Henslow studied Zack in silence for a few seconds and said. "I was once like you. But when you get to my age, you realize power is the only thing that can cause change."
Zack nodded to the broken swords. "I have power. Four hours ago, I wouldn't have been able to do that. I can now. Plus, I have a plan--"
Shadows shifted in the arena stands. Two of them. The cloud covering the moon prevented light from revealing who they were, but Zack didn't need the light. With the snow leopard's abilities, he could make out who they were in the darkness. The twins.
He growled. "You were followed!"
The twin Elementalists jumped from the stands an into the center of the Arena. The one in red spoke mechanically, "First kill the man, brother."
"Yes," agreed the other in blue. "Kill the man."
Without hesitation, Zack leaped toward the twin Elementalists, faster than he had before. The fire Elementalist's eyes widened in shock, but it didn't stop him from creating a wall of fire. Zack pivoted before he collided into the scorching bright flames, shifting his weight with a kick to the ice Elementalist.
Similarly to his brother, a wall of ice five hands thick erupted from the hands of the Elementalist. Zack's boot shattered the ice into a thousand pieces, and the man staggered back. Immediately, a fireball the size of a man's torso sprang toward Zack.
With a flex of his fingers, claws from his nails extended out, and he swiped the air before the fireball reached him. It didn't matter if it was magic, fire still fed off of air.
The fireball ate the diverted air and redirected on a slight trajectory upward. That gave Zack enough room and time to duck under the fireball and spring toward the fire Elementalist. With a simple swipe of his new claws, he felt the soft meat of thighs rip apart under his power. The snow leopard and trollbear inside him roared with pleasure, but the snow owl reminded him to turn around.
Four ice shards of various sizes and speeds shot at Zack. Curiously, the shards were incredibly slow. No, that wasn't right. Everything was moving just the same speed. The only thing that was different was Zack's mind. It was as if his sight had slowed everything his vision down.
Still, he had considerable speed from his animals and used that with the increased reflexes to avoid duck and weave between and below the shards of ice. Zack spun around just in time to see the fire Elementalist completely on fire, but Zack plunged his claw into the man's chest.
A box-shaped light fell to the ground.
The fire died instantly, and the ice Elementalist screamed, "No!"
Gone was the mechanical tone in the Elementalist's voice. Instinctively, Zack knew the man had snapped and was quickly allowing his element to take over. The temperature in the Ring immediately began to drop, ice forming in the ground around the Elementalist. Armor grew out of the man's skin, and in nearly an instant, the ice Elementalist had become a sort of behemoth golem.
Zack roared and pumped power into his legs. He imagined his body as a spear and jumped toward the quickly forming golem. He was met with resistance as his claws collided into the ice forming at the chest. Ice was growing around Zack as well, but he ignored it.
A single swipe later, a block of ice holding a man's severed head fell to the ground. The ice golem quickly melted, revealing another box-shaped light.
Zack wasn't even tired. He felt like he could fight forever.
Henslow and his people stared at Zack in both wonder and horror.
Zack picked up the Tesseracts in each hand and said, "I'm an Elementalist. I grow. I change. I fight. Do you trust me now?"
Henslow, to his credit, cleared his throat and said. "Fine. We get it. You're powerful and can take on the Adjutant. But how are we going to storm the ice tower? My people are trained to fight. And how are we going get in without the shards of ice coming from the tower taking us all out before we reach the entrance way?"
Zack smiled. They were finally on his side. He said. "I'll cut the shards down as we try to enter. I can't protect everyone, so they should find something to shield themselves above their heads. If we all do it, we could make a sort of roof-shield. It's a simple plan, I know, but it'll work."
Henslow shook his head. "You're right. It is simple. We have thought of it, but that still doesn't answer my question about how we'll fight the guards inside the tower. There must be at least five hundred guards in there."
Zack explained. "I can't fight everyone, especially if they are well trained. Like I said, when it comes to the fighting, I have a plan. We're going to release all the fighters here in the Rings."
Henslow looked skeptical. "And you're certain a bunch of criminals are going to help us fight?"
"No, but many if not most were sent here for breaking a minor law. Renton has profited off of them, but he has done his best to keep them alive. He says it's because they can keep making him money, but I suspect he might actually have a heart."
"Does Renton know about this?"
Zack was about to tell him know, that he had left this part of the plan out when he told the manager of the a Rings. But, Another voice boomed from the shadows.
Renton stepped forward and smiled his greedy smile. "Yes."
Zack's mouth hung open and he asked, "You knew? Why are you willing to help us like this?"
