crystal. It began emitting light. He threw it into the sky where it began to hover. The light was bright enough that they were able to make out a figure. The three could see a strange kami holding Liz. They were far too high up for the group to reach.
“Is it a flyer?” Saga asked.
“No, it appears to be falling and I don’t see any wings,” Sky said, observing it.
In the sky. Liz was struggling with the creature. It had its arms wrapped around her and she couldn’t break free. On the ground, the three were following the path of the creature. Liz’s snake, Ambrosia, appeared from her collar and started biting the kami’s neck. This caused it to drop Liz. Ambrosia retreated back once Liz was released. She began to fall back to the ground as the group dashed toward her.
“It’s too far; we won’t make it in time,” Saga said. “Wait I have an idea . . . stop!” he said as a shadow tentacle rose beside him and grabbed Sky’s hand. Saga grabbed the other side and looked to Jin. “You’ve got to catch her!” Saga said as they all nodded in understanding.
Jin turned and ran back into the shadow. He moved back, using it as a sling shot. Jin jumped, launching his body into the sky toward Liz. The kami opened its winged arms and began to glide down toward her. Jin caught her in his arms as he flew past. He focused his magick into his legs allowing him to skid to a stop as he hit the ground. Liz looked up to Jin. “You caught me,” she said in awe.
“Anytime,” Jin said in a reassuring tone as he sat her down on her feet.
“Look out!” Liz said, pointing behind Jin. He turned to see the kami gliding toward him. The two managed to jump out of its path. Liz summoned her whip and lashed out at the creature, grabbing its leg. She tugged hard, casing the kami to smack down to the ground.
By this time, Sky and Saga had caught up. The kami stood. It had a skinny human-shaped body. It also had winged arms with three large claws at the tip and long strangely shaped legs. It turned to face the group. It had a scary demonic-looking face and screeched at the group before it squatted and jumped high into the air. “Damn, that thing can jump high!” Sky said, stating the obvious.
“How are we supposed to get it?” Saga asked.
“Try shooting it down, Jin.” Liz suggested.
Jin shrugged and took aim at the creature. It had begun to glide down away from them. Jin fired three shots. The first two missed, but the third grazed its wing. The creature turned and began heading back toward the group.
“Well, I think I made it mad . . . anybody else got an idea?” Jin asked, sarcastically. The kami continued gliding down, straight at the group. Jin formed a ball of energy in his hand, but at that moment he got an idea. He didn’t stabilize the energy completely, making it a bit unstable and more destructive. “Sky!” he said as Sky turned to him and nodded.
Sky threw two light crystal shards toward the creature. They exploded into a large burst of light and blinded the creature as Jin fired at it. The ball of energy hit the kami in the face and exploded, causing it to crash to the ground.
Sky ran toward the creature and jumped above it. He formed two crystal spikes and threw them down at its wings, pinning it to the ground. Sky landed on the other side. The creature shrieked and jumped toward Sky, shredding its wings. It kicked Sky, sending him flying back before turning its attention to the rest of the group.
Saga’s shadows reached up and grabbed its legs, holding it in place. Liz joined in, wrapping her whip around its body and constricting its arms. Jin and Saga charged forward, hitting the kami in the stomach with an energy palm, while Liz ran her energy through the whip. The three’s combined power destroyed the creature. It burst into magick. The group’s cores glowed as they each absorbed part of the magick.
The three looked at each other with a smile and a sense of confidence. They walked up the road to where Sky had been kicked. Sky stuck a fist into the air. “Woo . . .” he grunted, as the rest of the group joined up with him. Jin walked over and helped him back to his feet.
“Told you it was only one kami,” Saga said to Sky.
“And I told you it’d be better if we all stuck together,” Sky replied.
Liz and Jin began to laugh at their squabble. Sky and Saga hesitantly joined in as well. Then the group made its way back to the academy, cheerful with the completion of another successful mission.
ToC
* * * * *
