"She's coming for you, Shawn," Micah said, voice low.
Shawn nodded. "We'd better get ready." He pushed the tip of his knife into Micah's side.
Chapter 64
Fire
Pain crashed through my head in waves. I lay on hard ground. Everything was dark.
Probably because your eyes are closed.
I tried squinting one eye open, but it hurt too much. I decided to concentrate on something further away from my eye. I wiggled my toes inside my boots.
"Is she waking up? I think she's waking up," a voice said to my left.
I stopped moving.
"Who is she?" Another said to my right. "Is this the one we're running from?"
At my head, "No, stupid. This is Artemis – from the fight tonight."
"She can't be – she was using air. Artemis was an Earth."
"No, no," said yet another at my feet. I was surrounded. "That’s Lucy – the one that brought in the wild dog. I recognize that ink – I helped put it on her."
More voices chimed in. There had to be a dozen, though it was difficult to tell with the chaotic waves crashing through my head.
If the swells wouldn't go away, I would have to embrace them. I waited for the next tide, it built slowly. First, tingling at the back of my neck. Then up my skull moving faster until my entire head was held in an unrelenting vise grip.
I used the adrenaline it caused, pushing it down into the Earth, and coming up with only stone. A platform broke through the surface, raising me up above the circle of people. I pushed up from the swell, back flipping off the rock and using air for a steady landing.
The group of people around the raised stone were trying to stay upright on top of the vibrating Earth. The crest of the wave was long past, but another was already coming. This time I used it to pull up more rock, surrounding the group. It caught all but one. A small guy, who stumbled back from the cage.
"Get her, David!" encouraging shouts came from inside the rock. They'd be able to get out eventually, especially if the Earths inside were worth their salt. I hoped it would hold until after Akasha.
David turned to me, pushing his glasses up on his nose, eyes wide. "Who…who are you really?"
I picked up the crumpled iron rod at my feet, gripping it with a solid fist. "All of the above." I swung it at him, connecting with the side of his temple. He fell sideways, unconscious.
I dragged him over to the rock cage, leaving his body on the opposite side from where I was headed. I placed my hand on the rocks. Energy was building up inside the cage as the group tried their various elements. I wiped dusty earth from my pants, and looked around. With the leather jacket nowhere in sight, and my energy quickly waning, I needed another form of transportation.
Over the Earth's vibrations, was a high-pitched whinny. I followed the rock cage around, peering out. The field just off the parking lot held a pen of horses. Most were bucking, several throwing their front hooves in the air.
I looked at the only horse that was staying on all fours, on the far side of the pen. I approached him, hand reaching out through the bars. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye, sidling away. "Whoa, fella. There's a good boy."
He paused, extending his long face toward my palm. I rubbed his neck and mane, glancing at the other horses, still bucking. They were larger and stronger – probably faster. This one even had a twinge of gray on his mane. But right now I didn't need large and strong, I needed steady. I needed a rock.
I climbed halfway up the pen and pressed my forehead to the horse, nuzzling it. "I need Micah," I whispered, the lump bigger than ever in my throat. "Can you take me to him?"
The horse snorted.
"I'll take that as a yes." Climbing the top half of the pen, I jumped on his back, thankful he was saddled and ready to go. He headed for the gate and I kicked it open. He idled through the opening as I fit my feet into the stirrups.
"Giddy up," I said, leaning forward, anticipating the rush of wind that would accompany his speed.
He bent down to nibble on the grass.
I bounced up and down. "Get on now – go boy, go!"
His hooves stayed firmly planted. I sighed, hanging my head. It had begun to snow.
The horse perked up, jerking his head back.
"Whoa, you're gonna knock me out."
I looked north as a blast of heat swept through the snow flurries. Dust swirled up from the ground in the distance, revealing the outline of a pair of sister tornadoes. I watched in horror as fire entwined. The atmosphere crackled with a new weather phenomenon. Fire tornadoes.
The horse stepped away.
"Whoa, there. It'll be alright. We're not going that way."
I didn't say it out loud, but I was sure both the horse and I were thinking the same thing.