Renton shrugged. "Your offer was a good one. But that's not the only reason. Here's the deal. You kill the Adjutant, and I'll tell you after."
Zack smiled. "Deal."
He looked at one of the Tesseracts in his hands. Absorbing both wasn't an option. The old one had told Zack that absorbing two Tesseracts within the same year wasn't wise. Zack was desperate, but he had other ideas. It wasn't about saving Yemiri anymore. That had been his one and only goal.
He had friends now, friends he could rely one. Zack turned around and said to Fabiola and Astrid, "What element will you choose?"
17
At least three hundred seasoned combatants of the Rings stood behind Zack, each of them knowing exactly what they were about to do. They stood in the entrance building of the Rings where Zack had first appeared to Renton. Many of the fighters had shields prepared to hold above their heads.
Between the rows of fighters were all the rebels Henslow had been able to safely scrounge up in light of the emergency curfew. It was hard sneaking around at night with the sight of the tower.
Henslow had stated that the ice tower wasn't all-seeing. It couldn't have been, and the rebel faction had been able to take advantage of the fact the powerful ice tower relied on strict line of sight. Astrid was living proof that you could commit crimes under the watchful eye of Adjutant Nicolas Lagrand without getting caught.
Zack had only been able to convince about half of the fighters of the Rings to come with them, but they were the more seasoned and grizzled of the bunch. He even recognized Grumbal Four-Hands in the mix. Apparently, the man had never taken their fight personally because he gave Zack an awkward smile.
The other half of the fighters stayed inside the Rings. Zack understood where they were coming from. To them, this fight wasn't theirs. Not only that, they had all willingly chosen the justice of the Rings over the swift noose of the gallows, meaning they wanted to live. Attacking a powerful Elementalist's tower in the middle of the night was the opposite of what someone would do if they wanted to live.
Fabiola and Astrid stood by his side. The desert woman looked to the darkening sky, the moon blanketed out by thick clouds. She muttered, "Morgoth is with us tonight."
Zack gave an odd look to his Fabiola. "Never took you for being religious."
She shrugged, her grip loose but firm on her completely metallic spear. Astrid poked her nose into the conversation and she chuckled, "My element is better than yours."
Fabiola frowned and thrust her metallic spear at Astrid in a show of force. Zack guessed it was to try to impress the young woman, but it ended up making Fabiola look like a little petty, but in a cute way.
She said, "Metal is the obvious element for any warrior. I can co
ver items with it and, look." Fabiola raised her hand close to Astrid's face since the light was so dark.
Zack could see it because of the snow leopard's sight. The skin on the desert woman's hands began to leak out metal through its pores, and instantly, Fabiola was wearing a living metallic gauntlet.
Astrid rolled her eyes, clearly not impressed. "You might as well just put on an actual gauntlet. So what? You can get dressed for war faster. But my element is super cool."
The short-haired blonde blew a kiss at Fabiola, and the desert woman's hair flew back by the sudden gust. Astrid cracked a smile. "See? Air is the best element."
Zack liked watching the sisterly comraderie between his friends, but he was getting itchy. He muttered, "It's time. Stick to the plan."
He didn't turn to the fighters and rebels behind him. They all knew what they were about to do, if not exactly what they were about to face. Zack did not give a rousing speech to fill their hearts with courage like heroes had in the stories. He was never good with words like Yemiri had been.
Instead, he just punched a hole in the wall and broke some metal weapons to show his strength. That got a good round of applause and many people to join him. The fighters of the Rings only understood strength. Besides, they didn't want to attract attention with a loud speech.
Even with the light of the moon completely blanketed by the dark clouds of night, they would eventually run into guards who would raise the alarm.
Zack walked forward, and his people followed silently behind.
They marched through the streets, and people poked their heads through their windows to see what was happening. Even if everyone in the rebel group was doing their best to be quiet, three hundred feet walking in unison with shields above their heads still made enough noise to attract attention.
After ten minutes of walking, Zack realized the group behind him had grown. It wasn't by a considerable amount, but enough for him to notice the difference. People must have seen what was happening and decided to join.
They didn't need it explained to them what they were doing. It was obvious. Adjutant Lagrand had ruled the town of Bergen with an ironfist. It was well within the law, but to the people it was unfair and unjust.
All Zack cared about was killing the Adjutant and saving Yemiri.
When they approached the entrance gate to the ice tower, Zack realized how eerily quiet it had been. They hadn't encountered any guards on the way there. He didn't even notice any on the walls of the city. Something was wrong.
But they couldn't head back now. Forward. Always forward.
Zack gripped the bars of the gate and strained his muscles only a little. With a loud crank, the gate was lifted and then tossed into the snowy lawn.
What was more disturbing than the quiet of the streets was the fact the large twin doors of ice to the tower were completely open, as if inviting them in. Zack let out a low growl. He shouted. "The Adjutant is expecting us! Charge!"
Zack, Yemiri, and Astrid ran first into the tower. They were immediately met with hundreds of guards cornering them in every direction. Bolts were sent flying at Zack.
He released his claws to swipe them away, but the bolts stopped dead around him as if hitting an invisible wall. His snow owl's sharpened sight allowed him to see that an actual wall of air had been made, a faint outline showing in his vision. Astrid gave him a wicked grin.
"My turn," smiled Fabiola. Her eyes widened with fury and glee, something like a small child who had found a new toy. Zack realized that was probably what he looked like when he gave into the hunger.
Fabiola pushed past the wall of air as three hundred fighters behind her stormed into the tower, clashing with the guards. The desert woman struck like a snake, her spear bending like a whip that normally wouldn't have been possible with a normal spear. Other times, it extended to another half length to reach the throat of a frightened guard.
Zack didn't join the fray. He simply watched as his people fought on even terms with the Adjutant's guards. Watching Fabiola and Astrid turn the tides with their powers and how quickly they adapted to being an Elementalist revealed to him he had made the right move in giving them the Tesseracts.
While Fabiola's skills were completely martial, direct and aggressive, Astrid moved through the battle like a wind nymph, untouchable with her grace and speed. She was clearly testing out her powers in much more creative ways than Fabiola.
A group of ten guards were struggling against Grumbal and his men, both sides on even grounds. Astrid smiled wide and slammed her hands together. A clap of wind tore at the guards, blowing them on their backs. Unfortunately, it had the same effect on Grumbal and his fighters.
She sheepishly swindled away before anyone saw what she had accidentally done. Astrid more than made up for it by providing cover against the aerial attacks of the crossbowman and archers.
To Zack's surprise, the tower wasn't a magnificent or opulent place like he had imagined it would be. It was...bare, sparse, and absent of any sort of personality. No furniture was present or even paintings hanging. The walls of ice were the same ones that could be seen on the outside.
A spiral staircase led to another floor above, but that was it. There were no floors past that. What kind of monster willingly lived in a place like this for decades? And worse yet, how could he force others to live with him in the same conditions, a place without light or life?
He thought of Yemiri, and the anger rumbled in his core, burning from the twin flames of the snow leopard and the trollbear. The snow owl didn't calm the anger but sharpened it, ready to take flight and strike.
While the others were there to fight against injustice and two lifetimes of a terrible ruler, Zack was there for one thing only. He was there to kill the Adjutant and save Yemiri.
The walls and floors of the ice tower shook, reverberating with a low voice that came from everywhere. "Enough," it said.
Ice formed so quickly on the floors of the entrance room that rebels and guards alike didn't have the chance to stop their fighting before they realized that their legs were completely trapped.
Zack screamed, "Fabiola! Astrid!"
Luckily, his two new Elementalist friends had leaped out of the way from the ice. In less than two breaths, every single person, both living and dead, were completely covered in thin layers of ice.
"Shattered stones," gasped Fabiola. "The man is a monster."
Astrid was noticeably silent. She had no quips and Zack realized she was probably too scared to say anything remotely funny. She was half floating above the ice that had stopped forming once they covered the others, a constant wind streaming from under her feet. She looked off balance, but did not touch the ice.
Fabiola hitched her spear to her back as if it were a tail, the spear tip lodged in the side of the tower wall. Her body was fused with the metal.
Over a dozen objects began to fall slowly as a feather from the ceiling. The walls had torches for light. He only recognized exactly what he was looking at when the giant objects landed perfectly and without harm on the floor among the others.
They were blocks of ice, perfectly clear and blue. Inside of each block was a beautiful woman. Zack didn't recognize any of them except one. Yemiri.
Her eyes were wide with horror and fear and hands clasped to the walls of her prison. She was frozen in time. How long had she been suspended in that single moment?
The blocks of ice had formed a circle. At the very center of the circle a small spike of ice formed. It grew and grew, slowing changing shape until the crude image of a man who wore what looked to be some sort of uniform stood in the center.
His skin was white as snow, and his eyes blue and dark as the Winter's moon. Everything about the man was angular, even his hair look liked it had been fixed in place. He wore no robes or anything showy like the way Zack had imagined nobility to be. Instead, the man spoke that he was collected and sharp.
The Flesh Elementalist Page 13
